transphobia

*This blog is written by a person with asperger's who doesn't see the world as you do, and thus doesn't see why certain people are scared of or hateful towards transpeople. Person with asperger's= ME. That is all.*
Why do we as a society still encounter people who are so offended by those who are so different that we can't accept them as people and rather as such choose to dehumanize them?
Well, let me ask you this:
Do people still hate people of different ethnicities?
Do people still hate based on differences in religion?
The answer is yes to both.
Why? Because those differences bring up an inherent fear that is so deeply ingrained that we feel it is our duty to make the fear go away. A lot of people think that if you get rid of the other person, you get rid of the fear, but the fear will still be there.
I too, needed to address my fears, and the best way to get rid of fear is to shine a light on it, to get to know it.
You see, with knowledge, that which seems so scary at first doesn't really end up being what you thought you would encounter.
Fear is nothing but false expectations appearing real.
So, I think if some people with phobias, such as transphobia (phobia being the Greek word for fear, by the way) had more knowledge and the willingness to see trans people as human (Which, despite what your pastor says, they ARE), they could at least be willing to realize that as fellow humans, they deserve the right not to have their basic human rights violated.
Thats right, every human on this planet has human rights, and when you violate them, you are doing something wrong.
When you hurt injure, or kill someone, it's wrong.
Dehumanizing someone doesn't change the fact that they are human, it just makes you less sensitive to it.
In fact, if people weren't ignorant, would they advocate violence against those who they see as different? NO.
People who like to use the terms "abomination" and "God hates" are missing the real point.
I'm trying to make a point here.
Lets for a moment, follow the teachings in the book and assume that God is love (I never thought otherwise), and assuming that he also created everyone on this planet (Which I also believe. You can believe what you want. :D ), would such a loving being hate people he created?
We tend to see those who are different as less than human because if we saw them as they really are, we wouldn't be able to resolve it in our conscience to do any harm to them,
Why is that? Because we would hopefully logically think "If this person is human, ergo I cannot harm them because my ethical programming says that is not the thing that would be good to do because I am harming another HUMAN BEING".
But, who among us is that perfect that we can accept our friends and enemies with love in our hearts?
Not a one of us, not even me.
I constantly find myself at odds with some individual who has said or done something to me (Actually done something) and I have a bad attitude toward them.
So, how do we change our attitudes?
We resolve that yesterday we said and did things that cannot be changed, but today is a new day, and we can improve on that.
As far as change is concerned, its ironic, because when we change things about our lives we are trying to improve our circumstances and our overall well being.
Transsexuals are doing just that, trying to be who they are inside, and when someone tries to force them to fit their expectations, they are hindering a person's personal growth and development.
When we suppress ourselves, no matter how it is, and no matter who we are, it is a toxic thing.
When a baby is born, we go by the indicators (Or the doctors do), such as what parts are included in the person's body. If the person is born with girl parts, the doctor says it's a girl, and if the person has boy parts, it is assumed that the new parents have a boy.
Generally, in a lot of cases, the brain and body match up, so the doctor made a good call.
But, with the way the development happens in utero, the brain is sometimes wired one way (IE female) and the body develops as male.
In fact, all brains and bodies start off as one template until physical and chemical changes dictate otherwise, and you get a boy.
There are religious groups that freely hate, and yet when their angry behaviour is questioned, they recite their "religious freedoms".
Religious freedoms do not and never should include the right to hate speech, or the right to bully another human being.
Referring solely to Christianity (As that's where a lot of discriminative people stem from, even though I am NOT saying ALL church people do that), we see people on one hand preaching about love and acceptance on one hand, and calling persons of the LBGT community "abominations", "Freaks" and "heathens" on the other hand.
Is this at all logical, when we consider the fact that the book itself (The bible) says to "love thy neighbour"?
No, it really isn't. But I have come to expect that many people who hold hatred and fear in their hearts aren't approaching this from a logical standpoint at all.
They are accepting what their peers and sometimes their pastor tell them they should be doing.
If I don't like (Or even hate) a particular person, I know that what I'm doing is not only not in line with what I am supposed to be doing, but not going to evolve me as a person.
Of course, there are people with whom I know I can't associate, because to me, the association would be toxic.
I would not consider myself a good Christian by any means, but I would rather be hated for being tolerant of people being whom they are than have my church's' approval for being trans or homophobic(Whatever their subsequent thoughts on the issue would end up being).
Now, there are some wonderful people, though, who don't see the things that divide, but the things that unite.
There are churches, and other religious groups who welcome people in regardless of who they love or what gender they identify as.
Why? Because they realize that people don't come with instructions and we have to try to be at least accepting enough of others to say to ourselves, "I might not agree with this person, but I'm not going to tell them how to live their life".
Subsequently, the people that don't agree were taught that you have to make people think like you do and behave as you do, because non-conformists rock the boat and nobody is happy with that.
I can honestly say that I have NO IDEA what will happen to someone who does or doesn't conform to the so called "norm". I can only say that I am a person just as anyone else, and I want to give the kind of love and respect that I would hope to receive in kind.
So, in that respect, am I threatened by trans men or trans women? Nope.
As with all human beings whether cisgendered men, Trans-gender men (That would be men born in female bodies, or FTM s) or Trans-gender Women (Women born with male bodies), essentially we all have good and bad.
There's the people I would personally want to associate with because I can get along with them as people (They're not too disagreeable or negative) and there are people who I really don't feel would benefit me as a person to associate with.
But I NEVER base this on whether they were born with the parts to match their identity, as again, they're still human, as am I.
Men get very insecure about trans women though, because they think something is wrong if they happen to like a woman and she so happens to not conform to their expectations.
If I were dating a woman, and she were trans (Or wasn't), I wouldn't care because to me, cis gender and trans-gender doesn't make a difference. To me, they're still women (some are nice, and others are vindictive.).
My only concern is "Is this woman someone I'd enjoy being around?" and "Can she be accepting of me and my personality?". If yes, ok, no problem. She could be anybody as long as we click and there's chemistry.
Now, I know there are guys that are not open minded, but there's always "Thanks but no thanks", which is a hell of a lot nicer and not illegal than using violence to vent their insecurities.
Am I surprised at there being violence and murders of trans women? no.
There are men who still assault, rape and  murder their Cis gender female girlfriends, wives, sisters, etc.
It doesn't make it morally, legally or socially acceptable in my view.
So, why, if someone would be outraged over a murder of a genetic woman, would they not have equal outrage over a trans woman?
Or better yet, why do we as people not treat murder the same?
Because we place value of certain groups over others. The social pecking order.
Wrong is wrong, and people are people, no matter how you try to justify it.
Abuse is usually the abuser's issue, not the person being abused.
If you see abuse going on, tell the person it's not going to fly.
People only abuse others because they feel they can get away with it and nobody else will care.
Usually, when someone intervenes (Or calls the police to do so, as some circumstances one cannot safely do so themselves.), the person abusing (Which is someone trying to get power by taking someone else's away) is not a brave individual (If they hurt someone they perceive to be weaker then themselves) and with enough deterrent WILL BACK DOWN.
I want to see change. I want to see people learning better on how to do things, so I offer alternatives.
Take them or leave them, I've voiced my opinion here.