Paris Lees

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Comments on the stories of Kellie Maloney, the ex boxing manager. Quite a reasonable article from one of the most presentable of UK transwomen.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/11/kellie-...

Comments

Great article

persephone's picture

I particularly liked this article and the reality that, at least in the UK, being transgendered is (beginning to be) no longer a big deal.
We don't need special rights or special treatment, just the same rights and the same courtesy as everyone else.

Now it seems you need to be a celebrity transitioner to have a chance of capturing people’s attention. And that’s a good thing. Being trans shouldn’t make a person any more interesting than being gay or being black does. The muggles are starting to see that now, too.

Can we get the Daily Wail to read this?

Persephone

Non sum qualis eram

The comments are a bit off, though.

At least some of the ones I saw when I looked this morning were. It's gratifying how well Kellie's transition is being accepted considering the macho background she maintained in her former life. It's getting to be not such a big deal as when Roberta Cowell and April Ashley were first in the news over 50 years ago.

It surprised me when I discovered that Paris comes from Hucknall, nr Nottingham. A somewhat scruffy town whose other claims to fame include it's where an escaping German PoW managed to get into a Spitfire at the airfield (but not take off) and is the birthplace of Lord Byron (almost) and composer Eric Coates.

Robi

Well, it's the Guardian. A

Well, it's the Guardian. A lot of them are just being contrary.

I noticed that very few of the comments had more than 10 recommends, which is a sure sign that no one disagreed with the article strongly enough to present a persuasive argument against it.

What disappointed me was that some people still assume there's a link between gender and sexual preference, hence the many references to the homophobic remarks Kellie apparently made when she was campaigning for UKIP*. Without defending such attitudes for one moment, I can see no reason why she was less likely to hold these opinions simply because she identified as a woman.

*For those unfamiliar with British politics, UKIP stands for the United Kingdom Independence Party. Its avowed intention is to remove the UK from the European Union. It's supported by everyone you've ever heard begin a sentence with "I'm not a racist, but..."

Ban nothing. Question everything.

Comments on Kellie

Yes, one rather short one sniping about making the word 'her' too inclusive. The Graun, for those abroad, employs a number of extreme feminists as journalists, including at least three who have exhibited and written TERF material, where TERF stands for Trans-Excluding Radical Feminists. These are people who espouse John Money''s 'gender as a social construct' rubbish while at the same time claiming that WIMMIN ARE DIFFERENT! (Stamps foot) and campaigning for such things as the exclusion of transwomen from rape treatment centres. Women, including rich, white women living in the West, are more oppressed than any other people on the planet, apparently.

A few of the comments do seem to have been written post-alcohol, as well.

Good article

Rhona McCloud's picture

It led me to wonder, in a perfect world, what proportion of the population would wish reassignment surgery at, for example, school leaving age.

Imagine being asked as a matter of course 'In what name/gender would you like your exam certificates issued?"

Rhona McCloud

Oh, yes please!

OMG yes! I just wish that I'd been able to do that then.

My life would have been so different and I wouldn't have had decades of angst and frustration to go through.

Pity nobody knew anything about the subject then, back in the Dark Ages.

Penny