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Monthly Archives: December 2017

And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part V

26 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by ts4jc in About Me, General Christian issues, General Transsexual issues

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Abraham, admissions, anesthesiologist, antiseptic, Bala Cynwyd, birth of Christ, born again, caregivers, childbirth, Christ's return, Christian, Christmas, comfort, dangerous road design, Dr. Christine McGinn, Dr. Sherman Leis, Dulcolax, Emmie Smith, eternal salvation, Gender Reassignment Surgery, general anesthesia, genital hair removal, God's will, Gospel of Luke, GRS, Hibiclens, identical twin, Jesus, Joy to the World, Joy Vanderberg, laser tech, laxative, left turn, liquid diet, Lower Bucks Hospital, Luke 16, major surgery, Murray's Deli, National Geographic, nuchal cord, painkillers, Philadelphia drivers, rebirth, recovery room, rich man and Lazarus, right with God, rising from the dead, rush hour, shaved, The Lord's hands, torment, traffic, umbilical cord

Four Hours …

I had one stop to make in Bala Cynwyd before arriving at Dr. Leis’s office.  I needed to drop off a prescription for painkillers that Dr. Leis had given me a few weeks earlier.  Since they are a controlled substance, I could only fill the prescription in Pennsylvania and I chose to wait rather than keep them in my apartment (and possibly forget to bring them).  I would pick them up after I checked in with Dr. Leis and his staff.

There is a CVS on the corner of US 1 (City Avenue) and Bryn Mawr Avenue, not far from Dr. Leis’s office.  Since I have an account with CVS in New York, a computer data base made it easy to file the prescription since they had all of my personal and insurance records on file.  Then I headed north on Bryn Mawr Avenue to the good doctor’s office and found out that Philadelphia area drivers don’t take a back seat to New York City area drivers when it comes to rudeness.

Murray’s Deli, just down the street from Dr. Leis’s office. I would go there for a pastrami sandwich when I wasn’t on a liquid diet.

To continue on Bryn Mawr Avenue at Montgomery Avenue, one needs to drive a couple of car lengths on Montgomery before making a left.  But the traffic light is only on the corner of Bryn Mawr heading south.  The traffic planners of Bala Cynwyd didn’t place a corresponding traffic light on the corner of Bryn Mawr heading north.  (As a former prospective urban planner and traffic engineer, I notice unsafe situations like this.)

So it was no problem making the right onto Montgomery.  But making the left to continue on Bryn Mawr at rush hour was a nightmare.  First of all, it was the early part of rush hour and traffic was heavy.  Second, the drivers ignored the “Do Not Block The Intersection” sign.  When they were stopped for the light, I was blocked from making what should have been an easy left turn.  Finally, Montgomery is a four lane road.  So even when a car in the left lane stopped to let me turn (after traffic flow resumed), I couldn’t see the cars coming in the right lane.  I eventually darted across, hoping I had enough of a gap that I wouldn’t get T-boned on the passenger side of my car.  The possibility flashed in my head that I might be maimed or even die in a car accident on the night before this life-changing surgery.  What a cruel joke that would have been.  But I made it safely and was soon parked in the doctor’s parking lot.

After I settled my nerves, Dr. Leis took me into an examining room and did exactly what the room’s purpose suggested.  It was the first time he saw me naked.  He also shaved the area around my genitalia in preparation for the surgery the next day.  He commented that my laser tech, Joy Vanderberg, had done a good job removing “most” of the hairs.  Of course, the gray hairs would not succumb to her zaps.

I was shown what would become my recovery room once I came back from the hospital.  It would not be used by anyone else while I was at the hospital so I brought all of my things up from the car.  Not taking for granted that I would have help bringing everything back down in two weeks, I had packed one small suitcase and a lot of small bags, whether it was clothing, personal items or non-perishable food.  Knowing I would have to feed myself and a caregiver for 11 days, I wanted plenty of food on hand, things not difficult to prepare and a variety to accommodate the tastes of myself and three different caregivers.

Shopping Center where an Acme is located. I got the perishable food items there.

Once I had squared things away (including what I would be taking to the hospital with me the next day) and checked out what was supplied in the kitchen area (the basic condiments and sugar were there, plus a few other items), I headed out to buy perishable items.

There wasn’t much I could eat that night, however.  I had to do all that driving and all that carrying (up to the third floor, mind you) without the benefit of solid food since midnight on October 3.  I had some beef bouillon and then juice from a juice box, got comfortable in bed, and failed to figure out how to get more than one channel that night.

I washed down a Dulcolax tablet so any remaining solids would be out of my system before surgery.  I was to have nothing by mouth after midnight so hopefully I would be totally empty by the time I had the surgery.

And I needed to get some sleep, even though I wouldn’t be awake for much of the following day.  Despite the importance of what the next day would bring, I had been through enough packing, driving and lugging that I had no problem falling asleep.  And I was pretty calm, all things considered.  This operation had been covered in prayer for a long time.  I knew I had committed myself into the Lord’s hands.

I set my travel alarm clock for a ridiculously early time so I could shower and wash my body with the provided Hibiclens antiseptic liquid that I was required to use – after I had my final bowel movement and bladder emptying (so I thought).  I noted that it was to come nowhere near the eyes, so I used more conventional means to wash face and hair.  I also wondered why the Hibiclens shower wasn’t done at the hospital.  After all, I had to get dressed to travel to the hospital and there was no guarantee that my clothes were perfectly antiseptic (even though they were clean).  And while the car I rode in was clean (as best as I could tell in the dark with a black interior), it wasn’t antiseptic, either.

Having taken care of the necessities, I took my travel bag (actually a Dress Barn bonus for spending a bunch of money during my second group shopping trip to add to my meager stash of female clothing back in 2012) and my purse and put them at the foot of the stairs.  Then I waited for Dr. Leis to pick me up.  Yes, when Dr. Leis does your GRS, he is chauffeur as well as surgeon.

Of course, he showed up when I had gone back upstairs for a few moments.  Jenna was with him and she had to come upstairs to retrieve me.  But soon we were on our way through the dark streets of pre-dawn Philadelphia.  At that hour, anyway, Dr. Leis takes the route through center city Philadelphia to get from his office to Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol.  It is the same hospital featured as part of the recent National Geographic program: the surgery by Dr. Christine McGinn of Emmie, the identical twin.

(Note: although done at the same hospital, and even though Dr. Leis trained Dr. McGinn, some of the procedures are different than the ones I went through. For example, I was not transferred from gurney to gurney while awake. I woke up in my own room on my own, not in the recovery room by the surgeon. And Dr. Leis uses some different techniques and different post-op protocol. Emmie seems to be experiencing more pain than I did, and they have her walking sooner.)

I found out a few things on that roughly 45 minute drive.  First, Dr. Leis has a very nice car with a very smooth ride.  Second, he has a nice touch behind the wheel, no sudden stops or jerky moves.  So I was quite comfortable in the back seat, never feeling a need for that involuntary move of my right foot to an imaginary brake pedal as I have with so many other drivers when I am a passenger.  But most of all, as we were driving through the construction zones on I-95, I was beginning to wonder if my surgeon was driving to Bristol Speedway in Tennessee instead of a hospital in Bristol, PA.  I don’t want to tell you at what speed he passed one of the temporary signs that were posted to inform motorists of a 45 mph speed limit in the construction zone (not that he was going that much faster than anyone else and he had plenty of company in the left lane.)  And yet I felt totally safe with him, just as I felt safe with him doing my surgery.  And when we arrived at the hospital, I felt no need to kiss the ground.  (One of the staff at the hospital told me after my surgery that he did get into a minor fender bender one time while bringing one of his patients, but they admitted that she didn’t know who was at fault.)

We were already hitting traffic on the southbound Schuylkill Expressway and for a sad reason.  South of where we turned onto the Vine Street Expressway there had been a terrible accident that I had heard about on the television as I was getting ready to go to the hospital.  A motorcycle rider was struck and killed on the Schuylkill Expressway.  That evening a second accident in Philadelphia claimed the life of another motorcyclist.  Fortunately it was not an omen of bad things ahead for me.

I found out that Dr. Leis also does some of his surgeries at Roxborough Hospital, about thirty minutes closer than the hospital in Bristol.  I would have been nicer to have the shorter ride, especially on the way back when I was in not the best of shape while still recovering from major surgery and there were some very bumpy sections of pavement to traverse.  My speculation is that either insurance or hospital logistics is the reason why my surgery was done at Lower Bucks.

Inside, Dr. Leis directed me to where I needed to go to get registered while he went to change into scrubs.  After all the initial bureaucratic paperwork, I was led past the spooky piano with the invisible piano player in the lobby.  Two great nurses took charge of me, my belongings and the little bit of valuables that I brought.

Whether it was the cool air when I disrobed or nerves or both, somehow my body found a little more urine to get rid of (so much for the Hibiclens once again), so the nurses told me where to go in the room to take care of that and they took the request in stride.  And before long I was being wheeled into a room with a lot of other gurneys and a lot of curtains that could be drawn around.

Soon I was greeted by the anesthesiologist who asked me some basic questions about any allergies to medicines, previous reactions to anesthesia and my approximate weight (115 pounds, thank you very much).  Dr. Leis came in, greeted me and then exchanged some small talk with the anesthesiologist before they turned their attention back to me.  An assistant anesthesiologist came in and introduced herself.

At that point, apparently everyone who would be in that room with me was present.  The anesthesiologist told me that I would feel a needle prick in my arm and I would slowly feel drowsy.  Darn, no more being told to count backwards from 100.  The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed with soft music playing and pretty pictures on a monitor in front of me.  I was in my room and the monitor was my television.  Lower Bucks Hospital has a channel on their television system called C.A.R.E. that features nothing but soft music and pretty scenes.  And that must be what they have you wake up to.

The evening before the operation, Dr. Leis had asked me if there was anyone I wanted him to call after the surgery.  My Cousin Sherry had asked to be called.  Later, when she called me, she said that he told her that my surgery took four hours and that it went very well.  Of course, I was out longer than that, but the four hours of the surgery were the focal point of it all.  Of the three most important events in my life, I have no direct memory of two of them. All three have to do with birth or rebirth.

I don’t remember being born.  Who does?  All I know about it is what I was told by my mother: she had to go to the hospital in the pouring rain when she went into labor; she threw up at the end of her pregnancy rather than the beginning, so much so that the doctor asked if she was going to birth me or throw me up; I made her miss lunch as I was born shortly after noon; that I was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck twice.

I would occasionally share that last item when childbirth stories were shared.  But since I have come out to most of the world, I have turned that story into a funny one, if a bit warped in some minds.  I say that I did the wrapping of the cord myself because just before I came out, I got a glance of what was between my legs for the first time.

Twice was a bit of overdoing it, but I have since learned that having what is known as a nuchal cord is common.  It occurs in approximately a third of births (less than 10% have it wrapped multiple times).  And babies don’t choke from it because they are not yet breathing through their nose or mouth until those passages are cleared and the baby gets that rude slap on its lower cheeks.  I did get some marks on my neck from where the cord had wrapped, but those went away in fairly short order.

The one life-changing moment I do remember quite well was the moment I associate quite clearly with being born again.  In fact, it happened just about where I am sitting now as I type this blog post in my apartment.  In June 1989, I wasn’t working out of my home yet and I hadn’t gotten my first PC, so I had a lot more room.  I was sitting in a lounge chair reading.  It took a few weeks before I realized just how significant it was, but that was soon enough that I remember many of the details.  But that is a story for a different topic.

GRS was the second time that I had been totally out with anesthesia.  Under anesthesia, there is no sense of being asleep, no sense of time passing, no sense of dreaming.  One moment you are in surrounded by a medical staff behind curtains and the next moment you are alone in private room with pretty pictures on a monitor and soft music playing.  I can imagine it being like waking from the dead.

It reminds me of a story that Jesus told as recorded in Luke’s gospel.  It’s a story about being right with God.  We always want to be right with God, because just as no one knows the day or hour of Christ’s return, no one knows their own personal day or hour.  But going into major surgery (my first of any type), I especially had to feel that I was right with God and was within God’s will having the surgery.

The story is about two men who knew of each other, one rich and the other poor, who died at about the same time.  The poor man was carried by angels to the comfort of Abraham, but the rich man was in torment.  And he cried to Abraham for mercy.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. – Luke 16:25-31

On this Merry Christmas night as I finish this blog post, we continue to celebrate the birth of one foretold by Moses and the prophets, who rose from the dead and through whom we are offered the free gift of escaping torment and being eternally right with God.  I pray that all who read this will choose their course wisely, not like the rich man.

God bless,

Lois

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Lois Simmons: Evangelical Transgender Woman

08 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by ts4jc in About Me, General Christian issues, General Transsexual issues

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alliance, anatomy, Bible authority, born again, Brazil, bridge, children, China, Christian, Civil Rights movement, conservative Catholics, Cross of Christ, Daily Beast, dehumanized, encourage, enslavement, eternal salvation, evangelical, evangelical transgender woman, female gender identity, follower of Jesus, forced conversion, forced labor, forced marriage, free gift, Gospel, government action, government restrictions, Gwendolyn Ann Smith, hate speech, high murder rate, hijacked, Human Rights, Jesus, Josh Groban, lack of reporting, lifelong commitment, LifeWay Research, Lois Simmons, mainstream media, marginalized group, martyrdom, Mexico, missionary, murders, Muslim countries, National Association of Evangelicals, negative attitude, New York, non-violent response, O Holy Night, obedience, Open Doors, penalty of sin, persecution, Pew Research, prejudice, reconciliation, record numbers, redemption of humanity, Rio de Janeiro, Rockland County, Russia, sacrifice, Sao Paulo, Savior, slurs, social reform, statistics, TDOR, terrorism, Thailand, theological foundation, trans women of color, Transgender, Transgender Day of Remembrance, transgender equality, transgender people, transrespect.org, trend, trust in Christ, U.S. Constitution, underreported, United States, vulnerable

Having finished my baseball themed thread, I had planned on continuing my GRS journey in my next post.  But a story caught my eye.  It was a follow up commentary to the recent Pew Research Center study and analysis on U.S. attitudes towards transgender.  It confirmed the basis for my blog and the name I gave it.  By being a transgender Christian, I belong to two groups that are not only nearly mutually exclusive, they are generally mutually uncomfortable with each other.

In connection with this article by Samantha Allen which appeared in the Daily Beast on 11/30/17, someone did a Google search for the following two phrases: “Evangelical transgender man” and “Evangelical transgender woman”.  According to the article, the first phrase turned up one person (who was interviewed for the article).  The second phrase turned up no one.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/will-evangelicals-ever-get-over-their-anti-trans-prejudice

Having defined myself for over 30 years as a born-again Christian and having gone public since 2012 as a transgender woman, I was aware that there weren’t many of us out there.  But I neglected to identify myself as an evangelical anywhere on my blog.  Before I rushed out to correct this defect, I decided I had better make sure the meaning hadn’t changed since I last checked.

I found a few variations on the meaning.  I decided to go with the definitions provided on the website of the National Association of Evangelicals.  (I also checked them out to make sure they were a representative organization.  Since my current denomination and the conference to which my previous church belonged are both members, I am confident in their validity as an organization well-equipped to define the term.)

https://www.nae.net/what-is-an-evangelical/

First what is evangelicalism?  The NAE website lists four primary characteristics:

  • Conversionism: the belief that lives need to be transformed through a “born-again” experience and a lifelong process of following Jesus
  • Activism: the expression and demonstration of the gospel in missionary and social reform efforts
  • Biblicism: a high regard for and obedience to the Bible as the ultimate authority
  • Crucicentrism: a stress on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as making possible the redemption of humanity

Noting that evangelical individuals are often researched, and acknowledging that the researchers use a variety of criterion to identify evangelical subjects for their studies, NAE and LifeWay Research developed a method that they urge researchers to use to identify evangelical individuals.  According to this method, an evangelical must strongly agree to the following four statements:

  • The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.
  • It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.
  • Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.
  • Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.

And my answer to all four is that I strongly agree with each and every one of them.

For a few years now, I have identified myself in the following manner:

  • I am a Christian first. That is my eternal spiritual identity.
  • I am female second. That is my innate gender identity.
  • Somewhere on the list, I am transgender. That is my anatomical reality.

So I hereby step into the void that was claimed to exist by Daily Beast.  I, Lois Simmons, am a born-again Christian Evangelical transgender woman.

Note that I live in New York, the third least evangelical state in the U.S. According to the Association of Religious Data Archives, my county is only 5.5% evangelical, which is nearly half the percentage in the state, So I am well aware of what it is like to be a religious minority and a gender minority.

As if life wasn’t interesting enough already.  While I have received a measure of acceptance and support within both groups and hopefully have also educated those in one of the groups about the other group, I have also detected and experienced measures of prejudice within both groups.  While it doesn’t surprise me, it does sadden me.

There was a time when it might have surprised me.  First of all until recently, transgender was barely a blip on the Christian radar.  Until we started receiving more news exposure, Christians’ lack of familiarity with transgender individuals could be a plus if the issue was addressed in a positive way, with a sound Christian theological foundation.  Furthermore, Christians and transgender individuals are two of the most persecuted groups in the world.  One would think that there would be a natural affinity between groups that share significant persecution experience.

Sadly, over the years I have learned that this is not so.  And it isn’t limited to Christians and transgender individuals.  I have seen or heard of too many members of one persecuted group attack another persecuted group as part of their claim that they have suffered far greater persecution and the other group doesn’t have a valid claim.  A current example is some black leaders who claim that LGBT+ organizations have hijacked the Civil Rights movement.  And I have seen or heard too many members of one marginalized group mock or denigrate members of another marginalized group.  It is not just those with privilege who use slurs and hate speech.

Persecution of Christians

Based on statistics that have been kept on the persecution of Christians for the past 25 years, in 2014-16, this persecution has reached record numbers each year with 2016 being the worst year yet.  Millions of Christians face interrogation, arrest, torture, and/or death because of their religious convictions and cultural/ethnic identification.  While about 30 percent of the world’s population identifies as Christian, 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination are directed at Christians.  Christians currently face persecution in more than 60 countries.  Between 2007 and 2014, Christians were targeted for harassment in more countries than any other religious group.  Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians are the most likely Christians to be persecuted.  Terrorist attacks against Christians escalated over 300 percent between 2003 and 2010.  It is estimated that 7100 Christians were martyred because of their religion in 2015, an increase of over 300 percent compared to 2123 martyred in 2013.  Christian response to persecution is almost always non-violent, demonstrating faith and forgiveness.  (Sources: International Society for Human Rights, U.S. State Department, Open Doors USA, Pew Research and Under Caesar’s Sword [at the University of Notre Dame in conjunction with the Religious Freedom Institute and Georgetown University])

It is not just adults who face this persecution.  It is children, too: at school, at play, on the street … anywhere.

The extent of persecution of Christians may come as a surprise to some readers of this post.  According to these sources, both the mainstream media and human rights organizations give little attention to Christian persecution.  From 2008 to 2011, according to research done at Georgetown, Human Rights Watch had religious persecution as the focus of only 8 out of 323 published reports (about 2.5%), and less than half of those focused on persecution of Christians.

In the part of the world generally defined as “The West” (North America, South America, and Western and Central Europe), significant religious persecution was found to occur in only three countries: Cuba, Colombia and Mexico.  Even so, Pew Research reports that governmental restrictions on religion increased in 37 out of 43 European countries plus the United States and Canada from 2007 to 2013.  During the same time period, social hostilities towards religion increased in 38 of the 43 European countries.  As someone who just celebrated her 65th birthday, I can testify that both of these categories have negatively impacted Christians’ religious freedom in the United States during my lifetime.

One of the ways Christians are persecuted in the world is that they are captured and enslaved.  Both men and women are subjected to forced labor.  Young girls and women are often forced into religious conversion and then a marriage to one of their captors.

I have shared Josh Groban’s version before, but it is appropriate for me to do so again.  Not only is it the right time of year, but the words of the second verse cry out to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zh-yR0pbmU

Persecution of Transgender Persons

While statistics of persecution of Christians can vary because not everyone defines Christian in the same way, international statistics on persecution of transgender persons are even more difficult to come by.  Many countries do not report crimes against transgender people at all, either denying the existence of transgender people in their country, or because it is not a crime to attack someone who is transgender in that country, or both.  Some countries simply don’t consider it important to report on such matters.  Others frequently misgender transgender people, using the gender assigned at birth rather than the personal gender identity of the person.

Even so, in countries where the statistics are more reliable, the trend is that violence against transgender people is increasing.  While some of this may be related to more accurate reporting, greater visibility of and backlash against transgender people also may be playing a role.  In the United States, a record number 23 violent deaths against transgender people occurred in 2016.  With four weeks remaining in 2017, that number was topped as 27 violent transgender deaths have been recorded so far this year.  Because some victims are misgendered in the initial reports, that number may rise even if there are no more murders before the end of the year.  And with violent deaths occurring at a rate of more than one every two weeks, there is no guarantee that there won’t be more murders before the end of the year.  The Christmas season of love and light provides no special protection for transgender people.

The vast preponderance of the 27 who were killed was trans women of color.  And again, while there are differences in deciding which cases are included and which cases are not, the trends and the identity of those who are most vulnerable are both unmistakable.  The annual murder rate for Americans age 15 to 34 is about one in 12,000.  For black trans women in the same age group, it is one in 2,600.

Gwendolyn Ann Smith

Another reason that the statistics may vary from website to website is that there are some cases that are in a gray area as far as whether it is a transgender related murder.  For example, a transgender person may be killed by violent means but it wasn’t because the person was transgender.  Gwendolyn Ann Smith, the founder of Transgender Day of Remembrance, points out that one of the 27 transgender victims of violence was killed as a result of an argument with a trans woman friend.  And there have also been cases where the victim did not identify as transgender, but it is likely that the perpetrator of the murder assumed that they were or might be transgender and that was part of the basis for the violence.

Even so at the root of the matter, the trend is getting worse.  And murder isn’t the only way that transgender people are persecuted.  According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, a 2015 survey of U.S. transgender people revealed that 55% of those who sought coverage for transition-related surgery in the previous year were denied.  77% of those taking the survey also reported that they were mistreated in some way when they were students during grades K-12.

I am one of the fortunate ones who was not negatively impacted in either of those areas.  But I did encounter discrimination from a person who at one time had been employed by my insurance carrier when it came to negotiating a fair market price for pre-GRS hair removal.  And I am about to contact a transgender-supportive state legislator’s office to look into why another reimbursement request related to my surgery has gone into a black hole: no approval, no denial and no explanation has been put forward.

The persecution of transgender people doesn’t just occur in dark alleys and private places.  It also has been occurring in the halls of government.  Although none of these bills have passed, sixteen states considered legislation to curtail the right of transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds with their personal gender identity, and six states have considered legislation to invalidate local anti-discrimination protections.  There have also been three actions taken by the Federal Government in 2017 to roll back recent gains in transgender equality: rescinding protection guidelines for transgender students, the effort to bar transgender troops, and the Justice Department decision to stop applying workplace discrimination protections to transgender people.

The language here is very important.  Note that I have deliberately used the phrase “transgender people”.  While we have a transgender identity, first and foremost, we are people.  Some of us have made significant positive contributions to our society, whether before our transition, or after, or both.  Many more hold down steady jobs in a variety of industries and professions, pay our taxes, are good neighbors in our communities and play an important role in our families, worship in accordance with our religious or spiritual beliefs, and help provide the goods and services that meet the needs, wants and desires of our fellow Americans.

Note also that I talk about “transgender equality”, not “transgender rights”.  We do not seek special rights above and beyond what our cisgender neighbors enjoy.  We want the right to apply for and hold a job, to find housing, to receive public accommodations without being discriminated against.  We want the right to feel safe in our homes, on the streets, and yes in bathrooms (where we are vulnerable, not perpetrators).  To summarize, we want our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness the same as any other American covered under the Constitution of the United States.

The trend for murders of transgender people around the world is also increasing compared to the previous year.  Based on statistics gathered by transrespect.org in preparation for TDOR 2017, there was an increase from 295 to 325 in the number of murders compared to the similar time period for the previous year.  Brazil by far continues to produce the most reported murders, with 171 for the 2016-17 time period, followed by Mexico (56) and the United States (25).  Since the statistics were first kept, there were 2,609 reported murders from January 1, 2008 to September 30, 2017.

There are many ways in which transgender victims of murder and other violent crimes are dehumanized as part of the systemic persecution.  One is that the names and/or ages of the victims are not reported.  Often, the victim is identified by birth name and gender in the official reports rather than their chosen name and personal gender identity.  In many countries around the world, including Brazil and Thailand, it is illegal to change your name.

And then there is the situation where many countries do not report these crimes at all, or do not consider them to be crimes.  Here is a salient quote from the transrespect.org website: “Trans and gender-diverse people around the world are victims of horrifying hate violence, including extortion, physical and sexual assaults, and murder, which often go unreported.  In most countries, data on violence against trans and gender-diverse people are not systematically produced and it is impossible to estimate the actual number of cases.”  Furthermore, it is suspected that there is vast underreporting of murders of transgender people from most Muslim countries, Russia and China, to name the largest and most flagrant instances.

On the other side of the reporting coin is Brazil.  The situation in Brazil is similar to that in the United States.  There are areas of the country, such as Rio de Janeiro, where there is a very visible and accepted transgender community.  But there are other areas of the country, such as Sao Paulo (less than 200 air miles away), where much of the murder and other violent crimes against transgender people occur.  Brazil has a little less than 2/3 the population of the United States, but nearly seven times as many murders of transgender people.  For all citizens, Brazil’s murder rate is 4½ times as high as the United States, so that explains some, but not all of the discrepancy.  Differences in the religious makeup of the population may also explain some of the discrepancy.

Comparing the persecution of the two groups, you may have noticed something.  As a member of both groups, I am certainly aware of it.  As much as a significant number of Christians feel antipathy toward transgender people and a significant number of transgender people feel antipathy toward Christians, both face a significant amount of their persecution by the same outside groups.

It is not uncommon for the enemy of my enemy to become my friend as a way for group alliances to be formed.  But the groups have to sense that they have enough in common and have to reduce if not eliminate any sniping they are doing at each other.  And that brings me back to one of the purposes of my blog.  I have found a way to reconcile these two parts of my identity that many would claim to be diametrically opposed.  If I can do it within me and not abandon one part or the other, then theoretically speaking it is doable in society.  But both groups need to reach a place where they would prefer making allies instead of looking for gotchas and ways of putting the other group down.  And that usually starts with one side making the first peace overture and the other side responding in kind.  That might not be easy in view of the past history and lack of a centralized leadership for either group.

But here is where my Christian background comes to the fore.  All things are possible with God.  It doesn’t mean that it will happen, and I confess that at times it feels like I am shoveling sand against the tide.  But it can happen.  So for now, I stay at the task.

When I went to college, I had hopes of being a civil engineer/urban planner/transportation engineer.  Maybe I can still be a bridge.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. – Philippians 4:6

God bless,

Lois

Pages

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Recent Posts

  • Scapegoats May 28, 2018
  • And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part VIII February 17, 2018
  • And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part VII February 11, 2018
  • And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part VI January 3, 2018
  • And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part V December 26, 2017
  • Lois Simmons: Evangelical Transgender Woman December 8, 2017
  • Tribute to Vin Scully – Part V November 30, 2017
  • And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part IV November 28, 2017
  • Tribute to Vin Scully – Part IV November 23, 2017
  • And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part III November 19, 2017
  • Tribute to Vin Scully – Part III November 16, 2017
  • And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part II November 13, 2017
  • Tribute to Vin Scully – Part II November 6, 2017
  • And Now For Something Completely Different … – Part I November 5, 2017
  • Tribute to Vin Scully – Part I October 31, 2017

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