Unisex toilets is one way to go, but there has to be safeguards on those to prevent the old exploit a situation by those seeking an opportunity.

I also think it can be hard for those who just don't understand and act based on their years of experience. So, for example, I may get asked by someone who, biologically, is male, to refer to that person as a female.

But my conditioning/experience causes me to automatically refer to that person as male or 'he' the next time I see them. I can understand that this could seriously frustrate and annoy the person but I need to train my brain in this instance - and that could take time.

Allowances needed on both sides in that example.

And then there is the he/she/ze/zhe/womxn debate.

That there is not a single, agreed format here makes things really difficult.

And finally, there is a difference between the biological/mental and the fashionable. Allowances for one? Yes, I can understand that. Allowances for the other? I struggle with that one as I can see that as just being weird. 

Can I suggest that laws that try to address this by using assigned sex at birth or chromosomes to determine what bathroom to use are purely discriminatory and have nothing to do with discomfort and gender separation? If the issue is the presence of females in the male toilets, for example, those laws would force transgendered women who have transitioned into using the men's room. How is that helpful, and what does that accomplish other than telling transgender women that "they aren't really women."

There's nothing currently preventing men from going into the women's room (I know, having done so by accident on more than one occasion :( ) or women from going into the men's room. There's nothing currently preventing a man from dressing as a woman to sneak into the ladies' room and perving on the women inside.

Claim that transgender accommodations will create safety issues are overwrought.

They had unisex public restrooms when I was in Sweden. The stalls and doors extended all the way from floor to ceiling.

ITEM: I probably don't understand the situation well enough, but I can't help but make a differentiation on physical activity. Notwithstanding preferences, if one stands to urinate, he's a physical male; if one has to sit to urinate, she's a physical female.

Let's not start pulling out exceptional examples, or "A guy can sit and pee if he wants.". In the final analysis, does the physical urination process define one's sexual identity? I hardly think so. But I've always identified and acted as a male who likes females. 

I am certainly not judging, and as I'm barely knowledgeable with regards to this... am I missing something?

And of course, none of this has the least bit to do with the fact that 45 wants to control gender definition, and elimination... or at least removal of such "undesirables" from the United States.

They both seem to be identifying as something they're not.  I'm sure there are rare cases of chromosomes acting strangely and that's what gender dysmorphia seems to be.  

I admit, I may be looking at this the wrong way.  But I still don't understand why this is different than an adult who identifies as a child or as a historical figure or even why it differs from some rare physical condition.

JB mentioned that suicide rates are high for people that suffer from this and I've heard that it's still 40%+ after gender reassignment compared to 3% for the general population.  Which suggests to me that it is a mental condition more than everyone not treating them the way that they want.

Again, I don't wish them ill-will but it seems that the whole thing is a departure from what's obvious and common sense and has been politicized for ulterior motives.  And I do find it hard to believe when someone claims to be what they don't appear to be.  I know that's why I'm a part of the problem but I don't trust that everyone involved is genuine.  Too many people would be willing to exploit something like this IMO.

Male and female are biological terms.  "Man", "lady", etc. can all be debated and rearranged I suppose but the former does remain a black and white issue from what I've seen.  

How does this argument work? Suicide rates are also high among gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth. I think we've moved past the idea that non-heterosexual orientation is a mental disorder. So it's entirely about how society is treating them.

Part of the problem here is failing to distinguish between biological sex and gender expression.  There are only two biological sexes.  I'm not even primarily talking about humans here.  I'm talking about animals.  And plants.  Its how reproduction works.

But gender expression is societal, differs from place to place and throughout time, and is variable.  Someone can be either biological sex, or part of the very small intersexed minority, and identify with either, or neither, gender as it is socially constructed in Western culture.

But some programs have to be based on science.  For example, regardless of how they identify vis a vis gender, biological males shouldn't need to pay for pregnancy coverage for themselves.

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Sure.  The Department of Health and Human Services doesn't need to pay for prostate checks for biological females or pap smears for biological males.

I think its totally reasonable for that department to deal with biological sex.  What the Times article JB linked is about is about the Trump administration wanting to extend that definition to the use of other Departments where it is less obviously relevant.

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There are also a number of conditions that cause humans to be born with fewer than two legs, that doesn't mean humans aren't bipeds.  Tiny biological exceptions don't change the general scientific rule.  Additionally, the vast majority of transgender people are not intersexed, so these cases are irrelevant to the understanding of transgender people.

Again, human reproduction, cervical cancer, and prostate cancer aren't 'transphobic', they're based in the biological difference between a male human body and a female human body.  But which biological sex you are born into does not always match what a person feels they are.  Nor does their feeling necessarily match what their culture says a male person or female person 'should' be and behave like.