"Similar But Different"

irgin

by

Lews Firginia

"All is not gold that glitters" and all males who en- joy the feminine are not the same thing. One would like to think that the distinctions between transvestism, tran- sexualism and homosexualism were clear to everybody but unfortunately they do not seem to be. Not only is there confusion among lay people but there seems to be confusion within professional ranks, and surprisingly enough among TVs themselves. Although I have been accused of trying to appear an "infallible Pontiff" (generally by those who wish to pontificate themselves and do not care for competition) I do not consider myself one. However, I probably devote more time and thought to this subject than any of the rest of you so I think I have some ideas worth tossing into the ring. There are those who are going to violently disagree with the con- tents of this piece and maybe I'm all wrong but what I have to say should at least stimulate some controversy and thought among those who take the time to read the whole article.

I should like, therefore, to try my hand at setting up some distinctions between these three apparently (on the surface) similar behaviour patterns. In the first place let me point out that in distinguishing between things that have points in common it is necessary to make clear whether the distinctions are a matter of degree or of kind. There are those who feel that these patterns are related in a developmental sense. That is as time, opportunity and experience progress, the individual moves through a series of positions from least to most. This is the idea of á continuum--that the differences are mostly degree. Thus it has been set forth in the professional literature that transexuality is the "third stage of transvestism". Among some of our own kind there is the idea that homo-

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