Apparently it’s an extremely cold day in hell today, but I tend to side with ABM on this one. I have NO problem whatsoever with transgendered people, LBGT people, straight people etc (just assholes in general). But with more and more “transgendering” (for lack of a better word) going on, it CAN be confusing. Especially if you come into a town like Portland from a state like Tennessee (no stereotyping intended). Transgender people are practically ubiquitous around the PDX area. I can only assume that some are either at the beginning of the transition, or smack dab in the middle. Again, it can be very confusing. And as much as I would honestly like to respect their choices and address them by their preferred honorific, I find it easier to just react to them as I would pretty much anyone else; gender neutral, thank you for the service. That way no one is offended if I don’t get it right. All that said, respect and understanding are a two way street. Some transgendered people are almost deliberately testy and confrontational. Again, I get that. They’ve spent a lifetime pondering their identities, their sanity, etc, all the while being “targets” for a narrow minded society. That would make me cranky and defensive too. But by being a rude and defensive, that individual that ABM encountered only dug the chasm deeper. It should have been a teaching moment by that transgender individual. Oh, I’m sure ABM “learned” something, if only not to make assumptions. But it could have been so much more than it was. It takes two to tango (or tangle) and the individual ABM met sounds at least as much unenlightened as they felt ABM was. If the transgendered want understanding from a society that “doesn’t get it”, they are going to have to try and understand “our” ignorance and help “us” work through it. Seems to me the individual ABM met failed too………
