Yahoo! 360 - Renee's Blog: "“I think trying to find a cause of transgenderism or trying to find a cause of sexual orientation is really going down the wrong track,” Aronoff said. “It doesn’t really matter why people are who they are, it just matters that they are. And that they be treated with respect and are able to live to their full potential.”
-- Simon Aronoff, a female-to-male transgender activist"
11/10/09-Yahoo! 360 was shut down in mid-2009 so the link no longer worked.
Determining a "cause" of transgenderism and sexual orientation is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is a means of defeating the argument that being gay or TG is some kind of moral failing because it takes the choice out of the equation (not that there IS a choice, as you and I both well know). In this regard, having a root cause is useful.
ReplyDeleteThe downside, though, is that finding a cause is a step towards the pre-natal elimination of the traits at its root. This would be a crime, I think, because it is the differences that make us who we are, and sexuality is a powerful difference-maker. Would Oscar Wilde have written what he wrote if he were straight? Who can say.
And, of course, it's all entirely beside the point. Equal protection under the law should apply to everyone regardless, to say nothing of civil behavior. (And for my text trick, I'll be demanding accountability in government).
Take care,
Christianne