Ben Weston thought he would lose everything when he decided to tell his family he wanted to undergo gender reassignment therapy.
“I didn’t know how to tell my mother,” Weston said.
George Juge said the family wasn’t happy when he had previously come out to his family as a homosexual.
“My mom assumed I had AIDS immediately,” he said. “My mom is very upset about my surgery — which is coming up.”
However, Juge said friends and family of those who decide to have sexual reassignment surgery “come around, it just takes a long time.”
Changing sexes is not cheap; for example, Juge spends $90 per month on hormones, it will cost $100 to change his name legally and his upcoming surgery to remove his breasts will cost $7,200.
The panelists have what the medical community calls gender dysphoria. According to the Zenith Foundation’s Web site, people who have gender dysphoria have confusion and discomfort about their birth gender.
Students gathered at the Red River Room in the Union Monday night at the Female-Male Transgender Discussion Panel.
      While none of the panelists have had genital surgery, some have had breast-removal surgery and are taking high doses of testosterone.
Weston said doses of testosterone send the libido through the roof, while estrogen cuts it off.
“I felt at peace because I was beginning the process,” Weston said.
Weston said he decided to undergo sexual reassignment surgery because he was tired of being uncomfortable with his body.
“Once I started looking into [the surgery], there was no going back,” he said.
Nick said while he was in medical school, he began to do research on the surgery and “within one day, I decided to do it,” he said.
“I wanted chest surgery since the first time I bound my chest,” said Juge.
“The goal is to have the world see you as a guy,” said Robin.
“If the sex fairy ever came and asked me if I wanted to be a guy — at any point in my life — I would have said yes,” said Nick.
Juge said some members of the gay and lesbian community look down on transsexuals.
Nick said this is because homosexuals, in comparison to transsexuals, are normal. And Weston said when homosexuals look down on transsexuals, it “just makes them higher [than them].”