Transgendered
people deserve our acceptance
By Daralyn Yakabe
A TRANSGENDERED person is
someone who either believes that he or she is a member
of the opposite sex or underwent surgery to change his
or her sexual appearance. Though this might not be
something that people would consider normal,
transgenders are still people. Discrimination, or
otherwise refusing to acknowledge the fact that
transgendered people are still humans like the rest of
us, should be unacceptable in today's society. Laws
should be created to protect and recognize transgendered
people as equal to those already classified as male or
female because discrimination toward those who show
diversity should not be tolerated in our society.
According to Ruth Hubbard,
author of "Rethinking Women's Biology," "one isn't born
a woman (or man), one becomes one." This might be true,
but I feel that no matter what gender a person is,
everyone should be considered equal under the law. I
believe a person is born gay or lesbian. People who do
not know them should not judge them. They cannot help
being who they are, and therefore should not be punished
for it.
WE'VE HAD two general
classifications of gender since the beginning of
mankind, but there are always gray areas. Lesbians, gays
and transgendered people are examples of those gray
areas. Even with these classifications, there are many
people who do not fit the exact mold of males and
females. In "Which Outlaws?" Kate Bornstein describes
the biological definition of males and females in a way
that scientists view them. She says a woman is a person
who has an XX chromosome, is able to bear children and
produces estrogen. A male is described as someone who
has an XY chromosome, is able to father children and
produces testosterone. Bornstein asks, however, about
the women who are not able to carry a child, the men who
cannot produce the sperm required to procreate or the
people who are born with an extra chromosome. They might
be socially accepted as either a man or a woman, but
scientifically they do not fit into the mold of either
male or female.
I AM NOT saying that we
should consider these people outcast in any way, but we
should think about the people we consider inferior. If
we are able to accept these people, ones who do not fit
the exact description of society's genders, why is it so
hard to accept transgendered people? Diversity and
difference do not make a person any less human. We
should recognize these people as our equals and accept
who they are -- man, woman, gay, lesbian or
transgendered -- because it is the only way we can get
rid of prejudice.
In American society, we want
transgendered people to remain silent and afraid to
speak out because we do not want to deal with them.
People tend to judge those whom they are unfamiliar with
because they do not want to take the time to understand
someone who is different.
It is sad to say and even
worse to see, but Americans are not as civilized and
accepting as we would like to think. Creating laws
saying that the transgendered are equally protected
under Hawaii law is the first step toward the acceptance
and openmindedness they deserve. There will, of course,
be those who do not want to accept transgenders as their
equals because they are unfamiliar with them.
I BELIEVE the issue of equal
protection and recognition under law will be a problem
that transgendered people will have to face for a long
time. Change is gradual. Generations go by and new ideas
and thoughts are formed. If we did not accept change,
society would fall apart. Accepting transgenders is just
one of the transitions that society will have to face
eventually. I believe that in the distant future there
will be more than two gender classifications. That
change, however, must wait until people are willing to
recognize and respect transgenders as humans.
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