Reply to a Crone

This is a reply to the crone who
thinks Transsexuals never bleed.
Who thinks we aren’t “rea ”
women. Who thinks we don’t
know the struggles, emotions and
pain they do. A person asked me
one time why a man would get rid
of his penis. I told him I have no
clue  And I have never met a
Transsexual who wouldn’t prefer
to change the inside, and this arti-
cle explains why. I hope sharing
this intimate moment in my life
enlightens those ignorant people
who demand acceptance as we do
for who we truly are.

[from an Email, sent by
the letter writer] “Well, I think I
sank the lowest I have felt since I
started all this. Last night I was
wondering what my sisters would
think of me moving there. I called
and my nephew who is a sweetie
and retarded answered. He’s 24
with the maturity of a 9 yr. old. 
[He] told me they did a 180-
degree turn and I am now the sub-
ject of disgust and shame. I got off
the phone after listening to him
cry and say he still loved me 
Then I hung up and spent the
whole night crying. They say
before you start this transition, be
ready to lose everything. This
morning the only thing I have left
in my life is my kids and realisti-
cally I wonder in time will I even
have them?

“I am not as down I have
been in the past, but I think I feel
worse and [more] isolated than
anytime I can remember. I hope
things turn around soon. I hope
this starts feeling worth it again. I
still have hope, that is something
only I can take away. I need a job,
one that can support me and pay
child support if I can’t get custody,
I need a lawyer for my divorce
with no money and have to let go
of pride to ask for pro bono. I
have spent my whole life doing
for others, raising 4 stepkids, how
the hell did I end up so alone? I
knew this might happen. Today I
will mourn, tomorrow is a new
day.

April Elizabeth
Colchester

¥i'.$3l‘..il'§§it'9“'

It is ironic and sad that the same
issue of OITM that features a
groundbreaking case involving
equal rights for transpeople here in
Vermont also includes an article
about the Lesbian/Crone commu-
nity which points out one more

 

obnoxious and offensive slap in
the face to inclusiveness for all
GLBT people.

The very fact that those
quoted in the article who refused
to consider transwomen as females
demanded their anonymity is cow-
ardly  Shame on them, and
shame on the greater GLBT com-
munity for looking the other way
once again rather than hold this
group as responsible for their
actions as they would any hetero-
sexual or GLBT social group that
would refuse admission to a seg-
ment of our community based on a
gay or lesbian identity.

It is especially pathetic
that one source quoted said that
“(The) Crones is the only place I
can go and just be with and talk to
old women, women with my expe-
riences. [Transwomen] say they've
always felt like women, but how
the hell do they know? They’ve
never bled or had menstrual
cramps.” Well, how the Hell does
she know what the feelings of
another human being are? If she
thinks womanhood is defined sole-
ly by menstruation and cramps
then she has a very dim view of
what a woman is.

Transwomen endure
incredible prejudice in the greater
world, experience enormous phys-
ical pain to achieve their woman-
hood, and face harsh financial bur-
dens to align their bodies to their
spiritual and mental reality. It is
disgraceful that any thoughtful
human being could not recognize
that the choice to take the step
towards gender reassignment is a
courageous one, and it is under-
taken with a realization that rejec-
tion, poverty, and loneliness may
be what await one on “the other
side” of the journey. But to experi-
ence this behavior from within our
own community is appalling. If
the G, L, and Bs in your masthead
believe that this type of antiquated
thinking is acceptable then you
might as well take the “T” off of
your paper because we are clearly
not really a part of this supposedly
supportive community.

Women in general have
complained for centuries about
their second class status in our
society, and Lesbians have been
treated even worse within that
context. How tragic that we can
now count on a segment of our
own discriminated—against com-
munity to revel in their own
opportunity to practice discrimina-
tion and inflict heartbreak on oth-
ers. 

Grace Noble
Colchester, VT 05446

The Bush Holy War

We are badly in need of a new
president, so let’s do it. The man
is on a holy war and he is our
head of state and there is hate in
the world for American arrogance.
Some Americans in international
intemet chat feel the need to
explain that our president does not
represent us; he represents the cor-
porate lobby. We didn’t elect him
President. The Supreme Court did.
Soon after the World

Trade Center disaster, he pro-
claimed we were on a “crusade”
for America. In the Medieval
name of God the “crusaders” mur-
dered, raped, and pillaged Jews,
Christians, and Muslims in their
trek across Europe to the Middle
East on a quest to slay the Muslim
“infidels” in the “Holy Land.”
Sigmund Freud would not have
quickly excused this remark as
just another harmless blunder.
Parapraxis, or Freudian slippage,
does not happen by accident. It
represents an unconscious wish
that’s come to the surface. A holy
war to save America sounds more
like intended effort, a conscious
plan of his own design, rather than

repressed fantasy. When a reporter ‘

asked him once which philosopher
he respected most, he said Jesus.
Okay, so does he turn the other
cheek? Does he do unto others as
he’d have done to himself?

Faith, religion, and tradi-
tion are not the problem.
Extremist ideology is. Why is the
slogan “God bless America”? Why
is it not “God bless the world”?
Who are they to say God is on our
side?

Mr. Bush has called for a
federal constitutional amendment
banning gay marriage. Well if his
marriage feels threatened, he
could try a marriage counselor.
He’d rather the public blame any-
one else than blame him for the
mess we’re in. He is a born again
Christian, of the same ilk as Jerry
Falwell. They have no doubt
Armageddon is upon us. We need
a new president, for equality for
gays, and so the world doesn’t
hate Americans.

Leviticus says a man
cannot lie with a man as he does
with a woman. Well that doesn’t
prohibit lesbian sex. And, umm,
what if all the guys did it standing
up? And what if we all got mar-
ried, and from then on, our first
time was only our wedding
nights? There’s nothing in the
Bible against that! We’d be in love
just like Jonathan and King David.

Please add www.johnker-
ry.com as a link to your websites

and Internet profiles. Please visit
his website and learn how to vol-
unteer for him as an Internet advo-
cate. Please register to vote before
the election. Please contribute to
the Kerry campaign. Please vote.
We are not powerless against
George W. Bush.

David Altier, M.A.
Williston

David Altier identifies as a Log
Cabin Republican.

letters

correctlonz

Last issue in our article on the
R.U.l .2? Community Center
Dinner, we misspelled the name of
Glenn Johnson, who nominated
and introduced the award winner.
We regret the error.V

at witt’s end Ieah wittenberg

 
 
 

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