Happy, Gay or Not

A lot has been written and fought for where GLBT rights are concerned. Being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgender, I thought was purely by choice. A few articles on the subject have further confused and intrigued me. But some helped put a few things into perspective.

During the course of my inquisition I stumbled upon two terms - Sexual Preference and Sexual Orientation. Sexual orientation is not a choice. Preference implies choice. Being gay, lesbian, or bisexual is sexual orientation. Sexual preference is a term that might apply to a bisexual person who prefers people of a particular biological sex.
So in other words you cant beat a gay guy straight!

Social stigma prevents many to remain in the closet, which is a huge deprivation of humanity, a violation of rights, of personal freedom, of choice. But that’s not what my confusion or this article is about.

Thomas Beati, became the first man to have delivered a baby. Beatie, had his gender changed surgically, but kept his female reproductive organs. This begs the question - Why? If all Tracy ever wanted was to be Thomas, then why did she keep her female reproductive organs functioning? Thomas' wife ideally is married to Thomas who is a woman. If both the ladies sexual preference was to be with the same sex, why then did she want Tracy to become a man?

Hakim Nelson and Jason Stenson, have just created history by duping oblivious city bureaucrats who not only OK'd the marriage license, but conducted the ceremony, despite gay marriage being illegal in the state of New York. Nelson aka "Kimah" hopes to one day have surgery and become a woman. Good for him, but please explain where does that leave Jason’s sexual preference? As a self confessed Gay – why would he want Hakim to become a woman? If he does prefer women, then why is he with Hakim?
While still relatively rare -- one advocate estimates that 0.25 to 0.5 percent of the American population is transgendered -- the idea of changing gender identity has become more widespread in recent years.

Henry Joseph Madden had a secret: He sometimes wore his mother's pantyhose and underwear under his clothes. "I really wanted to be a girl so bad, and that was one way for me to satisfy those feelings" . Dr. Jennifer Madden, a family physician, began her transition to being female at age 48.

As early as age 3, Dr. Julie Praus, born male, didn't understand why her father wanted to play catch.

Jamison Green, author of "Becoming a Visible Man," went through chest reconstruction and genital surgery at the age of 40.

Green, originally a woman is now happily married to a woman. Praus now a woman is also married to a woman. Madden originally a man now has a boyfriend. Aren’t they all then basically just Gays and Lesbians, in spite of painful surgeries, their preference doesn’t really change. Can they actually succeed in fooling themselves so deep? Will a set of new silicones reinstate their partner’s heterosexuality?
So does that make Madden’s boyfriend Gay? Or is he hetrosexual cause Madden on some level now owns her own panty hose?

At the risk of sounding like a righteous, judgmental ‘Jesus wont have it' kind of person, all I really want to do is understand the term ‘Transsexual’. Anybody out there?