Brody's Scribbles... Tim Trent: To Celebrate The T?

By Tim Trent (Dartmouth, UK) July 15 | We all understand what we are. Happy heterosexuals have no particular need to identify as such. Bisexuals sometimes get marginalised by folk, both heterosexual and homosexual, who fail to understand that one can be attracted to and aligned with either sex, and bisexuals are pressured, often,into apparent heterosexuality. Homosexuals have a string need to self identify, perhaps caused by years of persecution. And that deals with L, with G, and with B, plus an H for heterosexual.

You, the heterosexual soul reading this, you have a comparatively easy passage through life. You've always assumed marriage, children and a dog, and that's where you're heading, whether you pair up for love, for lust, or for expediency.

As a bisexual, you can choose to hide your attraction to the same sex, or you can follow your heterosexual colleague. Pair up with the opposite sex and no-one will ever know you're Bi.

Homosexuals, that's different. You come with inbuilt problems because of other folk and their assumptions. As my lesbian readers will know, they are the heterosexual man's ultimate fantasy. Somehow he thinks he gets more girl for the money, and thinks he is such a hunk he can convert you. Apart from being offensive, what an ego! Gay guys don't seem to form the same part of the heterosexual woman's fantasy world, though the concept of 'the love of a good woman' has often been held out as a supposed cure! Well, yesterday was my thirty first wedding anniversary to a good woman, and it ain't cured me yet!

Lesbians are somehow allowed in our society, gay men are somehow not. Maybe it's that age old taboo about anal sex... No, can't be. So many heterosexual men fantasise about anal sex with their female partners.

So what's H, and LGB. What about T?

I read a long article today at The Atlantic magazine, the online edition. It's from November 2008. It's called A Boy's Life, and it's about a kid who must now be approaching ten years old, Brandon Simms and his mother Tina.

Apart form an itching in my scalp that says "Brandon Teena, hmmm. Ah yes, the movie Boys Don't Cry," which niggled at me all the way through, I was absorbed in the article.

Brandon was born with a set of male genitals. Since he could talk he has considered himself to be a girl. Brandon, now Bridget, is now (November 2008) living as a girl.

So many things struck me. The main one is that I understand those trapped in the wrong body every bit as well as the true heterosexual doesn't understand homosexuals. Even the act that my cousin Lindy was born Graham doesn't mean I understand the pain and torment of looking down and finding the wrong appendages. And I know it's far more that external genitalia, but a whole 'being' that is wrong

But that doesn't mean I understand it. That just means I have a mild empathy, kind of.

But I read, and I learned more as I read. I saw the religious 'God doesn't make mistakes' bigot not understanding that, of god doesn't make mistakes then Bridget's problems were caused, on purpose, by that god. Wow, thanks for that. That's one mysterious way too far his wonders to perform. There's another reason for atheism. Sure as anything, praying harder won't make that better.

We don't celebrate the T. We wonder if it means Transvestite (it can) or Transgendered (it can), or Transsexual (it can), and we fail even to recognise the flag in this article.

And who is 'we' anyway? It isn't, or should not be, we LGB folk patronising the Ts by supporting and celebrating them.

No, 'we' is humankind. We humans should celebrate not only the T, but the H, L, G and B.  I long for the day when LGBT is an irrelevance, and we are all just people.

Until then I'm celebrating.

I'm celebrating all of us. I'm Gay, I'm married to a Heterosexual, related to a Transgender lady, and know Bisexuals and Lesbians.

The only thing I'm not celebrating is bigotry.

Tim Trent is a regular contributor to Brody's Notes & Scribbles as a guest columnist and his opinions and expert advice on Data Privacy and Marketing practises can be found on his Blogger site, Marketing By Permission.