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So I was reading through this entire thread, and I have a number of thoughts to share:

1. First, there seems to be some confusion between "transsexual" and "transvestite." These are not one and the same! Transsexuals are individuals with a great sense of discomfort with their biologically assigned sex (XY or XX) and would feel more comfortable living as the opposite sex. Such individuals experience severe psychological suffering as a result of their condition. Transvestites, on the other hand, are individuals who derive some sense of (often sexual) enjoyment from wearing clothing of the opposite sex. Often, it may be the case that a transsexual wears clothes befitting the opposite sex in an effort to feel more at ease with themselves. There is absolutely nothing sexual about it. Now, this does not include the small group of people who actually have a biological ambiguity about their sex at birth (e.g. hermaphoditism) or different chromosome configurations (e.g. Klinefelter's syndome).

2. Second, the actual incidence of transsexuality is much rarer than many people expect. It occurs in approximately one in 30,000 males (male to female transsexualism) and approximately one in 100,000 females (female to male transsexuals). However, the actual incidence may be higher than these numbers reflect, because there is always the hesitation of revealing one's transsexuality has huge social costs. Hate crimes against the transsexual community are commonplace, and thus it is completely understandable that a transsexual would want to keep quiet.

3. Third, regardless of whether Erin is transsexual or not, one thing is extremely clear: Erin wants to be considered female in the eyes of the world. Therefore, we should all have the human dignity to refer to her as female and not use words like "he" and especially not "it." It is akin to addressing someone as a "freak."

4. Fourth, in response to all of the "evidence" collected thus far about Erin... I think we may have a situation like we usually do on Survivor Sucks, where posters create a mountain out of a molehill. People come in all shapes and sizes, and just because Erin happens to appear different does not automatically categorize her as a transsexual. I know plenty of other women who have various physical features similar to Erin, and there is never any question about their biological sex. (As an aside, does anyone know how tall Erin is?) Personally, I believe that Erin is a woman... and I will go as far to say that she has psychologically (and probably physically also) been a woman for 26 years. As far as the information collected from websites using her full name, I do find some of the information unusual. But I don't feel that it's anywhere near enough to jump to a conclusion about anything, much less that Erin may have originally been male.

5. Fifth, I am willing to concede that there is a slighter-than-slight chance that Erin is a post-operational male-to-female transsexual. If she is, she is an inspiration to transsexuals around the world! She has done something very brave to step into the national spotlight on Survivor, and she may inspire others to come out of the shadows about their transsexuality.

6. Sixth, and finally... stop trying to pry into Erin's life in an attempt to get more information. It only serves to make people look like stalkers.

Thank you!

jennafan