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I think I'm going to be sick. I mean, literally, physically want to run to the bathroom ill right now.
While doing some research for my next writing project in Robin's life, I stumbled across an article on transgender student athletes in Connecticut. The responses almost brought me to tears, thinking that human beings could be so cruel toward CHILDREN in their comments!
I warn you, this is NOT for the faint at heart, like myself, but you have to be one sick, callous son of a bitch to write this kind of bile.
http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2009/11/22/news/doc4...
I've always known there are closed-minded people in this world. I live with them every day here in the South, but this goes beyond closed-mindedness into outright murderous rage, and yet they call US the freaks? What. The. Hell.
The upshot is I think I've found an interesting angle for controversy with Robin. She's never been athletically inclined until this past summer, jogging with Allison and then later extensive hiking, so something like Track & Field would be right up her alley.
I'm still shaking after reading some of those comments though. It's no wonder people like me are so afraid of facing the truth. :-(
Comments
Agreed!
The thinking behind some of the comments on this story are why I was afraid I'd end up in a mental institution as a child if I told anybody I was a girl. With some of those people, I would have. Scary.
At least a few people had their heads on straight.
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Sigh...
To me at least the Board's decision was slightly odd, but at least they went to the bother of drawing up a policy that allows some TG students to participate in sports (although as one commentator said, surely it would be better if such things could be decided on a case-by-case basis between the student, the coach and the team).
As for the comments, I drew up three lists of the commentators - those who seems supportive of TG students, those who weren't, and those who were ambivalent or talked about other topics. I reckon there were ten positive contributors, twelve negative and thirteen neutral. So it was a fairly even mix in terms of number of unique contributors, even though some of the negatives ("Middletown" in particular) were rather more vocal than the positives.
And after seeing some of the positive contributors quoting scripture, and thinking back to some selective extracts of scripture used by homophobes / bigots in the past, I can't help but think of a corollary to the adage "You can prove anything you want with statistics" - "You can prove anything you want with scriptural quotes"
As for the negative comments, I can't say I'm shocked or surprised - there seem to be many that follow the ideology of harking back to the 1950s or earlier, when it was perceived that men were men, women were ever-so-submissive Stepford Wives, and any mention of intimate relations or deviations from socially acceptable "norms" was restricted to the bedroom, and certainly never discussed in public.
These people are the kind of people who'd be attracted to conservative/traditionalist/fundamentalist/evangelical preachers - the kind who (like The Vatican) seem to think that if only we could turn the clock back 50+ years, everything would suddenly be all right with society. Perhaps what's most worrying is when these preachers export their ideology to Africa, where it can result in things like the Ugandan homophobic law.
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
I agree in regards the
I agree in regards the board's decision. It does seem somewhat odd. Especially the bit about not being able to participate in sports until two years after surgery. First off, except perhaps in some intersex conditions, surgery wouldn't be allowed at an age where it would be an issue. For another, surgery is completely meaningless in regards to physical ability (except for the recovery time afterwards). It's the hormones that make all the changes. And if the hormones are administered in such a way as to prevent the wrong-gendered puberty, then there should be no issue at all.
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Now that I'm thinking rationally again
I can comment to the article itself. It's kind of a relief to know I'm not the only one who had a serious "What the hell?" reaction to their decision. I can understand their reluctance only from an ignorance point of view ESPECIALLY in cases where male puberty has been completely stopped already and hasn't been allowed to turn the child into a 220lb+ linebacker.
The problem is they seem to be approaching this from the perspective of the idea of a 6'3" varsity football player wanting to run track or play basketball against a girl, when it's absolutely not the case (Nevermind there being cases of girls being allowed to play football against boys, including at least one homecoming queen). I don't know where people get the stigma of "transgirl is just a boy who wants to cheat", though.
If someone's willing, especially at that young age, to endure that much pain just to correct their body to match their brain (and yes, there IS definitive proof out there that transgendered MtFs have an identifiably female brain. I'll try and dig up citation), then they should be allowed to compete just like any other girl, without this "wait two years" nonsense.
It's something I'm thinking about attacking in fiction, but I'm not sure if I should just leave it lie as too controversial. Time will tell I guess.
And thanks everyone that responded to this, especially Ang for posting a response to the Polukaville Times.
I apologize if this sounded a little sensationalist on my part. It just absolutely infuriated me so much. Talking to a new friend from right here at the TopShelf helped me calm down quite a bit.
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I've left a comment
on the hicksville gazette or whatever it was called. It should give them someone else to hate hopefully while leaving the GID kids alone. I find the comments of some quite disturbing, verging on scary.
Angharad
Angharad
It's frightening
I agree, I just don't get the idea of hating a particular group of people. But there is this huge knee jerk reaction to even the slightest of differences. The comments in the article were mixed but there were some really nasty people there. I really hate the ones who use their faith as an excuse for their actions. I've nothing against the faithful out there but lots against hatemongers.
As for using it in a sense of things for the story, It'd be a good hook to add in there. Just like the drug issue with Nikki was. This and school bullying can be a great issue. I've never seen anyone do anything with a gun in a school even though it does happen in RL.
Bailey Summers
Middlesex!
I love wordplay irony! Bumfu... err.. I mean, Middletown, Connecticut is in MIDDLESEX County! Har, har, har.
Here's a Census Snapshot of this smallish lower-middle-class suburb.
Anyway, it's an old article. Last November. Very doubtful anyone who wrote any of those horrid comments will be checking back at this late date to see if anyone rebutted them.
Not only large regional swaths of the US, but surprising pockets where you'd least expect them geographically, contain statistically large numbers of outspokenly ignorant and hateful people. Pennsylvania, for example, has been described as, "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between."
The one pleasure I can take away from the comments on that article is that there were some people standing up for empathy, decency and hospitality. The bigots usually pollute those comment streams with their vitriol -- that's regrettably normal. Articles like this pull them out of the woodwork. Small-minded Americans aren't shy about expressing themselves. Seeing a few principled statements defending against the bigots -- those carry more weight for me.
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If a picture is worth 1000 words, this is at least part of my story.
oh jeeze. I didn't even
oh jeeze. I didn't even check the dates >_> I was just so jarred by the negativity. It was kind of nice to see some decent people not within the GLBT community standing up though, definitely.
You'd think dealing with gaming communities online for as long as I have I'd have a thicker skin, but this just shook me right to the core. Or maybe hit a little closer to home than I'm comfortable with.
Either way, it's nice to know there are people both within and outside who still remember that at the end of the day, we're all humans. :-)
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Even though it can be
Even though it can be upsetting and disturbing to read and comment on articles like the one published in the middletownpress, it is important that we engage in a dialogue with both the writer and the commenters. Many of them are speaking/reacting from positions of complete ignorance of the actual issue, having never experienced or even thought about transgenderism. It may not change their mind, but it might open their eyes to a reality they never had to deal with. And that alone might be enough to lessen opposition to changes in laws dealing with transgendered people.
An example of how to politely educate people posting vitriolic comments regarding TG issues can be found at
http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2009/12/20/josie-joey-rom...
The blogger, Charles Anthony, is commenting on an article in a UK newspaper about the Joey Romero case. Joey Romero, age 8, from Arizona, USA, was dx'd with GID at age 6 and has become Josie. The article is not very clear (surprise surprise!) and left the reader with the impression that surgery was imminent.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6333217/Boy-8-h...
Y'all can guess what Charlie said. AND he blamed the mother. After an exchange of comments with Brute, Charles (not noted for empathy or an open mind!) almost admitted he might have changed his mind.
BTW, those comments posted by Brute are mine. And a lot of what I said was gleaned from facts posted here on BCTS.
Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue
That's not the worse that can happen...
At least in that country, transgender students are at least accepted. In my country, being a post-op transgender is itself a crime against God and country. While there was never a mention that post-op transgenders are to be cuffed and thrown to jail on sight, there is no law that even at least try to protect post-op transgenders.
In fact, it's even considered malpractice if any doctors in my country perform any sex-change surgery, except for extreme conditions such as life-threatening accidents or birth defects. Intersexed people are not looked upon favourably here either. Those who managed to get a sex-change surgery in other countries (Thailand for example) will find that upon their return, they will still be treated as their original gender. None of their documents will ever portray them as their post-op gender and eventually they will face isolation, ridicule and unemployment. The only jobs they will have then will be in the various ill-paying service industries, unless if they managed to land a high-paying escort job. Oh don't scoff, these escort services often pay very well, and in some cases, sex doesn't even come into question as the clients only wish to have sweet things hanging to their arms or to be able to talk as themselves and know that they will never be shunned for their beliefs.
From my vantage point Zoe, the article you presented is indeed terrible. Live in my country though, you'll wish you never step foot here. It's often said that Malaysia is a nice and beautiful country, rich in culture and style, but I say if you want to be a transgender, be a citizen of another country, then if you still want to live in Malaysia, apply to live as an expat. People here look at transgender expats with at least a little more respect compared to citizen transgenders.
Is my words harsh? I don't know, I'm merely telling it the way I see it. Perhaps living in a country with close-minded, prejudiced, self-centered, fanatically religious people as the rulers has desensitized me in a way. The only way things can probably change, is if we have a transgender Sultan or High King.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that it could've been much worse.
Eris