Be Visible

Today is Transgender Day of Visibility an annual event raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people and celebrating their contributions to society.

Picture if you will a favorite co-worker or a cousin, or even a sibling who happens to be transgender. How would you feel if they were discriminated against because of their gender identity? What would be your reaction if they were beaten or killed? Every human being has a right to life, and to be their true self and we need to stand up for each other. Part of that means calling out transphobia when we see it, even if it is within the LGBTQ+ community.

If you don't understand what it means to be transgender, find out! Get to know people. Even with a lack of understanding, everyone certainly realizes that physical attacks on other people are not right. Nobody deserves a life of fear. Think about it. Would you want to live your life in fear?  Would you want to hide who you are?  I'm already seeing some positive uplifting posts on social media this morning, and I hope to see a lot more.  I'd like folk to carry this with them too and for visibility to never end.

There are some wonderful resources and the Transgender Law Center is an excellent starting place. Go to their website at https://transgenderlawcenter.org/ where you will find a list of resources (and where you can also make a donation). We can blame hateful elected officials or strangers far away, but in the end, it comes down to us. Let's make 2022 the year we put an end to hate. Let's start today!

Last Night

Everyone today is going to be saying something about last night's Academy Awards.  Honoring someone for their achievements is always a good thing.  We do that here in this space on a regular basis.  Sadly though award shows don't do that in the way they once did.  Last night for many of us will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons.

I won't be discussing the obvious problems with the television broadcast of the Oscars.  (I won't even go in to the less obvious ones).  If you look closely though you can see some bright moments.  We can also be happy for most of the award winners.

I do want to say something though about the moment when South Korean actress Youn Yuh-Jung graciously delivered the award to Coda actor Troy Katsur. Because Katsur is deaf, she signed his name in American Sign Language before saying it out loud. As Kotsur took the stage, Youn held onto his statuette to allow him to use his hands to deliver his acceptance speech in American Sign Language.

One more thing about Youn. She was wore on her dress a blue ribbon pin that read “#WithRefugees” in support of the Ukrainian refugees campaign.

While I don't want to think about the several negative moments from last night, I do want to keep those positive memories alive, and I'm grateful to caring people like Youn Yuh-Jung.

Holding up half the sky

Chairman Mao Tse-tung once said "Women hold up half the sky."  Why then are women still underpaid, underemployed, underappreciated, and treated as second class citizens in so many places under this sky?  Why could the Equal Rights Amendment not be passed here in the United States?  Why do historical retrospectives pay more attention to the men of the past than the women?  March is Women's History Month and today is International Women's Day.  It's 2022.  Don't you think it's time women were treated equally?
 

Have you even heard of Harriet Tubman, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Lady Bird Johnson, Jeannette Rankin, Alice Paul, or Rebecca Latimer Felton? Do you know who Valentina Tereshkova, Sally Ride, Jeanne Marjorie Holm, or Amelia Earhart were? Do the names Sheila Kuehl, Annise Parker, Christine Kehoe, Tammy Baldwin or Cathy Connolly ring a bell? These women all made a difference by doing something well and by being among the first. History has indeed recorded them, but how many of us have taken the time to get to know them?

 

Authors, actors, singers - we tend to know them more, but even in fields that are front and center most of the time, how many wonderful women have come our way but been forgotten?  Using your computer, look up a few of the names I just mentioned or look for information on some of the entertainment greats like Lucille Ball, Alice Walker, Agatha Christie, Donna Reed, Phyllis Diller, and Irene Ryan.  The list really goes on and on.  Women's history is world history.  We can look all the way back to Eve.

This month, get to know the women of our past and get to know the issues too.  The discrimination that went on here in the United States used to be perfectly legal.  Women could not even vote in elections.  There are still parts of the world where outright discrimination of women in any form is legal.  Even here in the US it's a tough fight and, as I mentioned, the Equal Rights Amendment (a proposed amendment to the US Constitution, originally written by Alice Paul and designed to guarantee equal rights for women) was never ratified.

Equality has been a long fight for people of color, for gays and lesbians, for the transgender community, and most certainly for women.  During this Women's History Month, spend some time talking about this and do share your comments.  What will you do today for International Women's Day?

From a great newspaperman named Herb Caen

I'm late, but I won't go into that now.  I also won't tell Mom's March Forth story or tell you about National Grammar Day, which it is.  Instead I'm going to again share words from a wonderful journalist by the name of Herb Caen. Several years ago, I came across a column of his from April 1991 and I shared it here in this space.  Since it continues to be as timely as when originally written, I offer it here once more (and also because I'm late):

Scene: The Heavenly Real Estate Office. The Landlord is cheerily rounding up a covey of blazing comets that have skittered under Queen Cassiopeia's Chair. His business agent, Gabriel, enters, his Golden Trumpet in one hand and more reports from the tiny planet Earth in the other.

Landlord: (to the Comets) Come out from under there, you little scamps, before you set the whole galaxy on fire.

Gabriel: Excuse me sir. Another batch of prayergrams from your most devout Christians.

Landlord: (waving a hand) Whatever they want, Gabriel. Now where did those freaky devils get to?

Gabriel: Yes sir, they want you to evict ten percent of your tenants down there. (Raising his Golden Trumpet) I've never attempted a partial eviction. Shall I try?

Landlord: (looking up) What ten percent, Gabriel?

Gabriel: The gays, sir. Your devout Christians say they've done their utmost to keep them out of their schools, their offices, their churches, and their lives, but with little success. So their prayergrams ask you to remove them from the face of your Earth.

Landlord: To me Gabriel, that doesn't sound very Christian. I thought they were supposed to love their neighbors.

Gabriel: Oh they do sir, if their neighbors are of the same color, economic bracket, and sexual orientation.

Landlord: But what harm do these gay people do?

Gabriel: I'm afraid you're not seeing the big picture, sir. Gays simply don't fit into your grand design. You know, two by two, male and female? Generation after generation? The fact of the matter is that gays simply don't procreate.

Landlord: I thought there was enough procreation down there already.
Gabriel: And they commit unspeakable acts.

Landlord: Murder? Torture? Paving over my mountain meadows?

Gabriel: Unspeakable sexual acts, sir.

Landlord: Ah, you mean they express their love for each other in different ways.

Gabriel: (annoyed) Really sir! If these people were automobiles, they'd be recalled in a nonce. They're clearly defective.

Landlord: (frowning) Defective, Gabriel?

Gabriel: Exactly sir. Some essential part if missing; some vital drive is malfunctioning. Bungled wiring – a loose screw...who knows?
Landlord: But clearly they're examples of shoddy workmanship?

Gabriel: Oh definitely sir. And they certainly don't deserve to clutter up your little blue-green jewel of a planet a minute longer. (Raising his Golden Trumpet again) Shall I evict them now?

Landlord: (slowly) And who made these imperfect products, Gabriel?

Gabriel: Why you did of course, but. . .(he lowers his trumpet in sudden consternation) Good You sir. I didn't mean to blaspheme. You will forgive them then?

Landlord: (smiling) A wise philosopher said long ago Gabriel that if I made sinners, it is not I who should forgive them, but they who should forgive me.

Gabriel: Well, I'm sure the gays will be glad to hear of your tolerance and generosity, sir.

Landlord: The gays? I was talking about my most devout Christians.