News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: Shana A on November 20, 2012, 09:16:11 PM Return to Full Version
Title: If You Knew Him
Post by: Shana A on November 20, 2012, 09:16:11 PM
Post by: Shana A on November 20, 2012, 09:16:11 PM
Gretchen Peters
Singer-songwriter and mother of a transgender child
If You Knew Him
Posted: 11/19/2012 2:43 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gretchen-peters/if-you-knew-him_b_2154652.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gretchen-peters/if-you-knew-him_b_2154652.html)
Tuesday, Nov. 20, will mark the 14th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. It's a day I don't much like thinking about. As the mother of a trans man, I have a hard time dwelling on the fact that hate could drive a person to murder someone like my son. I know what all of us who love our children know: that if you really knew them, you could never hate them. But the fear of what could happen never really goes away. You just do what you can to cope with it, and leave the rest up to the universe and the occasional whispered prayer.
I remain convinced that bringing the trans struggle into the light (and making it safe to come out) will be the thing that will end this. Joe Biden endeared himself to me and many others recently when he called transgender discrimination "the civil rights issue of our time." We move beyond fear and prejudice by education, certainly, but also by familiarity. You can hate a concept, but it's far harder to hate someone you know -- someone who lives in your neighborhood, shops at your grocery store, says "good morning" and pets your dog when you meet on the street.
If you knew my son, you would think of 100 adjectives that describe him before you came to "transgender." Some of mine: witty, musical, cautious, empathetic, thrifty, sarcastic, sentimental. He drives me crazy taking forever to make decisions. He makes me laugh even (and especially) at the most inappropriate times (funerals come to mind).
Singer-songwriter and mother of a transgender child
If You Knew Him
Posted: 11/19/2012 2:43 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gretchen-peters/if-you-knew-him_b_2154652.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gretchen-peters/if-you-knew-him_b_2154652.html)
Tuesday, Nov. 20, will mark the 14th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. It's a day I don't much like thinking about. As the mother of a trans man, I have a hard time dwelling on the fact that hate could drive a person to murder someone like my son. I know what all of us who love our children know: that if you really knew them, you could never hate them. But the fear of what could happen never really goes away. You just do what you can to cope with it, and leave the rest up to the universe and the occasional whispered prayer.
I remain convinced that bringing the trans struggle into the light (and making it safe to come out) will be the thing that will end this. Joe Biden endeared himself to me and many others recently when he called transgender discrimination "the civil rights issue of our time." We move beyond fear and prejudice by education, certainly, but also by familiarity. You can hate a concept, but it's far harder to hate someone you know -- someone who lives in your neighborhood, shops at your grocery store, says "good morning" and pets your dog when you meet on the street.
If you knew my son, you would think of 100 adjectives that describe him before you came to "transgender." Some of mine: witty, musical, cautious, empathetic, thrifty, sarcastic, sentimental. He drives me crazy taking forever to make decisions. He makes me laugh even (and especially) at the most inappropriate times (funerals come to mind).