Laughing On His Way To The Dustbin Of History

In 1975, Minneapolis became the first US jurisdiction to ban discrimination "based on having or projecting a self-image not associated with one's biological maleness or one's biological femaleness."

In other words, four decades have passed since that language was added to the city's human-rights laws.  In the meantime, hundreds of other municipalities and thirty-two states (as well as the District of Columbia) have passed similar legislation.  Moreover, same-sex marriage is now legal in three dozen states; in 2003, none allowed it.

I like to think that these facts indicate a sea-change in attitudes about LGBT people.  I also would like to believe that they show--as the reversal of Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial discrimination, and the appearance of black faces on prime-time television, courtrooms, executive offices and operating rooms showed us--the homophobes and transpohobes, as well as racists and other haters, are losing the battle.  

Their time is running out and they know it. I read somewhere that within twenty years from now, non-white Hispanics will no longer be the majority in this country.  By that time, we will also have a generation of children raised by same-sex parents and, I hope, LGBT people in places in roles where they've never been before.  And most people will find same-sex couples and trans people no more noteworthy than a white American marrying an Hispanic, or a black to an Asian.

The prospect of such things, of course, infuriates the haters.  But, as I said, they know, deep down, they're losing the battle.  So they're becoming desperate--which makes them say ever-more ridiculous, stupid, disgusting and mean things.

Case in point: Mike Huckabee.  This Neanderthal Faux, I mean, Fox News commentator wants to be President.  So, not long ago, he said something very, very Presidential: If there were more transgender acceptance when he was in high school, he joked, "I'm pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, "Coach, I think I'd rather shower with girls today".  

Ha, ha, ha.  One day the joke will be on him--and such luminaries as Ann Coulter and Matt Walsh--when they are relegated to the dustbin of history.

Taking Over

One of my favorite cartoon series of all time is Pinky and the Brain.

Every episode involves an attempt, by the remarkable rodents, to take over the world.  In nearly every episode, their efforts fail.

One of the exceptions comes in "It's Only A Paper World".  The resolute ratons use prodigious amounts of papier mache to construct an alternative world.  After they finish, they lure Earth's inhabitants to it with free T-shirts. That, of course, leaves our entire planet for our long-tailed heroes.

Paul Craig Cobb reminds me of them, except that he's not quite as endearing.  In fact, judging from his intentions, he's anything but--and, perhaps, dangerous.  But he had a similar plan:  Take over a place where there were no people (well, almost no people).  

However, while Pinky and the Brain try to take over the world because, well, that's what they do, the Cobb fellow had a less noble purpose:  He wanted to create a White Supremacist haven in Leith, North Dakota. 

He moved into the town--which had 16 residents in the 2010 Census--last year and bought more than a dozen plots of land in the area.  Now town officials are using the town's codes and ordinances to crack down on his holdings, most of which are rundown.  According to mayor Ryan Schock, there is even talk of the town dissolving itself and ceding its power to the county.  "He would still own his property," Schock explained.  "But he can't control the city if there's no city government."

If that happens, Cobb could find himself pretty lonely.  That's how Pinky and the Brain felt after they had the whole world to themselves, but nobody to rule.

Faux Humor About Trans People

Almost everyone I know whose politics are anywhere to the left of David Duke's complains about, or scoffs at, Faux News.

If you've been reading this blog, you know that Faux News is known to most of the world as Fox News.  Most of my work colleagues, friends and acquaintances abhor its sensationalism as well as its to-the-right-of-Genghis-Khan political views.  

But us trans-folk have all the more reason to dislike Faux:  It doesn't like us.  Or, more precisely, it foments hate against us. 

In the last thirty years or so, no other news outlet anywhere in the US could have gotten away with making such mean-spirited and bullying comments as Faux commentators make about trans people.  Perhaps the worst part is that their crass, mean-spirited jokes about us are spontaneous and unscripted, which reveals the level of hate folks like Brian Kilmeade, Steve Doocy and Gretchen Carlson actually harbor:


   

There's plenty more hate where that came from.  You can find a few samples here.

On The Eve: Bastille Day

Tomorrow I'm going home. As nice as this place is, I'm looking forward to going home.

Danny, the very sweet (and handsome!) trans man from Alaska, left this morning. And Marilynne and her daughter are not here now, either: They had to go to a hotel because one of the secretaries in Doctor Bowers' office messed up their reservation.

As much as I like the other people who are staying here, I miss Marilynne and her daughter, and Danny. Then again, I look forward to seeing Marilynne and her daughter again for a "girls' weekend." They brought up the possibility of coming to New York in October or November, after her daughter and I have sufficiently recovered and while the weather is still nice in my hometown. I'd really love to spend Thanksgiving weekend with them because that's when New York starts to deck itself out for Christmas. But I don't think they'd want to leave their family, and I would probably spend that time with my family or with Millie's.

I'd really like to see Joyce and her partner, Becky, again. That might be an excuse for me to take a trip to West Texas. I've been to Texas once, and I went only to Houston, which, in some people's minds, doesn't count. I don't particularly want to go to Houston again, but it might be fun to go to Lubbock, which Joyce described as "a college town in the middle of nowhere."

And/or I could go to Alaska and see Danny. Now that's definitely not a weekend--long or otherwise--trip. Also, I wonder how his wife would feel about that.

Hmm...Is this where I start expanding my horizons--into my own country?

Is that what revolutions are all about? Well, at least the French one was about that. I mean, some guys thought that maybe didn't need monarchies and droits du seigneur and all those other things that were making French people--some of them, anyway--unhappy.

They had the right idea, although it took them a while to make it work. I think, though, that the next revolution shouldn't be within a country. I think the human race needs this one: getting rid of war and all other forms of hate and exploitation. If the human race has any hope of becoming more enlightened, I think that is what we need to do.

Someone once told me that I'm a revolutionary. I almost want to say "If only...," except that I'm not sure that I'd actually want to be one. It's like I was telling Mom tonight: I never really wanted to cause anybody any trouble, or to be difficult in any other way. Things just turn out that way sometimes. I am who I am, and that in and of itself is very difficult for some people, at least at certain times.

The thing is, I have made life difficult, if only for a moment, for everyone I've ever loved and who has ever loved me. You can only imagine what it was like for Mom to raise a kid who was feeling something almost no one knew about, much less understood. Bruce and I have fought and argued; I'm sure there must have been moments when I've made Millie cringe.

And they are the ones whom I feel ready to see again. Marilynne and her daughter are part of the experience I am bringing back, which is a resource that will enable me to continue my life in the way I want it. So are Danny and Joyce and Becky. And that couple from Montana and their kids. Carol, the manager of The Morning After House, too. And, of course, Nurse Phyllis and the staff of Dr. Bowers' office: Robin, Janet and Ann.

Of course, the bridge from the days before this experience to tomorrow is Dr. Bowers. The friends to whom I will return tomorrow, the family members I hope to see in the days and weeks after and the colleagues with whom I will work again in a few weeks know who I am. Now I'll be more able to live as that person.