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Tag Archives: Dr. Christine McGinn

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

Planet Fitness support of transgender; Dr. Oz interviews transgender family

05 Sunday Apr 2015

Posted by ts4jc in About Me, General Transsexual issues, Living Female

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

athletic women, Bruce Jenner, Changing room, complainant, complaint, dignity, Dr. Christine McGinn, Dr. Oz, feminine, fishbowl, Gender Identity, guest, Gym, Kristen Beck, Lady Valor, lawsuit, masculine, media frenzy, membership, Michigan, microscope, Midland, modest, muscle development, Planet Fitness, policy, protection, rumor, sensationalism, speculation, support, supportive wife, talk show, tiny minority, Trans woman, Transgender, warning, Yvette Cormier

I’ve moved into the heart of my tax season and I am not able to post as often or as much in depth on one topic.  So this will be a round-up of two recent topics that have come to my attention.

Planet Fitness:

Recently it was reported that a Planet Fitness located in Midland, Michigan had supported a transgender woman’s right to be in the woman’s locker room in their facility.  When another female member complained about her presence, the staff on duty explained that she had a right to be there.  When that didn’t satisfy the complainant, they eventually terminated her membership.

It should be noted that each Planet Fitness location is franchised.  But I know that this is the same policy that is followed at the Planet Fitness where I am a member (and where I desperately need to start going to again … after tax season).  According to a news story on the WTNH-8 News website, the Midland location has a nice feature that is also present at my location: the availability of private changing stalls.  And of course, their bathroom stalls have doors.

I never completely undress in the locker room.  I generally arrive wearing the gear in which I will do my workout.  Especially in winter, I will take off outer clothing (coat, sweater, scarf and gloves), and change from boots to gym shoes.  I am quite modest and have no desire to shock anyone or cause problems.  And when I was attending regularly, there were no complaints about me.  I received no dirty looks or stares, whether in the locker room, the main floor during a workout, or in the women’s bathroom (almost always there at the end of the workout to comb and brush my hair).  I go there alone and have never seen anyone there who I know, so it is not like I am surrounded by a phalanx of supporters.  Any time anyone has referred to me, they have always used female pronouns in a friendly, respectful tone of voice.  I had one woman approach me in the bathroom one day to ask me if I would recommend the facility.  (I did.)  My heart soared when that happened!

Now in the immediate wake of the story, much misinformation was spread by those who opposed Planet Fitness’s policy and decision at the Midland location (which was backed by Planet Fitness’s corporate headquarters).  Here are some examples:

Charge: The transwoman was not a member and had less right to be there than the member who complained.

Fact: The transwoman was a guest of a member.  People with a certain level of membership have the right to bring guests.  It is a smart business policy in the hopes that the guests will like the experience and sign up for membership of their own.  As a guest of a member, she had just as much right to be there.

Charge: The complaint was made because the transwoman was in the locker room letting it all hang out, undressing in front of the other women there.

Fact: The transwomen was wearing a baggy shirt and leggings and not undressing or changing.  She used the locker room to store her coat and purse and then retrieve them after she finished her workout.  None of the other women present had a problem with her being in there.  Neither did the complainant make that charge.  Her only complaint to the front desk and to those further up the corporate ladder was that she looks like a man.

Charge: She looks like a man and therefore doesn’t belong in the women’s locker room.

Fact: First of all, I know that this is not a Gold’s Gym or other hardcore bodybuilding gym.  Even so, this is a place where some people go to increase strength, train for athletic competition and build muscle.  Some cisgender women who train at intense levels over long periods of time can begin to look more masculine, especially if they use certain drugs to enhance their development.  At the extreme level, I have seen pictures of female bodybuilders who look more masculine than at least 80% of the adult male population.

In addition, I have seen a picture of the transwoman in question.  She looks as feminine to me as many women I see in the local grocery store.  In some pictures she looks more feminine than in others.  That is true for many women.  Those people who want to put her in the worst possible light will use the old tactic of choosing the worst possible picture of her.  Some of them have also dredged up information from her private life that had no relation to her legitimate interest in working out at a gym.  Nor was it related to the complaint or known by the complainant.

Charge: Planet Fitness should warn prospective members of their transgender inclusive policy.

Fact: Planet Fitness’s policies are available for anyone who wants to take the time to read them.  But transgender people are not a class of people who the rest of the public needs to be protected from.  We are people who generally need protection from hateful, bigoted and sometimes violent people.

There is another reason why it is not incumbent upon Planet Fitness to give more attention to its transgender inclusive policy.  We are simply not a large group.  Despite the fears of some, we are not a growing horde taking over the country or the world.  We are a tiny percentage of the population.  I would not be surprised to find that the vast majority of Planet Fitness locations do not have any transgender members.  (To my knowledge, Planet Fitness does not keep such statistics.  When I called to confirm that I would indeed be welcomed there, they did not ask me to check a “transgender” box on their enrollment form.)  The chance of anyone running into a transwoman in the woman’s locker room at Planet Fitness is practically nil.  (Although it may increase now; many in the transgender community thank those of you who brought their wonderful policy to our attention.)

Charge: The complainant was dropped from the membership rolls because she complained.

Fact: The Planet Fitness in Midland did not have a problem with this member’s initial complaint.  At times, I complained about certain things (such as the lack of five pound weights to add onto the stack of weights on a machine).  My complaints were always listened to with polite respect.  The complainant’s membership was canceled because she was waging a one-woman protest against the policy at and near to the facilities location, disrupting the activities of other members in violation of the membership agreement.

Thank you Planet Fitness.  You are providing more than a “no judgment zone”.  You are providing a safety zone for women like me.

Follow up: The complainant, Yvette Cormier, filed a lawsuit against Planet Fitness on March 23, approximately three weeks after her membership was revoked.

Dr. Oz Interview:

On Wednesday, March 11, Dr. Oz featured an interview with a transwoman, Tina, who is living full-time as a female, her wife and one of their daughters.  Dr. Christine McGinn, the plastic surgeon who treated Tina, also made a brief appearance.

First off, let me say that this is the first time I have ever watched the Dr. Oz program.  (I watch almost no current television.)  So I have no comment on any other aspect of his program or beliefs or claims.  But I thought that he treated the people who he interviewed with dignity.  This was not the sensational talk show treatment that I saw years ago from Geraldo, Maury Povich and others of that genre.  And it is light years from the horrible spectacles offered on the Jerry Springer show.

Yes, there was a bit of a shameless tie-in to Bruce Jenner with the promo of the show and the episode title.  (The episode does not deal with Jenner’s situation at all.)  But whether Dr. Oz was personally responsible for the decision to exploit the name, it was a group decision, or the responsibility rests with someone else, I understand the need to attract an audience and generate ratings.

More importantly, it was wonderful to see a couple that had weathered the painful part of transition and have stayed together.  Tina’s wife is frank about how difficult this was for her.  But she decided that because she loves Tina as a person, she would rather have Tina, even if in some sense she has lost the person she married, than to lose that person completely.  It was a positive, heart-warming story.

I highly recommend watching the episode.  You will need to bear with the fact that it is somewhat choppy because of commercial breaks (all the same commercial).  And the interview does not take up the entire episode.  When it switches to the segment on dealing with back pain (followed by one on higher protein, reduced carb pancakes), the transgender segment is over.

http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/understanding-transgender-how-bruce-jenner-got-everyone-talking

I mentioned that Dr. Oz tied his interview of Tina to a name that has many on the Internet abuzz with rumor and speculation.  Why have I not commented on Bruce Jenner’s story?  Primarily because people have the right to make their own statement about their identity and their path in life.  Until I hear or read that, there is nothing to comment on.  And even then, I might find nothing noteworthy to comment on.

However, I will say at this time that it is difficult for anyone to transition in our culture, even if the attitudes of many are becoming more favorable.  I can imagine that it would be far more difficult to do so in the fishbowl of media feeding frenzies.  If nothing else, it will make it difficult to focus on one’s own feelings and emotions as one adapts to the newness of living life in the gender opposite to which a person was assigned.  I believe I saw some of this sort of thing causing a problem for Kristen Beck as her story was told in the CNN special, “Lady Valor.”  The media attention towards Jenner would have been many times greater, even had the specter of a wrongful death lawsuit were not working.  That lawsuit will only raise the power of the magnifying glass even higher.

All that I have written in this post is important to some.  What is celebrated today, Resurrection Sunday, makes the following important to all:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. – 1st Corinthians 15:20-26

May the blessings of Easter be your blessings, today and always,

Lois

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  • Planet Fitness kicks out member for complaints against transgender woman

Commentary on anti-transsexual legislation proposed in Texas

07 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by ts4jc in About Me, General Christian issues, General Transsexual issues, The Bible on transsexualism

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Amanda Simpson, assigned gender, bathroom, chromosomes, Debbie Riddle, Donna Rose, Dr. Christine McGinn, felony, fines, gender defined, gender discrimination, H.B. 1748, Houston, jail, Jesus, Jim Crow Laws, Jim Munroe, Kristin Beck, locker rooms, Luke 11:37-40, Lynn Conway, marginalized group, Mark 7, Matthew 15, misdemeanor, Pharisees, Public bathrooms, public showers, Rep. Debbie Riddle, Section 341.061, Texas, Texas Health and Safety Code, Texas State House of Representatives, the Lord, toilet facilities, Transgender, transmen, transwomen, vigilante, Word of God, Zechariah 12:1

In the 11th chapter of Luke’s Gospel, a Pharisee invites Jesus to have a meal at his house.  When Jesus does not wash His hands before starting to eat, the Pharisee wonders why Jesus did not follow the custom of the elders.  Jesus uses this as an opportunity to rebuke the Pharisees (and eventually also the lawyers and scribes) for their hypocrisy: caring about their outer appearance and public image while their minds and hearts are rotten with greed and wickedness.

Jesus uses some of His harshest language at this time, including verse 40: Ye fools, did not he that made the outside make that which is within, also? (Also see my post of 6/24/14)

If anyone reading takes offense at this, remember that your argument is with Jesus.  But also understand that much of Jesus’ ire is due to the fact that the people He is criticizing are the Jewish religious leaders of that day.  These are the people who have been entrusted to know the law and the prophets.  Their teaching and guidance of the laity should be based on that knowledge.  But in some cases they err because they do not practice what they preach and teach.  In other cases, their teaching and example is flawed because they do not understand the Word of God.

In Luke 11:40, Jesus is referring to the final clause of Zechariah 12:1, which states that the LORD forms the spirit that is inside a person.  Either the Pharisees have lost sight of this knowledge, or they misunderstood what it means, or they have exempted themselves from its meaning while teaching it to the common people.  But the Lord is consistent in holding the religious leaders to a higher standard.  And He is criticizing them for being so concerned about what is on the outside and neglecting what is on the inside.  In Matthew 15 and Mark 7, we read Jesus teaching that it is not what enters a person that defiles, it is what comes out of them, proceeding from heart and mind, that defiles a person.

In ancient Israel’s theocracy, the religious leaders were also the political leaders.  And their considerable influence continued into the days of Jewish kings and then domination by a succession of foreign powers.  In the United States, the influence of religion is waning and there has never been one centralized religious body of individuals that serves as a counterbalance to the political branches of government.  That doesn’t mean that government officials never invoke religion as a motive behind a particular law, policy or position.  But does everyone who cites religious principles judge with right judgment?  Let’s look at one recent example that ignores Jesus’ teaching on the inside being more important than the outside.

A Texas state legislator, Debbie Riddle from the Houston suburb of Tomball, TX, has sponsored a bill that would make it a crime for a transgender person to use a bathroom that is not consistent with that person’s actual gender.  The first problem with the bill is that it does not allow that person to define what their actual gender is.  The State of Texas, if this legislation should pass, would be the sole arbiter of the definition of a person’s true gender, based on some very rigid guidelines.

Under H.B. 1748, this bill would amend Section 341.061 of the Texas Health and Safety Code regarding locker rooms, shower facilities and toilet facilities in various public establishments (public building, schoolhouse, theater, filling station, tourist court, bus station, or tavern).  The first change is that it would also make a criminal of any person who is in charge of such a facility who “repeatedly” allows a person over age 7 that Rep. Riddle considers to be using the wrong locker room, shower room or bathroom/toilet.  It would be a felony punishable by up to up to 2 years in jail and a maximum $10,000 fine.  There is no definition of “repeatedly” in the bill.  But based on the definition of this imprecise word, it could be interpreted to mean as infrequently as twice.

It also makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person over the age of 13 to use the wrong facilities of these types according to Rep. Riddle’s definition of gender.  In Texas, class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both jail time and a fine.  (So let’s be clear: a school principal could go to jail for allowing a child of age 8-13 to use a bathroom in school which it would be perfectly legal for that student to use under this bill.)

And what is Rep. Riddle’s definition of gender?  It is spelled out in subsection e:

For the purpose of this section, the gender of an individual is the gender established at the individual’s birth or the gender established by the individual’s chromosomes. A male is an individual with at least one X chromosome and at least one Y chromosome, and a female is an individual with at least one X chromosome and no Y chromosomes. If an individual’s gender established at the individual’s birth is not the same as the individual’s gender established by the individual’s chromosomes, the individual’s gender established by the individual’s chromosomes controls under this section.

The bill does allow for exceptions in certain situations, such as janitorial services, medical emergencies or an adult assisting a young child (under age 8).  But in addition to all the new subsections added to this section of law, the bill makes an interesting change to the existing subsection a.  It changes “toilet accommodations” to “toilet facilities”.  Rep. Riddle has signaled (whether wittingly or not, I do not know) that she intends to make Texas less accommodating, less hospitable, less friendly to you if you aren’t one of the “right people” in her eyes.

Under this bill, here are some of the people who would be required to use the women’s bathroom, locker room and public showers in Texas:

 

Mark Cummings, Occupational Therapist and Businessman

Mark Cummings, Occupational Therapist and Businessman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buck Angel, Filmmaker and Educator

Buck Angel, Filmmaker and Educator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James Halleman, Steelworker and Steel Safety Expert

James Halleman, Steelworker and Steel Safety Expert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jamie Black, Film Producer, Actor and Comedian

Jamie Black, Film Producer, Actor and Comedian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Thorne, Police Officer

Stephen Thorne, Police Officer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are some of the people who would now be required under Rep. Riddle’s bill to use the men’s bathroom, locker room and public showers in Texas:

Lynn Conway, university professor, electrical engineer, computer scientist, inventor

Lynn Conway, University Professor, Electrical Engineer, Computer Scientist, and Inventor (M.S.E.E., Columbia Universtity)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Christine McGinn, Surgeon, US Navy veteran

Dr. Christine McGinn, Surgeon, US Navy Veteran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janet Mock, Journalist (M.A., New York University)

Janet Mock, Journalist (M.A., New York University)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donna Rose, IT Project Manager and Author

Donna Rose, IT Project Manager and Author

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amanda Simpson,  Executive Director, Army Office of Energy Initiatives, U.S. Dept. of Defense, Engineer, Pilot,  (M.E. California State University, Northridge; M.B.A. University of Arizona)

Amanda Simpson, Executive Director, Army Office of Energy Initiatives, U.S. Dept. of Defense, Engineer, Pilot, (M.E. California State University, Northridge; M.B.A. University of Arizona)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there’s me: tax preparer, financial consultant, businesswoman, witnessing Christian.

Lois Simmons, author of this blog!

Lois Simmons, author of this blog!

 

Can you imagine the transwomen above having to use the men’s bathroom in a bar in Texas where cowboys (real and wannabes) have been getting drunk and acting macho?  Kristin Beck could probably take them on, but most of us could not.

And what about this man, Christian magician Jim Munroe?  Most of his chromosomes are XY, but the ones in his blood are XX?  Can he use either bathroom or neither of them?

Jim Munroe, Magician, Christian

Jim Munroe, Magician, Christian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no regard in this bill for people born with intersex conditions of any kind.  There is no regard in this bill for the dignity and safety of the people who this bill discriminates against.  What purpose does this bill achieve?  Protecting people from crimes that don’t occur (and for which there are already sufficient statues in the rare event that a crime does occur)?  Or to resurrect Jim Crow laws against a different group of marginalized people while further exposing them to the violence we already suffer on a regular basis?

Strangely enough, the worst feature of this bill may be that the owners, managers or others in charge of the affected establishments are liable for a harsher penalty than the transgender people charged with using the “wrong” bathroom.  To protect themselves, this bill could turn at least some into vigilantes zealously enforcing the law while at the same time being unaccountable to the public because they are private citizens.

Not only is such foolishness and poorly thought out legislation still being proposed in 21st century America, it is not unique to Texas.  It is just one more in a string of similar legislation that has been proposed recently in Florida, Kentucky, Utah, and Arizona.  Some might blame this on Christianity, but that would be just as discriminatory.  Fortunately, there are many Christians who are not like this.  I have been accepted and even welcomed by Christians who see me based on my Christian spirit and heart for the Lord, not on demanding to see a chromosome test or the opinion of the doctor who delivered me.

Rep. Riddle is the vice chair for the Texas State House of Representatives committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues.  Rep. Riddle, do you seek justice for all juveniles, or only some?  Do you seek justice for all residents of and visitors to Texas, or only some?

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they. – Ecclesiastes 5:8

God bless,

Lois

Pages

  • Being Christian and Transsexual: Life on Planet Mercury
    • Key Bible Verses
    • Links

Recent Posts

  • The Next U.S. Civil War? – Part 2 January 5, 2021
  • The Next U.S. Civil War? – Part 1 January 5, 2021
  • Potential for an Individual Voter to Influence the Presidential Election November 3, 2020
  • Transgender and Pro-Life January 9, 2020
  • A Tale of Two Churches January 9, 2020
  • My Sermon on 10/20/2019 October 27, 2019
  • Salute to Misfile (and all my favorite comic strips) October 5, 2019
  • Death of a School – But Not Its Spirit – Part 3 September 13, 2019
  • Death of a School – But Not Its Spirit – Part 2 September 9, 2019
  • Death of a School – But Not Its Spirit (Part 1) September 7, 2019
  • Non-Christians, Baby Christians, Discipleship and Moderation July 27, 2019
  • 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

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