Congrats To The L, G, And B, But What About The T?

Gay marriage is now legal in many places, and an understanding is slowly slipping into the minds of children and adults alike. So why the hell are transgendered individuals still being made to feel like outcasts from society? Well, because people suck.

One example of what can only be called horrible prejudice comes out of a small town farmers’ market. The owner of the market got word that one of the vendors had a transgendered individual on her staff. Ted Kikkert, the douche bag owner of the Trail Ends Market is clearly quite the charmer.

“Why would I be discriminating? I’m not discriminating at all. I’m just asking which washroom would they use? How can you go into a men’s washroom dressed as a lady, how can you go into ladies washroom when you’re a man. That’s the difficulty I have. It’s not discriminating at all. The issue is at hand,” he stated in answer to the suggestion that his actions were quite discriminatory.

The vendor in question, Karen Clarke, received a call from the market when she left her stand with the transgendered individual in question, Dani. She was told that if she was going to have “those people” there anymore, she could take her business elsewhere. Neat.

Would Kikkert feel the same way if the person in question was a member of the gay community, but not the transgendered? People are born each day with a sex that they feel does not match their mindset. Luckily, we have the tools and medical science available to make their dreams come true, allowing their mind to match the matter they have always wished for. It is really a beautiful thing. Not anything to be shunned.

It happens all the time. You are out at the mall with friends and someone spots an individual with a gender that is not quite recognizable. The group laughs and moves on, but what would it have been like if the scene included two gay men? You would probably smile and say, “Good for them.” Why not good for the transgendered woman, who finally gets to let herself shine?

It happened when Isis King was on America’s Next Top Model and it’s happening now to Chaz Bono on Dancing with the Stars. And it is happening on a daily basis to hundreds of thousands of trans men and women across the country.

Some things will take much longer than others to accept, but making the lives of individuals painful in the process is simply horrible. Everyone has a right to happiness. Slowly, but surely, we can make it happen.

Contact the author here: crazycolleen@morningquickie.com