A Pioneer.

There are so many trans people who led the way and one of them was Jan Morris and her son, Mark Morris speaks up in the Edmonton Journal about labels.

By no stretch of the imagination could my father be described as suffering from a “mental disorder,” let alone be compared to people suffering from schizophrenia or dissociative gender disorder, as the Edmonton Catholic School trustee Larry Kowalczyk has characterized transgender people. One could hardly imagine the World Bank asking her to write a book, or our Sovereign and her advisers including her in the Honours list, if she had been.

Kowalczyk, and those who think like him, have every right to hold what they believe are religious views that don’t condone transgender. What they do not have the right to do is to peddle quasi-medical comments that first have nothing to do with the religious teaching of his faith, second are completely discredited by the medial profession, third run contrary to the laws of this province, and fourth disregard the tolerant and prevailing moral acceptance of the society in which they live.
[…]
What is so dangerous is that such comments will simply inflame the prejudices of those who may know little about transgender people, and don’t personally know any. Even worse, imagine being, say, a young teenager well aware that they are a transgender person, and reading online or in the Journal — or, worse, being told by another school pupil — that they suffer from a mental disorder. The potential for psychological damage is obvious.

The thing is that words do hurt. Many trans people say that it doesn’t bother them, that they shrug it off. However, for many more trans people especially who are just coming out words do hurt and it can lead to suicidal idealizations and self-harm. Even for me words hurts sometimes when I am stressed, it is that straw that broke the camel’s back.

When politicians and new media use derogatory words as Mark Morris said, they inflame the prejudices and can lead to violence against the community. It gives people a green light to belittle and harass use. People need to speak up when they hear mean, that is what our allies can do in our defense.