The Smiley Smile Message Board

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/stefonknee-wolschtt-transgender-father-leaves-family-in-toronto-to-start-new-life-as-a-six-year-old-a6769051.html

So apparently there's now such a thing as "transage." Who'da thunk it?

I think we need to stop making up these bullshit "orientations" and stick with the basics : male and female gender, and homosexual, heterosexual, and bisexual orientations. It seems like everyday I read or hear a new "---sexual" term.

(http://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/2015/06/27/665/n/1922398/3bd5a9c5_edit_img_cover_file_14947482_1435415131_GettyImages-47MVL46a.xxxlarge/i/Rainbow-White-House-Pictures.jpg)

Keep on trollin'

Somehow I can't take this one seriously and I think it belittles the problems so many trans/bi/lesbian/gay folk have. This guy sires seven kids then decides he's too young for Thunderbirds on TV? Can you get a grant or benefits for that? I also makes me fear for my own, real six year old daughter.

On the other hand it encourages me to admit that all these years I've wanted to release the lawn mower trapped within… tonight I move into the garden shed. I feel a weight has been lifted… or at least trimmed.

At first, I was thinking about who a 46 year old man pretending to be a 6 year old hangs out with. There's no way adults want to hangout with him, right? And I'm sure they want him around their children even less. But then there's that family that adopted him and are facilitating his life as a 6-year-old girl. What the hell happened to those people to bring them to their current situation? Look, I think this is clearly a very complicated subject.

First of all, despite what Bean Bag would have you believe, gay rights has nothing to do with a man pretending to a be a small girl. Is that cleared up? Excellent. She says she doesn't "want to be an adult right now." I'm sure a lot of people with responsibilities (blimey, seven children) want to escape, but I don't think everyone decides to return to a childhood they never experienced, which leads to something else. I don't think this person is, well, "all there," really. I think what this is is a very confused person trying to escape her confusing surroundings and is reverting back into a more innocent time in life. Like John Manning says (I hope you can finally be happy, John), this is not something to be conflated with people who are actually struggling with trans/bi/lesbian/gay issues.

"But I’ve moved forward now and I’ve gone back to being a child" is a great quote, though.

(http://cdn.meme.am/instances2/500x/3439557.jpg)

To a certain extent. But after a certain point, I think we need to stop being quite so understanding and "open minded", and accept the fact that terms and ideas like "transage" are just made up ways to humor individuals like these who obviously have some kind of psychological issues. 

"Psychological issues" is very diplomatic. Does this guy go to school with his eight-year-old adopting sister then chill with the 'dults in the evening, sipping a Bud, rollin' his kwn, or do those lovin' 'dults tuck him in and read him stories before, erm, kissing him good night and reminding him to shave his stubble in the morning?

Has he forsaken the right to drive, smoke, have sex*, vote, watch porn movies? Does he have those legal rights any more?

Just too many uncomfortable area with this one. It can't end well.

* seven kids? He probably thinks he's done with that!

I actually disagree for the most part...except in this case.

Is this whole thing for real, or is it a hoax?

The idea of raising children to be around a grown man trying to pretend to be a little girl is wrong in every possible way I can think of.

Society is being tested Billy.  New walls are being built... and they want to know exactly where to put them.

I'll probably catch all kind of hell for this, but I'll say it anyway. In my opinion political correctness is ruining America.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with this, if I understand your meaning correctly.
My guess is this is someone with issues who enjoys testing limits.

Eta: though if I were more generous and less judgmental I'd agree with Bubbly Waves. Need to work on that.

I agree with the basic idea behind political correctness in that people should be respectful of other people and their differences from oneself, but in practice? Not so much. It's when it goes overboard that it gets ridiculous.

And I still think the original story is a hoax.

It's Canada.

It's (more accurately) ruining Western civilization.

He still got his hog?

That's what I'm hoping too.

Also, he's not "starting life as a six year old girl": he's a 46-year-old transgender man pretending to be a six year old girl. Not sure who needs attending to more - him, or the family "adopting" him. In these matters I'm usually a tolerant man (it's their business, whatever makes them happy), but but this is batshit crazy on roughly 27 different levels.

Not mentioned in the article is that 'she' is also having a sexual relationship with the adoptive father.

*

Or even worse...

The available information is sketchy, but it seems that this person is not making any claim to be transage but is engaging in some therapy that involves thinking and playing like a child. This person does not seem to be denying her legal responsibilities as an adult, nor claiming the legal rights of a child. I also did not find that she advocates for transagism as a concept, socially or legally.
The "adoptive" family is not legally such and there seems to be no attempt to make it so.
The situation with the "adoptive" family is unclear and seems odd and a bit off to me and it seems that she is not handling things well with her kids. But it also seems that she did not leave her kids but that her wife asked her to leave and filed for divorce, before the play therapy, due to her being transgender.

If this is correct, it seems problematic in a personal way but no cause for the usual right-wing panic, other than the right-wing's apparent pleasure in panicking.

You are 100% right. 

It's one thing to be mindful and respectful towards others.  But, it's another thing altogether when you can't seem to say anything without offending somebody. 

Like this board for example.  ;D

Doesn't matter.  Billy, AGD, the rest of you... It does not matter if this is a hoax or not.  The "next one" won't be.  C'mon guys.

The only question is... how long will it take for it to become "accepted" enough for A political party (guess which one) to use it to Divide us.  We all know the formula..

1. drop this behavior in a movie...
2. over time, start to make the roles out to be a hero. persecuted.
3. wash rinse repeat -- and drop in a popular sitcom.  Done.

4. once it's "accepted" enough... attack the OTHER political party for being bigots.

I know right off the bat Im gonna regret this...but Ill bite.

Look...Ive never heard of this transage before and to be honest I dont believe its real. Why? Because all through history, Ive never heard of a case of it. Even now with the internet giving everyone a voice, the ONLY case Im hearing is this one. This may sound hypocritical coming from me considering my own identity issues...but whether you take a sympathetic view to transgender people or not, we've existed for a long long time. Even Elagabalus, one of the Roman Emperors, is on record as being trans. Its not a made up phenomena or special snowflake syndrome. It can be hard to understand for people who have no concept for what it means to feel like your own body is a mistake, and people tend to lash out against the unknown with fear. For a lot of people gender norms are an unshakable foundation of life and seeing people break that down is akin to say...seeing their religion or nation or morality challenged. They take it personally and react defensively, tearing down the "other" which is a threat to their worldview. I understand. Its tribalism, and its imprinted in our DNA. You see it all the time with people taking sports, taste in media and ethnicity way to seriously and challenging those who identify as something they dont.

Now for this person...theyre obviously mentally unwell. My armchair diagnosis is they cant handle adulthood and want to revert to a time/age where they dont have to worry about the responsibilities of having kids and financial issues. They need counseling and help of some kind. Maybe some of you think the same about me. Well, I could point out that throughout medical history other treatments have been tried on transgender people and none have been successful. The best treatment is to just let transgender people express as the sex they identify as. Maybe to some thats feeding into the delusion. But even if that were so, why does it matter? If someone wants to do something that makes them feel comfortable and happy, why should it bother you--theyre not hurting anyone. Who decided people born with a penis have to have short hair, wear pants and be assertive and vice versa? To me, exploring the other side--womens fashion and roles etc aside from making me feel more like myself is also just akin to tripping and trying new food, media and vacations. We have a big diverse world to explore, our minds are a universe in themselves. Why not explore it all? Why go thru life NOT seeing how being feminine/masculine makes you feel just because society says its weird? If you have no desire to, no harm no foul but then dont harass those who feel the need to explore. Basically...dont knock it till youve tried it, and if you dont want to at least accept the fact that some people do. We're just not happy with the bodies/roles that came with our designated chromosomes we had no choice in.

So what separates this person from other trans people? Again, this is one isolated case from one person, where transgender has been around at least the last 2000 years (and almost certainly longer.) There are studies that show transgender really do have brain anatomy which more closely resembles their identified gender than their given. Obviously thats not the case for wanting to be a kid. Somethings up with this person obviously, but unlike with someone "just" transgender, actually encouraging them to live out their "fantasy" (as Im sure some of you see being transgender) actually would harm other people. The wife and kids dependent on her for one. And whoever this girl expects to be her caretakers.

This story shouldnt have been reported, at least not in the way they chose to. Theyre just looking for clickbait and page views and outrageous headlines will do the job. Its frustrating for me and others in my situation because it perpetuates the image of us as freaks and idiots. Its heartbreaking how every time theres a story about us in the news the comment section is full of hatred and vitriol. The past year saw the highest number of trans murders and suicides EVER. People then look at the suicides and say "see! feeding into their delusions causes them to kill themselves! they need conversion therapy!" when in reality those suicides are brought on by the hatred of the masses, disownment from families, discrimination from jobs, the sorrow of not transitioning sooner and missing good years as something youre not, and overall lack of support. This just rubs salt in the wound, when they do that. It really does just boil down to: ok, you think its weird. I think getting face piercings, Mohawk hairstyles and obsessing over sports is weird. I may think less of you for it, but Id at least have the grace to not say it to your face, and certainly not kill you for it or blame that for your suicide (if you were to do such a thing.)

Bean Bag...theres really no reason to fear monger. All gay people want to do is get married and not be fired for their orientation. All trans people want to do is present as the sex they feel on the inside without getting harassed or killed. All ANY minority wants to do is be treated as human. And its disgusting to imply that the push for equal rights and protections are somehow a sign of the end times or other nonsense. I can totally understand how seeing stories like this can make you wonder "where will this end" but you have to understand this is one lone individual who is clearly unwell. Society can function if there are people who prefer homosexual relations or to transition. They are still self reliant and functional. Their goals are basically to be left in peace. Thats why society is slowly but surely beginning to accept them--and thats as it should be. Nobody is trying to cater to this one lone person whose goals (to be catered to like a child as they abandon their family) are NOT reasonable.

I really dont know how else I can put it, but I hope that clears it up, the difference between legitimate sexual minorities and...this. To the person who says how it seems like theres always a new thing, sexually speaking...well...sexuality is NOT binary. Maybe it is for you, but for humanity as a whole, its a continuum. People like different types of men/women. Some like both. Some are homosexual. Some are into age play. This person seems to be of that last one...and are taking it too far.

I gotta say tho Bean Bag, your comments are pretty hurtful as someone who IS a persecuted minority. Depending on your age and location I understand never meeting people who are much different and thus they can seem threatening or "other" to you. But please, at least TRY to have an open mind and remember we're all people. Even the person in this story is just that...a person. And while I dont condone treating her like a 6 year old girl either, they are clearly unwell and deserve help and sympathy.

/rant.

Very well said.

Second that. What makes this board (sometimes) outstanding is that we don't just have people across the whole fan spectrum, but from across the whole people spectrum. We should celebrate that.

Amen