When I was a kid, there was a Coca Cola commercial, whose jingle was, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, In Perfect Harmony."
If there was ever a time for that to make a comeback, and make an impact, it would be now. I've tried over the years to use this blog as a teaching tool. In some ways, it made me an accidental activist. Although, I've occasionally, not done so well with that. But, I try to do two things. I try to teach. I never set out to be a teacher, but throughout the jobs that I've had, I've overwhelmingly ended up being a teacher. I'm not so set in stone that I won't admit to being wrong. But, I'm also going to stand up against things that I feel are unfair and unjust.
My friend Izzy is the first ever transgender woman to compete in the Miss Maine pageant. I'm so excited for her, and so proud of how far she's come. She is a completely different person than the one I met when she was 18. And this is an amazing thing. Also, she's beautiful.
People, however, are nasty. The news has been reporting on Izzy. Which I think is really super cool. But, it scares me. On the posts from the News, there is so much hate. So much, "Men are trying to come and take over our women's sports." And, so much just plain ignorance. And, it makes me both sad and sick. One of the comments was from one of my cousins.
Are you able to have a disagreement of opinion? Yes. But, when you, as a regular person, in no way affiliated with the running of the government, are deciding on another person's life, without even including them in the conversation, YOU'RE the problem, not them.
I've told another one of my trans friends, that they are the reason that I have begun trying to educate the ignorant. So many people either don't know that they know someone who is transgender, or they legit don't know anyone who is. This is the problem. And, it's a bigger problem, which I'd talked about with Grok AI.
Humans HATE what they don't understand. There is something in humanity that makes us automatically go on the defensive against anyone who is in some way different to us. Right back to the Bible. We fear that we will somehow be inferior to whomever or whatever we don't understand. In the conversation with Grok, I talked about the fact that every movie that I've ever seen that comes down to a war between Humanity and AI or Robots, ends with the destruction of humanity. Why? Because we can't agree on anything. We're so quick to say, AI and Robots are coming for our jobs. Guess what? There's a reason for that. We created those AI or Robots to do those things. Are they better than us at doing them? Probably. Because that's their job.
Are Trans people in the same category as AI or Robots? No. This side Quest is brought to you by my needing to explain my train of thought.
But, people are against trans people. To the point of trying to erase their existence. In the United States, the Federal Government (Which is supposed to protect all of our people) it has been declared by the president that the Government will only acknowledge those who are male or female at conception. Which, is pretty funny, because its much later in the pregnancy that the fetus gains it's genitalia. As of conception, all fetuses are female. Which invalidates the argument
What started as a bathroom bill a handful of years ago, has ballooned into a beast with Sharp teeth and Talons, that needs to be cut down to size. A few years ago, if you don't remember, there were some bills introduced, which would make it illegal to use the opposite restroom of the one that's on your birth certificate. If you want to see why I believe that this is not right, I present you with Kim Petras, and Laithe Ashley. Would you FORCE Kim Petras to use a men's room? Would you WANT Laithe Ashley in the women's room with your women?
So, what it has become is a witch hunt, to see who is "passable". Similar to pre-Civil Rights movement for people who were lighter or almost white skinned people who had African ancestors. If you look like a woman, and I can't tell without you telling me, then you're a woman. But, the minute I think that your size 10 foot, or your wide shoulders, or the hint of an adam's apple, you must be a man. That's what this is really about. In this discussion, there is never a mention of a trans man. Nobody is talking about a trans man going into the men's room to do something to their little boys. It's about a trans woman who may look more masculine than your regular "biological" woman, being a rapist. That's NOT happening. Your Senators and Congressmen are more likely to get caught touching your children than trans people are. And many of the "trans perps" that you're probably going to throw at me, after having been detained, claiming to have been trans, have later admitted that they never were.
A trans person is trans 100% of the time. Much in the way that I am gay 100% of the time. It's not something that one day you just decide, any more than I can wake up tomorrow and say, "you know, starting today, I want to be Italian." I can move to Italy, and in name, I can be Italian. But, I'm never going to actually BE Italian, because it's not in my geneaology. That's the closest thing that I can say, having never been trans myself, to explain trans identity. You know that your birth identity (being American) is wrong. You know that the opposite gender identity (being Italian) is somehow right. So, you do what you can to make things right (become Italian). While also dealing with the fact that no matter what you get done medically, the majority of the world is going to believe that you're still not the gender that you are (You're not Italian, you're still American and always will be.) I maybe am oversimplifying things?
My whole point here though, is that we've become a nation of ANGRY people who really DON'T CARE about anyone but ourselves. We can't let other people have nice things, because their things might be nicer than our own. I want Izzy to go far in this pageant of hers. I think that she can do it. And, what an awesome thing, to be a trailblazer. But, I'm also terrified for her. If any of these people in the comments on Facebook are as serious as they make themselves out to be, there will be a lot of sleeping with one eye opened. And, it's not right. Izzy has never done anything to any of these people, except exist. And that gives them a right to call her a MAN? To say that she has no right to participate in a pageant, that explicitly says in the rules that if you can be medically called a woman, that you're eligible to participate. If it was against the rules, they would have told her no. It's as simple as that.
Stop being assholes. Get to know someone who is different from you. Ask them questions. Ask what are inappropriate questions first, so that you don't ask them. There is NO REASON to be willfully ignorant, when it comes to other people. We live in the world we live in because people are different from us. That doesn't make them better or worse than us. It just means that they're different.
And, to tie the whole thing together, this all came about because a lady today was talking to me about the news story about Izzy. This is a person who has previously told me that she had voted for the 47th president, on the advice of a family member. SO, going into this conversation, I was already on the defensive. This is a person I know. This is a person I think is cool. This is a person I genuinely care about what happens in their life. What came next though, surprised me. She looked at me and said that she didn't understand how the president has the power to erase trans people. (Insert jaw drop here.) When I showed her a picture of Izzy, she was shocked. "That's who all these people are so upset about? Are you sure that you're right about that Steve? She looks all woman." Her one question was, "Who convinced her that she needed to change?" I explained her story as I understand it, which is that NOBODY convinced her to transition. She chose of her own free will, and does not regret the decision. "Good!" was the response to that. As it should be. If I can help teach people about others who are different than themselves, I feel I should do so. I know I'm not going to reach every person. And that some people will never allow themselves to look at something from another viewpoint. But, if I can just reach one person, and help them figure out that they might be trans, OR help them to understand that being trans is not something that people are regularly brainwashed into being, shouldn't I try?
