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Well. I must say I'm disappointed. Most of the conservatives I know are concerned with such things as honor, which does not include insulting one's family or upbringing without giving them a chance to say their piece. Since, as a few other readers have found, my e-mail address may be located through a simple Google search, I would guess that no one here cared enough to give me that chance.

Hello. Samantha Lease here. I'm not going to respond to most of your points. If you believe that your genitalia at birth is all that defines your gender, I know I won't change your mind. I can't take you inside my brain, I can't play my memories back for you like home movies, and mere words will never convince you.

However, while I will not defend myself and my decisions to you, I will defend others around me. First, I was not sexually abused; it is deeply insulting to my parents, my extended family, and anyone else you consider a potential perpetrator to imply that such is the cause of my gender dichotomy.

Second, I am not the child of a single mother. My father is quoted in the Q&A section attached to this article. He and my mother have been married for over two decades.

My mother is not a radical feminist. I was not raised to hate men, nor were women placed on a pedestal. In fact, I was raised in a Christian denomination where women were expected to be homemakers and men were given the greater degree of direct authority. My mother is still a member of that church, but she does break with policy from time to time. While I will be excommunicated if I do not leave voluntarily or cease my transition, simple dissent is not typically punished.

Oh - and despite what I said earlier, I must say one thing in my own defense, though at least some of you see me more as a victim in this regard: I have never been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. In fact, I have only been diagnosed with depression (treated through therapy) and, more recently, gender identity disorder. I have seen therapists off and on since childhood, and each therapist has had a different perspective. At least one of them would have caught it, I'm sure. Despite the differing perspectives, those therapists who later became aware of the gender issues were not surprised.

As for my "agenda"? Frankly I'm surprised that so many conservatives still let their children read Teen People. Aside from the article quoted above, there have recently been pieces on abortion (in which neither of the commentators opposed it, but rather debated the need for parental notification) and other controversial issues. Their liberal streak is clear. If you don't want your kids reading this stuff...well...you're the parent.

And I'll tell you this as well: I attend a private college, so if you're worried about your kids being exposed to a transsexual, you need to worry about that channel as well. Pull your kids out of public school if you want to, but mind where they go afterwards as well.

What it boils down to is this: if you want to clap your hands over your kids' ears and eyes and keep them from hearing about any of this - I'm for it. That's your right as a parent. I think it's a shame, but they're your kids. Remember that, ultimately, for good or ill, YOU'RE the one who prepares them for this world.

Most of the conservatives I know are concerned with such things as honor, which does not include insulting one's family or upbringing without giving them a chance to say their piece. Since, as a few other readers have found, my e-mail address may be located through a simple Google search, I would guess that no one here cared enough to give me that chance.

Conservatives, and most parents for that matter, are concerned by the moral decay of our society, as evidenced by the TEEN PEOPLE article that I posted here. We are concerned that (our) children are being bombarded from all sides by the messages that aberrant behavior and self mutilation is somehow normal. We are concerned that (our) children are being targeted by sick and twisted (and evil) people who have no love of children, except as objects of their perverted fantasies. We are concerned that these adult perverts are in professions where they have access to our children, and can (and do) try to imprint their perversions on (our) children.

I see that you haven't been here long - that you apparently just joined FR to respond to our commentary on the TEEN PEOPLE article in which you say you are (if you truly are) Samantha Lease, a subject of the article. In answer to the second part of your comment above, at FR we post articles that we feel may be of interest to other FR members. We discuss articles. Sometimes we argue over points made in articles. This is not a "stalking" site, especially as regards someone who has already been victimized as profoundly as you have been by a perverted subsect of our society; and while you may not see it as such right now, I do believe that you are a victim. I hope you can find your way in this world, and that the damage (that I believe has been) already done to your soul will be healed.