Human Rights for all and I mean all: The Trans edition

 This one is a bit of a touchy subject, so I want to state this is what I believe and does not reflect on anyone else’s beliefs. 

 

Last night John Oliver did a piece on trans-athletes which was through. He debunked several studies that used faulty data to prove their point. He told the audience that he had lot more stories but, the people in the stories were too scared to be on national TV much less local TV.

 

One thing he said that stuck with me. That as time goes on the word “athlete” is being dropped making all trans-society something that should be eliminated.

 

He is right. And that scares me. 

 

I have known trans people since I was an adult. Being in the entertainment industry especially working with the Bohemian part of it introduces one to people they might never have met in normal life. 

 

For years I thought it was just male to female until I met Stew who was a female to male. His chest was rather scarred because, at the time, the removal of the breast tissue was done more like a total mastectomy. He didn’t care. He was happy with his body. He did tell me his journey and it was pretty messed up. The amount of resistance he had to overcome was amazing.

 

He was the first person I met. I knew of the concept because of Laura Antonio’s “Marketplace” series. One of the characters was female to male transperson and probably the favorite character of many.

 

Since Stew, there have been great strides in gender affirming surgery. Nothing perfect yet but, getting closer. 

 

The resistance is still there in spades. The number of hoops someone must go through as an adult to become what they know they are staggering. 

 

This “for the children” idea is dangerous. How many more suicides are going to happen? How many more are going to go through life knowing they are different and trying to get their body match their image of themselves? How many more are going to go through life hating their bodies to the point of self-harm? Is anyone going to listen TO the children and what they want and believe?

 

Then there are all the adults who know they are in the wrong body. Society keeps them from making the change they so desperately want for themselves. They are worried about the reaction from family, friends, and even total strangers because of what they have seen and heard.

 

I have book to recommend Surviving Transphobia by Laura A Jacobs. It is a set of essays by people who are Tran gendered about what they have gone through. I have read it and found the essays fascinating. 

 

Trans people are not going to vanish in a puff of smoke because certain people don’t think they should exist. They are here to stay. They have the same basic human rights as everyone else no matter how hard some people try to erase them through legislation and executive orders.

 

I am grateful for the Trans community.