As a rule I shy away from the two most controversial topics, wearing white after Labor Day and which fork to use first, as for the first one, do as you wish, they are your clothes and for the second, work from the outside in. Having cleared that up, I now want to move on to what is really important, and the true most controversial topics, politics and religion. I am not going to wax profoundly on which party should be in power or which religion is best. As human beings we are in constant competition with each other in one way or another, our version of our beliefs are always right and the best. Of course my beliefs are the right ones, for me... As your beliefs are the right ones for you. As much as each of us are right, your beliefs may not be the right ones for me. As a soldier I was prepared to defend to the death your right to believe the way you do, right up to the point where your beliefs threatened another group.
As a nation we are currently in a battle that will shape our future, I hope that history will not judge us too harshly. The fanaticism that we see around the world is costing the lives and freedoms of all manner of marginal and minority groups. In this country, supposedly the freest and most forward thinking in the world, we are still debating whether or not a minority group has the right to marry, or another has equal right to access the most basic rights, those of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. I am a transgender individual, I am lucky enough to live in a state where my right of access is guaranteed by state law, but as a trans individual I still fear discrimination and violence. I've been lucky so far, I have not experienced the hatred focused on us as a group. I ask for nothing more that the right to exist and be happy.
This is where the fanaticism comes into play, around the world, fanatical individuals and groups are bent on the destruction of anything or anyone that does not fit into their narrow definition of what the world should look like, This fanaticism is not limited to the terror groups in the middle east, we have them right here in the USA, and similar groups exist in other countries as well. The right for individuals to live and love is under attack because we do not fit in someone's narrow definition of the human experience. In parts of the country being trans could see me loose my job, my home, and possibly my freedom. In these same areas, if I were to be physically assaulted, it would be assumed to be my fault for being trans. I am by no means indicating that we should fling open the doors to what is acceptable, there is nothing that I do that hurts another individual, I do not advocate for those behaviors that we sometimes hear lumped together with us, gay marriage does not equate to bestiality, nor does being transgender make me a pedophile or molester. Sorry folks, when I walk into the women's restroom, it's because I need the restroom. All of the energy that is put into denying basic rights to people that are doing nothing more than trying to survive could be better focused on bettering the lives of society as a whole.
I am transgender, I am proud to be who I am, and I am not afraid to live my life as honestly as I can. You do not have to like me, or what I represent, but you do not have the right to tell me that I cannot be who I am any more than I would tell you the same.
Hugs...
Vicki
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