Stavros
02-24-2024, 10:36 AM
Everyone in me is a bird
The murders of two teenagers, one male to female in the UK, the other a non-binary in Oklahoma, have produced a combination of hate speech, and a reaction against that hate.
The gruesome murder of Brianne Ghey can be read about in the link below, I don't wish to repeat it in any detail. What has struck me is how the reaction to the murder marked a considerable departure from the ridicule and abuse that Trans people have had to endure. It is as if, suddenly, people became aware of the profound anxieties that can shape a teenager's life, and how dangerous it can be to be true to one's self, and the damage that hate and violence cause, and the waste of life.
Life sentences for teenagers who murdered Brianna Ghey - BBC News (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68184224)
After the murder of the non-binary Nex Benedict in Oklahoma, a woman attending a forum held by a Chamber of Commerce, asked the question
""Why does the Legislature have such an obsession with the LGBTQ citizens of Oklahoma and what people do in their personal lives and how they raise their children?"
According to the Daily Press (https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/senator-calls-lgbtq-people-filth-says-most-dont-want-them-here/article_c8979398-d260-11ee-9823-973bf20c3730.html), Woods responded that while "my heart goes out" in regard to Nex's death, he represents a constituency.
"We are a Republican state – supermajority – in the House and Senate. I represent a constituency that doesn't want that filth in Oklahoma," Woods said, according to the newspaper account."".
Report: Oklahoma senator calls LGBTQ+ ‘filth’ when asked about gender issues (oklahoman.com) (https://eu.oklahoman.com/story/news/local/2024/02/23/oklahoma-senator-calls-lgbtq-filth-when-asked-about-gender-issues/72719273007/)
I don't know if these desperately sad events will change people's minds. I hope they do, just as i hope they at least become more aware of the challenges that Trans teenagers face, in whatever country they live, and that these are personal, familial, social, and ultimately political too. For legislators have responsibilities, and in an open democracy, one would hope, believe that everyone is to be included in the policies that are assumed to make life better. And thus not to single people out because of who they are.
Murder, in the end, may itself help to murder the hate that caused it.
The murders of two teenagers, one male to female in the UK, the other a non-binary in Oklahoma, have produced a combination of hate speech, and a reaction against that hate.
The gruesome murder of Brianne Ghey can be read about in the link below, I don't wish to repeat it in any detail. What has struck me is how the reaction to the murder marked a considerable departure from the ridicule and abuse that Trans people have had to endure. It is as if, suddenly, people became aware of the profound anxieties that can shape a teenager's life, and how dangerous it can be to be true to one's self, and the damage that hate and violence cause, and the waste of life.
Life sentences for teenagers who murdered Brianna Ghey - BBC News (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68184224)
After the murder of the non-binary Nex Benedict in Oklahoma, a woman attending a forum held by a Chamber of Commerce, asked the question
""Why does the Legislature have such an obsession with the LGBTQ citizens of Oklahoma and what people do in their personal lives and how they raise their children?"
According to the Daily Press (https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/senator-calls-lgbtq-people-filth-says-most-dont-want-them-here/article_c8979398-d260-11ee-9823-973bf20c3730.html), Woods responded that while "my heart goes out" in regard to Nex's death, he represents a constituency.
"We are a Republican state – supermajority – in the House and Senate. I represent a constituency that doesn't want that filth in Oklahoma," Woods said, according to the newspaper account."".
Report: Oklahoma senator calls LGBTQ+ ‘filth’ when asked about gender issues (oklahoman.com) (https://eu.oklahoman.com/story/news/local/2024/02/23/oklahoma-senator-calls-lgbtq-filth-when-asked-about-gender-issues/72719273007/)
I don't know if these desperately sad events will change people's minds. I hope they do, just as i hope they at least become more aware of the challenges that Trans teenagers face, in whatever country they live, and that these are personal, familial, social, and ultimately political too. For legislators have responsibilities, and in an open democracy, one would hope, believe that everyone is to be included in the policies that are assumed to make life better. And thus not to single people out because of who they are.
Murder, in the end, may itself help to murder the hate that caused it.