Please Help Out A Florida County Commissioner
April 23rd, 2008 by Stephanie StevensAccording to the St. Petersburg Times this evening, Pinellas County Commissioner Calvin Harris said …
“I don’t even know what a transgender is.”
According to the SPT, there was no “searing acrimony” involved in the 4-2 vote “to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation” and Susan Stanton said about Mr. Harris’ statement …
“I think that’s a very legitimate … very honest statement,” Stanton said. “These are all really good people, and I know none of them would want to discriminate, but they also have to be sensitive to the needs of other people in the workplace.”
Be that as it may, I share and appreciate the sentiments of Equality Florida’s Brian Winfield …
“We were disappointed that the Pinellas County commissioners weren’t able to summon the courage that it would take to provide the strongest protections to the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community,” said Brian Winfield, a spokesman for Equality Florida. “But we are hopeful that in six weeks time that they will come back.”
So, I think it would helpful to let Commisssioner Harris, at least, know how you feel about transgender civil rights. The Pinellas Commissioners can be contacted here.
Posted in civil rights, diversity, employment - housing - public accomodation, in the media, law and legislation, politics, transactivism, transgender, transgender civil rights |
April 24th, 2008 at 10:02 am
As a Christian, I love everyone. The thing is, I don’t love or condone this kind of behavior. I believe it is a choice. I believe in Genesis 1’s description that God made us in His image and likeness. These individuals will look in the mirror and then leave forgetting who God made them to be. They seem to hate the way God made them. I feel very sad. I don’t hate them but I feel very sorry that they are “lost” individuals. Messing with who God made us- either male or female is not going to end up well. It is a mistake to change what God made into something (someone) else.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Dear Dr. Norman,
With all due respect, I beg to differ. Yes, God made us all, brothers and sisters alike. However, we have messed with the gene pool with pollution and maybe too much reproduction without thought. I have looked in the mirror. I could not say “I love you” when I tried that as a guy. However, since transitioning to my true inner gender, I now can truly say I love myself. I am NOT lost. I have found myself. For the first time in my life, I have a true connection with all that is God/Goddess. I am finally happy, whole. I was a mess trying to be what I was not. I have not changed what God made into something else, rather, I have become what God intended, happy and free. Please don’t waste any more time putting down what you don’t understand because it is different than your views. I do not understand the religious right’s preoccupation with other people’s lives, why meddle with us? It is none of your business. I would rather be alive and know I am female than be a prematurely dead woman in a man’s body because I was harassed back into the closet by people like you. I do not want or need your sympathy, save it for the poor and hungry, go do something about them and leave us alone. Blessings!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Hi D. Norman,
What about intersexuals (sometimes incorrectly referred to as “hermaphrodites”)?
Examples of genital surgery being contemplated for intersexed children:
* KATH and IVU to offer surgery for hermaphrodites
* Mutilations or non-consensual normalization treatments?
* What if It’s (Sort of) a Boy and (Sort of) a Girl?
* Indonesian family has two hermaphrodite children
I guess my question is “Does God create intersexed people in his image too?” If one is looking at either the indeterminate genitalia of some intersexed people, or genetics of other intersexed people, would doing surgery on these folk to align gender (“what’s between the ears”) and sex (“what’s between the legs”) constitute “forgetting who God made them to be” like you perceive it to be with transsexuals? Just curious how your logic flows on this other aspect of sex & gender possibly not matching.
April 26th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I had written a comment before, but I was lied to. My mail e-mail was published because I got responses.
I am a white female that was married years ago. Instead of being in love, I was “in lust”. I judged my relationship with my husband by how good the sex was. After I divorced, I realize it WAS lust, not love.
Another thing, I have been abused and denied jobs many times for different reasons. For being white, for not being Hispanic. Also people didn’t like me because I had more than they. They treated and sometimes still treat me like dirt. Been harrassed because I was fat. I really doubt that I would be a happier person if I had a law specifically to protect me from all these things so I could sue them to poverty thinking doing that will MAKE them respect or love me. It ain’t going to happen.
You force this issue into law, I will guarantee you those who think you are perverted will NOT EVER go into a business that accepts you. I will not frequent a place of business if I run into a man dressed as a woman going to a ladies room. Guess you don’t mind being the ONLY ones in businesses.
I have found out that many people will always hate me for some assinine reason…. And NO suing is going to make people accept you.