The "T-word".

Hi There!

OK, gotta make a post on this. I have become more than aware this last week of swirling controversy over use of the word "tranny". with the visibility of Transfolk growing thanks to the internet, there is more awareness of Transpeople in cis-gendered circles (ie. those who aren't transfolk, or "normal" if you will). That's good so far as it goes.
Problem is, we transpeople live in a world that is made for cis-gendered people. The majority rules in this case, and the majority of our fellow people see the world as a gender binary place. Male or Female. I'm not judging here, just reporting a fact.
Thing is, Tranfolk are a bunch of odd ducks. We sit on the shoulders of the bell curve in our building of self-identies. Having to struggle with our individual identities, we tend to develop a lot of insecurity, probably a bit more than our fair share.
Of course there are plenty of well-adjusted Transfolk out there. I like to think of myself as one, but I'm not without my fears. Being pre-op there's always a bit of concern that I'm gong to run into the odd fool who gives me crap when I go potty, or the cop that pulls me over for a traffic violation then proceeds to violate my civil rights. Problem is, I understand that these are semi-rational fears. The probabilities of that happening are along the lines of getting run over by a battleship. Possible, but not likely.
So, I harbor fears that people are just all kinds of ready to gang up on me and tear me apart like Pentheus at the Bacchanal. I know that it's not likely to happen, but the fact that it's a non-zero possibility does sit over my head sometimes. And I see that it sits over other heads too.
That's kinda the problem with discrimination, the fact that real victimization occurs generates the fear of victimization, and unchecked, the victim turns that fear back into reality, seeing discrimination where it doesn't exist. The reality of discrimination is real, don't get me wrong. Transpeople get hit with little tastes of it all too often, and I've lost one dear friend to it.
But I can't go around looking over my shoulder or being afraid of my own shadow. That isn't why I came out, but rather the reverse. I'm glad to be me, and I won't let the fear that someone else doesn't like it stop me. That's the road to self destruction.
Yeah, I want to be liked and loved and treated respectfully by EVERYBODY, and I'm a realist enough to know that it won't happen. I'm liberal enough to allow the jerks and the turds of the world have thier asinine opinions because it's thier right to do so. There are laws that protect me from most gross abuses, and even though I've been hurt with words (I find being called "it" most objectionable) I have on occasion been able to say; Hey, that's thier insecurities lashing out, it's not about me.
And that's the truth of the matter. Anyone who accosts me with words (or fists even) does so out of thier own dark shadowed soul. I am secure enough in who I am to know I'm not some kind of freakish alien. None of us are.
Back to "Tranny". Some people are convinced that tranny is a slur. I don't think it is and here's why; Tranny is a diminutive of transexual, the suffix -y, derived from the Old English -ge denotes an intensification of the word to which it's added. One shortens the four syllable word transexual into a two syllable version trann-y the -y indicating that no loss of the aspects that go into transexual has occured.
That's it. There isn't anything demeaning in "tranny" that isn't there in "transexual".
The only issue here is usage. Some people spin the word into a verbal attack, implying what? that somehow to be a transperson is to be "less-than"? Screw that. This is my word.
Call me an "it" if you want to insult me, because that's what you want to imply anyway, that I'm not a person, and not as good as you. But if you say it, know that I secretly am aware that YOU are the one who's got the problem. It's you who are uncomfortable, offended, SCARED of me. I'm not going to let you turn that table and victimize me. I'm going to dial 911, and I'm going to hold my head high. I'm a human being, and I'm a woman, and you don't have to like it, but you aren't going to change it.
Have a nice day!
Brianne

Hi There Reader!

It's Saturday Night, and I'm sitting with the notebook at the dining table with a hot cuppa tea and a bag of popcorn, racking my bean to come up with a worthwhile post.
I'm looking forward to going to my Church tomorrow morning. I can't imagine a more wonderful and fun way to spend my morning than among the brilliant congregation of Palmer's Church of the Covenant. While I'm not big on the going out in the cold thing, it's worth it to hang out and praise my blessings from Heaven with the intellectual, and well read, and accepting group there.
And that's what sets it apart, the intellectual, literate approach to the bible. One that places the human stories about God, the mythology and the history, into it's proper context and therefore allows us to see something besides mere Bibliotry.
The old testament is fascinating as a window on a cruel and violent world, but the New Testament is something else. It's the crux, if you will, of the idea of Civilization
Jesus expresses it as; Love God, Love your nieghbor, and love your enemy as though they were family. Jesus tells the wealthy over and over again to give it away, share, and be free of it. He tells us that judging others is a wicked business to get into. That the proper business of mankind is the loving care of each other.
To be a Christian is to accept unconditional love from God, and then, to share it UNCONDITIONALLY with everyone else. A true Christian, one I would call a real follower of Jesus, sees the web of interdependence of all living things. Is obligated to reach out to those others despise, those labeled as wicked, and unlovable. The mean and the ugly and the abusive with all our powers of healing. There is no room for condemnation in the Kingdom of Heaven. No labels that divide and dehumanize.
There is no room for twisting Justice into Vengeance. No excuse for killing.
Living up to the Kingdom is hard. I have to admit a heart that throbs for revenge. I'm often petty, and I condemn those on the Right of the political spectrum more easily than I'm willing to listen to the concerns. This isn't the way to the Utopia.
In today's cynical, war torn, over-commercialized and downright corrupt world, we've come to laugh at Utopian visions. But that's what the Kingdom is. Utopia. Christianity is Utopian. A endless table of friends where one is warm, well fed, happy, and safe just being yourself. That's the good news. The concept of a free democratic and safe world.
It's a world we will find once we conquer our inner fear of others, of government, of foreignness, of the unfamiliar. It's the promise of the Rainbow. But it is for us and must be built by us.
Blessings to you. May you be well, find joy, and see the beauty around you today.
Brianne