Don Charles, on his excellent blog, Christ, The Gay Martyr, has another excellent post, in two parts, that resonates with my post of last Tuesday entitled, "Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression."
In his excellent discussion of the thesis of Gabriel Rotello, and the dynamics and consequent categories of thought regarding sexual orientation and gender expression, Don Charles offers a "reality shock" to Gay and Straight people alike, regarding self-image, stigma, and the "reality" behind those who experience same-sex attraction and love.
The title of his two part post is, "The Angel Gabriel." I strongly urge you to read both Parts 1 and 2 of his post.
An excerpt from his post follows that I hope will further entice you to read both parts of his post:
"Homosexual men and women have been burned by widespread myths that we all secretly desire sex changes, and that we all have a fondness for crossdressing. How many times, as a child, was I falsely accused of wearing women's lingerie? I can't count them all. I know from experience that we get confused with transvestites and transsexual persons on a regular basis, and we're punished for that reason. Consequently, we obsessively try to observe the heterosexist mandate that a man be 'all-man' and a woman be 'all-woman'. Fear of guilt-by-association makes many of us shun very masculine women and highly effeminate men, even while we conceal our own 'butch' and 'femme' traits."
4 comments:
It's really depressing, Jerry, to scan the Gay blogosphere and see just how many Lesbian and Gay activists are willing to sell out their transgender brethren. They are, in fact, eager to cut loose transfolk for toothless job protection legislation(Lambda Legal Defense Fund's analysis of the bill proves as much)that GW Bush won't even sign! Congress couldn't override his veto, either. Just like Uncle Toms and Aunt Jemimahs, we're stabbing one another in the back over the tiniest crumbs that fall from Massah's table.
It underscores the difference between waging a Civil Rights struggle based on craven politics and one based on moral principle. I'm certain Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King would disapprove of the non-inclusive ENDA, aren't you? They would never go along with leaving the most vulnerable people unprotected. I think God is trying to teach us a lesson here. I hope we're paying attention.
I absolutely agree, Don Charles! Furthermore, if anyone is willing to throw another group under the bus so that it can acquire some crumbs of civil rights protections, or even full and meaningful civil rights protections, he/she doesn't deserve those protections! What's even more pathetic, is that the passing of this "compromise" Bill wouldl work to the detriment of those who sold our Transgendered brothers and sisters under the bus, and that seems like poetic justice to me.
As a transgender and transvestite, I was disappointed by what happened with ENDA. I'm happy and content with who I am and no one is going to take that away from me. I came out only 2 1/2 years ago at age 56. I really don't have time for all the political games that are being played on transpeople. People are dying and committing suicide because they cannot live as themselves without every institution and other phobic peole breathing down their neck.
I will continue to work for trans rights and pray that our leaders and institutions will see the light.
Gennee
Hi Gennee: "Our leaders and institutions will see the light" only when there is grassroots activism that motivates the major LGBT rights organizations to become aggressive in fighting for civil rights for all of the LGBT communities. That means such things as picketing and boycotting homophobic churches and organizations; demanding same-sex marriage by appearing at marriage license bureaus with cameras rolling demanding the same civil rights as every other citizen; having individual and class action suits against any institution (such as hospitals, doctors, CEO's) that in any way deny the same rights accorded all other people; writing letters to the editor educating people about the lives of Transgendered and other people in the LGBT communities; voting as a bloc against politicians who would throw anyone under the bus for political expediency and/or for grubbing for votes; having enough self-confidence and self-respect so that one is affirmed enough to truly believe that he/she is worthy of those civil rights and the activism necessary to achieve them. No one is going to give civil rights to anyone. They must be fought for, and LGBT people and allies must be willing to go through "a season of suffering" in order to achieve them. I feel the first line of "offense" is to picket and boycott homophobic churches by holding the clergy's feet to the fire in showing how their hatred (be it in the name of "love" or not) is providing further "legitimacy" and "justification" for secular society to discriminate against LGBT people; how incongruous such hatred and discrimination are in the context of Jesus' commands to us to love others. As I have written, anyone who is willing to throw our Transgendered brothers and sisters under the bus doesn't deserve civil rights protections for themselves, and if the non-inclusive ENDA bill passes (and I assume that, if it is passed, that pathetic bill will be vetoed), the LGB people who support it deserve to have the wiggle room given to those who would have the right under that bill to deny medical insurance to the partner of one in a DP relationship, as well as enable an employer to fire someone for acting in what he/she perceives to be in a way incongrous with his/her biological gender, which is also a way of firing many Gay people under that loophole. Anyway, we keep fighting until they shove six feet of dirt in our faces!
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