Bad Blogger! Bad!

Not Blogger with a capital B and one of those little trademark thingies. Bad blogger as in I have been a bad blogger of late. I even signed up for NaBloPoMo again and couldn't even manage to fake it. As in 30 posts in 30 days, or 31 as the case may be.

Lots of stuff going on. Busy at work with no time to post. Weird mammogram results that led to a ultrasound that led to a biopsy that led to the doctor scratching her head that led to a self-diagnosis of a progression of my lymphedema. Whee! Plus there is only so many times I can go the health care reform well before it runs dry. I am outta of new stuff to say about it and absurdly grateful that my current insurance seems to be actually working.

So, rather than burden you with my depressing views on the non-movement/status quo/ruled by the purse-strings crap fest that is health care reform in this country, I'm going to redirect my time and tackle transgender and LGBT issues instead.

I read an interesting article this weekend that I thought I'd share. An article on OregonLive.com discussed one Rev. David Weekly and his coming out to his congregation as a transman. Weekly transitioned before becoming an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. Called to a religious life at a young age, he also knew he was male even as a child. There are no reports that his congregation has reacted with anything but but support.

The same can't be said of the commentary at Oregonlive.com. It's harsh. It's fed by ignorance. And it's all too typical of what the trans community faces on a daily basis.

Though Weekly is quoted as saying, "I am a man in some ways different from other men," he said. "But most people are different from other people in some way. And God still loves us." Many of the commenters on the website can't see this obvious truth.

I won't reprint any of the comments here; I'll let you go read for yourself. But they are classic examples of what you'll find on the comments of ANY mainstream online story about transgender people. These are actually more tame and generally refrain from the use of vulgarities and profanities that I've seen in other places.

I believe that we will eventually find that all LGBT people are represented on the genetic spectrum. Meaning, it is not a "lifestyle choice" but something that is genetically inherent in who they are. In truth, there is a great deal about the human body and development that we know next to nothing about. We've only had the human genome mapped for less than a decade. There are huge portions of it that we have no idea what it does, what it controls or influences or if it's even just filler.

For now, we must work on accepting the great diversity that is the human race. Singling out someone for ridicule and hatred simply because they're different is the action of a child.

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." 1Corinthians 13:11.

It's time to put away our childish prurience and learn to recognize the essential humanity in those around us no matter how different they may seem. Rev. David Weekly took a courageous step in revealing such a personal aspect of himself to his congregation. I wish him every continued success.