Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Help others accept who they were born to be

    March 24, 2008

By Amanda Hollmann

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum24gendersbmar24,0,7324334.story (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum24gendersbmar24,0,7324334.story)

Recent events have prompted this paper to give widespread coverage to transgender issues. Ralph De La Cruz has written two articles about Willie/Niki, a transgender teen. Mr. De La Cruz states in the article that "Some people will no doubt... think, 'Geez, that's one confused kid.' " The only confusion this young person faces is from the grown-ups commissioned to guide him into adulthood.

In admiration for Willie's courage and self-confidence, Mr. De La Cruz wrote, "When I grow up, I want to be like Willie." However, even Willie isn't Willie any longer. Willie will never be the man he was born to be, instead, he will be a woman, Niki.

Although the writer gets pronouns right in the lede and bridge, this is really about being happy with the societal roles that come with being born with a penis -- in other words, a rehash of the fundevangelist trans talking points.

The paper has a comments section.  I encourage Susans members to leave intelligent, thoughtful rebuttals.

Karen

Thanks Z for the heads-up, and Karen for a good comment.

Here's my posting. =K

QuoteGreetings, Amanda Hoffman;

First, thank you for getting the pronouns right when referring to Niki.  Too often, those who oppose gender transition insist on disrespecting the transitioning/transitioned individual, and denying/belittling them their experience by always referring to them in terms of the body's sex, which in their case has nothing to do with their gender.

Second, disclosure.  I am a post-operative male-to-female transsexual.  I followed the rigorous WPATH Standards of Care, meeting or exceeding the requirements for therapy and medical supervision for my transition.

I find your article full of fundamentalist Christian talking points on transsexuality.  I'll not rebut them point by point, as this is by design a 'tar-baby' of supreme stickiness.  I will, however, compliment you on your 'dogwhistle' writing -- I really had to read some of the passages carefully to realize you were condemning me for my experience.  The first clue, though, was referring to Gender Reassignment Surgery as 'surgical mutilation'.  Your team really needs to find a better dogwhistle term, as that one is becoming obviously a term of condemnation.

For me and my trans-brothers and -sisters, it really isn't about sex, but about gender roles.  I made a lousy male - having the factory equipment conferred none of qualities of personality that are attributed to  what the doctor checks for when we're born.  Trans-men have the same problem with external configuration not denoting the personality that will emerge.

The books by Steven Pinker are a great read.  He footnotes and biblios the research he uses.  In "The Blank Slate", he makes a conclusive argument that children turn out like their parents because of genetics (nature,) not the care with which their parents raised them to be a certain kind of person (nurture.) Basically, children turn out conservative and devout because they received those qualities from their parents the night they were conceived, not because dad beat it in to 'em.

Speaking of beatings, my reactionary stepfather couldn't beat the gay out of me...

http://christianglbtrights.blogspot.com/2008/01/symbolism-nuditiy-and-sexuality.html
This article speaks of the paradox of enticement/revulsion many feel when they are confronted with a gay, lesbian or trans person.  I don't think about sex any more often than the average woman, and perhaps less as I'm still on high feminizing doses of female hormones, which tend to take away all libido.

But my being in the room is like telling someone "Don't think of an elephant!"  You can't not.  And just like that, when you find out I was born male but now am female, you can't not think about sex, you can't not be simultaneously attracted and revolted by those thoughts you feel.  And you feel it must somehow be my fault, and you project many things you think/feel/fear onto me and my -brothers, and especially -sisters -- that we are all perverts, waiting to recruit impressionable young innocent blank slates to a 'lifestyle'.

But as I pointed out earlier, that  recruiting can't be done. At least 97% of us DO 'accept who we are', by which you mean be happy you were born with a *****(*), and by definition can't be recruited.  But (and here's the truly scary part,) you can't stop someone truly committed to transitioning from transitioning -- a fact the vast majority of the psychological community knows to be true (and those who say you can change are no better than the 'researchers' who pimped for the cigarette companies in the 50's and 60's to try to counteract the inconvenient truth of cigarettes=lung cancer.)

Finally, Amanda, I'm post-op.  Say we're in a seminar together, and it's break time.  Your bladder is uncomfortably full but you see me (born male) disappear into the only womens restroom ahead of you.  My question to you is; how long will you wait before going in?

Hazumu Osaragi

Help others accept who they were born to be

Sun (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum24gendersbmar24,0,7324334.story)
03/24/2008

"Recent events have prompted this paper to give widespread coverage to transgender issues. Ralph De La Cruz has written two articles about Willie/Niki, a transgender teen. Mr. De La Cruz states in the article that "Some people will no doubt... think, 'Geez, that's one confused kid.' " The only confusion this young person faces is from the grown-ups commissioned to guide him into adulthood."