In a piece protesting the fact that the U.S. Tax Court ruled that a transgender woman may deduct the cost of her sexual reassignment surgery from her taxes, the SPLC-certified hate group Traditional Values Coalition made this unhinged remark:
A person can no more change his sex than he can change his species. A person can’t become a potato or a giraffe. Yet, the gay, lesbian, transgender movement claims that a person can become the opposite sex. This is madness.
First of all, it’s actually the medical community that, in some cases, recommends sexual reassignment surgery for transgender individuals. Many if not most transgender people actually do not have that surgery, but in some cases, on an individual basis, it’s deemed the most appropriate course of action. Last time I checked, the medical community is not a wholly-owned subsidiary of “the gay, lesbian, transgender movement.”
But look, here’s the thing: People can and do turn into potatoes and giraffes. All. The. Time. In fact, the National Association for the Research and Treatment of Humanity (NARTH) clearly states that thousands, if not millions of people every day leave the human lifestyle and live complete, full lives as potatoes, and also as giraffes. Anyone who would tell you differently is simply bigoted against people who sincerely want to change.
Anyway, so my point in posting this is that our friends at Box Turtle Bulletin got their name when the text of a speech by Sen. John Cornyn famously and stupidly compared marriage equality to one’s neighbor marrying a poor, lowly box turtle. He didn’t actually say those words when he delivered the speech, but the meme was out there, and their blog was born.
So, my question is: Who’s going to step up and create the Potato Giraffe Chronicle for transgender people?
(h/t Right Wing Watch)
