Transphobia

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Transphobia is the fear, hatred, disbelief, or mistrust of people who are transgender, thought to be transgender, or whose gender expression doesn't conform to traditional gender roles. Transphobia can prevent transgender and gender non-conforming people from living full lives free from harm. The word was first used in 1992. It can take many different forms, including negative attitudes and beliefs, aversion to and prejudice against transgender people, irrational fear and misunderstanding, disbelief or discounting preferred pronouns or gender identity, derogatory language and name-calling, bullying, abuse, and even violence. People may hold transphobic beliefs if they were taught by other people, including parents and families who encourage negative ideas about trans people and who hold strict beliefs about traditional gender roles.



Some people are transphobic because they have misinformation or have no information at all about trans identities. They may not be aware of transgender people or trans issues or personally know anyone who is trans. And finally, the main cause of transphobia is due to ignorance and hate. Transphobia can create both subtle and overt forms of discrimination. For example, people who are transgender (or even just thought to be transgender) may be denied jobs, housing, or health care, just because they're transgender. The stress of transphobia on trans people can be very harmful and can cause: depression, fear, isolation, feelings of hopelessness, and even suicide.



The Catholic Church has established its side on transphobia and transgenders time and time again. They believe God cannot commit mistakes, therefore everyone else is in the wrong. Many articles encountered centered on how most Catholic denominations do not recognize gender transition. A document from the Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concludes that sex reassignment procedures do not change a person's gender in the eyes of the Church. "The key point," said the reported document, "is that the transsexual surgical operation is so superficial and external that it does not change the personality. If the person was a male, he remains male. If she was female, she remains female." The document also concludes that a "sex-change" operation could be morally acceptable in certain extreme cases, but that in all cases transgender people cannot validly marry.



In 2006 Albert Mohler, then president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said "Only God has the right to determine gender", adding, "any attempt to alter that creation is an act of rebellion against God." He also stated, "Christians are obligated to find our definitions ... in the Bible. What the activists want to call 'sex-reassignment surgery' must be seen as a form of bodily mutilation rather than gender correction. The chromosomes will continue to tell the story...Gender is not under our control after all. When a nation's moral rebellion comes down to this level of confusion, we are already in big trouble. A society that can't distinguish between men and women is not likely to find moral clarity in any other area of life." In 2014, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution at its annual meeting stating that "God's design was the creation of two distinct and complementary sexes, male and female" and that "gender identity is determined by biological sex, not by one's self-perception." Furthermore, the resolution opposes hormone therapy, transition-related procedures, and anything else that would "alter one's bodily identity," as well as opposing government efforts to "validate transgender identity as morally praiseworthy." Instead, the resolution asks transgender people to "trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the Gospel."



It is easily seen that the church does not agree with any type of transgenders, so how would this apply with transphobia? While most churches would try and 'help' what they believe to be confused or mistaken people, the fact that they reject transgenders as a whole is a form of transphobia. Whether it be civil or violent, they are announcing that they do not agree with them. I do not agree with the Catholic Church in this statement at all. Transgender people are not evil or confused, they are human beings like you and I and deserved to be treated as such. And whilst the Church say that in their eyes there is only female and male, and they should refer to a person by the gender assigned at birth, this ideology only stems from their belief in God. They believe he cannot make mistakes, and that since he created male and female, those are the only genders. I would love to go on for five more paragraphs on my own views and beliefs about God, but I'll make it brief and simple. If God was real, I don't think he would really care that much about the human race. He didn't show compassion through the horrors and atrocities that have plagued the world through centuries. Wars, slavery, discrimination, rape, all of these horrible things supposedly exist to balance out the good things in life. I don't see anything that good that could possibly balance that terrible world. But the question remains, does God make mistakes? I think if he were real, he would sit back and watch as we made the mistakes ourselves. So, really, it was never his mistake, it was ours. We can't hold God accountable for someone's misdeeds and errors, because I know for a fact that there are those that have a belief in the Almighty, but they do not discriminate against transgenders or anyone who doesn't conform to cis-genders. Blaming God for someone that hates another simply for being themselves is not what we should be doing, it's not the religion that's wrong, it's the people preaching it. They're the ones that use their belief as a justification for the horrors they committed and the hate they spread. So, really, we should be blaming those responsible for causing the pain and the hate rather than a religion.

Think of it as a weapon, a weapon can be dangerous, but it can also save a life, it just depends on the person holding it.



As for the Social Doctrine of the Church, it was quick to choose three to represent this social problem. Transphobia strives from not giving a human decent respect or rights, and outright hate. One of the doctrines is 'The freedom of the human person', which I find to be empowering to others, as all they really want, all anyone really wants, is freedom to be themselves. Who are we to take that chance away from them?
Another doctrine is 'The social nature of human beings', I picked this one because of how blatant it can be attributed to when it came to how others acted around people of LGBTQ status. They would act with aggression and hate, sometimes even violence. But when it came to those who received all that negativity, the majority would instead choose to see the good in humanity. Instead of fighting fire with fire, they tried their best to put out the fire as quick as possible.
And the final doctrine is 'Openness to transcendence and uniqueness of the person', now this is very obvious. When it comes to accepting another person, how quickly are you to embrace them with open arms? One thing is not liking chocolate ice cream, but not liking how a dress makes them feel is another. But you see, I am not talking about a person's gender (or non-gender), I am talking about a person who is just like you and me, only they were born in the wrong body. Is it possible to get pass through people's initial mistrust and own volatile nature to transgenders to simply know them as people?






Now, a real and viable answer is not so easily made. It takes time and patience. The best possible solution for transphobia is not aimed at the people who don't understand, it's aimed at those who are victims of this crime. The unfortunate truth is that just like homophobia, racism, and sexism, there will always be uncultured swines out there who will have horrible things to say about the way you look or the people you are with. The important thing to remember is that they do not matter, what matters is what you think about yourself and the ones that love you for you. The only possible way of getting through it is to stay strong and gain the support and love that is waiting for you. But for those who are looking to try and change their minds about transgender people, the only real way is to become educated about them and to stay open and respectful at all times. Start small, go on the Internet and try to educate yourself, when the time is right, try to meet someone who is actually transgender and can welcome you into the culture. All they ever really ask of anyone is respect and acceptance. And isn't that what we all want? Why does it only apply to straight cis-genders?





This is dedicated to one of my old good friends, Rolan. PennywiseTheGayClown

Love ya, FairyBoy.

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