Please, please, PLEASE don't take this as some kind of bait, or think that I am anything than genuinely curious about. please. This is a genuine question, asked with love and seeking better understanding.
I am a hetero male. So I can't claim to understand the depths of what it means to be in the LGBT community. I only have a few close homosexual friends, and none of them have been able to answer this question.
Why do we put transgender people in a group with homosexual people? I'm not a huge fan of putting people into big groups anyway, but it's the way the world turns...
Being transgender seems like a completely different situation - or perhaps on a different level than a matter of which gender you're attracted to. Does that make sense?
Homosexual men are attracted to Homosexual men.
Homosexual women are attracted to Homosexual women.
Bisexual women and men are attracted to women and men.
Transgender individuals are... TRANSGENDER - this seems to have more to do with biology and psychology - not necessarily what gender an individual is attracted to. Theoretically (and please pardon my lack of knowledge of currently correct terminology):
Transgender individuals born with male genitalia but who identify as female could be attracted to men and/or women. And the reverse could be true. So... Maybe I understand from that perspective - that an individual who was born with male genitalia but identifies as a woman - if she were attracted to men, I guess might be classified by some as homosexual? because she physiologically is male (pre-op). But if she were attracted to women - she might be considered a homosexual because she identifies as a woman?
Maybe it all comes down to gender identity or something. Being a hetero male, I've had the luxury of burying my head in the sand - but that doesn't seem like a good idea in the 21st century. I want to understand.
I understand that members of the LGBT community have similar issues centered around gender. But I feel like the issues faced by the trans community, while perhaps similar (bigotry, violence, discrimination, etc), are actually fundamentally different.
Are we doing a disservice to transgender individuals by lumping them in with the LGB community?
If any of my comments or questions were offensive - I genuinely apologize. I really am trying to understand. I'm hoping conversations like this can help further understanding which could go a long way to breaking barriers and reducing hate-speak and "us and them" stuff.