As I’ve stated before, I belong to a couple of groups on Facebook that discuss politics, religion and other interesting facets of society. I’ve noticed that awareness of the issue of transgenderism is growing. What I’ve also noticed is most of those opposing the existence of our transgender community are the religious folk and the boomers. It’s like now that being anti-gay is accepted as a form of bigotry because sexuality is now known not to be a choice, the bigots have focused their negativity toward transgenderism claiming it’s a mental illness. The good news is there are more folks willing to defend transgenderism than not and science is exploring this topic more thus giving transgenderism validation.
I have written before in my blog about transgenderism and I feel more needs to be said because these people are being murdered for simply being who they are. Whatever your feelings about the transgender community the bottom line is that they are people and commonly victims of unlawful death. Twenty-six transgender or gender diverse individuals were killed in the USA in 2018, the majority African American. There have been 20 deaths of transgender or gender diverse people in 2019 so far. These statistics are an underrepresentation of the true figures.
Everyone has a right to their opinion but if your opinion is derogatory of someone else’s lifestyle then you’re a bigot. Being willfully ignorant is no excuse in the present where the internet is part of our education and literally available at one’s fingertips. I had one guy claim I was a bigot for supporting the transgender community by giving them validation instead of helping them seek mental health services. He also claimed my support was akin to validating a schizophrenic’s choice to not take their medications. I tried to educate him to the fact that, unlike schizophrenia, transgenderism is not a mental illness but his mind was closed therefore I came to learn nothing I could say would change his stance. He also claimed that the high rate of suicide amongst transgender people was proof of their unstable minds. I responded that it was those like himself that continued to invalidate transgenderism that was a major factor for these suicides and that he and those of his ilk had blood on their hands.
Bigotry exists and people are allowed to be bigots but they should be prepared to be challenged. It amazes me how defensive bigots are, claiming that they have a right to believe as they wish and, yes, everyone has a right to their beliefs. Yet if your beliefs harm and encumber the rights of others then you are part of the problem. One person’s rights never trump the rights of another. I will always be an advocate for the LBGTIQ community. I am passionate in my stance for these are people I know personally and love and will defend till my final breath.