Articles that just make me sick

arbilad · Head Chef

Articles that just make me sick

hiccups · Future Queen in Zion

Strange to think that someday one might be able to file a change of gender form like a name change. We're heading for it, I think.

nitasmile · Senior Member

quote form article: :What is transgender?
Transgender is identified as a person with "nonconforming gender identity and expression." It involves a male adopting a female identity, or a female adopting a male identity.

According to the Associated Press, if a person lives publicly as a member of the other sex, and presents themselves as a member of that sex, they should be referred to as the sex they prefer. Therefore, in the obituary in today's Tribune and in news stories, Zapata will have female references."

you are right that it is horrible when anyone is murdered and when crimes are used for political purposes. Still the whole transgender movement or process can be confusing to know what the true sex of the person is. In this case it appears it may be relevant to the story and to me it is important the news defines that this individual was a man now living as a woman.

I think it is fine that the obituary solely refer to the person as being female.

But because a crime was committed, I think to be a credible story w/maximum integrity, it needs to say that this person was a man by birth. As there have been hate crimes in related situations (ie killing someone who is gay), I think the news article needs to say that this person was a man at first. Perhaps in so doing, if there is cause for other individuals who are transgender to be more cautious, ie if they are being attacked.

Apologies if I'm misunderstanding or missing your point.

arbilad · Head Chef

Well, I very strongly disagree with the way the press handles cases like this. Nothing can change gender - it is an eternal characteristic. No matter what he was "living as", he was and is a man. To refer to him as otherwise is dishonest. Plus, it is simply wrong to attack the coroner's office for reporting the death as being that of a man when he very clearly is a man.
I also strongly disagree with the whole concept of "hate crimes". Why do we need to prosecute more severely the killing of a gay or transexual? Isn't the murder of a cheating wife, for instance, just as tragic? Why do we need to offer special protections for gays and transsexuals?
If I suddenly asked everyone on the board to refer to me as Jesus, it wouldn't make me Jesus. This man may have been pretending that he was a woman, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to refer to him as such any more than I would expect y'all to start praying to me if I started believing that I was Jesus.

arbilad · Head Chef

Here is a follow up article about this tragedy. They caught the killer, who has confessed. It seems he beat this guy to death with a fire extinguisher because he discovered (after getting oral sex) that, although his partner appeared to be a woman, he was actually a man.
This is a horrible murder, and I feel very sad for this man's family and anyone who knew him. But it does beg the question: why would a "transgender" person deceive people? It is well known that there are sick people who are willing to kill people who live that alternative lifestyle. Why risk it? Why not be honest up front?

Xanth · Senior Member

hiccups wrote:

Strange to think that someday one might be able to file a change of gender form like a name change. We're heading for it, I think.

Yea, I had an interesting conversation with someone at work about how scientists are predicting the ability to save a concesnious in a computer, and how gender would be meaningless. Ghost in the machine type thing. People would live forever just changing bodies when the current one is used up.

I really hope these things never come to pass.

arbilad · Head Chef

I don't think that scientists can just "record" a human consciousness. As far as what makes you you, your spirit is far more important than what is stored in your brain. Just writing down brain contents would be only one part of the equation - for instance, if you tried to make a cake using just flour, no water, no eggs, etc.
Since gender is an eternal characteristic, I can't conceive of a way of separating your consciousness from the essential characteristic of gender.