Dr. V's magical putter

I reject this line of argument completely.

Just because the gay and lesbian community have welcomed transgenders to the cause does not mean that I have to, as well. The traits, homosexuality and gender identity issues, can be evaluated independently of one another, even if they share some similarities and are in political solidarity with one another.

Here's an example near and dear to your heart, I'm sure: Frequently, pro-life activists file lawsuits based upon First Amendment grounds when their ability to protest is impeded. And usually in these high-profile cases, the AFL/CIO files an amicus brief on behalf of the pro-life activists. Their interests happen to overlap in this instance.

YF, I think that you support the pro-life cause. Are you a hypocrite if you don't support labor unions, as well? After all, they are in political solidarity.

 

I really don't want to turn this political, just using the following as an example:

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's state of the state address last night featured someone who was unemployed for years before finally being able to secure a job. He was used by Walker as evidence that the Wisconsin economy is improving.

However, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel took a look at the guy and found out the reason he had trouble getting jobs is because he's a registered sex offender who's been in and out of prison for the better part of a decade.

Now, heaven forbid, if that guy kills himself, is it the newspaper's fault?

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/241644071.html

 

Maybe he doesn't give a shit and is busy with his next project while you continue to obsess over this one.

 

I blame the media's general lack of sensitivity and awareness as to the plights of perverts and pedophiles.

 

If he's a frequenter of this site and has subsequently killed himself, will you accept responsibility?

 

Message-boarding safer than public-writing-doing, he says.

 

I think you're reading into the story what you want to read into it. I don't suspect Hannan found it "freakish." He just found it at odds with who he thought she was, added on top of all the stuff she was misrepresenting. You've made several snide comments about him giggling when he found out she was transgendered. I don't imagine that's the case at all. You're painting him as some horrible person who was giddy about finding this out, when I'd be willing to bet he was horrified by what he discovered because he knew he had opened up a can of worms. The story is about Dr. V not being who she said she was, not about her being transgendered. And I'd also guess that had she not used the Vanderbilt name, this would have been a less interesting story.

Also, this from the article linked above, is total bullshit.

There is some merit to the fact that an auto mechanic designing a revolutionary club would be a good story, but it DIDN'T HAPPEN. No one could say for sure that this club was any better than any other. There was zero science behind it, as was claimed, so there was no breakthrough. Just someone selling something on false pretenses and golfers using it as a sort of placebo that gave them more confidence in their putting strokes. So once there was no proof of it being what it claimed, he set it aside to collect dust.

 

Hey, that's fine. Maybe he doesn't give a shit.

I mean, he seemed real interested in accepting praise for the article, and interacting with those who were praising it, and his decision to go silent seems conveniently tied to the same time he began to come under greater, wide spread criticism, but maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe he said all he wanted to say about it.

Though, if it were me, and someone else felt they had to apologize for my work, I'd be sure to either add my own apology, or stand up and say I disagreed with the idea that my work needed to be apologized for.

I also wonder why anyone would ever agree to talk to Caleb, or answer his questions, when he is unwilling to answer anyone's questions at this moment.

And, as we all know, this wasn't a story of a putter, or the "mysterious" woman who invented it. It was the story of the reporter who discovered her secret. It was the story of the one reporter who dug deep enough to discover her credentials weren't real, and that, in fact, SHE'S A MAN!

Well, if this is the story of the reporter, then that story is begging for a sequel. Why can't we get a follow up? Why doesn't Simmons give him a new assignment?

And, am I really obsessing over this? Am I any more obsessed than some prestigious news organizations are/were obsessed in regards to the name of the Washington D.C. franchise in the NFL, or the membership of Augusta National?

The issue of acceptance of transgendered people is literally a matter of life and death. I'm comfortable with where my mind is focused.

 

Fine. So, you support gay and lesbian causes, but not transgendered causes.

But, when folks were beating their chests over their support of gay marriage, and proclaiming themselves to be more compassionate than others, because of their stance on LGBT issues, they vilified those who disagreed with them.

So, if it's acceptable for you to hold your views regarding trans issues, does that mean there are two acceptable stances on an issue like gay marriage, or is their only one?

And, I don't have much sympathy for the sports writers who feel like they are being treated unfairly in this debate, and who feel like their opinions aren't getting a fair hearing.

And, let's be clear about something else too. I don't think the Transgendered community is really looking for a lot. You don't think they should be able to use the bathroom of their choice, or play on the team of their choosing, fine. You don't want public money spent on reassignment surgery, fine.

Can we agree on some simple basics?

Can we agree that you shouldn't out a transgendered person without an extraordinary reason? Even if you don't want to equate it with being gay, just think of it as someone's personal medical history. How did the 13 editors at Grantland miss this? We would never have over looked it if Caleb had told the investor that Dr. V was HIV Positive, or had had an abortion, simply for shock value. (And, it was for shock value. He told the investor, because he wanted to see his reaction. He specifically wanted to see his reaction because the investor seemed to think Dr. V was pretty, and Caleb expected him to be embarrassed when he learned SHE'S A MAN.

Can we agree that transgendered people are worthy of their parent's love? When we learned that Alan Keyes rejected his daughter because she was a lesbian, didn't we all decide he was a cold hearted bastard? Would we have understood Keyes' reaction if he had rejected a transgendered child as opposed to a lesbian child?

And, can we agree that transgendered people deserve to be able to walk the streets, without fear for their personal safety? You say 99.9% would agree with this. Well, what's that percentage among African-American men in Harlem, where Islan Nettles was murdered? Is in 99.9% What's the percentage in Dearborn Michigan?

And, if you want to meet these three goals -- no outing, parental love, and personal safety -- it starts with acceptance. It starts with not treating them as freaks.

 

I don't care if I'm more or less compassionate than others. I just believe gay people should be able to get married.

 

Transgendered people should be allowed to get married too. I don't understand how this relates to the discussion at all.

Lumping all of these issues together like they're the same is ridiculous.

 

It's also interesting that the gay and lesbian community has made great strides in acceptance, while the trans community has not.

Yet, at the very tip of the spear in the fight for LGBT rights were members of the trans* community. Women like Sylvia Rivera.

The Stonewall wasn't just a gay bar, it was a transvestite bar. And, while some members of the gay community resent the attention given to the role transvestites in the Stonewall riots, it was the drag queens, transvestites, and transgendered who were the first to step up and fight for their rights, who decided they would not sit back and take it any more.

That was 45 years ago. Apparently, we haven't gotten very far in 45 years in terms of accepting transgendered people.