Friday, May 11, 2012

Being a Political Transgender Person

By nature I am a political person. Raised in the shadow of the Kennedy's and Martin Luther King's assassinations, I felt the hypocrisy of a truly great country which over the years had been very slow to equalize basic rights to all it's citizens. The so called "white male privilege" did buy me an all expense paid trip to Southeast Asia and infantry training.  So why should I complain?
Now it seems, I occupy a unique political spot. I'm old enough to be the offspring of a true "greatest generation" parents and even older grandparents. My paternal grandmother used to tell us stories of going to the Ku Klux Klan meetings in a wagon. Of course I was wondering about my own gender and why people couldn't look past color to co exist as she was talking.
Then there were those old pesky ideas of equal rights. It took until 1920 for the Nineteenth Amendment to give women a national right to vote and the 1960's to get the Equal Rights Bills passed. So what the hell, why wasn't this country practicing what it preached as far as freedom went? It was always too easy to say- well we are better than any other country. Just exactly what does that mean?
It means to me as I read news about the Canadians, Argentina and others making progress in transgender rights I get upset.
I get upset because I feel essentially powerless.
I do join on line causes,  write this little blog and do my best to present myself as a proud transwoman to the public.
On the other hand I see many of the bigger mainstream transgender blogs who seem more interested in endlessly debating terminology than making any significant difference.
Finally, I have never stopped being a competitor and I want my country to be the best it can and the belief we can get there!

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