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Editorial(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.) Back in 1987, when the world was young and I had transitioned but was still pre-op., I was invited to take part in a discussion of transsexualism at one of Peter Couchman's interview/audience sessions ... rather like Jerry Springer without the overt sleaze and brawling. One of the invited commentators was a medical ethicist (in his case as a special pleader for the views of the Catholic Church) and he came out with a number of foolish assertions, perhaps the dimmest of these being "Social problems require social solutions". He raised the hackles of almost everyone present (he is good at that) and one of the younger transgendered people said afterwards that she had been strongly impelled to throw her handbag at the back of his head. Being ahead of my time in the matter of on-screen violence, I expressed disappointment that she had failed to bean him with her clutch bag. When I engaged him in argument after the show he denied having made the statement quoted, but unfortunately for his veracity I have the passage on videotape. On 30th June 2002 I saw the same ethicist on television, objecting to a young couple who have a family history of genetic deafness and want to have their embryonic child tested so that they could know whether their baby would be born deaf. The ethicist's aphorism this time was just as resoundingly stupid. "Deafness is not a disability," he pontificated. "It is merely a difference." One can only assume that his basis for judging the life outcomes of children yet unborn is his belief that there is a benevolent God who makes all decisions for reasons too mysterious for us to comprehend, and that we should, therefore, accept without complaint any diseases, disabilities or debilitating differences which are bestowed on us by the Almighty. I do not believe in God and think religion is a waste of time and space. I find I can live a good and reasonable life without referring to the writings of ancient nomads terrified by thunder and lightning. I concede that I may be wrong, because there is just as little proof for the non-existence of God as there is for His existence. [Do you wonder why I capitalise Nobodaddy in the sky if I don't believe in Him? It's not respect -- it's convention. I am in no great awe of Tuesday or November either.] But even if there is a God, I am sure He is either not benevolent, or else He is not omnipotent. Several thousand years of recorded warfare, bigotry, famine, suffering and pestilence support my view. And if deafness is not a disability ... why are we wasting time developing cochlear implants and potential surgical methods of relief including the use of stem cells and cloning? Maybe it's just for the money. Yeah, right! And what relevance does all this have for transgenders? Think about it. Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health. |
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