AtheistNexus.org blog post on transgenderism reposted

Transformer, Transition—Transgender
Posted by Donald R Barbera on July 9, 2015 at 12:32am
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Growing up in a medical household certainly had its advantages as my brother, sisters and I had opportunities many kids never had chance to do. We were up to date, well educated and consciously modest because of those things. Yes, coming from that medical household also had drawbacks when it came to reality and hard facts, especially when it came to life and death.
We learned early that death can drag on forever or be gone in a whisper. Too many times, we heard our father predict a death of a patient. We had no way of knowing what gave him that ability. We knew nothing of failure of vital organs or loss of brain function. We also had no idea that some children came into the world genderless or without clear gender recognition, which according to my father didn’t occur often, but happened enough that doctors made the determination if the child would be a boy or girl.
Of course, it is the Caitlyn Jenner story that leads me to write this, at least partially. My actual topic has more to do with a familiar statement spouted by Christians and that is, “God doesn’t make mistakes.” That should provide grand comfort to those with spina bifida, Down syndrome, cleft palate, club foot or cystic fibrosis. Of course, in Christia
n fantasyland these horrendous conditions represent the lord working in mysterious ways
What my father revealed to me happened somewhere in my 20’s. So, I was not unaware of its existence or of physicians facing such dilemma especially considering the moral implications. Although it might seem that it was a 50/50 decision, in reality, it could have been 90/10, 25/75 or even 60/40, especially without the aid of technology like ultrasound.
I didn’t think about it much after that, but when I became a traveling musician, I crossed paths with several transgender men and women. I knew about sex reassignment surgery thanks to the Christine Jorgensen story,[1] and as a newly graduated journalist, I was trained to ask questions, pointed questions, questions that reached to the core. I would have asked the questions just because I wanted to know what it was like.
Jude (real name) told me he always felt like a woman, even from the time he was a little girl and had always wished she were a boy. Jude (formerly Judy) was from North Carolina, but moved about the country with his military family. Jude moved to Los Angeles in the 60’s made the decision to transition from female to male while he was there. He told me living in Los Angeles made it easier for the transition. I understood, as my musical endeavors took me to
LA occasionally and Los Angeles is—well—Los Angeles. The others I met had similar stories with all saying they were happy with the decision.
Gender reassignment makes all the media outlets and is even the topic of entire shows, which makes it even more sensation, but in reality just as my father pointed out, it happens and a lot more than anyone thinks.
“Obstetricians, doctors and midwives commit this procedure on infants every single day, in every single country. In reality, this treatment is performed almost universally without even asking for the parents' consent, making this practice all the more insidious. It's called infant gender assignment: When the doctor holds your child up to the harsh light of the delivery room, looks between its legs, and declares his opinion: It's a boy or a girl, based on nothing more than a cursory assessment of your offspring's genitals.”
Writing this short piece made me stop and look at myself and wonder: Am I a bleeding heart liberal or am I just fair, maybe a combination of both? I never thought about it. Even religionists deserve a place in the world even though I think they are way off base, but the feeling mutual. So as long as we have respect for one another, what’s the problem?




[1] Christine Jorgensen Biography, Film Actor/Film Actress, Singer (1926–1989), Bio., http://www.biography.com/people/christine-jorgensen-262758

[2] Don’t Let the Doctor Do This to Your Newborn,  Christin Scarlett Milloy, Slate, http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/06/26/infant_gender_assignm...

Views: 166
Tags: Transgender, god, mistakes, reassignment, sex, tranny


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 Comment by Michael Pianko on July 19, 2015 at 9:44pm
I never thought about how I would react if I had a kid who feels he or she is the opposite gender he or she looked like. I would like to think I would try not to be too creeped out... maybe if my kid were transgendered I would explain to it that I would like to inhibit him or her from getting sex change surgery, that I already inhibited him or her from getting shots or getting circumcised or getting pierced or tattooed or going through any sort of trauma or suffering caused by medical people or peer pressure or society and I want to continue to inhibit these sorts of traumas or harms... I assume that a person born looking like a boy will not be able to give birth later in life if given sex change surgery and a person born looking like a girl will not be able to function sexually like a man later in life if given sex change surgery, and if my kid changes his mind after a surgery or if the surgery doesn't go "well" that would be a disaster, for the kid and for me... Is the kid expecting somebody to just magically, painlessly cut off his or her present body parts, reposition the urethra and creat perfectly functioning new parts so that he or she will feel like the opposite sex...
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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 19, 2015 at 1:36pm
Mixhael--When genders are assigned at birth, those decisions don't take into consideration of future environments, parents and psychological as well as anatomical factors. Of course, no one can do that. So, we're back to square one. What happens when a child feels opposite of what is between their legs. We know how majority society sees it. You have a penis--you're a boy. If you have a vagina--you're a girl. Maybe to both of those suppositions. I'm glad that I am not the one making those decisions or being in the position of being a parent making that decision. I've never considered how I would react to a transsexual child, but I'd like to think that I'd love them just as any other child and support them no matter what. Even though I know several transgender males and females, I've never thought to ask them basic questions about their childhood and their parents. But, you've set me on a path to do just that.
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 Comment by Michael Pianko on July 18, 2015 at 10:08pm
For awhile I have felt like from the moment a kid is born until the parents take it home, the kid must not be separated from the mother, even for a second. I really don't know and never tried to find out what kind of tests they think they have to do to new born kids, which the parents are not supposed to see. I probably will never have a kid but if I did have one and it is a girl, everything is fine but if it is a boy there will be a big struggle to prevent him from getting circumcised... My family would be mortified at me or worse... In theory I don't see anything that wrong with just not assigning a gender at birth and letting the kid figure it out for itself later... This would be weird at first because we're not used to it... Most kids would interact with other kids at school and then figure something out... We do live in an over-prudish religious-influenced sex-hating culture where parents are mortified when kids find out about sex or body functions or body parts, and so on... I still think people who feel like they are the wrong gender should see a good psychiatrist before deciding to get any kind of sex Chang surgery, in case the person has a mental disorder similar to people who want to get a leg or arm or hand or foot cut off... Surgery could be rather dangerous or traumatic or drastic, not that I want to be prejudiced against so called trans gender or transsexual people... What if all public bathrooms were unisex, with a lock on the door, and just big enough for one person?
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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 18, 2015 at 7:40pm
Gerald--Yes, it has a comic edge to it. To me, almost all of it reminds me of running from shadows in the dark when I was a kid. By the time I was  seven we all that they were  nothing but shadows and a way to scare younger siblings. Nevertheless, people''s sex or lack of it (I had to say that) was of no concernit and held no meaning to me, unless it was a juicy replay.
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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 18, 2015 at 7:33pm
Daniel--You what I was so desperately trying to say. It just isn't an issue. "Who gives a shit?" Like atheists most people have no idea who they are even if they were standing next to them. The same applies to most homosexuals.
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 Comment by Gerald Payne on July 18, 2015 at 4:18am
Everybody has an opinion on these things whether they like it or not, it's the idea that 'everybody should be just like me' that causes the problem. Religions inbred asceticism brings everything down to an argument between what they think is right against what they think is wrong, totally ignorant of the fact that nobody has the moral authority to judge. I personally find transgender different and entertaining. I sometimes wonder what, if anything, the church finds entertaining or satisfying (did I say satisfying!).
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 Comment by Daniel W on July 17, 2015 at 10:14pm
I can't understand why people can't just live and let live.  We can't walk in someone else's shoes.  If someone claims, and believes, they were born in a body that did not match their psychological gender, who gives a shit?  It's not like, OK, we can accept transgender people, so then men are going to go out and have themselves castrated and have penisectomies just to sample what it's like to me a woman.  And vice versa.

I don't know what percent of the population is transgender.  Probably, no one knows.  I've known a few transgender men and women.  Some nice, responsible, hard working people, and some annoying.  Just like the rest of the population.  It's got to be a really small number.  So why not just let them have rights to be treated like the human beings who they are?

That is not the same as intersex people.  They were born in bodies that could not be fully identified as male or female.  Their brains, may fit into one gender or the other, or neither.  Imposing a surgery and sometimes, hormones, on such a person who might be highly traumatized, depressed, unhappy, and even suicidal for having these procedures done to them, is cruel and not understanding of the human condition.  There are some cases where genitalia are not well formed enough to allow urination.  Undescended testes can be a high risk for cancer.  But most intersex children are not at health risks for being intersex.  Just societal risk.  Why not leave them be as well?

People should just relax about gender and sex.  We are all only human.  We only live once. Live and let live.

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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 16, 2015 at 10:43pm
It's tough question to resolve. undescended testicles, unformed vaginas and what else? I have my doubts both ways (I can't believe I just typed that) whether sex is a state of mind or a physical phenomenon. Personally, I don't care. However, I am enough of a bigot to say that I wouldn't date a transgender. Not because of anything they are, but I could never get the former man out of my head. Does anyone remember "The Crying Game"? Its ending shocked the audience especially during the time it was released.
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 Comment by Daniel W on July 12, 2015 at 9:39pm
Don, I don't know if you are a bleeding heart liberal or not.  I do think you are fair.
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 Comment by jay H on July 11, 2015 at 9:02pm
"doctors and midwives commit this procedure on infants every single day, in every single country."
I knew this would happen. Now it's becoming politically incorrect to announce 'it's a boy' or 'it's a girl' because the gender warriors will decry your impertinence. (Perhaps there is a reason why it's done like that everywhere... perhaps because it really is sensible).I observed this thought half jokingly, I figured it would take a while, like a decade. Apparently not.  But now it looks lie the inmates are taking over the asylum.
Can't see this as much more than nonsense. With the possible exceptions or hermaphrodites etc, there is not much scientific evidence for 'male in a female body' or vice versa. There is no real neurological basis for this (as in brain studies that would actually provide physical evidence this exists). BTW in Sweden, where gender change surgery is common and socially accepted, still after-surgery trans genders have something like 10 to 20 times higher suicide rate. It seems better to accept oneself as gay, and live that way.
Caitlyn/Bruce has a perfect right to pursue happiness, but is NOT a real woman. Not genetically, not biologically, not neurologically, and certainly not developmentally--essentially Jenner is just a medically produced caricature of a woman; a surgically modified (mutilated?) man with delusions. This does not differ much from people who believe they are really cats. or space aliens, vampires or even Napoleon. They are certainly free to follow their fantasies, and others of us are free not to buy into them.
A recent article, in all seriousness, listed over 20 different 'genders', each with preferred pronouns of address. And the number keeps growing as precious little snowflakes demand their own new gender so they too can be unique.
Now none of this commentary has a single thing to do with religion. It's more a matter of calling out the mush-mindedness of our culture, who are so afraid of being viewed as discriminatory, that they will buy into anything that is currently ideologically labelled as 'inclusive'.
It's time to stop being 'open minded' to the point of complete indecisiveness.




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Transformer, Transition—Transgender
Posted by Donald R Barbera on July 9, 2015 at 12:32am
View Blog
.




Growing up in a medical household certainly had its advantages as my brother, sisters and I had opportunities many kids never had chance to do. We were up to date, well educated and consciously modest because of those things. Yes, coming from that medical household also had drawbacks when it came to reality and hard facts, especially when it came to life and death.
We learned early that death can drag on forever or be gone in a whisper. Too many times, we heard our father predict a death of a patient. We had no way of knowing what gave him that ability. We knew nothing of failure of vital organs or loss of brain function. We also had no idea that some children came into the world genderless or without clear gender recognition, which according to my father didn’t occur often, but happened enough that doctors made the determination if the child would be a boy or girl.
Of course, it is the Caitlyn Jenner story that leads me to write this, at least partially. My actual topic has more to do with a familiar statement spouted by Christians and that is, “God doesn’t make mistakes.” That should provide grand comfort to those with spina bifida, Down syndrome, cleft palate, club foot or cystic fibrosis. Of course, in Christia
n fantasyland these horrendous conditions represent the lord working in mysterious ways
What my father revealed to me happened somewhere in my 20’s. So, I was not unaware of its existence or of physicians facing such dilemma especially considering the moral implications. Although it might seem that it was a 50/50 decision, in reality, it could have been 90/10, 25/75 or even 60/40, especially without the aid of technology like ultrasound.
I didn’t think about it much after that, but when I became a traveling musician, I crossed paths with several transgender men and women. I knew about sex reassignment surgery thanks to the Christine Jorgensen story,[1] and as a newly graduated journalist, I was trained to ask questions, pointed questions, questions that reached to the core. I would have asked the questions just because I wanted to know what it was like.
Jude (real name) told me he always felt like a woman, even from the time he was a little girl and had always wished she were a boy. Jude (formerly Judy) was from North Carolina, but moved about the country with his military family. Jude moved to Los Angeles in the 60’s made the decision to transition from female to male while he was there. He told me living in Los Angeles made it easier for the transition. I understood, as my musical endeavors took me to
LA occasionally and Los Angeles is—well—Los Angeles. The others I met had similar stories with all saying they were happy with the decision.
Gender reassignment makes all the media outlets and is even the topic of entire shows, which makes it even more sensation, but in reality just as my father pointed out, it happens and a lot more than anyone thinks.
“Obstetricians, doctors and midwives commit this procedure on infants every single day, in every single country. In reality, this treatment is performed almost universally without even asking for the parents' consent, making this practice all the more insidious. It's called infant gender assignment: When the doctor holds your child up to the harsh light of the delivery room, looks between its legs, and declares his opinion: It's a boy or a girl, based on nothing more than a cursory assessment of your offspring's genitals.”
Writing this short piece made me stop and look at myself and wonder: Am I a bleeding heart liberal or am I just fair, maybe a combination of both? I never thought about it. Even religionists deserve a place in the world even though I think they are way off base, but the feeling mutual. So as long as we have respect for one another, what’s the problem?




[1] Christine Jorgensen Biography, Film Actor/Film Actress, Singer (1926–1989), Bio., http://www.biography.com/people/christine-jorgensen-262758

[2] Don’t Let the Doctor Do This to Your Newborn,  Christin Scarlett Milloy, Slate, http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/06/26/infant_gender_assignm...

Views: 167
Tags: Transgender, god, mistakes, reassignment, sex, tranny


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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 9, 2015 at 2:54pm
Grinning Cat--I try to keep a calm head. Partly because I recently was diagnosed as bipolar. Previously, in addition to my major depression I got a side order of dysthymia, which in blackmen is characterized with extreme anger,  I don't do it any more, but I was always argumentative, hated to lose and anyone that disagreed with me became a lifelong enemy. I am not that way any more any more, but I know it is not far away. I've finally learned to accept religionists even though they are living in fantasyland. Stupid. There I've said it. And, I dare anyone to sen d bolt of lightning my way.
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 Comment by Grinning Cat on July 9, 2015 at 4:04am
If doctors and midwives don't do gender assignment, the vast majority of parents will still look at their newborn's body and conclude that their child is a girl or a boy. Better to get society to accept that this is an apparent gender, usually but not always correctly reflecting the child's brain, and subject to confirmation (or not) when they develop gender awareness and can indicate that.
Related: Remember Storm? We check in on the baby being raised gender-neutral (Jayme Poisson, thestar.com, Nov. 15, 2013)

[...] In an attempt to mitigate at least some of the gendered messages children are blitzed with, only a handful of people knew the baby’s sex. [...]
The Toronto couple wanted Storm to share his or her gender when the time felt right.
These days, they’re sticking with that plan.
Storm — who turns 3 in January — is a busy, chatty, toddler whose current infatuations include peanut butter and playing with sock puppets.
[...] the argument made by California-based academic Jane Ward in Chasing Rainbows that every child has a right to not be “gender diagnosed,” resonates with [Storm's mother Kathy] Witterick more today than ever before.
“If a young person puts on a tutu, why are we saying they are behaving like a girl ... instead of just letting them be?” she asks, rhetorically.
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 Comment by Joan Denoo on July 9, 2015 at 2:13am
Don, "So as long as we have respect for one another, what’s the problem?"
You react in a far more generous way than I, with my grievously short fuse when it comes to those who hate/fear people who are different in one way or another. Religionists have the capacity to do so much harm and get away with it that I want the fury of Kali to destroy them, not physically, but emotionally. I learned at a very young age to use my tongue to cut people down. It was the reaction of a person who has little power over brutes and thugs.
"Even religionists deserve a place in the world ...". How did religionists get so much power to dominate others and suffer no penalty? I experience such intolerable behavior difficult to tolerate.
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Transformer, Transition—Transgender
Posted by Donald R Barbera on July 9, 2015 at 12:32am
View Blog
.




Growing up in a medical household certainly had its advantages as my brother, sisters and I had opportunities many kids never had chance to do. We were up to date, well educated and consciously modest because of those things. Yes, coming from that medical household also had drawbacks when it came to reality and hard facts, especially when it came to life and death.
We learned early that death can drag on forever or be gone in a whisper. Too many times, we heard our father predict a death of a patient. We had no way of knowing what gave him that ability. We knew nothing of failure of vital organs or loss of brain function. We also had no idea that some children came into the world genderless or without clear gender recognition, which according to my father didn’t occur often, but happened enough that doctors made the determination if the child would be a boy or girl.
Of course, it is the Caitlyn Jenner story that leads me to write this, at least partially. My actual topic has more to do with a familiar statement spouted by Christians and that is, “God doesn’t make mistakes.” That should provide grand comfort to those with spina bifida, Down syndrome, cleft palate, club foot or cystic fibrosis. Of course, in Christia
n fantasyland these horrendous conditions represent the lord working in mysterious ways
What my father revealed to me happened somewhere in my 20’s. So, I was not unaware of its existence or of physicians facing such dilemma especially considering the moral implications. Although it might seem that it was a 50/50 decision, in reality, it could have been 90/10, 25/75 or even 60/40, especially without the aid of technology like ultrasound.
I didn’t think about it much after that, but when I became a traveling musician, I crossed paths with several transgender men and women. I knew about sex reassignment surgery thanks to the Christine Jorgensen story,[1] and as a newly graduated journalist, I was trained to ask questions, pointed questions, questions that reached to the core. I would have asked the questions just because I wanted to know what it was like.
Jude (real name) told me he always felt like a woman, even from the time he was a little girl and had always wished she were a boy. Jude (formerly Judy) was from North Carolina, but moved about the country with his military family. Jude moved to Los Angeles in the 60’s made the decision to transition from female to male while he was there. He told me living in Los Angeles made it easier for the transition. I understood, as my musical endeavors took me to
LA occasionally and Los Angeles is—well—Los Angeles. The others I met had similar stories with all saying they were happy with the decision.
Gender reassignment makes all the media outlets and is even the topic of entire shows, which makes it even more sensation, but in reality just as my father pointed out, it happens and a lot more than anyone thinks.
“Obstetricians, doctors and midwives commit this procedure on infants every single day, in every single country. In reality, this treatment is performed almost universally without even asking for the parents' consent, making this practice all the more insidious. It's called infant gender assignment: When the doctor holds your child up to the harsh light of the delivery room, looks between its legs, and declares his opinion: It's a boy or a girl, based on nothing more than a cursory assessment of your offspring's genitals.”
Writing this short piece made me stop and look at myself and wonder: Am I a bleeding heart liberal or am I just fair, maybe a combination of both? I never thought about it. Even religionists deserve a place in the world even though I think they are way off base, but the feeling mutual. So as long as we have respect for one another, what’s the problem?




[1] Christine Jorgensen Biography, Film Actor/Film Actress, Singer (1926–1989), Bio., http://www.biography.com/people/christine-jorgensen-262758

[2] Don’t Let the Doctor Do This to Your Newborn,  Christin Scarlett Milloy, Slate, http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/06/26/infant_gender_assignm...

Views: 171
Tags: Transgender, god, mistakes, reassignment, sex, tranny


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 Comment by Michael Pianko on July 19, 2015 at 9:44pm
I never thought about how I would react if I had a kid who feels he or she is the opposite gender he or she looked like. I would like to think I would try not to be too creeped out... maybe if my kid were transgendered I would explain to it that I would like to inhibit him or her from getting sex change surgery, that I already inhibited him or her from getting shots or getting circumcised or getting pierced or tattooed or going through any sort of trauma or suffering caused by medical people or peer pressure or society and I want to continue to inhibit these sorts of traumas or harms... I assume that a person born looking like a boy will not be able to give birth later in life if given sex change surgery and a person born looking like a girl will not be able to function sexually like a man later in life if given sex change surgery, and if my kid changes his mind after a surgery or if the surgery doesn't go "well" that would be a disaster, for the kid and for me... Is the kid expecting somebody to just magically, painlessly cut off his or her present body parts, reposition the urethra and creat perfectly functioning new parts so that he or she will feel like the opposite sex...
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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 19, 2015 at 1:36pm
Mixhael--When genders are assigned at birth, those decisions don't take into consideration of future environments, parents and psychological as well as anatomical factors. Of course, no one can do that. So, we're back to square one. What happens when a child feels opposite of what is between their legs. We know how majority society sees it. You have a penis--you're a boy. If you have a vagina--you're a girl. Maybe to both of those suppositions. I'm glad that I am not the one making those decisions or being in the position of being a parent making that decision. I've never considered how I would react to a transsexual child, but I'd like to think that I'd love them just as any other child and support them no matter what. Even though I know several transgender males and females, I've never thought to ask them basic questions about their childhood and their parents. But, you've set me on a path to do just that.
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 Comment by Michael Pianko on July 18, 2015 at 10:08pm
For awhile I have felt like from the moment a kid is born until the parents take it home, the kid must not be separated from the mother, even for a second. I really don't know and never tried to find out what kind of tests they think they have to do to new born kids, which the parents are not supposed to see. I probably will never have a kid but if I did have one and it is a girl, everything is fine but if it is a boy there will be a big struggle to prevent him from getting circumcised... My family would be mortified at me or worse... In theory I don't see anything that wrong with just not assigning a gender at birth and letting the kid figure it out for itself later... This would be weird at first because we're not used to it... Most kids would interact with other kids at school and then figure something out... We do live in an over-prudish religious-influenced sex-hating culture where parents are mortified when kids find out about sex or body functions or body parts, and so on... I still think people who feel like they are the wrong gender should see a good psychiatrist before deciding to get any kind of sex Chang surgery, in case the person has a mental disorder similar to people who want to get a leg or arm or hand or foot cut off... Surgery could be rather dangerous or traumatic or drastic, not that I want to be prejudiced against so called trans gender or transsexual people... What if all public bathrooms were unisex, with a lock on the door, and just big enough for one person?
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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 18, 2015 at 7:40pm
Gerald--Yes, it has a comic edge to it. To me, almost all of it reminds me of running from shadows in the dark when I was a kid. By the time I was  seven we all that they were  nothing but shadows and a way to scare younger siblings. Nevertheless, people''s sex or lack of it (I had to say that) was of no concernit and held no meaning to me, unless it was a juicy replay.
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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 18, 2015 at 7:33pm
Daniel--You what I was so desperately trying to say. It just isn't an issue. "Who gives a shit?" Like atheists most people have no idea who they are even if they were standing next to them. The same applies to most homosexuals.
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 Comment by Gerald Payne on July 18, 2015 at 4:18am
Everybody has an opinion on these things whether they like it or not, it's the idea that 'everybody should be just like me' that causes the problem. Religions inbred asceticism brings everything down to an argument between what they think is right against what they think is wrong, totally ignorant of the fact that nobody has the moral authority to judge. I personally find transgender different and entertaining. I sometimes wonder what, if anything, the church finds entertaining or satisfying (did I say satisfying!).
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 Comment by Daniel W on July 17, 2015 at 10:14pm
I can't understand why people can't just live and let live.  We can't walk in someone else's shoes.  If someone claims, and believes, they were born in a body that did not match their psychological gender, who gives a shit?  It's not like, OK, we can accept transgender people, so then men are going to go out and have themselves castrated and have penisectomies just to sample what it's like to me a woman.  And vice versa.

I don't know what percent of the population is transgender.  Probably, no one knows.  I've known a few transgender men and women.  Some nice, responsible, hard working people, and some annoying.  Just like the rest of the population.  It's got to be a really small number.  So why not just let them have rights to be treated like the human beings who they are?

That is not the same as intersex people.  They were born in bodies that could not be fully identified as male or female.  Their brains, may fit into one gender or the other, or neither.  Imposing a surgery and sometimes, hormones, on such a person who might be highly traumatized, depressed, unhappy, and even suicidal for having these procedures done to them, is cruel and not understanding of the human condition.  There are some cases where genitalia are not well formed enough to allow urination.  Undescended testes can be a high risk for cancer.  But most intersex children are not at health risks for being intersex.  Just societal risk.  Why not leave them be as well?

People should just relax about gender and sex.  We are all only human.  We only live once. Live and let live.

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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 16, 2015 at 10:43pm
It's tough question to resolve. undescended testicles, unformed vaginas and what else? I have my doubts both ways (I can't believe I just typed that) whether sex is a state of mind or a physical phenomenon. Personally, I don't care. However, I am enough of a bigot to say that I wouldn't date a transgender. Not because of anything they are, but I could never get the former man out of my head. Does anyone remember "The Crying Game"? Its ending shocked the audience especially during the time it was released.
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 Comment by Daniel W on July 12, 2015 at 9:39pm
Don, I don't know if you are a bleeding heart liberal or not.  I do think you are fair.
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 Comment by jay H on July 11, 2015 at 9:02pm
"doctors and midwives commit this procedure on infants every single day, in every single country."
I knew this would happen. Now it's becoming politically incorrect to announce 'it's a boy' or 'it's a girl' because the gender warriors will decry your impertinence. (Perhaps there is a reason why it's done like that everywhere... perhaps because it really is sensible).I observed this thought half jokingly, I figured it would take a while, like a decade. Apparently not.  But now it looks lie the inmates are taking over the asylum.
Can't see this as much more than nonsense. With the possible exceptions or hermaphrodites etc, there is not much scientific evidence for 'male in a female body' or vice versa. There is no real neurological basis for this (as in brain studies that would actually provide physical evidence this exists). BTW in Sweden, where gender change surgery is common and socially accepted, still after-surgery trans genders have something like 10 to 20 times higher suicide rate. It seems better to accept oneself as gay, and live that way.
Caitlyn/Bruce has a perfect right to pursue happiness, but is NOT a real woman. Not genetically, not biologically, not neurologically, and certainly not developmentally--essentially Jenner is just a medically produced caricature of a woman; a surgically modified (mutilated?) man with delusions. This does not differ much from people who believe they are really cats. or space aliens, vampires or even Napoleon. They are certainly free to follow their fantasies, and others of us are free not to buy into them.
A recent article, in all seriousness, listed over 20 different 'genders', each with preferred pronouns of address. And the number keeps growing as precious little snowflakes demand their own new gender so they too can be unique.
Now none of this commentary has a single thing to do with religion. It's more a matter of calling out the mush-mindedness of our culture, who are so afraid of being viewed as discriminatory, that they will buy into anything that is currently ideologically labelled as 'inclusive'.
It's time to stop being 'open minded' to the point of complete indecisiveness.




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Transformer, Transition—Transgender
Posted by Donald R Barbera on July 9, 2015 at 12:32am
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Growing up in a medical household certainly had its advantages as my brother, sisters and I had opportunities many kids never had chance to do. We were up to date, well educated and consciously modest because of those things. Yes, coming from that medical household also had drawbacks when it came to reality and hard facts, especially when it came to life and death.
We learned early that death can drag on forever or be gone in a whisper. Too many times, we heard our father predict a death of a patient. We had no way of knowing what gave him that ability. We knew nothing of failure of vital organs or loss of brain function. We also had no idea that some children came into the world genderless or without clear gender recognition, which according to my father didn’t occur often, but happened enough that doctors made the determination if the child would be a boy or girl.
Of course, it is the Caitlyn Jenner story that leads me to write this, at least partially. My actual topic has more to do with a familiar statement spouted by Christians and that is, “God doesn’t make mistakes.” That should provide grand comfort to those with spina bifida, Down syndrome, cleft palate, club foot or cystic fibrosis. Of course, in Christia
n fantasyland these horrendous conditions represent the lord working in mysterious ways
What my father revealed to me happened somewhere in my 20’s. So, I was not unaware of its existence or of physicians facing such dilemma especially considering the moral implications. Although it might seem that it was a 50/50 decision, in reality, it could have been 90/10, 25/75 or even 60/40, especially without the aid of technology like ultrasound.
I didn’t think about it much after that, but when I became a traveling musician, I crossed paths with several transgender men and women. I knew about sex reassignment surgery thanks to the Christine Jorgensen story,[1] and as a newly graduated journalist, I was trained to ask questions, pointed questions, questions that reached to the core. I would have asked the questions just because I wanted to know what it was like.
Jude (real name) told me he always felt like a woman, even from the time he was a little girl and had always wished she were a boy. Jude (formerly Judy) was from North Carolina, but moved about the country with his military family. Jude moved to Los Angeles in the 60’s made the decision to transition from female to male while he was there. He told me living in Los Angeles made it easier for the transition. I understood, as my musical endeavors took me to
LA occasionally and Los Angeles is—well—Los Angeles. The others I met had similar stories with all saying they were happy with the decision.
Gender reassignment makes all the media outlets and is even the topic of entire shows, which makes it even more sensation, but in reality just as my father pointed out, it happens and a lot more than anyone thinks.
“Obstetricians, doctors and midwives commit this procedure on infants every single day, in every single country. In reality, this treatment is performed almost universally without even asking for the parents' consent, making this practice all the more insidious. It's called infant gender assignment: When the doctor holds your child up to the harsh light of the delivery room, looks between its legs, and declares his opinion: It's a boy or a girl, based on nothing more than a cursory assessment of your offspring's genitals.”
Writing this short piece made me stop and look at myself and wonder: Am I a bleeding heart liberal or am I just fair, maybe a combination of both? I never thought about it. Even religionists deserve a place in the world even though I think they are way off base, but the feeling mutual. So as long as we have respect for one another, what’s the problem?




[1] Christine Jorgensen Biography, Film Actor/Film Actress, Singer (1926–1989), Bio., http://www.biography.com/people/christine-jorgensen-262758

[2] Don’t Let the Doctor Do This to Your Newborn,  Christin Scarlett Milloy, Slate, http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/06/26/infant_gender_assignm...

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Tags: Transgender, god, mistakes, reassignment, sex, tranny


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 Comment by Donald R Barbera on July 9, 2015 at 2:54pm
Grinning Cat--I try to keep a calm head. Partly because I recently was diagnosed as bipolar. Previously, in addition to my major depression I got a side order of dysthymia, which in blackmen is characterized with extreme anger,  I don't do it any more, but I was always argumentative, hated to lose and anyone that disagreed with me became a lifelong enemy. I am not that way any more any more, but I know it is not far away. I've finally learned to accept religionists even though they are living in fantasyland. Stupid. There I've said it. And, I dare anyone to sen d bolt of lightning my way.
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 Comment by Grinning Cat on July 9, 2015 at 4:04am
If doctors and midwives don't do gender assignment, the vast majority of parents will still look at their newborn's body and conclude that their child is a girl or a boy. Better to get society to accept that this is an apparent gender, usually but not always correctly reflecting the child's brain, and subject to confirmation (or not) when they develop gender awareness and can indicate that.
Related: Remember Storm? We check in on the baby being raised gender-neutral (Jayme Poisson, thestar.com, Nov. 15, 2013)

[...] In an attempt to mitigate at least some of the gendered messages children are blitzed with, only a handful of people knew the baby’s sex. [...]
The Toronto couple wanted Storm to share his or her gender when the time felt right.
These days, they’re sticking with that plan.
Storm — who turns 3 in January — is a busy, chatty, toddler whose current infatuations include peanut butter and playing with sock puppets.
[...] the argument made by California-based academic Jane Ward in Chasing Rainbows that every child has a right to not be “gender diagnosed,” resonates with [Storm's mother Kathy] Witterick more today than ever before.
“If a young person puts on a tutu, why are we saying they are behaving like a girl ... instead of just letting them be?” she asks, rhetorically.
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 Comment by Joan Denoo on July 9, 2015 at 2:13am
Don, "So as long as we have respect for one another, what’s the problem?"
You react in a far more generous way than I, with my grievously short fuse when it comes to those who hate/fear people who are different in one way or another. Religionists have the capacity to do so much harm and get away with it that I want the fury of Kali to destroy them, not physically, but emotionally. I learned at a very young age to use my tongue to cut people down. It was the reaction of a person who has little power over brutes and thugs.
"Even religionists deserve a place in the world ...". How did religionists get so much power to dominate others and suffer no penalty? I experience such intolerable behavior difficult to tolerate.
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