| The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 11/20/23 – Originally sent November 20, 2020. “We are not what other people say we are. We are who we know ourselves to be. That’s OK.” (Transgender Slogan) We honor transgender individuals on November 20, and remember the murder of Rita Hester in 1998. Societal change has allowed me to meet and to have friends from the LGBTQ community. I’ve learned from them and had my life enriched by them. We’re all different in our own way, and each of us knows ourselves as we are, not as others say we are. That’s OK! Today is TDOR! 😉 Jack |
If you didn’t know what the TDOR is in Jack’s post – The Transgender Day of Remembrance, also known as the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, has been observed annually on November 20 as a day to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia.
As with all phobias, transphobia is about fear. Those who don’t understand (or even try to understand) someone who is different from them most often react in fear. We see this every day and it is reported every night on the TV news is some form. Currently the anti-Semitic and anti—Islamic phobias are front and center in the news; however, the fear and hate of the entire LBGTQ community is never far from the top of the list and drives too many headlines of violence in the news.
Jack had the right attitude, one of learning from people who are different in some way from yourself. People from different ethnic backgrounds or who live their lives on a different path from what we consider to be “normal” bring different perspectives and experiences to things. Not every difference is one that we can embrace or emulate; however, every difference is something from which we can learn and those learning experiences will enrichen your life, too.
Perhaps the key is to first understand that those differences are not like some infectious disease. You can’t “catch” transgender or being gay or lesbian. It will not “rub off” on you, nor are members of the LBGTQ community out to steal and convert all of our children. They simply want to be accepted for who they are and be treated with the same respect as you might treat others. If you can get your head to that level of acceptance neutrality, the next step into learning from your interactions will be easier.
November 20 is one day of remembrance of the result of ignorance, fear and hate towards those who identify differently than their biological gender at birth. Use it also to resolve not to let fear, ignorance and hate rule your life when it comes to accepting and interacting with transgender people. Lighten up and learn.
NormsMilfordBlog 
Norm, spot on!