Transgenderism is a form of mental illness.

There is a new class of people in society today. Well, it's an old class, but in years past (by which I mean "up until 5 years ago") this group of people was viewed as oddballs at best, as mentally unstable at worst. That class of transgendered people.

Transgendered people are characterized by two firm beliefs:

1. That a person's physical sex and their gender identity are two separate things
2. That their particular physical sex and gender identity do not match

The levels of dysfunction and misunderstanding necessary to affirm these two beliefs are immense. Identifying with them oneself is a sign of mental illness, no different than that of many of the clients of the organization I work for. One of them has claimed to be Jesus Christ reincarnated. Pretty much anyone reading this likely has no trouble seeing that claim as ridiculous. 

If that same client said he was really a woman, however, there would be many people who might read this who would take that claim seriously, in spite of it being as patently false and ridiculous as his claim of being Jesus Christ reincarnated is.

We shouldn't enable this kind of mental illness by pretending that it represents legitimate thinking. We should identify it as delusional, not pretend that it is true. That doesn't mean we should mock them or attack them at all. People who consider themselves transgendered are sick and need our help. Affirming them in their illness doesn't represent help. At all.