This is my response to the story at Foxnews titled Transgender Law Making Strides By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos the following response was sent to their
politics@foxnews.com email address.
From: "Susan Larson" <susan@susans.org>
To: <politics@foxnews.com>
Subject: Transgender Law Making Strides By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 00:40:30 -0500
I am transgendered and I feel it important to make that very clear to you. The transgender community does not want to be granted special treatment instead we simply want the rights and protections granted to other groups that society discriminates against. Many transgendered men and women are fired from their jobs simply for following through the medically recognized treatment for their condition. Health insurance companies routinely deny coverage for the hormones and the surgical procedures needed to grant us a sense of normalcy and peace of mind you take for granted. After treatment we are denied by most states the recognition of our gender including the right to marry and be happy in our life. Many of the transgendered are ostracized by their families, our friends and co-workers want little if anything to do with us once they find out that we are different then them. Our landlords can legally evict us solely due to our being transgendered. Our children are denied to us by the courts even the right of visitation after a divorce can be denied to us because we are transgendered. The list of the ways that the transgender community is discriminated against on a daily basis is almost endless. The problem we face is that people are allowed both by law and our society to discriminate against the transgendered in ways that would not be tolerated at all if it were done against women or other minorities. Should the fact that I was born with the body of a male instead of the female one my brain is wired for deprive me of the rights taken for granted by people who are considered by society as normal. The simple answer is no it should not.
