Dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, & legal protection of individuals in the process of correcting the misalignment of their anatomical sex, & supporting their transition into society.
Springfield, VA, USA. The internet is filled with lightweight crazies full of anger and arrogance, self-appointed arbitrators of cultural mores and political correctness. If you read the comments to the column...
Springfield, VA, USA. What is a transsexual? Is there such a thing as a non-op transsexual? What is the difference between a non-op transsexual and a full time crossdresser? Are transgender and transsexua...
Springfield, VA, USA. A strong current of post-modern fundamentalism runs deep in the Transgender movement, leading to an outright rejection of science and lubricating a preference for the safe, non-intel...
Springfield, VA, USA. Well we have heard from the Transgenders again. I'm not talking about the rank and file transgenders, but the capital "T" sort who act like they can make a serious li...
Springfield, VA, USA. There was a story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer about a pre-op transsexual (an HBS woman) who wanted to use the woman’s locker room, just like any other woman. (What woman wants to u...
Springfield, VA, USA. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV), like The Bible, is a disparate compilation of many different types of books and methods of varying validity and applica...
Springfield, VA, USA. Two graduate students have scored an academic trifecta. They learned how to launch their careers via publish-or-perish principles, google the obvious, and cozy up to transgenders. Th...
Springfield, VA, USA. In an earlier column, I discussed the uproar among the District of Columbia’s transgender community over proposed revisions of the rules and regulations governing gender identity and expr...
Springfield, VA, USA. It has already been a week since 11 July 2008 — a date that shall live in infamy — the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights and the Commission on Human Rights suddenly and del...
Springfield, VA, USA. Every four years since 1788, the United States of America holds an election for its President — 2008 is no different [N1].
At the moment this written, there are two major candidates and two semi-pro candidate: John McCain (Republican nominee), Barack Obama (Democratic nominee), Ron Paul (Libertarian nominee) and Ralph Nader (Green nominee). The question before the floor remains which of these four possible male candidates would best serve the needs of HBS men and women?
All things considered, who would most likely support changes to federal law to facilitate the HBS men and women in transition: Simplified legal changes to the name and sex/gender markers on state and federal licenses, identification, and passports at the start of formal transition; enforcement of laws for public access, employment, and civil/criminal justice so that they are enforced to reflect the true (or documented target) sex of HBS men and women; the ability to change the name and sex marker on birth certificates to reflect the reality of post-op life and the sealing of the old one; covered treatment of medically diagnosed HBS men and women in all insurance plans — who would it be?
First, however, let us thresh out the chaff. I am certain that both Mr. Paul and Mr. Nader are honorable men, but neither of them certainly will be the next President of the United States. Mr. Paul has an engaging mind, but not the one the country is waiting on. Mr. Nader, at this point in his career, having lost campaigns too numerous to count, is unsafe at any speed. Gentlemen, please stop your engines, you begin your campaigns already down a lap. Speak if you must, but do so as you bid us goodbye.
Of the major candidates, one was born out of the country, the other in Hawaii but fathered by a foreign national. One is relatively young and inexperienced for the office, the other rather old and cantankerous at times. One spent five and half years in a Viet Nam prison camp; the other spent five and a half years attending Columbia and Harvard. One is tall and sleek; the other reminiscent of a mature hobbit.
None of that answers the question -- Given McCain and Obama,
Who will be best for HBS?
The one who makes the most promises? The most Pride Parades? The best speeches? Should we choose the one has the most experience getting things done in the government? Or is the sole criterion for an HBS woman or man choosing a candidate the earliest anti-war vote? (I’m certain those pre-op HBS men and women who volunteered and are currently serving in the American Armed Forces might have an interest in who wins this election.)
We’ve thought that the war was everything before, that if we could just end the war, everything would be alright. Hunger would end. Poverty would vanish. Nixon and Carter would never be president. The Berlin Wall would fall (oh wait… but that was Reagan and another story). Many of our most anti-war candidates have turned out to be god-awful administrators of government. Ideals and piety don’t necessarily equate to good governance.
So let’s forget the war (at least for now) and look at Obama and McCain and who is best for HBS.
The Democratic Party would have us believe that they are the party of GLB & T, but their track record is less than stellar when it comes to putting words into law and good government. They speak a good game, but they seldom have the votes or the willpower.
Liberals and the left (I’m sorry, I guess I am supposed to call them all Progressives now) …. Liberals and the left would like everyone to buy into the idea that gays and lesbians and bisexuals and certainly transgenders and HBS men and women form a uniformly left liberal voting block that votes knee jerk style for Democrats.
Screw that. The Democratic Party Wish List is not an imperial mandate to vote for them.
What do the Democrats plan to do for our country and for us?
What are Mr. Obama’s plans?
Change.
And for HBS men and women?
Change.
And for the country?
Still more change. And, oh yes, do something not identified to stop the war. A laundry list of promises covering Civil Rights, Disabilities, the Economy, Education, Energy, etc. — the same laundry list with different tweaks that you can find on McCain’s list.
The Democratic Party would have us assume that they are best for HBS (and why would they not, they think we are a bought vote with nowhere to go) but I see nothing that makes it so. The promises have been many but the cupboard has been empty. The left talks a good game, but once they are in power, they are no different than the old boss — they worry more about staying in power than they worry about what needs to be done for the country.
Nor do the left Democrats demonstrate the ability to do the donkey work necessary to make a bill into law. They generally fall woefully short on actually getting anything done.
Additionally, Mr. Obama has to make sure that his black supporters (normally socially conservative to the extreme when it comes to homosexuality, transgender, and HBS) don’t desert him. If elected, he owes his election to them and it is doubtful he will support anything that might offend them (certainly not until after his re-election).
So should we turn to McCain? He’s the only other candidate with a chance of winning, after all.
Like Mr. Obama, Mr. McCain too has a socially conservative wedge of supporters he needs to win and keep satiated. A large portion of his primary supporters are less than thrilled with gays and HBS.
And McCain is [hushed voice] a Republican! If a queer should vote Republican, I have been made to understand that the white fairy sprinkles unfairy dust on them and they wake up the next morning straight, carnivorous, and living in log cabins. At least that’s what left liberal Democrats have told me.
Both McCain and Obama will have identical trouble with their constituencies if the move too quickly on Gay and Transgender Rights and the regulatory changes to facilitate HBS medical care and transition. Although Obama undoubtedly will give a more brilliant supportive public speech, he may not have the political skills to pass a Gay Rights law, let alone one that may address Transgender or HBS.
McCain, by nature, is not one to publicly advocate rapid social change. I doubt we will see a McCain speech that calls for Gay and Transgender Rights. But McCain is more likely than Obama to work behind the scenes, out of the public eye, to accomplish what he thinks needs be done. He is an honorable man, a thoughtful man, with a strong sense of what is right and wrong.
McCain, not Obama, might be best, in the long run, for HBS despite his more conservative public social views. Which man will I vote for? At this point, I don’t really know, but I’m not going to drink left liberal Democratic Party Kool-aid and assume that the answer to every question in the world must always be Democratic (nor that every problem in the world is caused by Republicans — I swear you can find Democratic fingerprints too if you bother to look).
But if this election is going to revolve around who is most anti-war and will get my son home soonest from Iraq — I’ve been there, done that. Basing critical votes on a single, semi-religious litmus test more often ends in disaster (see Nixon, Carter, and W. Bush) than anything resembling success.
Neither of the candidates is likely to get us out of Iraq anytime soon. The bramble is too tightly woven for that.
So I am going to cast my vote for whoever I decide is best for my country and for HBS. I suggest that you do the same come next November.
U. S. Constitution Article. II. — The Executive Branch Section 1 — The President
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
Ms. Lisa Jain Thompson is the Co-Founder & President of TS-Si, Inc. She also serves as a Contributing Editor and columnist for the TS-Si website. Ms. Thompson's signed articles contain her own opinions and do not necessarily convey an official position of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates.
Lisa welcomes your comments. You can use the public form below or send private correspondence via her TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.
Ms. Lisa Jain Thompson
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
Copyright © 2005-2008 TS-Si, Inc. • Except where noted, this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License. • Some rights reserved. • TS-Si is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, & legal protection of individuals in the process of correcting the misalignment of their anatomical sex, & supporting their transition into society.