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Chaz Bono is on "Oprah" today talking about his journey from a woman into a man, and how his mother reacted to it. And my parents' reactions to this are kind of disappointing and disheartening.
My dad keeps saying, "She just looks like a fat dude" and "All she needed to do was lose some weight and then she would've felt more like a woman." And my mom keeps saying, "She's still confused."
Frankly, Dad's comments are just cruel, and Mom's are just stupid. All they are fixated on is Chaz's weight and how he needed to just lose some weight and look more womanly to feel like a woman. I don't think they understand that it JUST DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY. Being gay isn't a choice, and feeling like a man trapped in a woman's body (or vice versa) isn't a choice. You're just born that way. I have a hard time putting my feelings about this into words, but just hearing my parents' reactions to someone like Chaz Bono's journey were...well, like I said, disappointing. Lack of acceptance from anyone is one thing that truly bothers me. What bothers me the most about what Dad said about it is the fact that he thinks all Chaz had to do when he was still a woman was to lose weight and she'd be more into men. I wonder if Dad ever ONCE thought that about his own brother when he was still alive. If Uncle Ken had lost some weight, does he think it would've ever made him magically straight and interested in women? Just.....ARGH, rage!
This morning when I woke up, I happened to stumble onto a documentary on the Sundance Channel called For the Bible Tells Me So, about right-wing religious groups using their beliefs to stigmatize gay people. I wish I had watched the whole thing. It'll be on again in about an hour, but I'll be at work. What I saw of it was pretty good, though. I'm sure it'll get aired again later; I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
My dad keeps saying, "She just looks like a fat dude" and "All she needed to do was lose some weight and then she would've felt more like a woman." And my mom keeps saying, "She's still confused."
Frankly, Dad's comments are just cruel, and Mom's are just stupid. All they are fixated on is Chaz's weight and how he needed to just lose some weight and look more womanly to feel like a woman. I don't think they understand that it JUST DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY. Being gay isn't a choice, and feeling like a man trapped in a woman's body (or vice versa) isn't a choice. You're just born that way. I have a hard time putting my feelings about this into words, but just hearing my parents' reactions to someone like Chaz Bono's journey were...well, like I said, disappointing. Lack of acceptance from anyone is one thing that truly bothers me. What bothers me the most about what Dad said about it is the fact that he thinks all Chaz had to do when he was still a woman was to lose weight and she'd be more into men. I wonder if Dad ever ONCE thought that about his own brother when he was still alive. If Uncle Ken had lost some weight, does he think it would've ever made him magically straight and interested in women? Just.....ARGH, rage!
This morning when I woke up, I happened to stumble onto a documentary on the Sundance Channel called For the Bible Tells Me So, about right-wing religious groups using their beliefs to stigmatize gay people. I wish I had watched the whole thing. It'll be on again in about an hour, but I'll be at work. What I saw of it was pretty good, though. I'm sure it'll get aired again later; I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
