Sarah Doepner
06-08-2009, 09:39 AM
A while back I suggested others write things that could be posted for public forums, but didn't offer to do it myself. What a jerk I was. Yesterday was the Pride Parade in Salt Lake City and there is a long article with lots of photos in today's Salt Lake Tribune ( SLTrib.com ) along with an area for comments. All the comments were Gay Rights related and nothing there related to the "T" part of the GLBT community. So, I did what I suggested others do and added my comments. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, tried to cram a lot into the limited space they provide, and I probably missed a lot of opportunities, but maybe I've done something to start a more public dialog. I may be looking for help in building responses later, so here is my post.
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And now for the minority of the minority to raise a voice. Yes, the "T" in GLBT is for Transgender, not Transexual as the article is written. Transgender refers to the issue of Gender Identity and is expressed as Crossdressing. It's not the Drag Queen type of crossdressing that is referred to here. It's a need to represent oneself as a member of the other sex and probably has the same root cause as homosexuality, somewhere hardwired in the brain. Crossdressers are mostly heterosexual, but some are gay. Crossdressers are mostly male, but some are female. And contrary to what is seen in movies, Crossdressers are not serial killers, pedophiles or prostitutes. They are not all looking to have sex reassignment surgery or go on hormones. And like the rest of the GLBT community they have always been around. In some cultures they were, and still are, respected for what is seen as a gift of "two spirits".
The Gay Rights movement took off at the Stonewall riot in New York, and it was the Crossdressers who took the lead on that.
Most of the Crossdressers are still in the closet, it seems that it is much more acceptable to be gay than wear clothes that are gender inappropriate. There are few protections for the CD community and not a lot of support and very little respect. There is a sizeable percentage of men who have worn women's clothing in private and found a it's not wrong and not only a fetish activity. Women wear men's clothing without regard regularly but the fear is so great about crossdressing that a boy wearing a Kilt for a school project was sent home from school.
Crossdressers are found in every age group, occupation, race, religion and income level. They are disregarded and disrespected by just about everyone.
I expect very little support here and even more flame from the conservatives, but just like the rest of GLBT community, we won't go away. It would be nice to be able to come out of the closet a little though.
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And now for the minority of the minority to raise a voice. Yes, the "T" in GLBT is for Transgender, not Transexual as the article is written. Transgender refers to the issue of Gender Identity and is expressed as Crossdressing. It's not the Drag Queen type of crossdressing that is referred to here. It's a need to represent oneself as a member of the other sex and probably has the same root cause as homosexuality, somewhere hardwired in the brain. Crossdressers are mostly heterosexual, but some are gay. Crossdressers are mostly male, but some are female. And contrary to what is seen in movies, Crossdressers are not serial killers, pedophiles or prostitutes. They are not all looking to have sex reassignment surgery or go on hormones. And like the rest of the GLBT community they have always been around. In some cultures they were, and still are, respected for what is seen as a gift of "two spirits".
The Gay Rights movement took off at the Stonewall riot in New York, and it was the Crossdressers who took the lead on that.
Most of the Crossdressers are still in the closet, it seems that it is much more acceptable to be gay than wear clothes that are gender inappropriate. There are few protections for the CD community and not a lot of support and very little respect. There is a sizeable percentage of men who have worn women's clothing in private and found a it's not wrong and not only a fetish activity. Women wear men's clothing without regard regularly but the fear is so great about crossdressing that a boy wearing a Kilt for a school project was sent home from school.
Crossdressers are found in every age group, occupation, race, religion and income level. They are disregarded and disrespected by just about everyone.
I expect very little support here and even more flame from the conservatives, but just like the rest of GLBT community, we won't go away. It would be nice to be able to come out of the closet a little though.