I have people telling me that a transgender person is mentally ill. how do i convince them that it's not?

Calm Honesty.: Many people will never understand. Some people will understand. You have to determine how important is this person in your life. Unfortunately, some of the important people in our lives will not and cannot understand simply from their ingrained belief system and values. Telling people on a private individual basis is probably the best way. Simply, calmly state this is how I feel and why.

Good luck!: Trying to persuade anyone to come to your point of view is always a struggle - particularly in dealing with gender variance. Of course it is true that there are transgender people who have mental illness, but being trans does NOT mean a person is mentally ill. If you are the person in question, live your life as well as possible, and seek help from people who are here to help. WPATH.org.