theQuestion: Is society being pushed too far to accommodate transgendered people??*
I believe fundamental rights are inherently concrete and inevitable — the right to live your life without fear of physical harm or death by another, and the right to think, speak and act freely. As long as the application of these basic rights causes no harm to others or infringe on another person’s rights, then live how you choose.
While the right to choose freely is enshrined, your choices are not necessarily so. More over, one person’s choice should not be thrust upon others, who are then coerced to accept it. This is exactly what I believe is happening in the debate over transgender rights — society is being pushed too far.
My objections to expanding transgender rights are not based on religious or moral dogma. Nor are they derived from a homophobic prejudice — which is simply inconceivable considering my life experience. No, my objection boils down to the belief that expanding the definition of what we consider a right, based on the results of a personal choice, undermines the fundamental immutable rights we so cherish.
It’s important to point out there are distinct differences between the gay rights movement and the trans rights movement. For over 30 years, the gay rights movement argued vehemently that sexual preference is not a choice, you are born with it. While the transgender movement is all about choice and a lot of it.
Laila presents a simplistic example of what trans means – and yet there is nothing simple about it. First, transgender is not necessarily about sexual preference, it’s about how you “self-identify” your gender. You may very well be a man, who desires to look and live like a woman, but still have a sexual preference for women. Or as Canadian author Douglas Coupland describes it, a lesbian “trapped” in a man’s body.
The examples of transgender choices get only more complex from there. Facebook last year began offering users a plethora of choices to customize gender. You could self-identify as male to female or female to male. Or perhaps you are gender fluid, gender non-conforming or even gender questioning. As an option you could be gender variant, genderqueer, intersex, non-binary, transfeminine, transmasculine or even two-spirit. This list goes on.
While I respect a person’s right to define who they are, those choices should not be forced on everyone else.