DIANE SPEAKS HIS PIECE
October 19, 2004
by Joe Sobran
I have no idea who "Diane" is, but his e-mail
message sounds angry with me. In fact, Diane says he is
"deeply offended" by the "pure bigotry" of my column of
September 21, "Equality Run Amok," which he finds
"demeaning."
You may think "Diane" is an odd name for a guy, but
that's Diane's point. He claims to be a woman, "simply a
woman," and identifies himself, in case you haven't
already guessed, as a "transsexual."
Sorry, Diane, but you aren't a woman; you're a
mutilated man. And you aren't a "transsexual," because
there's no such thing. Let me know when you get pregnant,
and I'll reconsider my position.
Diane informs me that he is "legally a woman" --
which I don't doubt, the law being what it is these days
-- and is so identified on his baptismal certificate. He
also says he's been married to his "husband" for 20 years
and is a "practicing Catholic." Sure. He must belong to
John Kerry's parish.
By way of enlightening the sons of darkness, Diane
explains (sigh!) that I'm confusing transsexuals with
transvestites, homosexuals, drag queens, and such.
Transsexualism, he assures me, is "not a choice."
News to me! I'd have thought that if anything was
elective surgery, it was ... well, that. But according to
Diane, one is born transsexual -- a woman's brain trapped
in a man's body, and so forth -- and only later decides
whether to have the doc bring them into alignment.
"Supportive studies and research," he goes on, "is [sic]
giving strong support to this [view]." That's always the
way with supportive research, isn't it?
Wait, there's more. Diane, writing in late October,
warns me that I may tip the election to Kerry. It seems
that many in the transsexual community are leaning to
President Bush, but are put off by Bush partisans like me
-- "transphobic bigots," he calls them -- who preach
"hate" and make "unwarranted attacks" against them. And
if the 2004 election is as close as the 2000 election,
the transsexual vote could make the difference.
Well, here it's my turn to be deeply offended -- by
Diane's presumption that I'm a Bush partisan. I've
repeatedly said I consider George W. Bush one of our
worst presidents ever. Why do so many transsexuals harbor
the stereotype that we transphobic bigots are
Republicans?
I don't pretend to speak for the entire transphobic
community, but my own strong belief is that transphobia
is not a matter of choice. I was born this way, and there
is nothing "wrong" with it. We are all children of God,
and labels don't mean anything anyway. I very deeply
respect Diane's belief that he is a woman, which is his
constitutional right as an American, but when he tries to
legislate that belief on others by having the government
legally certify him as a woman, I draw the line. That
judgment must be left to each of us.
I know many people who consider themselves women,
and I rarely argue the point with them. Most of them are
confident and comfortable in their womanhood and require
no corrective surgery. Many of them marry and have
babies. If Diane had ever had a baby, I'm sure he'd have
mentioned it. That would have provided him the perfect
illustration of my ignorance of transsexualism.
There are always weird people here and there, but we
live in the age of the aggressively abnormal -- people
who are ever ready to pounce on you for believing what
everyone has always taken for granted, like the existence
of two distinct sexes. The simplest common sense, or even
a quip, is now called "hate."
It would seem to follow from Diane's account that
transsexualism must also occur among animals -- a sow's
brain trapped in a boar's body, a hen's brain trapped in
a rooster's body. But if so, veterinary science seems
unaware of it and is doing virtually nothing about it.
Maybe the supportive research is still in the early
stages.
One of my favorite lines from the classics has
always been "Nothing human is alien to me." After
pondering Diane's message, I'm not sure I can say that
without qualification.
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