The 50% Rule

The 50% Rule
by Raven Usher

50% Rule: Statistic that states “50% of all transsexuals will die by their early 30’s. A small number die from violence, disease or other common causes. Most commit suicide.” - The North American Lexicon of Transgender Terms.

(available at www.glbpubs.com/lex.html)

It’s a scary statistic, isn’t it? Half. That is a lot. Look around you some time and take notice of all the people around you. Now imagine that half of them are gone. Just gone.

It can be a difficult thing being part of that group. You never really know to which half you belong. Are you safe? Are you at risk? How can you tell in either case?

The reason the so many transsexuals commit suicide is that they fall victim to intense bouts of depression. Just about any tranny can tell you about feeling trapped or oppressed. Even those who survive the 50% rule are still likely to experience depression at some point.

To contemplate your own demise can be nerve racking under any circumstance. To consider yourself being the cause of it is beyond description. Even when one listens to someone talk about it is close to impossible for the average person to get the full scope of its impact.
People do not just wake up one morning and say to themselves, “I want to die today.”

It is a long brutal progression of sorrow and pain. The thoughts creep into the back of the mind like a slow growing weed. Its seeds spreading on a barely audible breeze that whispers the unthinkable in someone’s ear. It keeps growing until the weeds are tangled so tightly around one’s feet that movement is impossible and the whisper becomes a bellowing roar that pounds like war drums in the ear. Step by step it wears away stamina and resistance until finally the last tug of a weed and the last gust of wind brings the whole structure tumbling into oblivion.
That moment is when the pills get swallowed, the knife makes its cut, the rope tightens and the gun fires. It is the point of surrender. It is the ultimate expression of sorrow.

The truly sad part of the 50% rule is that it does not have to be a rule at all. It can be stopped. The depression can be overcome. The bad thoughts can be stopped.

The problem is that by the time someone realizes they need help, they may not be able to seek it out. One of the first casualties of depression is a person’s motivation to do anything. They do not have the willpower left to take part in the things that once brought them happiness much less seek out something new.

If you are having persisting feelings of sadness and depression. Please seek help. Talk to someone. Anyone. Stop a random cop on the street and tell him you need help. Call 911. Walk into an ER. There are many people who can and will help you if they only know you need help.
If you have someone in your life who is acting strange or out of sorts, transgendered or not, take the time to ask how they are feeling. Find help for them. Do not just let them wallow in their pain. Loved ones not noticing the trouble is one of the gates to suicide.
Blessed Be.