Although most people are well aware that I have many friends and support the LQBTQ+ community, this post is mostly about the hate that is lashed at trans people by those of us who simply don’t “get it”.
Rather than assume you know it all, or even anything about an individual whom you have never met, please approach the subject as if it is YOUR child and educate yourself.
I was going to post this on Facebook, but I am hoping this will get more eyes and suggestions for more education. Because Lia’s women’s swimming ranking came up, and the comment was in a nutshell that anyone OK with Lia’s standings would probably be OK with someone winning a gold medal at the Special Olympics if they didn’t have a special need. I will say that I knew nothing of her before her Olympic performance. But rather than assume, I informed myself by reading her story.
Click Here for Interview with Lia 12/2021
I know everyone is allowed their opinions no matter how uninformed and actually disrespectful and mean they are, but sometimes it makes me angry. However, since I am an adult, and it was Facebook, rather than starting an argument on someone else’s personal opinion page, I scrolled on and chose to present my own opinion in my way. I was so disheartened seeing this after I was just speaking so positively about a couple of transitioning young people yesterday with some friends. And now today I see something disappointingly ignorant about the same subject from someone I respect. It just made me sad.
You may or may not agree with me, and I am not posting this to find out how “wrong” anyone thinks I am. Hateful/Harmful comments will be deleted anyway if I see them. But I am allowed for my voice to be heard and this is my personal platform.
I know this can be a hard subject to understand when it doesn’t touch your life, and I won’t say I 100% do either since I am not day to day close to it. But please educate yourself about the process and give all people the right to their dignity. The mental issues dealing with their own changes is enough. They don’t need to deal with added hate.
I was also introduced to a book that I hope to start later today that I have heard is a wonderful resource for parents of a transgender child, or anyone who wants to try to educate themselves. I actually bought the audiobook, because it says it is narrated by the family, and I would love to hear their words in their voices.
I have many friends in the LGBTQ+ community, and I support them in their lives because they are just being their authentic selves, and I can’t even imagine the trapped feeling it would take to hide that. And I personally would not want them to. The PTSD and anxiety that I deal with is bad enough on its own. I can’t imagine being told you can never be who you are inside to the outside world.
So even if you will never understand. Even if you will never do the research to help educate yourself, ALL I am asking of you, is to Just be a Kind Human. And thank God each day that you were born the way you are so you do not have to deal with the hate that they have to from small minded people. Because the mental strength they need just to deal with daily life of being themselves while being surrounded by ignorance and intolerance, makes them some of the strongest people I know! It is only easy and weak to spout hate about something that is too hard for you to even try to understand.
And before I close out(and again, because this is MY platform), I want to do a shameless plug for the amazing local born bigender, Jonathan Van Ness! His new book, Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life, is out April 12th, but until then, make sure you grab his first one. If you are not familiar, JVN is beautifully over the top! He is not about to hide any part of his authentic self, and I adore him for it. I need to take some self-confidence lessons from him! Click picture for purchase links.
#LGBTQ+ #Ally #EducateYourself #StopTheHate #BeAKindHuman #JVN #JonathanVanNess #JoIvester #HappyInYourSkin #BeYOUtiful
B3T Books and Biceps 