The APA already classified transgenderism as a non mental illness, which is precisely why I am still able to communicate effectively here. Deluded? Dear me, the only one deluded is one that has not seen the world enough to know gender identity is innate.

While both homosexuality and transgenderism has their strong peer-previewed research showing immutability, a gene for gender differentation has been found. And I do agree with Lynn that most cases of transgenderism has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Because LGB and T is a community of variant sexuality. T does not conform to society’s definition of gender, while LGB do not conform to society’s expectations of attraction.

So while Lynn tries to tear everything apart, trans people have more evidence for their existence than Lynn. And she will still be discriminated sexually, just like anyone else. And she totally forgot asexuals. So much for self-inflated gay pride.

Anyways, hey Regan! How are you doing dear! :- )

It’s like living with landmines.
One can try and be brave, quiet, whatever…but that’s not realistic. We’re all human, we can only take so much.
And gays and blacks have always been relegated to professional and social ghettos where the only people around to vent your rage or joy or sorrow on are those who share the ghetto experience.
Blacks have LONG tried to tell each other that they feed the beast with the gangsta culture, the misogyny, the lack of stable families and so many abandoned children and intraracial violence, but the fact remains is that blacks and gays have a SIMILAR history.
Even if three generations ago, one’s family had been dislocated and economically disenfranchised, that trauma can reverberate to another generation. That is why equality and eliminating bigotry is so vital. The damage can last for so long…

Blacks and gays also have the unique distinction of having their sexuality distorted to mythic proportions. Specifically as to aggression, lack of morals, lack of responsibility and predation. This creates a tension so great, casual encounters with those of the dominant culture have led to death sentences for black men and gay men in particular.
Yet, black and gay sexuality is exceptionally compelling.
Black women and lesbians are sexually exploited by the prurient interests of the socially dominant among us. Which would be white, straight men.

So the damage to the self worth of the psyches of gays and lesbians shouldn’t be unexpected.
This isn’t just about not being accepted, but THREATENED. And unlike blacks, gays and lesbians can’t even count on their families, churches or schools for protection. This trifecta of what shapes anyone’s formative years is often abusive to young gay people carrying the tension of being disclosed around with them. And not knowing the consequences or to what degree.

If it manifests or has into promiscuity, insecurity, lack of civil restraint or just plain old anger, then the consciousness that created homophobia in society can be blamed for it.

I see also a similarity in the expectations of the straight world for gay people to live like and not challenge the status quo any more than a child.
Gay people are not wanted or expected to speak out, get angry or be emotional on any level.
But at the same time not form romantic bonds, have sex, be responsible for children or challenge what is considered straight authority.

This can be said of blacks and ‘white authority’. Blacks weren’t expected to contradict or have an opinion or ideas contrary to what whites dictated.

And angering those who could so politically and socially control your life is a scary prospect, because one can’t know what will set them off.

See? Landmines.

I want more than ever for blacks and gays to form what is a bond through a shared experience with INSTITUTIONALIZED discrimination and bigotry.
But even THAT is broken down and distorted and blacks have been actively courted to be hostile to the notion, however legit it is.
And most don’t even realize how they have been manipulated through the also shared experience of being Christian.
The whole agenda of the dominant culture has ALWAYS been fragmentation of gay people who they say threaten society.

At any rate, this article was a thought provoking piece and I see a serious need for more scrutiny of the issue.

Aaron & Michael are a good example of what we need more of. They’re experiences are different than mine. When they shared, they were honest about their point of view, but they were also respectful of my experiences.
That’s how healthy, intelligent discourse is conducted.

Denigrating others, as Lynn is doing, only serves to further divide us, which is what the Religious Right wants.

there just isn’t this big bad gay-hate-on-other-gays epidemic that david would like us to believe. it just doesn’t exist any more than the 1970’s “gay ghetto” community (thanks for putting my idea into better words, hun) that david still seems to believe in. but even if you can accept that there are many different gay communities, i still don’t see this big epidemic. could be possible maybe in a certain subculture, San Francisco gays, for instance. That might be something to focus in on, but there are so many there, ask yourself, is it the whole san fran gay community or just certain groups of gays there?

i am sure every kind of group has some kind of gossip or cliques. hello, if you go to a group with a bunch of close friends, are you not going to sit and talk to them instead of people you don’t know? not everyone is looking for new friends, but i am sure most LGBs would treat people warmly and nicely as you would any other non-friend associate you may encounter. being gay is not a reason to befriend a stranger, after all, if you don’t have anything else in common.

Sorry to be blunt, but I do believe that if there is not a biological basis for you to somehow be both male and female (there are many such people), that it is a mental illness. Be what you want to be with gender expression! be a man and wear a dress or be a girl and dress like a man, but to cut up your body so you can call yourself something you are not seems deluded and a waste of money. everything that a man and a woman is in this society is a collection of things that have accumulated over thousands of years of shared cultural experiences. in a parallel universe, with entirely different experiences, a man might act and carry himself in the same way that a woman does in today’s world, and that might be what it is to be masculine. those are things that society has told us that a man or a woman is. it is not hardwired in yoru brain to want to have those traits. it is a result of nuturing…the environment you grow up in….it is not your inborn nature. So, if you want to be like a woman, i say have the courage to wear a dress and be what you want to be. But don’t cut up and mutilate your body to pretend to be another sex. You are what you are….do what you want for gender expression.

Lynn Hayes
A Lesbian who is Not Afraid to Speak the Truth

Nor does it give credit to communities where gay youths, young adults, and elders are adequately supported and included, so that defense mechanisms such as bitchy-queen behavior and in-groups are unnecessary.

Various people tell me that San Francisco, West Hollywood, and Miami are particularly image-conscious and unpleasant places to be gay. Why that might be, I have no clue.

^a big heap of sarcasm. I’ll be a lesbian after the surgery and I’d like to thank her for reminding me gays can be just as bigoted and ignorant as anyone from focus on the family.

Younger gay people do not see to fit into this example, and my experience is completely foreign to this. I have long been open and out (20 years), but my spouse and I do not attend pride parades anymore or do anything that is particularly part of the gay community as a whole. This has nothing to do with a problem with the gay community. In fact, if anything, most people I have met are extremely kind, thoughtful, and well-adjusted. It is just as I have gotten older, I realize I do not need the community for support. I suspect that a huge percentage of the gay community is like me (and it may be well over 50%). The younger gay people do not seem to have this “bitchy” quality that is mentioned. There are always exceptions, but the article is completely different than my exprience.

Whether you’re an L, G, B or T, we’re all fighting for the same rights~~we need each other.