Transgendered Day Of Tribute
One imagines that outside the gay and transgendered community and perhaps police forces, no one - that is, within the general public - has much of an idea of the reason behind the annual November 20 day of tribute in memory of those within the transgendered community who have lost their lives as a result of violent prejudice.
The really interesting thing in this item is that the Ottawa police represent as the first within Canada to officially recognize Transgender Day of Remembrance.
One could go so far as to venture the opinion that most people in society have little idea that a transgender demographic even exists. And if they do they have scant interest in the phenomena. Additionally, most people in Ottawa, while believing the very term, let alone the reality of transgender is anomalous, harbour no ill will against those individuals who celebrate life as other than their born gender.
That this small community of individuals whom life has burdened with gender confusion feel themselves marginalized can hardly be surprising. Most individuals or groups who present as dramatically different than the mainstream find themselves in a like position. It's not fair but it's reality.
As a reflection of narrow, judgemental minds who resist the very thought of humanity's gender differentiations apart from the 'norm'. Just as society's majorities feel entitled to view themselves as expressing the views of everyone. And just as people, by their very nature, view with suspicion those who are in any way 'different'.
On the other hand, it's also no one's business how people present themselves, their gender preferences, and how they're predisposed to live their lives. And since it represents a very intimate selection, it should be kept private. At the tribute held at the main Ottawa police station, which included speeches, a moment of silence and a banner hanging from the second-floor balcony, it was a time for introspection.
"We want the public to know, no matter what community you belong to, you will be treated equally. We do care and we care about you", testified Superintendent Paul Moreau of the Ottawa Paramedic Service, pointing out that there are also paramedics who are of the trans community, and how irrelevant that is to their dedication to their tasks, their professionalism and their pledge to treat all equally.
In view of all of this, it comes as quite a sour note that a number of transgender activists intent on hanging a banner from a Queensway overpass didn't really help their cause. It could be construed as a deliberately non-constructive move, a provocation quite unnecessary under the circumstances. The message is oblique enough to the general public, what would they take out of a banner that reads "Remember Stonewall?"
Most people have no idea there were riots in New York City in 1969, and which initiated the gay rights movement. That is history specific to the gay and transgendered; it has little-to-no meaning to the general public. Which is not to say that they would not be horrified at the bullying, assaults, humiliations visited by social troglodytes on the gender-differentiated community.
Matters have since changed, enormously. No one wants to return to the dreadful days when gays were targeted by thugs and assaults and murders were committed. The plague on a small minority within society that that represented was an assault upon all society. Enough people of good will were convinced that the harassment and violence had to stop, and enough reacted against it to make a difference.
The additional insistence that the banner be hung where it was unlawful to do so merited the activists' arrest. Which incident did nothing to further the cause; instead it blemished the occasion. Civil disobedience to laws enacted for the safety and security of the entire society are not to be cavalierly dispatched with at the behest of those who feel they are exceptional.
Refusal to divulge their names when they were taken into custody was just another incidence of petulance with authorities who have gone out of their way to express sensitivity to an unjust piece of history. Those same authorities who have committed to upholding the rights and freedoms of all of society.
In other words, the transgendered activists were just kicking themselves in the ass to no good purpose.
The really interesting thing in this item is that the Ottawa police represent as the first within Canada to officially recognize Transgender Day of Remembrance.
One could go so far as to venture the opinion that most people in society have little idea that a transgender demographic even exists. And if they do they have scant interest in the phenomena. Additionally, most people in Ottawa, while believing the very term, let alone the reality of transgender is anomalous, harbour no ill will against those individuals who celebrate life as other than their born gender.
That this small community of individuals whom life has burdened with gender confusion feel themselves marginalized can hardly be surprising. Most individuals or groups who present as dramatically different than the mainstream find themselves in a like position. It's not fair but it's reality.
As a reflection of narrow, judgemental minds who resist the very thought of humanity's gender differentiations apart from the 'norm'. Just as society's majorities feel entitled to view themselves as expressing the views of everyone. And just as people, by their very nature, view with suspicion those who are in any way 'different'.
On the other hand, it's also no one's business how people present themselves, their gender preferences, and how they're predisposed to live their lives. And since it represents a very intimate selection, it should be kept private. At the tribute held at the main Ottawa police station, which included speeches, a moment of silence and a banner hanging from the second-floor balcony, it was a time for introspection.
"We want the public to know, no matter what community you belong to, you will be treated equally. We do care and we care about you", testified Superintendent Paul Moreau of the Ottawa Paramedic Service, pointing out that there are also paramedics who are of the trans community, and how irrelevant that is to their dedication to their tasks, their professionalism and their pledge to treat all equally.
In view of all of this, it comes as quite a sour note that a number of transgender activists intent on hanging a banner from a Queensway overpass didn't really help their cause. It could be construed as a deliberately non-constructive move, a provocation quite unnecessary under the circumstances. The message is oblique enough to the general public, what would they take out of a banner that reads "Remember Stonewall?"
Most people have no idea there were riots in New York City in 1969, and which initiated the gay rights movement. That is history specific to the gay and transgendered; it has little-to-no meaning to the general public. Which is not to say that they would not be horrified at the bullying, assaults, humiliations visited by social troglodytes on the gender-differentiated community.
Matters have since changed, enormously. No one wants to return to the dreadful days when gays were targeted by thugs and assaults and murders were committed. The plague on a small minority within society that that represented was an assault upon all society. Enough people of good will were convinced that the harassment and violence had to stop, and enough reacted against it to make a difference.
The additional insistence that the banner be hung where it was unlawful to do so merited the activists' arrest. Which incident did nothing to further the cause; instead it blemished the occasion. Civil disobedience to laws enacted for the safety and security of the entire society are not to be cavalierly dispatched with at the behest of those who feel they are exceptional.
Refusal to divulge their names when they were taken into custody was just another incidence of petulance with authorities who have gone out of their way to express sensitivity to an unjust piece of history. Those same authorities who have committed to upholding the rights and freedoms of all of society.
In other words, the transgendered activists were just kicking themselves in the ass to no good purpose.
Labels: Health, Human Relations, Ottawa, Particularities
posted by Pieface @ 5:54 PM
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