it isn't even a scam. i talked to a few very sporting people on /lgbt/ in a genuine effort to understand their feelings, but i couldn't get anywhere because they genuinely refuse to probe any further into their feelings than looking in the mirror and hating what they see or having a bad experience in their childhood that left them with unresolved feelings as resolvable by any other means than the one they've chosen and that their problems are caused by their brain being "different" if you ask them to dig deeper and address specific things that bother them, they'll insist that it's impossible and that you can't possibly understand. they'll say "i used to look in the mirror and feel like i didn't belong in my skin, then i started the hormones and felt better." and never ever even scrutinize the eight to ten different physical and psychological consequences that has to identify which ones actually made them feel better.  when i did persist, they devolved into word games, accusations of arguing in bad faith and "why does it matter anyway."
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