Late Night Video — Senators Tell LGBT Youth That It Gets Better
This is excellent — several U.S. Senators film another bit of support to LGBT youth, sending the message that it does get better. MANY props to Senator Chris Coons who is a big participant here. (This is about 5 minutes long.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GjS2XrD2wc[/youtube]
Tags: Chris Coons, LGBT
I don’t get what the “transgendered” community has in common w/ the lesbians, gay men & bisexual men & women.
I get the whole gay thing, be it male or female. Being a man, the bisexual female thing is just awesome.
I cannot understand the Transgendered thing and I’m reasonably close to a transgendered person.
The term “transgendered” is grammatically incorrect. The correct term is “transsexual”. Unfortunately, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS has overpowered grammatical correctness. FWIW, Google Chrome recognizes “transsexual” but sees “transgendered” as a misspelling.
I think Coons was more than a participant here – he led this effort.
Anon40,
You don’t think transgendered youth face bullying, ridicule and persecution?
sex is biological. gender is the cultural and societal ramifications of that biological condition(ex. girls like pink). Much like disability is biologically created, but a handicap is the cultural and societal ramifications of that disability. (I am in no way saying LGBT people are in any way disabled)
People who are born the wrong sex also have issues with gender, because who they are doesn’t match up with the cultural and societal demands of the parts they have. Transgender still fits.
“Being a man, the bisexual female thing is just awesome”
also this is terrible.
What about Bisexual men? Is it less awesome when you realize most bisexual women aren’t insterested in doing it for your entertainment? that many bisexual women are monogamous and just don’t limit themselves by sex when choosing their next partner? that many of them face escalating issues of jealousy and distrust of their ability to be faithful due to their orientation? or that the large portions of the gay and straight communities disown them for fence-sitting? Bisexuality is not two drunk girls at a frat party.
UI – I don’t discount that transgender youth face bullying, but it is not sexual orientation. Transgender issues are gender identity, not sexual orientation. I also don’t understand why they are lumped in with the gay rights movement.
but MJ wouldn’t being transgender often lead to issues where two people of the same biological sex are romantically involved? while it’s not sexual orientation similar issues of rights and respect come along. the texas woman who’s marriage was ruled invalid by courts because she is transgender (and thus couldn’t collect her firefighter husband’s estate) comes to mind. not the same, but of a similar enough theme that it makes sense to combine forces.
I think there are several reasons transgender advocacy is grouped with the l/g/b movement. In no particular order: We are lumped together by people who would discriminate or attack for either reason, not understanding the difference; the transgender community is so small and vulnerable, they need allies and the lgb community is, for the reasons above, a natural ally; the issues blur – when is someone encountering discrimination or harassment because they are a biological woman living as a man or because they are a lesbian who wears closely cropped hair and button down shirts (or a straight woman who dresses as above and is thus assumed to be gay)?; at least some people who identify as transgender, first identified as lesbian or gay and found community there and often still find community and acceptance in the lgb community where they don’t other places; and we should not forget as we observe the 42? anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that it was drag queens who fought back against harassment and are credited as a catalyst to the modern gay rights movement.
I also come back to this famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.
“First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Dig, drag queens are not transgender. Some are great performers (see Torch Song Trilogy), others are just boys in dresses. Again, I’m not saying that they deserve to be the victims of discrimination, but gender identity and sexual orientation are two different things.
They are, but it’s natural that the two groups work together. The LGBT movement struggles enough, without the LGB the T would probably be without an audible voice.
It isn’t anything new. Suffragettes were huge in the abolitionist movement because they felt if they accomplished the slave right to vote theirs would soon follow (of course that didn’t work but still).
V – including the T in the LGB movement is highly controversial and not supported by many LGB people. It’s been a roadblock to getting ENDA passed, for example.
so I guess your solution is to drop the T and fight for their pre-op rights (when they’re still in technically same sex relationships)but let them twist in the wind when it comes to any transition/post-op issues they could have (hoping when they’re in an opposite sex relationship that they’ll be protected).
with friends like these …