Not again

At some point this space will be used to talk about something other than transgenders once every few weeks. But this is really annoying me and it’s the only thing I have found worth addressing in my spare time. I’m not sure what it is that bothers me the most about these stories; the societal acceptance, the media’s presentation, or the lame-brained laws that are being put in place.

Let’s look at the most recent case. The headline in this Telegraph article reads, “Six-year-old becomes first transgender child in Argentina to change identity.” The headline of the story seems to imply that this six-year-old (Lulu) had the awareness to know what being transgendered is and had the wherewithal to do something about it by utilizing a new government law. The article states:

A six-year-old girl, who was born a boy, has become the first transgender child in Argentina to have her new name officially changed on her identity documents.

 

The article states that Argentina’s new Gender Identity Law enshrines the right to be identified by name and sex as defined by the individual. So that’s it?  That’s what it takes to become a different gender in Argentina? Obviously a six-year-old would have to have the help and approval of their parents to get this done. Which was certainly the case here:

The decision was made after Lulu’s mother, Gabriela, wrote to [the governor of Buenos Aires, Daniel Scioli] as well as Argentinian president Cristina Kirchner. She said her daughter identified herself as a girl as soon as she started talking.

Wouldn’t it be possible that this has all come about because of poor guidance from the mother and/or father? Maybe if they had been clearer about their child’s actual gender, the young boy would not have identified himself as a girl. Or maybe the parents just wanted a girl and decided this was the easiest way to have one. It sounds like some cruel experiment that nobody seems to be questioning the validity of.

While this whole transgender thing has not been fully clear to me, I was beginning to feel like I got it a little more… until this sentence showed up in the article:

Cesar Cigliutti, head of Homosexual Community Argentina (CHA), which supported the family, said Lulu’s case was “historic”.

So, is Lulu transgendered or homosexual?  They are two different things, right?  Not that I think a six-year-old’s sexual identity should even remotely be on anyone’s radar. The story really seems to highlight poor parenting and poor lawmaking.

It also raises another question, though. While I don’t agree with the events that transpired in Lulu’s case mostly because it deals with a six-year-old, what if a person like myself (a heterosexual male in his 30’s who looks and talks exactly like Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit) decided that they wanted to take the same steps? You basically just go to some government office and say you identify yourself as a certain gender and that’s it.You are now that gender. The M on my driver’s license would suddenly become an F and I would officially be a woman. I could freely shop in Victoria’s Secret, go into the dressing room and even the womens' restroom. Sure, I look and sound just like The Bandit, but if anyone had an issue with it, I would pull out my driver’s license and point to the F and reassure them, “Look, it’s not what you think. I am actually a transgendered woman. With a penis.  And I’m also a lesbian.”