Author:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnstaceyennis/2019/10/26/texa...
Everyone wants in on the act of deciding if transgender have a right to their own bodies. For many, that answer is no. They in their infinite ignorance and yes, stupidity, decide they know more than those, who have for fifty to sixty years, researched and studied all aspects of transgender. It's easy to be an expert on something they know absolutely nothing.
When I was nine or ten, daddy made a comment and it has stuck with me all my life. "If you don't know what you're doing, start it and someone will be along to tell you how to do it, even when they don't know themselves."
The jury awarded the mother custody of the boys and girl because the father was a habitual liar about every aspect of his life, his service, his experience, his degrees..., virtually everything about the man was a lie except he was a liar. The judge vacated the jury judgement and awarded the father joint custody and placed a gag order on both. (now she can't defend herself) Everyone from the President to the Texas governor, AG and every ignorant bigot with a phobia about transgender got in on the act. Promises to pass bills making hormone blockers illegal for children has been promised next legislative session.
I wrote to my governor, senator, and congressman when this same stupidity came up in Oklahoma legislature. I asked to be able to speak when this bill came up for a vote. I am not a public speaker and thank God Governor Kevin Stitt wrote back a very nice letter and informed me it wouldn't be necessary. The bill only had two sponsors and nil chance of coming to a vote. If by some quirk it managed to pass, the senate had to vote on it where it had no support, not even one. He would veto it if by some miracle it made it to his desk. His letter wasn't a politician's white wash, the bill never came to a vote.
Two weeks ago I sent a letter to my primary care provider as a round about way to let her know I wasn't changing VA Hospitals. The following was that letter, name redacted as I don't want her to come under fire if this leaks to any hate mongers.
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Dr. --------------, thanks for arraigning the tests at OKC. Least I forget, let's not do that again. Every few years the memory slips, I forget just how much I dislike going there until I do it again. I'll make that 330 mile round trip to Amarillo instead. It seems the VA has opened a satellite clinic in Clinton, Okla. 30 miles from me. Dropped by to talk to them and see what they offered. Informed them I was Trans, accepted by the Arizona VA and Amarillo VA. I think I was a little too direct. Mentioned one doesn't expect a pediatrician to do brain surgery and most doctors have no real concept what trans is or how to treat us. If they hadn't ever dealt with trans or feel like they couldn't treat me I wouldn't be coming in. There wouldn't be any hard feelings on my part. I had a beautiful doctor in Amarillo, a Women's Clinic in OKC who accepted me and knew what they were doing. They could call me if they knew more about trans than what they had read in the tabloids.
That was twenty one days ago. I might have been a little too brisk?
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We are going to need to keep informing, enlightening, and softly educate the masses, transgender is treatable. But not as most think. It takes an early start to be the person our mind is telling us we are. We are human the same as the rest of the population. We aren't contagious, we aren't mental, and we don't subtract but add to the diversity of the population, among our many attributes.
I pray I make an easier path for those who follow to find their life and are able to live it. I'm not stupid, I know it's not enough but I'm trying.
Barb
Life is a gift, even for those of us who are a lighting rod for hate, bigotry, and ignorance.
Comments
Can't Comment
I can't comment on this without getting into politics, but even in OK a fish rots from the head down.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Can't read
I can't read the article because I refuse to disable my ad blocker app.
I can't understand why the antis and bigots have the loudest voices when they absolutely know nothing of which they talk.
I also wonder what they are afraid of, maybe some of their feeling are similar and they are deathly afraid to act on them. Who truly knows? I know I don't.
I suspect it's more to do
I suspect it's more to do with their beliefs that anyone who sees them selves as the opposite gender/sex to their declared birth one is some sort of nutcase or threatening to their children. While we all know that being transgender isn't an infectious disease people seem to treat us as if it is and it apparently also gives them the right to ask personal questions which they wouldn't like to be asked of them.
Things are easier, in the main, than they were when I transitioned nearly 35 years ago, but there will always be ignorant types around who feel they have some right to treat us as mentally incompetent, when generally most of the TG people I know are probably cleverer than the average.
As I live pretty well in deep stealth these days, I leave it to others to take the campaign forward, I did my bit many years ago and I simply want to continue my life in peace and quiet doing my ecological studies and hopefully contributing to the knowledge of that before I pop my clogs.
Angharad
no
clog popping allowed!
Madeline Anafrid Bell
As Maddy said ...
... definitely no clog popping allowed. Anyway, you're a lot younger and a lot more beautiful than I am so it's my turn first. (though the 'beautiful' comment is damming with faint praise :) )
R
I'll simply say that the
I'll simply say that the title of this post is ignorant and inflammatory in its own right.
Saying that the entire population of the state of Texas is the bigoted ignorant is just as viciously ignorant as the morons that _are_ present in any and all legislatures.
Just to correct something that I'm tired of hearing. _Bigoted_ means a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions. Period. That means that if I don't like what you think, I'm a bigot. When YOU don't like what I think, you're _also_ a bigot. It's a worthless word.
Just because the connotation is to be wrong-thinking, doesn't mean that the denotation doesn't exist.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Reading the title
Barbie didn't mean all of Texas is ignorant and bigoted, she meant that the ignorant and bigoted in Texas are afraid. It's a clumsy phrasing but if you're familiar with Barbie, you know what she meant.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Howdy
Hey, this Texan didn’t take it as offensive. Barb, it’s even easier to see bigots south of the Red River!
I'm not familiar with her
I'm not familiar with her personally, no, but I keep seeing this same sort of phrasing, targeting several different states - and it's something that people need to stop. "Because the (Governor/Senator X/Mayor of City) in is an idiot, everyone there is an idiot." Often with exclamation marks.
People that end up in politics are usually NOT hard-working people, and they're not "just like everyone else." They're people that have ended up getting enough money to pay to get their name in front of others, and are beholden to those providing the money. Courts are the same way. Now, CPS in Texas is VERY strange. I won't get into detailed descriptions, because 1) I don't fully understand it myself, and 2) it'd take DAYS. Judges in Texas tend to often listen to the CPS officials, despite all evidence being against what the CPS person is saying. No clue why.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
"People that end up in politics..."
"People that end up in politics are usually NOT hard-working people, and they're not "just like everyone else."
Nope. They are mostly Lawyers and we all know how useful and productive that sub-species is to society as a whole.
It used to be
"Those that can do. Those that can't teach."
Now it is
"Those that can do. Those that can't become money grabbing shyster Lawyers"
There are thankfully some exceptions to the money grabbing shyster bit. Without them we'd be in even deeper trouble than we are today.
Samantha
In a hurry?
If you are rushed, believing the “professional” is a way to reach a defensible answer quickly. Defensible. Not necessarily right. “Defensible” can be important to judges who have to face re-election often.
I have a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins in Texas
I lived in Texas also. Some of the sweetest, nicest people I know are in Texas along with many other states. I probably have more kin in Texas than I do in Oklahoma and they span the political, professional, and private sectors. Some of them are opinionated, most aren't. I'm a Hinze 57 mongrel. Some of my ancestors came over on the Mayflower and others met them. Name any nationality and I could have some of that. Realized I'd never get any pedigree documents. None of that was interesting enough. I decided to be transsexual. Part of that is tongue in cheek. Guess which part.
Dictionary of Bigot
noun A person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions.
Barb
When reaching for the stars, make sure it's your star not someone else's.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Who is to blame ?
They took a small difference and made it something despicable. There is nothing wrong with a small child not identifying with needlessly rigid gender standards. Lots of people understand a girl riding horses, and doing all sorts of things that others imagine are "Tomboyish". It is sad that a boy who likes dolls and skirts is viewed with such alarm, even homicidal anger. I submit that it is the men who are fearful of such a boy, and react hysterically, and with unspeakable cowardice.
I submit that most of this irrational reaction comes from religious folk who don't seriously study the words of their own beliefs. This is true of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I am profoundly sad that they use these things as an excuse to do unspeakable things to the different.
Skip A Rope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9WsBT6uyXM
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Indeed.
How many fathers in the US berate their child because they don't end up as their image, make the school/college/pro sports teams etc etc etc.
It does not matter that the child missed out on those genes in the pool they get told 'Be a Man', 'Shape Up' and the rest.
Thankfully, it seems to be much less of a problem over here but as with everything (such as Prom''s for 6yr olds????) we get infected eventually.
About the only thing good about my father (he got PTSD from WW2) was that he and mum let me make my own decisions about my career.
Samantha
children as property
So many abhorrent "parenting" decisions &patterns of treatment become conceptually comprehendable one you realise that they see their children as property, and thus any defiance of their plan is damaging their investment
re: children as property
Don't you really mean 'meal ticket', 'retirement plan' etc etc ?
For getting their offspring their 15 nano seconds of fame, these parents want to live out their lives in luxury.
Fights amongst parents on the 8yr old Soccer League touchline because their precious offspring had the temerity be tackled by another 'little darling'. Some leagues are banning parents from the touchline because it has gotten so bad.
My father only put his foot down when aged 13, I blew up the garden shed when making Black Podwer. It wasn't because the shed was wrecked that he got angry, but that I'd involved a girl in the proceedings. Said girl (lived across the street from me) went on to become Chief Chemist at a Multi-national company. Nuff-said.
Those were the days eh!
Samantha
LOL, Kids and Experiments
Once upon a time we could purchase a chemistry set with all the goodies in it to basically melt the world or possibly nuke it. Remember Ball and Jacks where all them tiny little pointy things we swept up in our hands before the ball bounced twice? I wasn't the only child whose parent put on a tractor at age five and left to drive by herself. Or allowed to carry daddy's guns by age six. Ridding in the back of the PU going down the highway? Or laying in the back car window?
How did the human race survive without all the laws, rules, and before all the do gooders started telling us how unsafe all of us were without their guidance. All the learning and mistakes we made as kids didn't have to be done over as adults. Took advanced Chemistry in college, was told years later there wasn't any such class. Guess I made it up, except it's on my transcript. I probably lied about everything else too?
The nicest compliment I ever received was from a friend who stopped by with her friend and was asked.
"What does she do?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
It's sad we can't leave all we learned and our experiences behind to our own kids besides in stories they never listen to and soon forget if they do listen. I'd love to have all my dad's and mom's experiences. My grandparents, great grandparents, and so on. But then if we did, we wouldn't be the individual we are.
Hugs Samantha
Barb
The more we learn the more we understand we know nothing.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Back of the truck
Wasn’t just allowed to ride in the back. Was told to. Especially after I’d helped my dad with any chore involving manure!
Good News as of Aug 13, 2020
Mom won again, but the fight is still on
http://www.slowlyboiledfrog.com/2020/08/an-interim-win-for-d...
Yaaay!
I'm glad to hear the mom won again. I hope things keep turning 'round for her.
Missing Quantifier
I was debating with myself if I should post or not. I know that often not making the post is a better idea that making one. As Twain once put it: "It's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
Still I did want to make a comment on the missing quantifier and the tendency to assume ill intent in electronic communication. We tend to assume that the missing quantifier is maximal. While I agree that offense is in the reception rather than in the delivery It is still more polite to assume generous intent and un-artful phrasing.
Now that you know I'm a pompous fool I'll go a head and add my two bits. I give my wishes that this little girl is left in peace and is allowed to determine her own destiny among those who love and support her. That those who are so quick to judge learn to understand the harm that they cause. I know nothing about this case other than the linked news story but form personal experience with the news I can be pretty sure that the reporters got almost as much wrong about it as they got right. It's unfortunate that those we are forced to trust make trust so hard.
Peace, Love, Grace
Your friend
Crash
Unfortunately, it's not a missing quantifier.
Let's look at the subject line.
Even if you added punctuation, it would simply become "Texas, (the bigoted ignorant), are afraid of a 7 yr old girl."
The entire sentence would have to be restructured to NOT be inclusive of the entire population of Texas.
"Bigoted ignorant in Texas are afraid of a 7 yr old girl."
A writer has a duty, nay, an obligation, to ensure that what they write is not likely to be immediately taken with a meaning radically diverged to their intent. In this case, it was a failure. Many people will try to excuse someone they know well for various failings; it's not necessarily a benefit for the person failing. (Frankly, I don't even like the restructuring I wrote; it's poorly constructed, but at least it wouldn't be immediately taken as an assault on the state of Texas and its entire population)
One thing we have to keep in mind, and many/most ignore it. You may not like someone else's opinion, but as soon as you start agitating for laws against those opinions, YOU have become a bigot. You are actively intolerant of someone else's opinion. I am not discussing actions right now, but simply personal opinions. People are being told that they can't express any personal opinions without risking losing their jobs, or being arrested in extreme cases, just for saying they don't like a person, a group, or a behavior. Me personally? Anyone who wants to walk up to me and tell me they hate some group I'm part of? I'm fine with that. I may try to change their opinion, but I really don't care if they hold it.
I'll say this.
I have seen, on this site, MANY people spout hatred and intolerance of people, actions, items, and groups. On the whole, they are allowed to do so freely. That's the entire PURPOSE of having 'safe haven' style web sites and forums - they're places where you can put forth common opinions about those outside of the collective group.
Humans are tribal, and intolerant of those outside of their tribal groups. Please keep that in mind. Different is Danger. Ignorance flows both ways.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Every three months a new trans scary story???
The lady is a conservative transgender activists. She has received death threats from trans activists, liberals, conservatives. WOW, she brings focus to all groups.
This is her Youtube site, she also has a Facebook page. I regret I didn't know about her Dallas speaking rally until tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-fcWg8n6-g
Hugs People
Barb
Has anyone ever found life without challenges in it?
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Conservative & TG activists...
... is a combo I never really expected to see. It's so nice to know there's conservative folk who can see a need to protect the rights of TG folk. I'm so sorry to hear she's bein' attacked by so many people. I hope she'll be able to hang in there.
Did you listen to her whole talk in that blog?
Most of what she said was wrong, and a whitewash of the facts.
*blushing*
Actually, I didn't listen to the blog. I was just reactin' to the idea of a conservative bein' supportive of TG folk. I guess I shoulda listened to it before commentin'. Sorry 'bout that. *blushing some more*
I can relate to that
It is soooo hard to keep track of things when it goes past at the speed of the internet. I need one of those, so far, mythical artificial intelligence doohickies to sort through all the crap on the internet to get to the good stuff. My Google skills just can't keep up. Or maybe it's I can't keep up. Anyhoo, stay safe out there.
The Blaire White Project
I watched a couple of her blogs. She's real good at finding fault with other (usually less passable) trans people and excusing blatant right wing transphobic activism as no big deal or being something other than what it is. She's gorgeous but totally fucking deluded. I respect conservative trans people---how boring if we all agreed on everything---but she's in bed with people who despise everything we are, and who have only been prevented from a lot of their self-admitted attempts to eradicate trans rights and to redefine us out of existence ("There's two genders and trans isn't one of them!" is a common conservative refrain...) by the courts, not the loving benevolence of Captain Cheeto and Mike the Penis. No death threats, but Ms. White is definitely blocked and on my ignore list...
~hugs, Veronica
/
Yes, the media plays up threats sometimes but that doesn't mean the threats from these trans-hating reactionaries she loves so much isn't there. Just listen to what THEY say about us...
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
Goldfinger
Bond - Do you expect me to talk?
Goldfinger - No Mr Bond. I expect you to die.
Field Mice for Barn Owls 2020
Love, Andrea Lena