the l.a. times reports that lawrence king, the gay boy who wore feminine clothes, will undergo an autopsy today. as if lawrence will ever do anything. i wonder why the media frames these acts of violence in the way they do.

his alleged murderer, brandon mcinerney, age 14, will be tried as an adult, with the added severity of a hate crime.

in what kind of world do we live, where children are taught to kill those of us who are different? who step outside those sacred gender roles. who love individuals of the “same sex”.

i can imagine what kind of narrative might have been going through the alleged murderer’s head. we’ve all heard those words before. i’ve heard those words before. some, spoken at me, with hatred, as if they were bullets.

in the violence against us, there is no difference between lawrence and myself. while he may have identified as gay, and while i may identify as trans, in the minds of those who would do us harm, we are the same. the violence perpetrated against us is motivated by the same sickness.

some of us placed into the lgbt community argue that we are different. that we should remain separate. politically, socially, legally. that our needs are different.

i disagree. we’re all human. and we all fight for human rights. equality, in medical care, housing, employment, and most basically, the right to exist as ourselves without getting shot or harassed. you know, the same human rights that white christian men enjoy. the same christian men who would veto a bill that would help to secure those rights for others.

some say that lawrence was trans. some say he was gay. i say he was human, a human who was denied the same rights that all lgbt people fight for, and struggle through simply to survive.

i have today off from work. i had a doctor appointment this morning, which i plan to blog about later, perhaps tonight or tomorrow. right now, i’m off to the pistol range. tonight is ladies night, and the range time is free. i like to think that practicing will provide an environment in which i’ll have equal footing with people like brandon mcinerney. because they are all around us.

if you are so wrapped up in your homophobia and self hatred, that you would kill someone because *you* can’t tell the difference between a man, woman, transperson, or any other socially constructed category of persons, then maybe you should just ask before you lay your money down.
the daily news reports:

A transgendered prostitute was stabbed to death in the Bronx Saturday by a customer who was apparently surprised by the hooker’s true sex, police sources said Saturday.

i’d like to know how one determines “true sex”.
they go one to say:

The victim - a 25-year-old man who dressed like a woman - was identified by sources as Talib Stewart, who often went by the feminine nicknames of Nesha or Sanesha.

ah yes, the old “man dressed like a woman” meme. i’m inclined to call them out on nexy’s law for that one.

Stewart also apparently had undergone surgery to give him larger breasts and other female characteristics, neighbors said.

“She looked like a girl but when she turned around, you knew it was a man,” a 17-year-old neighbor said. “She had a big jaw and an Adam’s apple.”

give “him” larger breasts? if the woman is transsexual, that makes her a “her”. “you knew it was a man”? “it”?!?!? i hate language sometimes.

if you think the article is bad, the real bigots come out in the comments. calico’s is a gem:

NO ONE deserves to die for a lifestyle he/she prefers to be identified or live with; however, you are one dumb, ignorant or stupid @ss if you still cannot understand that not everyone appreciates being fooled, deceived, humiliated, trifled with, hoaxed, lured under false pretenses. HOW do you want this repeated so that YOU can understand this?

so no one “deserves’ to die for being trans, but just be sure to wear your trans-ness on your forehead in neon letters or you are deceiving and humiliating the world. so if you get killed, it’s your fault. just like the women who incite rape for wearing short skirts. sounds like victim blaming to me.

well, there you have it - being yourself, expressing yourself, moving through the world as yourself is deceit. yes folks, we’ve attained double-speak.

h/t autumn, with prayers and best wishes on your surgery and speedy recovery!

i remember in april of 2007, barbara walters did a piece on 20/20 about transgender youth, and there were a few blog posts about it. jen, of transcending gender, posted a few quotes from the press release. the one that caught my eye stated:

This program will portray the true meaning of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE as Barbara intimately explores the lives of three incredible families and their transgender children.

i responded in the comments by quoting the first part of that passage and adding:

right, because it so very much requires unconditional love to stay with the horror that is a trans person. apparently, regular love just won’t cut it.

*sigh*

i had the same reaction to the post over on dented blue mercedes called notable comments.

now don’t get me wrong. i understand that trans people are not well thought of in our society (and frankly, most others as well). and it takes a lot of extra effort on the part of most people to wrap their heads around the concept of trans. and for most families who find that one of their members is trans, it’s takes a great deal of patience and understanding to come to terms with our status.

i suppose i just have an issue with the idea that being trans is so horrible, that it takes unconditional love to deal with a family member who is trans.

it also brings to mind that movie mask, with cher and eric stoltz. cher had what most would call “unconditional love” for her son rocky, who suffered from a “disfiguring” affliction.

are trans people so “disfigured”, that it takes “unconditional love” to love us, stand by us, be our lovers, our friends, and our family?

i think if you give a young child cars and an erector set to play with, they will develop spacial skills. navigating a car through the world, and building a 3-dimensional models tend to do that. if you give young child dolls and an easy-bake oven, they’ll develop verbal and reading skills. playing with toys that require the use of talking, and reading and following directions tend to do that.

i think that a child’s brain will develop the necessary pathways and circuits that enable those skills that you force upon it. and those pathways that are not required for those skills will atrophy. and that’s why the brains of men and women seem to differ, both in ability and scans.

i think we should start giving all children cars, dolls, erector sets, and easy-bake ovens.

i’ve posted about this revolver before - it’s charter arms recent introduction in the pink pistol marketing arena. they’re calling it the pink lady.

i’m actually in the market for a small revolver, though i’m a die hard smith & wesson fan. both pistols i currently own are s&w, and i’m pretty happy with their reliability and accuracy. i’ve heard a few negative reviews about charter arms (albeit a few positive ones as well), but the main reason i have reservations about the pink lady is that i would rather go with a .357 as opposed to a .38. i’m still considering a few different revolvers, but my tendency is still towards the s&w model 60. yeah, it’s almost twice as much as the pink lady ($727 msrp compared with $399 msrp) and almost twice as heavy (22.5 oz compared with 12 oz), but i believe the s&w is a stronger and overall better pistol.

Within the community gays and lesbians should really be taking greater care of the transgender community, because that’s the community that’s really in the most danger, they receive the most homophobic attacks – they’re vulnerable because they wear their queerness on their skin. Transgender teenagers are at such a high risk of suicide too – it’s a group that we really have to take under our wing.

margaret cho rocks.

in case the ents invade?

h/t traction control

the annual shot show, a trade show for the firearms industry held in las vegas, is in full swing. i found this on the ar15.com website, where they’ve dedicated a section of their forum to the event, chock full of news and pictures. and of course, the female models who highlight the products.

the phoenix pink pistols is hosting a second handgun basic training seminar on saturday, february 9th at 2:00 PM. i am scheduled to work that day, but i am trying to get off so i can attend. the first one was very informative, and i believe that one can not have too much basic training when it comes to the safe and effective use of firearms.

to find a local chapter in your area, click here for the search tool.