TO SEE: Transgender Transitions
Reflections from the other side
While I deal with a terrible case of writer’s block, like having 4 articles in work and none complete, my beautiful wife wrote something. Below belongs to Patty Redman.
Witnessing someone becoming whole and complete after years of feeling “wrong” in their physical body is breathtaking. Why would we ever want to “label” one sick when they only want to be the person that would match what they know they are inside? Maybe we do this because we have been conditioned into standards by bible beating and verbal slandering? It seems a certain population thinks they have the need to police a society into judgmental thinking that says it is only true one way, my way. I like what Ozan Varol says in his book, Think Like a Rocket Scientist: “When we prefer the seeming stability of stories to the messy reality of uncertainty, facts become dispensable and misinformation thrives.”
I’ve noticed some of the trans hate against MTF has come from white male privileged. Men who have made the news themselves as womanizers, abusers, and white supremacists.
MTF or FTM is a medical condition and a constitutional right that I ask us to stand up and be one with.
Just posting something on your Facebook or other blog venues that supports human dignity and being willing to say Trans rights matter is a huge and a welcome step to those being so targeted.
Being the wife of a transgender person makes it no less easy to figure out how to support our transgender population but saying a word out in public of support has got to be a good first step.
We all could use a dose of de-conditioning our minds from prejudices and adding a slab of human kindness. Take a few minutes to find some trans friendly websites* and read some literature regarding our family of trans people.
Many may think, “okay for adults but not for children.” If you read enough stories, you will notice most of our trans population knew at a young age but did not have the “language” or support to understand what was there and real for themselves. I think if you can listen/hear some parents’ stories** who have been willing to listen to their young one’s words it might help our minds to be willing to accept what we have not had to experience within ourselves or our families/friends.
Negative judgement on transgender rights is harsh and corrupt. It speaks superiority, animosity, biases, and allows one way of thinking to be a supreme right regardless of contradictions of others such as scientists, psychologists, medical professionals, and transgenders themselves. If you could, think of something that you know without a doubt is true in your life. Once you have the mental idea/picture allow yourself to feel and imagine that “something” being destroyed, taken away from you. If it is something you’ve treasured since your young years think what it would feel like to have it ripped or torn from you. When we can put something out in front of us that is an absolute and then allow that image to be hounded/scrutinized and hated by others we may get a tinge of what discrimination feels like. We can begin to understand how stupid the arguments of others are who have no idea what they are talking about.
*Trans friendly websites: transequality.org; katiecouric.com (type in transgender in the search engine bar); sojo.net (type in transgender in the search engine bar.)
**childmind.org (type in the word transgender in the search engine bar.)
