"OK you asked what do we think, and most of your friends are far right, I am in the middle I have right and left friends, so perhaps I have a unique perspective.
I am saddened to see so many hateful comments from people who claim to love God. God teaches us to love, not hate. Tolerate, not persecute. Find understanding, not condemnation and judgment. Shame on some of you.
I am a straight woman. I have transgender friends and every letter of LGBT friends and clients. Guess what? It's NOT a "lifestyle choice", they are NOT "mentally ill" and believe it or not, THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO, JUST THE SAME AS YOU AND ME! While none of us are without some sort of prejudice, why do people have to be so -hateful-?
Live and let live, people. More importantly, love and forgive, even (and especially) those who "wrong" you. And those who have done nothing to you, but whose existence you loath. Your hatred and intolerance is your problem. Deal with it in a mature fashion.
Humanity is in peril if we don't change our ways quickly. I have faith that we will, but not without effort from each of us. Why hate when you can marvel at the uniqueness of each human being? Kind of proves God has a sense of humor, right? I mean, look at him! Look at her! look at YOU! hahaha.
I find myself in the middle, not far right, nor far left. I have seen mean, hateful judgements coming from both sides, directed at "the opposition" or at public figures and politicians. Yet as soon as there is a natural disaster, everyone finds their common humanity and helps each other. Is that what it takes for us to get along? I sure hope not.
I will post a link to Howard Wills Forgiveness Prayers, for those of you who want good karma and a fresh start. Nothing like gratitude and forgiveness to help us manifest love and abundance, which are the birthright of ALL human beings.
Oh, in answer to your question, (name redacted), I think any LGBT person who wants to serve is not only strong enough to serve, they are strong enough to endure harassment, marginalization, ostracism, etc....therefore they must be VERY strong and capable Patriots, and should be allowed to serve. If it were me, no way would I want to serve even if drafted. But I am not LGBT, I am a straight, mature woman.
However, I do acknowledge it does present a challenge regarding bathrooms, sleeping quarters and showers. But the challenge is not about them, it is about the other people who take exception to it. So there is unfortunately a trust issue. We often fear that which we do not understand, and fear begets hatred.
I once had a Transgender roommate in a house with 4 roommates. (It is common here for single adults to live with roommates due to the lack of affordable studios and 1-bedrooms). I would never have known he was Transgender if he had not told me. I do not care. It did not effect me one bit, except I have to say he was one of the most intelligent and considerate people I ever met. I hope I can say the same about you one day, if we ever meet.
I am not interested in arguing with anybody, but I hope I have reached even one person to make them reconsider their fear and hatred. God forgive you. I do."
~Phoenix Boulay
~Phoenix Boulay
Howard Wills
~The Art of Well-Being and Higher Consciousness~
Howard Wills
Forgiveness Prayers
The reason I have redacted the name and not linked to the actual post (just to my own fb copy/paste)is that so many of the comments are so hateful and hurtful, I do not wish for people to go read them and become upset, as I did earlier today. I knew I would have to wait until I got home to deal with this and try to offer a different perspective. I could not just sit by and observe this post and remain silent.
ReplyDeleteFor example, several people mentioned something akin to hinting of “friendly fire”, although the words they used were far more blatant. Now THAT ATTITUDE is what I would call SICK, not a person’s sexual identification.
DeleteAs for "not strong enough emotionally", as many have claimed, they used to say that about women. Not smart enough to vote, either.
ReplyDeleteYou must not know the kind of Transgender people I have met, who are far stronger than everyone in this conversation put together, for what they have endured and what they go through on a daily basis. It seems to me many in this thread are the ones who are not strong enough to cope with someone so different than them that they feel threatened, yet the threats are not coming from them, they come from you all.
Love is always stronger than hate. People are who they are, the body is a suit we put on when we incarnate. We are spirits incarnated in a body, we are not our bodies. You forget God made all of us. When we have a really good friend or loved one who accepts us despite our flaws, isn't that great?
I do realize accepting people and letting them serve are 2 different issues, but it seems like people in the thread cannot differentiate and must attack these people for who they are as justification for not letting them serve.
It would be more prudent and productive to discuss real issues like sleeping quarters, bathrooms, etc. How do we resolve that in a war situation? If this was about office jobs, who would care? It is a bit more complex due to the intimate conditions and lack of privacy in the military, but my point is that these people (the person inside the body) do not deserve to be attacked.
The Military, not us, will obviously have to come up with new ways to resolve the challenges, because the courts ruled it so, thus they must comply.
I never said it was a good idea. I only said I feel they are qualified to serve, because they are as fully human as the rest of us, with a drive to serve, even if many of you insist on trying to dehumanize them. THAT is what I take exception to. Before judging someone, always put your self in the other person's shoes. I was only trying to help you do that so you'd have compassion and realize there are no simple answers.
Anyway, thanks if you bothered to read this, I'm out. Peace.
Someone posted a meme that offers a sane and logical perspective without condemnation and judgement. Since I can’t post a meme and comments I’m going to read it:
ReplyDelete“HERE’S A LITTLE MEDICAL INFO ON WHY NO TRANSGENDERS IN THE MILITARY
It’s a logistics nightmare. Let me explain: currently you can’t serve in the military if you have any medical conditions that require constant treatment or excessive accommodation. That’s why people with asthma, diabetes, permanent STDs STIs (like HIV), people with cancer or a recurring history of cancer and individuals with physical disabilities can’t serve (except in very rare cases where a specific waiver is granted).
Transgender individuals require hormone replacement therapy, they require psychiatric care during transition, and if they elect to get surgery it can take two to four years for them to recover to the point of being eligible to deploy. On top of that after the surgery they are at higher risk of infection for the rest of their life which complicates any attempt at sending them to the field to train where hygiene isn’t always able to be pristinely maintained, or overseas. An overseas deployment also puts the individual at risk because they may not have steady access to their hormone replacement drugs which leads to withdrawal and hormone imbalances as well as health problems.
So just like a diabetics and cancer patients and individuals with physical or mental disabilities it just isn’t feasible to accommodate these people so that they can serve.”
~~~~~
My response:
“Thank you for making a solid and logical argument without dehumanizing the subjects. It probably is not at all practical or wise and light of the complex medical issues (despite my comments further down in the thread). The many of you who choose to use hate and dehumanization as an “argument” take a lesson from this person.
When when hate is”reason” it quickly gets dismissed in the courts. I have a valid concern that the judge did not take any of the above factors into consideration in making the decision, which, however well-intentioned, could actually result in the deaths of transgender people who may serve, because it clearly is NOT a safe place for them.
Regardless of whether we approve of these people or others it is always prudent to use logic instead of hate speech when defending one’s position.”