A few weeks ago, Time magazine's cover trumpeted a "transgender tipping point". Indeed, more and more people are starting to understand--and accept--us. Some of this, of course, has to do with celebrities like Bruce Jenner "coming out" as trans. And I think it also has to do with the fact that more and more people are simply aware that some neighbor, co-worker, friend or even family member is trans.
As happy as I am about this development, I have also seen a dark side to it. Those who hate us are becoming more virulent and, in some cases, violent. They are going to more extreme methods to oppose us in whatever ways they can. Those who don't have the means or wherewithal to do such things are coming up with ever-more-implausible and simply loopy notions about us and the terrible things we're responsible for.
All of what I've said also applies to gays and lesbians. As more states and countries legalize gay marriage, homophobes attribute everything from natural disasters to security breaches--and the old favorites like paedophilia--to gay people.
Add the recent Amtrak crash to the list. Sandra Rose--who can actually make Ann Coulter seem like Stephen Jay Gould--claims that Brandon Bostian, the engineer of that train, crashed it because he wanted media attention. He had been campaigning for the government to adopt greater rail safety marriage--and legalize gay marriage.
Now, how she can conflate his advocacy of gay marriage with his rants about the government's inaction about rail safety--and how she can say that he crashed the train to call attention to them--is something that, perhaps, takes a mind greater than mine to comprehend, let alone explain. If you can walk me through Ms. Rose's logic, please do so.
As happy as I am about this development, I have also seen a dark side to it. Those who hate us are becoming more virulent and, in some cases, violent. They are going to more extreme methods to oppose us in whatever ways they can. Those who don't have the means or wherewithal to do such things are coming up with ever-more-implausible and simply loopy notions about us and the terrible things we're responsible for.
All of what I've said also applies to gays and lesbians. As more states and countries legalize gay marriage, homophobes attribute everything from natural disasters to security breaches--and the old favorites like paedophilia--to gay people.
Add the recent Amtrak crash to the list. Sandra Rose--who can actually make Ann Coulter seem like Stephen Jay Gould--claims that Brandon Bostian, the engineer of that train, crashed it because he wanted media attention. He had been campaigning for the government to adopt greater rail safety marriage--and legalize gay marriage.
Now, how she can conflate his advocacy of gay marriage with his rants about the government's inaction about rail safety--and how she can say that he crashed the train to call attention to them--is something that, perhaps, takes a mind greater than mine to comprehend, let alone explain. If you can walk me through Ms. Rose's logic, please do so.
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