One of the first blogs I found when I had my "hey, maybe transgenderism isn't evil after all!" epiphany was The Exponent, an LDS Women's blog that spends a fair amount of time talking about gender roles. Lots of interesting threads, not all of them directly related to my own situation, but all of them from sisters in our faith who are trying to find the will of God in their lives. I highly recommend it.
Anyway, the Exponent publishes a quarterly magazine, Exponent II, and they devoted the whole of their most recent issue, which was just released a few weeks ago, to LGBTQ saints. I enjoyed what I read, but when I got to the end I was disappointed to note that they couldn't find any T or Q members willing to share their stories!
Even as our faith community seems to be becoming more accepting of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, methinks transpeople don't yet feel quite so welcome...? Or maybe we just aren't as willing to share? Or, maybe, people just didn't know about the Exponent at all before the submission deadline? I don't know. I don't want to be judgmental of others, but I can't help but feel like there's room for improvement here.
I say this, fully aware of the irony that I'm still anonymous here, not even out to my own family yet. And yet I still feel like there should be transgendered members of the Church who have come to terms with themselves and have chosen to remain active and in full fellowship. Where are their voices? Maybe this ever-increasing group of our gay and lesbian fellowsaints have been able to come forth and talk about their experiences because someone first stepped out in the darkness and blazed the trail before them.
So my question is: who's going to be the brave one and make those first steps so that the rest of us aren't so afraid to follow?
I would like to say me, and I am working towards that goal. I am hoping that some day I can talk more freely about being transgender with the general population so I can help others.
ReplyDeleteI'll give it a shot ; )
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I think it's pretty clear that the stakes are much higher for us transgender individuals than for gays and lesbians.
I've read a lot of articles (religious and secular) that claim to be about LGBTQ individuals but they almost always seem to be exclusively about the LG part. I think adding the BTQ part is often just a ways of seeming inclusive when in reality they are not.
The fact of the matter is, it is being homosexual is a lot more socially acceptable than being transgender. I think it is mostly because people are a lot mnre familiar with homosexuals than they are transgender people, and it seems what media attention we do get is negative or highly sensationalized.
It seems for us there is always a fine line between standing up for your human rights and painting a target on your back.
I care more about my wife and children than anything, and I worry so much for them because of what I am going through--my problem is their problem and I wish there were a way that it didn't have to be like that.
Yeah, I think you're right that it's simply an issue of familiarity. LG (and really, even B) folks have been, if not accepted by everyone, at least *recognized* by everyone. T folks get drag queens, Some Like It Hot, and White Chicks. No wonder the public at large thinks we're freaks.
ReplyDeleteHave you read the book “Voices of Hope: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Same-Gender Attraction - An Anthology of Gospel Teachings and Personal Essays” by Ty Mansfield? there is a section in there on transgender.
ReplyDeleteI haven't! But now that you've recommended it, I'll have to find a copy.
ReplyDeleteWell if you go by the numbers...I've seen statistics saying the number of people with same sex attraction out there is 12% more or less. That may include people who don't go out and pursue it but still struggle with it, or I'm not sure. I don't really want to know more...but 12% is pretty big of a figure.
ReplyDeleteThe stats I saw online for transgender was quoted at 1 in 20,000 or 1 in 30,000.
That's a huge difference.
I know everyone is different ...partly because some of us have more than one set of problems in addition to GID etc...but I don't really think same sex attraction literature applies to us except for as reference for like overpowering adversity??