how is this possible?

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i've known a person of ambiguous gender online now for a few years who has autism. "they" (as it has vociferously preferred to be called) live with their equally gender-ambiguous partner, both of whom are on ssi and living in a rental house packed with rats, chickens, guinea pigs, birds, cats, probably goats and god knows what else. over the years, hints have built up to the fact this person was about to go through with a sex change operation, which it apparently has undergone. at this time, it finally refers to itself as a "he" (no, the big secret really wasn't THAT difficult to figure out), although judging by pictures, it now seems it's even more genderless than it started out as, just hairier arms.

what I want to know is this: how the hell is someone practically on welfare, barely able to buy groceries, a diagnosed austistic, endlessly in and out of the hospital with vague illnesses, a complete recluse, able to go ahead and have gender reassignment surgeries, let alone care for the massive menagerie kept in the hovel where they live? what is it? their mother has money and clout? is it all made up? doesn't a person have to go through thorough analysis and counselling before being able to do this? and before i get flamed for being anti-transgender, etc: believe me, there's nothing id like more than a sex change myself, but it ain't ever gonna happen. and I WORK. it just amazes me.

I see where you're coming from. I think a lot of people have their priorities set up in an ideal alternate dimension, rather than in the real world. It's like, we've been raised being told we have all these rights, even down to the right of having exactly the body we want, (which is kind of crazy because we all know that nobody gets to choose the body they're born with, and a body is a body.. it's a tool, and it works just fine in either gender) so people start to think that kind of thing is ALWAYS their right, no matter what. But it doesn't always work so well in the practical world. Well, apparently it DOES work somehow, but you're right, that person's priorities are screwed up.

Assuming this story is accurate, and there are reasons to be skeptical, it still wouldn't surprise me based on the schemes I've heard of from people in the medical profession. Since I've seen a lot of docs and other health care professionals, I've heard from them about a lot of what they deal with. Deceitful, manipulative patients do exist, and do exploit the system, even to the point of being diagnosed with a disorder that would make such exploitation seem impossible.

If the person has ambiguous gender because she/he has both sex organs or partials of each, then I think the surgery to fix the problem and assign a gender is acceptable.

It'd be acceptable even if the physical gender were all one way and the mental gender all the other way. There's really no other way to fix the problem of strongly identifying as a gender opposite to your body. I mean, if you didn't mind so much, if you weren't so strongly the other gender, sure, you could live with it; or you could just go for clothes and hormones. But really strong, "this is not the way I'm supposed to be" that you just can't stand? No, there's no other way to do that.. well, no way that we know of yet. Gender is so huge in our society that it's as bad as an Aspie forcing to pretend to be NT, and we all know how much mental damage that can cause. You can get a sex change on Medicaid--if you can convince them that it is the only reasonable treatment. It doesn't happen very often, but it's not completely unknown, especially if the alternative, when it gets to wear on you, is long-term hospitalization for whatever happens to your brain when you finally can't take it anymore.

As for animals: I'm on SSI and I have two cats. The shelter I'm fostering one for is helping with vet care for that cat, and possibly another I may foster soon. There are ways to have animals, if you really want them, on SSI. I would be worried, though, that your friend might not be taking good care of their animals, if they have so many. Past a certain point, one person simply cannot care for them all, and that can get dangerous for everyone involved. I am almost sure that your friend cannot provide adequate medical care for all of their animals, unless they have worked out some arrangement like I have... I only have to pay one cat's vet bills, and both cats' food, litter, toys, etc. I can afford those things because I'm careful with money and I look for bargains--it's not impossible to have some luxuries, even below the poverty line.

Some animal lovers simply get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of animals they could not resist taking in... it's not like your friend is being abusive or anything, but if I were you I'd be worried about the animals' welfare, and possibly your friend's--with that many animals, keeping a place clean can become impossible, and the resulting disease and chemical exposure (especially ammonia) can cause health problems.

I know what you mean, I have no idea how people pay for things. I watched this woman that came to work two years after I did, worked for a year and was out for a week and now she has BEAUTIFUL BREASTS and she was bragging they were only 7,000 bucks. 7000 bucks! She can afford that after a year?

I remember "Dog Day Afternoon" with Al Pachino, where he was robbing the bank to get the money for a sex change for his lover. I always wondered about where other people got money for those things. It isn't so much what they want to do with the money, it's the social acceptance of the body augmentation because they will be more socially acceptable.

it's the 'socially acceptable' stuff that makes it a priority, I guess I don't understand.