As Andrew Sullivan so rightly noted, one of the principal sicknesses of Catholicism and much of Christianity is its obsession with repressing individuals sexuality. This obsession extends to forcing rigid gender roles on males and females and anyone who does not conform with the preconceptions of the bitter old men in dresses at the Vatican or the pompous, self satisfied bible thumpers in pulpits across America (and now Africa thanks to the efforts of American Christofascists) is targeted as deserving a life of living hell. Gays, of course, are met with open animus. For those who are transgender, the fate is often even worse, easily explaining why transgender individuals experience an attempted suicide rat nearly ten times higher than the general public.
The reality is that none of us has any role in choosing what nation we will be born in, what faith tradition our parents will follow, whether we are gay of straight, the color of our skin, or if we are transgender. Yet too many, especially the "godly Christian" crowds in modern day Pharisee like behavior act as if they did make these decisions. Worse yet, they seek to play God and dictate to others of who they must be and how they must live their lives. It is part of what in my view makes the "godly Christian" crowd a social cancer on society.
I noted recently that I had established a scholarship for LGBT students in honor of my late parents in recognition of their unconditional acceptance of me when I came out in mid-life. As The Raw Story reports, the parents of Ryland Wittington, a six year old transgender boy, have taken parental acceptance of their child to new heights, I encourage readers to watch the video above. Here are details from The Raw Story:
A family’s video detailing their 6-year-old trans son’s declaration of his male gender has gone viral and sparked fierce debate about the nature of gender and identity in our society and the changing beliefs around those topics.The sooner religious based animus and discrimination is purged from the world, the better life will be for everyone. Kudos to Ryland's parents.
Wisconsin’s WAOW Channel 9 reported that the video story of Ryland Wittington, whose family lives in San Diego, CA, received millions of views in its first days on YouTube.
Jeff and Hillary Wittington’s baby Ryland announced as soon as he could speak that he was not a girl, but a boy. He insisted on being referred to as his sister’s brother and, after conferring with psychiatric professionals, the Wittingtons allowed Ryland to express his gender as male at the age of 5.
“I’m a transgender kid,” said Ryland in the video. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my whole life. Thank you to my parents.”
Some reactions to the video, however, have been hostile. “I would NEVER do this to my CHILD,” wrote one People magazine reader after the publication ran a story about Ryland.
Experts like Tando, however, say that allowing trans kids to express their gender is the best thing for them. “There’s huge benefits to doing this earlier in life,” Tando said. “It’s like they’ve been given this gift where everyone around them recognizes them for who they really are.”
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