Chaz Bono a plus or a negative?

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Rami

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Rami

Last night and again this morning, a local TV show had, so called represenatives of the TG/TS community on, who commented on Chaz Bono's appearance on Dancing With The Stars. One was quite positive and the other very negative.

I am wondering what the readers on this site think about his appearance? Does a person's opinion change, if they are or lean to M2F, are or lean to F2M, or are neither?

I do not want to get in trouble with Erin, so please keep the comments in line with the sites goals and ideals, and about Chaz's appearance on the show.

RAMI

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Invisibility vs. Acceptance

I'm a big fan of Dan Savage, the sex advice columnist, editorial director of a Seattle weekly, and gay rights advocate. He's spoken a number of times on the issue of: gays coming out of the closet leading to more acceptance by society. It wasn't that long ago that being gay was a criminal offense. Think about that. You could go to jail for just being the way God (or the Flying Spaghetti Monster) made you, not entitled to a decent life or any privacy. So, staying in the closet seemed like a pretty good strategy, for a long time.

Then, there was a shift, and the rebellion at the Stonewall, and a movement began. As legal persecutions diminished, more and more people joined that movement, and more "came out of the closet." Over the last couple decades, we've reached a point where a large percentage of the population actually knows someone who's "out," possibly a close relative, or a colleague, or a friend. Someone they know, love and accept. Or, perhaps just as a TV personality who's perfectly likable and completely non-threatening. When it's your friends and family who are at risk, and not some theoretical strangers, you are more likely to support them when it comes to government policy and civil rights. In a couple of generations, we've gone from active criminalization to opinion polls that see a majority of Americans supporting full civil rights and gay marriage. A major shift.

Chaz Bono would probably object if I suggested that his appearance on DWTS is akin to Stonewall, but it's going to be an eye-opener for a lot of people. And, people's eyes have been slowly being pried open, by sympathetic and even not-so-sympathetic stories in the press, especially the ones involving young children with GID.

There's a critical-mass factor on any movement, and especially any movement for civil rights. Whether this will be fully achieved in our own lifetimes for the "T" in GLBT is questionable, but I think we have to welcome brave actions by people like Chaz.

___________________
If a picture is worth 1000 words, this is at least part of my story.

I heartily concurr with Pippa.

I don't know how old you are Pip, but I certainly agree with your observations.
Like the US, it was illegal to be gay in the UK until the sixties and being transgendered was also pretty unpleasant.
In my lifetime (born 1946,) I have seen tremendous change and lived through much of it. Sometimes I was active and vociferous and at other times I was 'in the closet' mostly because I had family and children to think of. As a child of the fifties, my early years were a horrendous torment.

I am now 'out' as a partially transgendered transvestite and I'm making up for all the lost years.
Just about any reasonable publicity helps the T in LGBT to gain further recognition and more importantly, acceptance.

The hardest step is convincing people that children are at no greater risk of abuse or assault by tee-people as they are by any other sector of the community.

Would you let a transgendered or transvestite teacher teach your child? That is one of the final hurdles we tee-folk have to surmount.

It's coming though. My best friend Mandy Mae. (See my and her profiles on tvchix,)is a bisexual TV and she teaches visual arts and graphic design in one of our local colleges. When the college has any social funtions or dances, Mandy and I go dressed.
We are good friends but not partners. We are both married to wives who recognise our transgenderism and tolerate it but do not participate or share.

Mandy and I are NOT intimate but we are very tactile in a feminine way. Lots of hugs and cuddles. We have been friends for several years. We both agree that intimacy would ruin a good friendship.

If a picture says a thousand words then I don't have to say anymore. This one tells of FRIENDSHIP.

XZXX

Bev.