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The fate of Leelah seems to have struck a cord in some segments of America. This morning, right on the front page of CNN, there is a rather detailed story about her and other transgender children and it is quite sensitive and supportive.
On my Facebook page I call it murder.
Leekah's story has moved me, striking chords in me that were not expected. Can it be that Trans folk are coming out of the dark ages? I'm going to phase over to Fox News now to see if the impossible has happened.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/27/health/transgender-kids/index....
Comments
I think that Brad & Angelina help here
in their accepance that one of their children in Transgendered.
If people such as them can publicly accept us then perhaps some of those less accepting will think twice before slagging us off.
Being of fundamentalist roots
It is heartening to see acceptance growing in the world, though there are those who will never get it. I did go to the wilderness to view Fox News, and as usual their coverage is sophomoric and vapid. I hope that we are seeing a new day in transgender land.
Gwen
Well, there are some things that can be done.
Suicides among children are on the rise. Not just transgender children. But, all children. This is because of the abusive and stressful environment they have been forced, when they are in schools, due to Zero Tolerance regulations, which deny children protects, and abuses the children, with severe punishment, for even the most flimsiness, and minor excuses, school officials can come up with.
But, local school offices will not remove Zero Tolerance regulations because those policies allow the school staff to no longer be held legally responsible for the children the oversee.
I say "oversee", and not "teaching", because with constant drops in grade point averages in school, over the course of decades, it is clear that the school staff is not teaching the children they oversee, anything, except that the children have no rights, and that the children will be abused by those in authority, at every turn.
Impersonating a male
I managed to impersonate a male until I was in my 50's, raised three children, and was faithful in my marriage for 39 years. Very early on we developed a very dim view of public education in America, so sent our children to private Christian school, starting in 1975. Later in 1989, when our youngest was of school age, she went to public school through the 4th grade and then we home schooled her. They all seem to have come up as decent and caring adults, though they have the closed minded fundamentalist views that they were brought up with.
I knew at a very early age I was a girl ... but through extreme trauma therapy simply forgot all about it until I was in my mid to late 30's. You sound like a Psych person, so may understand more about this than I do. My coming out starting in the mid 80's and coming to a head in 2004 proved to be extremely traumatic and destructive to the whole family, myself included. Recently, I have encountered several professionals both in the Psych community and the Medical community that concur with my feelings that psych meds exacerbated issues I was having.
The time to transition would have been at age 5, not when I did. Though, it is clear that my soul is female and this time finds me to have a very nice personal level of happiness. The family for their own reasons have not been adaptable to my true self. It would perhaps have been better if I had not done it?
I have very recently had memories surface that I did not know occured. I am sure they are real memories and they do not feel traumatic. I wonder how this will fit into my life?
Gwne
Well,
They only thing one can do is work through their issues.
Good luck.
Impersonating a male
Been there, done that, got a LOT of the T-shirts---and stopped doing it.
Souvenir....
Love, Andrea Lena
I can't stand the hatred
And it's on both sides. What does anyone accomplish by bashing Leelah now that she's gone?
And her parents for that matter? I disagree with their methods. But they've lost a child, and I don't doubt that they loved her. Among the greatest tragedies of this is the method they sought to "cure" her.
Most people of faith (and I consider myself one) don't realize how incompetent many therapists at so-called Christian clinics are. Take a few slanted psychiatry courses at seminary and boom ... you're a therapist.
She faced not only gender identity issues, but also depression and self image issues. And has been pointed out, suicide is on the rise with teens and those last two issues are a deadly combination even for a child who isn't transgendered.
I should know. My daughter struggled with depression and self image issues and attempted suicide when she was 14. Being in a hospital room while your daughter's stomach is being pumped is a nightmare, and that is why I pray for her parents. I am thankful to have made it through some of that hell and not lose my child.
I am encouraged that some of my Christian friends have posted about this with very sensitive opinions ... which gives me hope. It still angers me a good deal about the hatred some "church" have toward those of us who struggle with some of the issues Leelah did.
But I'm reminded of the message I am supposed to show as a Christ follower ... that I should show compassion and love to people who don't deserve it ... and not to repay evil with evil, but instead good.
Best thing we should do is educate people, and I pray that Leelah's parents and others like them, learn from this, and that perhaps we are better served to show unconditional love rather than throw stones at people.
I am blessed that my now 21-year-old daughter is safely asleep in her bed tonight and has become an amazingly wonderful young woman of faith who loves her outside the gender box parent unconditionally.
Leelah's parents can't say that. And I pray for them, and weep for them. Because even though they probably think the treatment they sought for Leelah was the right thing to do ... they have to know their actions played a role in their child's death.
I know that because when I was at my daughter's bedside, I did a complete examination of my relationship with my daughter to make sure I wasn't doing anything that caused her to feel the way she did and do what she did.
I will now crawl off my soapbox.
There will always be those who die
Some feel they are alone fighting something they don't understand. Sadly, those who should be supporting them, parents, don't understand either. They are a good Christian family so they go to church and pray, they talk to the pastor. Sadly the pastor hasn't a clue. All too common for everyone to believe it is a phase or rebellion against whatever.
How many times have I tried to explain there are different degrees of the boy-girl blender mix? It isn't possible for those outside looking in to understand or know how much of a girl mind the supposedly boy has. Nor can we know how much of a boy mind the supposedly girl has. Each one is unique unlike any other. There is no one size fits all category for those caught up in the gender blender. Very few want to hear what the boy-girl wants. Even fewer are experienced enough to listen carefully and learn how deeply driven that boy-girl is to seek a solution. That solution sometimes ends up in death because she-he received no hope, no help. Suicide becomes a way to end the pain and misery.
Too often those good Christian people want to trot out their tired dogma of "God doesn't make mistakes." They are right, God doesn't. Nature does. Poor clueless misguided bigots who have such a weak hold on their own gender it scares the bejeebers out of them to think someone might not be in love with what is between their legs. If anyone believes God loves those mixed gender people any less than anyone else, they need to talk to Him. If they don't know how, they need to learn. Or they can talk to one of the lesser ones. ME!
Years of my life wasted trying to explain to those who refuse to believe. God loves some so much He gives them a double blessing of boy-girl. If we have any who feel Deuteronomy explains God doesn't like boy-girls. Contact me offline. Parsing the bible to suit their bigoted view is what many religions and ministers do.
Years old research had proven male and female brains are different. DUH! The boy to girl T has a female brain. The girl to boy T has a male brain. And it is physical and mental. They really do have the developed brain of the gender they a driven to be not what the physical body exhibits.
Someone hose me down and push me off my soapbox.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Suicide
I helped at a presentation the other day, and one of the other women gave some statistics. They covered suicidal ideation, which in essence is the deep despair that leaves a person sitting trying to decide whether to cut their wrists/overdose/ screw up a train or lorry driver's life. It is very high amongst trans people, but it has dropped steadily in the UK, especially following The Gender Recognition and Equality Acts, It stands at the moment at around 36%.
That is, in the UK 36% of trans people actively and seriously consider suicide. What is interesting are the stats from two other countries. In the USA, it is 60%. In the Republic of Ireland, 80%. The reason is very simple: religion. Both the Republic and the USA have a much more prevalent church system than the UK, with all that entails.
Leelah's parents did what they did because of religious bigotry. Their message about their dead daughter, which spoke of their 'son' having an accident, was due to religious bigotry.
One of the aspects of teenage suicide thinking is "They'll be sorry", and that is clearly belied by the parents' reaction here. They drove their daughter to suicide because of their warped world view, and they STILL don't or can't see what they did. Of course, according to their beliefs their daughter is now burning in a lake of fire for the rest of eternity. That'll teach 'him' not to be a pervert. And no: I will not show 'respect' to any belief system that involves hating the different because of superstition. If they want respect, they can try offering it first.
No, I don't feel sorry for the parents. Child abuse, child torture, pure and simple. Now, I have written sermons for my religious characters. I have tried to put words in their mouths based in humanity and love, but they are fictional characters in stories that have, in the main, happy endings. If only.
I agree
It's true that as far as equality goes, the transgendered are still being treated, at best, like blacks were back in 1930. We have a long long ways to go in some places but it actually is reported to be more of a conservative cultural issue. In more open minded liberal countries like much of Europe and Canada it is far easier but the closed minded, conservative element will always be there. (although at best we can at least hope to shut them up in public circles)
The truth is, I never did understand just WHY and HOW anyone could hate someone over such tiny things. My own sister doesn't look like me so, using the same mentality, doesn't that mean that I should hate my own sister JUST BECAUSE she doesn't look like ME??
Prejudism, at best, is a public display of fear and ignorance and stupidity.