Transgenders
In a prior post the issues of transgenders came up. This is an emotional subject with many people for a variety of reasons.
Personally my perception of male to female transgenders is colored by my experience, of running into prostitutes who are transgenders, as this has been my only significant apparent contact with male to female transgenders. (I say apparent because who knows what contact I have had and have not been aware the person was male to female transgender.) I am only seeing this group in their street working outfit and street working behavior. This means my initial reaction upon seeing a black male to female transgender in Publix is to automatically think prostitute, whether that is true or not. I am not saying this initial reaction is right, but this is what can happen when your contact with a part of a group is only in one situation.
So we can talk more intelligently, here is some more info from the Human Rights Campaign:
Transgender Basics
Transgender is a broad term that applies to people who live all or substantial portions of their lives expressing an innate sense of gender other than their birth sex. This includes transsexuals, cross-dressers and people who simply feel like their biological sex fails to reflect their true gender
Transsexual: a person whose innate sense of gender conflicts with their anatomical sex. Some, but not all, transsexual people undergo medical treatments, such as hormone therapy or surgeries, to change their physical sex so that it is in harmony with their gender identity.
Transvestite: an outdated term that refers to people who sometimes cross-dress, or dress in clothing typically associated with the opposite sex. Many cross-dressers are heterosexual and typically present themselves in a manner consistent with their birth sex.
... (more)
Trangender 101
Whether or not they identify as transgender, many gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight people transgress traditional gender roles. A straight female with short hair who is often called "sir" in public, a boyish-looking lesbian who is questioned in the women's bathroom, a gay teen-ager who is reprimanded for "not acting like a man" — all face bias based on preconceived notions of gender. The more people see how gender varies, the more people will embrace laws that treat people equally regardless of their gender exhibition. . . . (more)
Following the above definition, we in Seminole Heights and in Tampa are Berkeley in that we have many people who transcend traditional gender roles in variety of different ways.
Before you respond to this post, stop and think and try to move beyond gut reactions (this applies to everyone who responds).
6 comments:
The world is changing, there was a time not so long ago where interracial and same-sex couples were considered "freaks" as one poster in the earlier entry called the transgendered. While there will always be some level of intolerance I think we will see a day in the future where transgendered people are considered no more abberant than someone who has an abundance of tattoos or body piercings or any of a number of outwardly apparent individual diffrences.(as you stated sometimes you may never even know a person was born differently than they live now) As we've seen in the anti-Starbucks debate, change is very difficult for some people to accept. As you stated, our personal experiences color our preconceptions. My personal take on the "prostidudes" I've seen in SH is that they are almost caricature in appearance. I have a hard time believing that many of them have a true gender identity issue and think maybe its more about marketing. (just enough makeup/clothes so the 'john' can convince himself he isnt abberant)
As you said in an earlier comment, it isnt about tolerating them for their diversity as, I would like to think that if a transgendered individual moved in next door, as long as they were a good neighbor, SH folks would most likely make them feel as welcome as anyone else. This issue is about illegal and dangerous activity in the neighborhoods where we live and our children play, not to mention the public health issues. Just my two cents worth.
A transvestite once asked me why the hooker patrol was persecuting them. I told them directly, that I have no problem with what they do or who they are, just WHERE they do it and the type of people it attracts.
I still feel that the reason many are out there on the streets, in a changed-gender role, is that homosexuality is not accepted where they grew up. This is very similar to what I saw in India where there was no homosexuality but there were plenty of "transgendered" people. I'm not explaining all transgender but the possible reaction of certain people who try to fit into particular societal norms, that is, you have to be female to like males.
Nearly every single transvestite protitute I encountered while doing hooker patrol had breast implants and often other cosmetic surgery to enhance the female look. They behaved in a manner that I, as a gay male, would consider "gay", though it may be more accurate to say they gender-identify as straight women and not as gay men. For this reason, I highly doubt they do this for marketing.
The black community is not as tolerant of homosexuals as the white community. There is evidence of this in how HIV educators must approach the black community differently as homosexual black males do not generally identify as "gay".
Additionally, few communities are tolerant of transgendered persons and they often have difficulty finding employment. Some of the prostitutes I encountered have poor-paying full time jobs as well and only do this on off hours to suppliment their income. (Presumably to afford hormone treatments, surgeries, or other medical costs associated with their transgenderism.) Pre-op male-to-female (MTF) transgenders stand out even in male dress as very different. Gay men can often tell the difference between a another gay male and a MTF in male clothing.
I have known professional drag queens and transgendered persons in my life. Most of them are caring, loving, law-abiding citizens.
Life can get really tough when you unable to pass as the norm.
So much clothing sold "for men" are drab and boring. But sometimes it is also useful and practical for outside work for any sex. Is a man less human or less worthy of being treated well if he has a naturally curvy body.. or or woman if she has a naturally muscular physique? A robe on a man is not necessarily a dress, and a dress on a man does not endanger children, nor does long hair.. nor does short hair on a woman wearing slacks and a work-shirt.
When I see a man dressed in clothing that people sell as "only for women" in a public place like a grocery or bookstore.. especially when they are smiling, happy and friendly.. I admire their courage to show that people can choose style without conforming to some strict boring idea of what men/women can/cannot wear.
I personally believe that most work dress codes are sexist.. I've seen dress codes that specify the kind of dresses and shoes women are to wear as different from the shirts and pants and shoes that men are to wear.
Sarcasm: and you just know a person can't be a serious good worker if they are wearing the same thing as the employees of the other sex. It would cause a scandal.. the investors would stop buying the company stock.. business deals would fall through.. employees wouldn't be able to concentrate on their jobs.. it threatens the religious rights of other employees.. the customers would boycott us..
Sometimes, I wish people would stop acting like immature children trying to force each other to conform to their idea of what the group identity should be.
Sorry.. perhaps I only rant like this because recently while walking into the Publix on Nebraska, a woman way over at the bus-stop in front of the Publix screamed at me derisively: "Faggot!!"
I was with my wife that day. My son tells me that he doesn't even pay attention to most people anymore.. I would rather be friends with most people, but it is hostile behavior of that kind which drives communities apart.
This thread is gay
"This thread is gay"
No, this thread is transgendered!
One of my good friends is a MtF going through the final stages of hormone therapy while working in a military environment. *That* is rough.
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