The Gay Fray

[James R]

wellwisher:

I don't think you have any idea of the range of different factors that might lead somebody to want to alter his or her gender/sex. It sounds like you're pretty much ignorant of transgender issues.

Please take your bigotry somewhere else.

 

[Daecon]

I've always thought of being transgendered as a physiological issue rather than a psychological one. Being born with parts that you shouldn't have, or being born without parts that you should have.

For example, if a person is born without arms, we don't tell them that they have a mental disorder, do we? We acknowledge that they don't have the physical form that they really should have had all along.

 

[Tiassa]

For example, if a person is born without arms, we don't tell them that they have a mental disorder, do we? We acknowledge that they don't have the physical form that they really should have had all along.

Mayhaps, but I don't think it particularly useful to compare transgenderism to a disability.

Think of it this way: We live in a society where the majority of people define right and wrong according to faery tales, and it is still considered inappropriate to speak of this behavior in terms of delusion or other mental health symptoms.

Comparing transgenderism to missing limbs? That's a bit of a stretch ... if only one had the arms to show how big.

This big.

 

[Daecon]

I had no intention of comparing it with a disability, I only meant that I see having the "wrong parts" as a physical disorder and not a mental disorder. Not disability. I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my poor way of explanation.

Although... couldn't you say that a female-to-male person was born with a "missing limb"?

 

[Tiassa]

Although... couldn't you say that a female-to-male person was born with a "missing limb"?

Well, it's a matter of perspective.

MTF gives up down below and builds up top. FTM gives up above and builds down below. I think the phrase is, "Give and take."

And it's just that right now, the way the fight is going, we're still taking really heavy casualties on the transgender front even though the tide has shifted tremendously. Given how much shit we've given our conservative neighbors about ill-conceived comparisons, it's one of those unfortunately necessary reminders that we can't pass by merely on the grounds of sympathy. We are, alternately, animals, cripples, rapists, and devils. After the twenty-four years I've been in this fight, it can be wearying. I can't imagine trying to carry that weight when I was younger; the only reward is that we never could have come so far without the bigots pushing so damn hard.

One of the problems with any metaphor, simile, idiom, or other figurative speech is that it only applies so far. Especially on the transgender front, we're simply not in a position to lighten up all that much for the sake of sympathy. That is to say, it's not going to rattle me specifically, but our transgender neighbors are literally killing themselves over such comparisons and the feelings they evoke. And damn it, we're too close; I need these friends to hold on a little longer.

As I noted↗ after the State of the Union address, 2014 was a hell of a year for the transgendered. President Obama has carried a lot of this load himself, and the traditionalists have no answer whatsoever. Well, okay, there's always brownbacking↱, but that really is a desperate excuse for an answer. Really, they've got nothing.

But while I'm enjoying the spectacle, the community is still taking casualties.

We have the initiative, we hold the field. We can afford to let them come to us; the outcome is already known. Thus, we can simply form up and hold the line. But we're that close, so our inclination is to protect our transgendered neighbors at least as fiercely as we fought for ourselves. Time itself says not everyone will make it through, but we're losing people too fast. We're so fucking close. And all we need is for our transgendered friends and neighbors to hold on just a little bit longer. And since the disease that is destroying them is communicated from other people's minds, prophylaxis does recommend that we keep anything remotely resembling the pathogen at distance.

And what comes next?

Well, then they get to hope for the day when society treats them as human beings.

But right now, we just want our friends and neighbors to live.

The sun is rising. And it will shine.

 

[Daecon]

Then I retract my statement in the hope that it doesn't cause further offense. (Or I would if I could edit those comments.)

I may not understand the struggles, and sympathy may not be enough, but I acknowledge and understand that they are ordinary people who deserve ordinary rights.

 

[Tiassa]

Then I retract my statement in the hope that it doesn't cause further offense.

I may not understand the struggles, and sympathy may not be enough, but I acknowledge and understand that they are ordinary people who deserve ordinary rights.

There is some cynical politicking on my part; there are plenty of people out there who "can't tell the difference". I get what you're after, and like I said, it doesn't bug me, much, but I don't accept that sort of rhetoric from the ill-intended, and in truth they're just not smart enough to understand the difference between sympathy and hatred.

As a result, it is functionally imporant to me that we keep that sort of rhetoric out of advocacy. We all long for the day when we can crack faggot jokes in clean light unshadowed by a spectre of hateful politicking.

I appreciate your sensitivity on this aspect; maybe this time next year I won't feel this way, though in truth I would posit that's at least five years out.

But just like some people couldn't understand the celebratory retort by which some women identified as bitches, or presently identify as sluts, or homosexuals identified as proud queers and faggots―again, the difference between sympathy and hatred―the last thing any discourse on these subjects needs is yet another head-scratching digression from some conservative who wants to know why nobody chewed you out for that line.

But here's the thing: Even this discussion we're having about this point is unsatisfactory to conservatives in general. Of conservatives who are aware of my existence―for instance, in our own Sciforums community, &c.―it is generally predictable that they will think I'm going too easy on you. The difference is sympathy or hatred; your sympathy is apparent, but at some point, the hardlines are purely and cynically political.

Thank you very much for your constructive approach to this facet of the Gay Fray; it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Daecon]

I'm gay. I'm happy to use the word "queer" in conversation about myself, but even now the word "faggot" still makes me uncomfortable.

 

[Trooper]

Wait just a minute...is Tiassa gay?

 

[Tiassa]

Wait just a minute...is Tiassa gay?

My apologies, madam. I mean, sure I didn't get up and dance around in pasties and a foil g-string and all last year when I kicked down the last couple sticks that used to frame my closet, but in truth I hadn't realized it was a mystery.

So ... yes, I'm gay.

 

[Magical Realist]

It will be interesting when gay is totally normalized in our society. No longer will there even be this obligatory kindness to being gay. No longer the stereotypes about being fastidious and fashion-conscious and snarky. Just the fact of it, with all its many variations and complexities. Brokeback Mountain was a good effort in this direction. My Private Idaho too. Ofcourse even despite the media consciousness of normal gayness, there will always fester the undercurrent of homophobia that comes out of religion and the myth of the macho man. To that extent there perhaps will never be complete normalization, at least as a form of love as naturally given as heterosexuality is. Which is fine. So much of gay identity involves being something of a nonconformist, an outcast, a trailblazer, a rebel with a cause.

 

[Tiassa]

So much of gay identity involves being something of a nonconformist, an outcast, a trailblazer, a rebel with a cause.

And yet, that's just the thing. Some people just want to live and be and revel in the trust of feeling another person's heart beating.

I actually look forward to watching the transformation of what it means to be LGBT in the minds of the LGBT. Throughout the Gay Fray, homosexuals have been re-examining and re-comprehending what it means to them to be gay. And one of the strangest things about traditionalist panic over the fact of transgenderism is that they are determined to interrupt a filtering of the process. Just as many people who have identified as gay over the last quarter century have filtered and settled into some sort of functional bisexuality―a useful process to observe, especially in a culture that once featured regular discussions like, "I just did oral sex with my girfriend's male cousin, so am I gay?" on Jerry Springer and the like―so also will the evolution of transgender identity and comprehension thereof filter and settle, in many cases, into a general functional androgyny.

And one of the keys to watching this process is to remember that lesson parents used to teach my generation about the "bad kids" who broke the rules, that they were lonely because they knew they were bad people and wanted others to join them so they didn't have to be alone. Given how many of those parents also wanted to pass on some sort of Christian faith, the judgmentalism was and remains quite striking to witness. But I think it might actually apply to the bigots in a weird context.

Right now I'm watching―and fretting―over an appearance perceived by many in my extended family of successful suppression of a blatant transgender streak in my cousin's son. I fucked up a few years ago and intervened in the life of the son of another cousin, who was suicidal. It doesn't really matter that the passing years have proven me correct; you just don't deal with the situation that way. Well, I have no ethical regrets, but legal problems can arise when part of your advice to a self-destructing fifteen year old is to smoke a bowl and chill out long enough to find something in the world to hang onto. Or perhaps I do have an ethical regret; circumstance has necessarily justified the attitude, but the functional result was that my cousin instructed me to not speak to her son ... at least until I saw her again two years later and she wondered why I was never around, and I reminded her, and she laughed and wondered why I thought that was a big deal. (Uh, because you exercised your proper parental rights and instructed me to stay away.)

But think of it this way: One day while your back is turned, your nine year-old packs up and hides everything about his "girl side", and he won't tell you where he put it ... and this is the one time, apparently, parents aren't supposed to run that question to earth. It's killing him. They think the physiological symptoms of his distress have to do with grades or whether he likes his teachers. I can tell them where that stuff is; just go out to the garage, look for the stepladder, figure which is the highest shelf he could reach at that time, and look for the large cardboard box that you've never noticed before. But you can see the dissonance taking pieces out of him; he's less than two years away from an eating disorder.

And there is nothing ... absolutely nothing ... I am allowed to do.

So now it's just a matter of timing, because we all know I'm going to get involved at some point. I just don't have a route in, and I don't have any leverage, and I will not accept that my only chance to testify to normalcy should come at his funeral.

But right now I have to wait, because he's twelve and it just means too much to his parents that he be a boyish boy; all I can do right now is watch and wait and hope this kid hangs on long enough.

His mother's best male friend aside from her husband is as gay as they come, and he won't get involved, either. Unfortunately, he and I are only in the same room once every couple of years; he's probably my best chance to find a path into this fight. But think about it: A child shows an evident gender identity conflict from the outset, and the only people not allowed to help are the ones who have been through it.

Why?

Because we're going to tell him it's okay to be whoever the fuck he wants to be.

And that's just not okay with his parents.

And this is going to end badly.

You know all this stuff I've been noting about the last year in transgender rights? It's all for naught in this case. Think of it this way: I wondered if the parents were aware of the Holder memo, and it was made clear to me that I am not allowed to discuss these issues with the parents. Obviously, that's not going to hold.

Let's see, where are we on the calendar? February? God help me, if I have to spend Easter anywhere near this part of the family ....

And that's what I'm down to. I loathe most of the celebratory holidays, especially Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving; I look at them now as "drinking holidays" because I'm always obliged to take part somewhere. But those are also the predictable times I expect to see that part of the family. And I'm running out of time to stick my fucking nose into this situation.

And the situation is destroying this kid.

And nobody sees it because nobody cares because he's burning himself up trying to be a boyish boy, and that's what they want, so that's what is right for them.

And let's face it, a funeral is no place to make that reminder.

I have no desire to spark an intrafamily war over this; it wouldn't be healthy for the young one, as there are no winners in war. But they can't keep telling those of us who can help to stay out. Or, rather, they can. I'm just running out of time to keep listening to them. Or, rather, he is running out of time.

And if I do nothing, I will at least have decided to be part of what kills him.

 

[Bells]

If it were your child, would you want someone to tell them that they were okay? That they were normal?

Even if you do not speak to his parents, you need to tell him that it is okay, that it will be okay, that he is normal as he truly is.

He needs to hear it from someone.

He needs to hear from someone that he is loved, not for what others want him to be, but for who he is.

And that he needs to hang onto his true self.

 

[Magical Realist]

And yet, that's just the thing. Some people just want to live and be and revel in the trust of feeling another person's heart beating.

I actually look forward to watching the transformation of what it means to be LGBT in the minds of the LGBT. Throughout the Gay Fray, homosexuals have been re-examining and re-comprehending what it means to them to be gay. And one of the strangest things about traditionalist panic over the fact of transgenderism is that they are determined to interrupt a filtering of the process. Just as many people who have identified as gay over the last quarter century have filtered and settled into some sort of functional bisexuality―a useful process to observe, especially in a culture that once featured regular discussions like, "I just did oral sex with my girfriend's male cousin, so am I gay?" on Jerry Springer and the like―so also will the evolution of transgender identity and comprehension thereof filter and settle, in many cases, into a general functional androgyny.

And one of the keys to watching this process is to remember that lesson parents used to teach my generation about the "bad kids" who broke the rules, that they were lonely because they knew they were bad people and wanted others to join them so they didn't have to be alone. Given how many of those parents also wanted to pass on some sort of Christian faith, the judgmentalism was and remains quite striking to witness. But I think it might actually apply to the bigots in a weird context.

Right now I'm watching―and fretting―over an appearance perceived by many in my extended family of successful suppression of a blatant transgender streak in my cousin's son. I fucked up a few years ago and intervened in the life of the son of another cousin, who was suicidal. It doesn't really matter that the passing years have proven me correct; you just don't deal with the situation that way. Well, I have no ethical regrets, but legal problems can arise when part of your advice to a self-destructing fifteen year old is to smoke a bowl and chill out long enough to find something in the world to hang onto. Or perhaps I do have an ethical regret; circumstance has necessarily justified the attitude, but the functional result was that my cousin instructed me to not speak to her son ... at least until I saw her again two years later and she wondered why I was never around, and I reminded her, and she laughed and wondered why I thought that was a big deal. (Uh, because you exercised your proper parental rights and instructed me to stay away.)

But think of it this way: One day while your back is turned, your nine year-old packs up and hides everything about his "girl side", and he won't tell you where he put it ... and this is the one time, apparently, parents aren't supposed to run that question to earth. It's killing him. They think the physiological symptoms of his distress have to do with grades or whether he likes his teachers. I can tell them where that stuff is; just go out to the garage, look for the stepladder, figure which is the highest shelf he could reach at that time, and look for the large cardboard box that you've never noticed before. But you can see the dissonance taking pieces out of him; he's less than two years away from an eating disorder.

And there is nothing ... absolutely nothing ... I am allowed to do.

So now it's just a matter of timing, because we all know I'm going to get involved at some point. I just don't have a route in, and I don't have any leverage, and I will not accept that my only chance to testify to normalcy should come at his funeral.

But right now I have to wait, because he's twelve and it just means too much to his parents that he be a boyish boy; all I can do right now is watch and wait and hope this kid hangs on long enough.

His mother's best male friend aside from her husband is as gay as they come, and he won't get involved, either. Unfortunately, he and I are only in the same room once every couple of years; he's probably my best chance to find a path into this fight. But think about it: A child shows an evident gender identity conflict from the outset, and the only people not allowed to help are the ones who have been through it.

Why?

Because we're going to tell him it's okay to be whoever the fuck he wants to be.

And that's just not okay with his parents.

And this is going to end badly.

You know all this stuff I've been noting about the last year in transgender rights? It's all for naught in this case. Think of it this way: I wondered if the parents were aware of the Holder memo, and it was made clear to me that I am not allowed to discuss these issues with the parents. Obviously, that's not going to hold.

Let's see, where are we on the calendar? February? God help me, if I have to spend Easter anywhere near this part of the family ....

And that's what I'm down to. I loathe most of the celebratory holidays, especially Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving; I look at them now as "drinking holidays" because I'm always obliged to take part somewhere. But those are also the predictable times I expect to see that part of the family. And I'm running out of time to stick my fucking nose into this situation.

And the situation is destroying this kid.

And nobody sees it because nobody cares because he's burning himself up trying to be a boyish boy, and that's what they want, so that's what is right for them.

And let's face it, a funeral is no place to make that reminder.

I have no desire to spark an intrafamily war over this; it wouldn't be healthy for the young one, as there are no winners in war. But they can't keep telling those of us who can help to stay out. Or, rather, they can. I'm just running out of time to keep listening to them. Or, rather, he is running out of time.

And if I do nothing, I will at least have decided to be part of what kills him.

I think you should just do the right thing, parental restrictions be damned. I mean we're talking avoiding future suicide attempts, and depression, and the torment of just living that state of not being able to be your real self. The kid needs to be assured that he/she isn't mentally ill or a freak. There are subtle ways you can do this. Movies showing transgender in a positive light. Books on transgender. There was an amazing special CNN did on this transgender Navy seal called "The Warrior Princess." Must see viewing for anyone dealing with this issue. I know the parents have the right to raise their own kid, but at the end of the day, what is the right message he/she needs to hear?

 

[Tiassa]

This Is How Over It Is

Guess who made the news?

Mike Bowers.

Guess why?

Former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers, a man with a long history of opposing the rights of LGBT people, will be siding with the LGBT community this week in announcing his opposition to religious liberty legislation pending in the state legislature that he calls “deeply troubling.”

Modeled in part on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) but described as providing a “license to discriminate” by opponents because of their broad applicability outside of government, legislation of this type has been introduced in several states over the past year, including in the last session of Georgia’s legislature.

“The obvious unstated purpose of the proposed RFRA is to authorize discrimination against disfavored groups,” Bowers, who was attorney general in the state for 16 years, has determined of the Georgia legislation. A portion of his analysis — concluding that the legislation’s “potential intended and unintended consequences are alarming” — was shared with BuzzFeed News on Sunday.

Those working with Bowers on the issue told BuzzFeed News that he is expected to hold a news conference discussing his analysis of the legislation at the Capitol on Tuesday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Saturday on Bowers’ plan to oppose the legislation, noting that he had been hired by Georgia Equality to do the analysis of the legislation.

Bowers is perhaps best known nationally for opposing LGBT advocates’ aims, however, having defended the state’s sodomy law in the Supreme Court case that bears his name, Bowers v. Hardwick.

(Geidner)​

Consider it this way: This has gone so far that Mike freakin' Bowers is, technically, "on our side" by dint of the movement having run so far right. Mr. Bowers technically hasn't changed much. It's just that the homophobic argument has drifted into some dangerously crazy waters, and the guy who might well feel rebuke in every one of the court decisions favoring marriage equality, a guy who is most famous for being a villain overturned, ends up on our side not because he's thrilled to be phabulous, but because the argument has beecome so encompassing that this is where he lands.

So, again, I would remind my homophobic neighbors that among bigots they are distinguished by their futility.

The first step is to admit defeat.

The second is to figure out if you're a homophobe because you're a closet case or just really, really insecure about your own prowess.

In either case, there is only one thing to do about it.

Stop being such lousy fucks.
____________________

Notes:

Geidner, Chris. "Man Who Once Defended Georgia Sodomy Ban To Oppose Religious Liberty Bills". BuzzFeed. 22 February 2015. BuzzFeed.com. 23 February 2015. http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/mike-bowers-religious-liberty

 

[Tiassa]

America Abroad

Secretary of State John Kerry↱ yesterday announced the appointment of Randy Berry to serve as Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons. The Secretary's press statement, in full:

I could not be more proud to announce Randy Berry as the first-ever Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons.

We looked far and wide to find the right American official for this important assignment. Randy's a leader. He's a motivator. But most importantly for this effort, he's got vision. Wherever he's served – from Nepal to New Zealand, from Uganda to Bangladesh, from Egypt to South Africa, and most recently as Consul General in Amsterdam – Randy has excelled. He's a voice of clarity and conviction on human rights. And I'm confident that Randy's leadership as our new Special Envoy will significantly advance efforts underway to move towards a world free from violence and discrimination against LGBT persons.

Defending and promoting the human rights of LGBT persons is at the core of our commitment to advancing human rights globally – the heart and conscience of our diplomacy. That's why we're working to overturn laws that criminalize consensual same-sex conduct in countries around the world. It's why we're building our capacity to respond rapidly to violence against LGBT persons, and it's why we're working with governments, civil society, and the private sector through the Global Equality Fund to support programs advancing the human rights of LGBT persons worldwide.

Too often, in too many countries, LGBT persons are threatened, jailed, and prosecuted because of who they are or who they love. Too many governments have proposed or enacted laws that aim to curb freedom of expression, association, religion, and peaceful protest. More than 75 countries still criminalize consensual same-sex activity.

At the same time, and often with our help, governments and other institutions, including those representing all religions, are taking steps to reaffirm the universal human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. So while this fight is not yet won, this is no time to get discouraged. It's time to stay active. It's time to assert the equality and dignity of all persons, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity. And with Randy helping to lead our efforts, I am confident that's exactly what we can and will do.​

Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
____________________

Notes:

Kerry, John. "Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons". United States Department of State. 23 February 2015. State.gov. http://go.usa.gov/3c42h

 

[Tiassa]

The Year of the Fight
Stand. Speak. Fight.

​

"The list of who we have lost along the way is a tortuous exercise in heartbreak. The list of who we have yet to lose is a terrifying mystery." ―bd↱​

Warren Blumenfeld↱ writes:

History is replete with groups and individuals facing colossal odds for simply expressing their truth, and for that, they were often forced to pay the ultimate price. Governments and powerful individuals have devised ways of silencing opposition for the purpose of maintaining and extending its control and domination. They commit genocide upon the true human liberators, the profits, the visionaries who advocate for a just and free world. These visionaries, who were persecuted in their own time, have achieved not only exoneration, but more importantly, have become venerated as the visionaries they truly are ....

.... Trans* people have exposed the truth regarding this fabrication we call "gender roles" as a social construction, one which our society ascribes to each of us as it assigns us a sex at birth. With the label "female," society forces us to follow its "feminine script," and with "male," we are handed our "masculine" script to act out. As scripts are given to actors in a play, gender scripts also were written long before any of us entered the stage of life. In fact, they have little connection with our natures, beliefs, interests, and values.

According to social theorist Judith Butler, "The act that one does, the act that one performs, is, in a sense, an act that has been going on before one arrived on the scene. Hence, gender is an act, which has been rehearsed, much as a script survives the particular actors who make use of it, but which requires individual actors in order to be actualized and reproduced as reality once again."

If we challenge the director by refusing to follow our lines, and when we tell the truth about this human lie about gender, the director (society) doles out harsh, often fatal punishments. Members of the trans* community often suffer the consequences of other truth tellers of the past. Nearly every two days, a person is killed somewhere in the world for expressing gender nonconformity. The vast majority of murders are trans* women of color.​

Conservative states are lining up for a chance to install bigotry in their state laws, but, you know, no sweat; we can take that. We hold the field, have initiative, and watch from the high ground; our hatemongering neighbors can dig all the ditches they want, but they can't form up to charge if they're just sitting on their asses in the trench.

And it's just a sadistic delaying action.

The real fight is now in the next valley, and the toll is horrifying. And conservatives have nothing but hatred and vice. You who named do not own. We will speak the names with love and pride.

.... Alejandra, Aniya, Ashley, Betty, Gizzy, Jennifer, Kandy, Brittany-Nicole, Mayang, Mia, Tiffany, Yasmin, Ty, Sherman, Jessie, Lamia, Lamar, Rosa, Taja, Michelle, Deshawnda, Yaz'min, Zoraida, Çağla, Gypsie, Jacqui, Mahadevi, Keeta, Marcela, Mary Jo, Sevda, Elizaber Oliveria, Paloma, Rayka, Prince Joe, Toni Gretchen, Luana, Cristal, Thifani, Joice, Sarita, Juju, Raísa, Tatty, Rafaela, Alex, Paulete, Camila, Lu, Kitana, Sarita, Andressa, Rose Maria, Vitória, Marciana, Nicole, Giovana, Mileide, Valquíria, Marcia, Paola, André Luiz, Kellen, Mackelly, Lele, Dennysi, Alisson, Karen, Cris, Bruna, Gaivota, Gélia, Sara, Aguinaldo, Flávia, Maicon, Letícia, Raquel, Adriana, Leelah ....

The list of who we have lost along the way is a tortuous exercise in heartbreak. The list of who we have yet to lose is a terrifying mystery.

We will stand. We will be seen.

We will speak. We will be heard.

We will fight. We will win.

And our queer siblings around the world will hear.

And so will those who hate them.

This is the year. It must be. We have every reason why, and the human endeavor is simply without any excuse for why not.
____________________

Notes:

Blumenfeld, Warren. "Trans* People Murdered for Truth Telling". Tikkun Daily. 16 February 2015. Tikkun.org. 25 February 2015. http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2015/02/16/trans-people-murdered-for-truth-telling/

 

[wellwisher]

The real fight is now in the next valley, and the toll is horrifying. And conservatives have nothing but hatred and vice. You who named do not own. We will speak the names with love and pride.

It comes back to form and function, with LGBT deviating away from a balance of function and form. If I felt I was meant to fly like a bird, but my natural human form is without wings, my form and function would deviate. This would be considered a mental aberration, because my mind has detached from the natural limits of my body so I am no longer optimized in a natural way.

I would not hate such a person, but I would be concerned for their health and safety. Something is not right inside them such that there is an imbalance. I would respectfully confront their inner vision of themselves, because it deviates form and function. I would not just make it socially acceptable, so I don't hurt their feelings.

They may have a temper tantrum to manipulate me like a child does their mother. But I know, I will need to act like a father so they have to confront their deviation. The above quoted stereo type is not rational, since one size does not fit all conservatives. One is not dealing with reason and common sense, but an emotional view. This gives us a clue where the deviation lies.

When memory is created, the limbic system adds emotional tags to memory. This allows our memory to be stored layers based on the emotional valence. If I feel hungry, thoughts of food, restaurants, eating, etc, appear because these all have a hunger tag and are therefore on the same memory layer.

Some people will eat odd things, like rocks, because somewhere at sometime, rocks obtained a hunger tag when it was written to memory, so rocks also appear in this layer. This urge to eat rocks is not a natural instinct, since the memory is empty at birth. But rather it was a memory writing error that occurred somehow.

Since memory is based on both thoughts and feeling tags, one can induce thoughts with feeling or one can induce feeling with thoughts. I can feel hungry and this will make me think of food items (thoughts). Or I can see or think of my favorite food (thought) and start to get hungry (feeling). Although either way can induce the other, if we start at thoughts we have more control over cause and effect between objects and actions due to the way reality combines and moves; reality check.

If we start with feelings there is more subjectivity added to the thought scape allowing the objects to rearrange in other ways. The hunger feeling will feel the same for breakfast, lunch and dinner but the thoughts can be very different in terms of actions and details. There is no fixed procedure for form and function. This is useful for creativity allowing new meals each day but this is not useful for the cause and effect of form and function.

One last consideration is, although thinking I can fly like a bird and LGBT are both departures from form and function, the LGBT is less deviated in the sense it improvises function and form. In other words, the parts still mesh much closer then flying. The compromise is recognition of the aberration while trying to realize that the deviation is not so large as to need constant help or concern by conservative.The only real concern is too much emotional memory triggering propaganda can cause the rock to get tagged with hunger, in the young people; so to speak. This creates it own reality.

 

[Trooper]

It comes back to form and function, with LGBT deviating away from a balance of function and form. If I felt I was meant to fly like a bird, but my natural human form is without wings, my form and function would deviate. This would be considered a mental aberration, because my mind has detached from the natural limits of my body so I am no longer optimized in a natural way.

I would not hate such a person, but I would be concerned for their health and safety. Something is not right inside them such that there is an imbalance. I would respectfully confront their inner vision of themselves, because it deviates form and function. I would not just make it socially acceptable, so I don't hurt their feelings.

Natural is not always good. There are no gods. "Nature" is not a god. Human intervention is not always a bad thing.

Who would you rather be friends with, wellwisher, a gay man or a woman, who is a non-potential sex partner?
Who would you rather do business with, a gay man or a woman, who is a non-potential sex partner?

 

[Tiassa]

Try Wishing Your Fellow Human Beings Well, For Once, Wellwisher

In one post you've managed to compare LGBT to (A) a different species, (B) children, (C) a psychiatric disorder.

Thank you for the reminder that cheap bigotry doesn't really evolve. Bigots have said the same thing about dark skin and double-X for generations.

Bigotry is not a heritage you should be proud of.

And I will tell you this much: Being LGBT isn't contagious like a disease. Bigotry, however, is. And it is a psychological dysfunction.

What, do you think, is a reasonable accommodation for this disability?