Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human Rights Campaign has been started to achieve equal rights for all Americans including the LGBQ community. A serious injustice is in the world of sports. Professional sports are one of societies major traditions totally based on rules and regulations that are meant to preserve the integrality of the games, but may not be inclusive to all its players.
Transgendered people have a different and unique fight than the rest of the community. Transgendered peoples not only have the issues of “coming out,” (as others in the communities do) but also becoming a different gender. There are different obstacles that Trans people have to face.
Mental health professional have tried to correct their ‘‘gender identity disorder’’ with brutal aversion therapies. Tran’s youth who came out often faced crises throughout their family and social systems. Once out, developing a sense of realness about their new gender became extremely important. An urgent need develops ‘‘to match one’s exterior with one’s interior’’ In ad...
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LPGA players vote to allow transgender women golfers - ESPN. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=5869693
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Billie Jean King is a pro tennis player who wanted the pay in sports to be equal for women. She won many tournaments such as Wimbledon women’s singles, U.S. Open singles and the French Open. “...first woman athlete to win more than $100,000 in a single year” (“Billie Jean King”). Billie Jean King noticed that women were not winning the same amount of men in prize money. Billie Jean King criticized the prize money that the women would recite. “... women were receiving
Many transgender people lived in dysfunctional families when they were young. The support becomes vital for the wellbeing of kids. In her book Redefining Realness by Janet Mock, recaps the importance of support from Michelle his cousin, who kept in secrets of gender dysphoria of Charles (Keisha) by saying “‘Pinkie –swear you won’t tell your mom’…She’d keep the secret my secret because I was her favorite cousin” (Mook 76). Michelle, kept Keisha’s secret by allowing her to use her swimming clothes. Michelle shows the importance of support from relatives. This is a fundamental factor that might help with the development of her gender identity. Many transgender people may feel a relief at the time to disclose their identity. When transition is in progress the support from friends and families becomes important because, many transgender people might suffer if they lack support. Many transgender people seem depressed because they are rejected by society. Janet Mock, relates how Wendi, support Charles, by making him feel comfortable, saying “Wendi and I grew inseparable trough middle school, a bond that would link us for the rest of our lives. Through association, my class –mates learned that I was like Wendi-who hadn’t yet adopted any labels to describe her shifting self” (Mook 107). In most cases transgender people’s acquaintances can be referred as transgender people just by friendship. The association makes transgender people to gain confidence about their gender identity. The support from groups or friends makes transgender people feel that they are accepted and not alone. Support from friends might urge transgender people to come out the “closet” and reveal their gender identity to gain respect among society. The support from friends is important, but family support seems to be the most important. When families do not support transgender people it causes a hostile environment that may suppress
Billie Jean King is known as not only one of the best female tennis players of all time, but also as one of the leading activist in the LGBT community. Billie Jean King was born on November 22, 1943 in Long Beach, California. As a child King decided that she wanted to be the best women’s tennis player in the world, and she accomplished her goal in 1967. She went on to win multiple grand slams and went down as one of the best to ever play the game. King was married for 22 years from 1965 to 1987 even though she came out as lesbian in 1981 amid a lawsuit from her former female lover. King was one of the first openly gay athletes and she did not shy away from the public scrutiny that came along with it at the time. She lost all her sponsorships
Transgender is an umbrella term, meaning an individual’s gender-identity does not align with their assigned sex at birth. Although transgender is a protected class in eighteen states, these individuals still face discrimination within the country and around the world (“Non-Discrimination Laws”). Transgender is not a lifestyle, no one chooses to live their life constantly being discriminated against. Transgender issues should be more educated on and their lives should be more protected. The most common issue transgender individuals face every day is bathroom use.
Even in today’s society, the idea of a homosexual athlete is out of the ordinary, and when a professional athlete goes public about being gay, there are a many different thoughts and opinions. For many, especially kids, athletes are viewed as role models, someone to look up to and who is expected to make all the right choices. When an athlete admits to being homosexual, to some, the role model viewpoint crumbles. To others, homosexual athletes become an even bigger role model by bringing inspiration and hope. These special athletes show that anything is possible even when receiving major criticism for what they are doing and who they are. Even if a person’s beliefs lead them to think that homosexuality is morally wrong, they should also consider that it would be morally wrong to judge that person without even without knowing them personally. For this reason, a homosexual athlete should be treated as any other athlete performing at a high level in the sport that they love.
In closing I would acknowledge that I may be just a little envious of the transgender women. After all they have more testosterone then biologically born women, and this hormone seems to allow them not only to stay stronger longer, but to retain their figure longer as they seem to have better muscle tone. Transgender women also have a certain advantage over men as they are fully aware how a man thinks, and understand them a little better. Finally, these transgender women seem less likely to get involved in drama or screaming matches as some women tend to do, instead it appears when they are disturbed with a conversation they just excuse themselves, leave the room, or ignore the drama completely, something women could learn
Sports usually bring people together and celebrate diversities, however, transgender athletes are often left out and treated unfairly. The Olympics for instance, require many athletes to take “gender tests” which basically shows if they are the gender they claim to be. If they fail the test, their medal is dispossessed; this happened to Indian athlete Santhi Soundarajan in 2006. It’s quite unfortunate that even in modern times; gender identities are still preventing athletes from excelling.
And for the predators that go as far as pretending to be transgender to have access and availiability to use the restrooms giving them ample opportunity to prey on the innocent women and children. Triller uses three different men as examples to back her claims up. she list Jason pomare, a 33 year old man from California who dressed up in a wig, bra,womens clothing and “appeared” to look as those he had breast. Pomare stored a video device in his purse and had several hours of recorded video from the womens bathroom. Norwood Burnes, a 51 year old male fro Calhoun was arrested after being caught ordering women our of the bathrooms.
In the sports world, homosexual athletes are often forced to hide their sexual orientation and to keep it as a private matter. This is mainly due to the hegemonic masculinity associated with playing sports. Homosexuality is considered the direct opposite of this and therefore is not associated with sports. Also the way athletes talk to each other in the locker room makes it more difficult for gay athletes to come out. Guys jokingly call each other homophobic slurs or pump their chest by talking about women to express their masculinity. Female athletes, unlike their male counterparts, are considered to be more free to talk about their sexual orientation. But, there still exists the misconception that women who participate in sports are assumed to be gay. In college and professional men’s sports it is beginning to become more common for athletes to be more open to talking publically about their sexual orientation. This brings up the question as to whether or not things are changing in our society so that the acceptance of gay athletes will be more common. More acceptance by our overall society as a whole will lead to more gay athletes – both male and female – feeling free to step forward and be open about their sexual orientation.
No one wants to feel like they do not belong or like they are not cared for. Transgender people are just like everyone else and deserve to be treated equally to cisgendered people. According to Sam Killerman, being transgendered means living "as a member of a gender other than that expected based on sex assigned at birth." This definition is extremely important because a transgender person is still a person.
Many people in society argue about the unfairness of transgenders competing in sports. Transgenders should be able to be on the sports team that matches their gender identity with medical documents proving they have gender dysmorphia. Many other athletes would argue that transgenders being able to compete in sports is unfair. A transgender woman who has higher levels of testosterone than the other women might seem to have an advantage over the other female athletes. Transgender women might have a little bit of an advantage, but they truly feel as if they are women, so they should be able to compete as women.
Rael, Andrea. "Coy Mathis, Colo. Transgender Child Banned From Using School Bathroom, Ignites Debate Over Anti-Discrimination Laws." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 May 2014.
Billy Jean King was the woman who received equal pay. Serena and Venus Williams are two women that removed the idea that your physical appearance has to be a certain way to do what you love, and showed emotions during matches which shocked society. These are all attributions that set made way for the view of women in sports today. However, just like there are women who are known for this, there are many who went
Transgender issues have long been an area of controversy in sports. “A transgender is someone whose sense of personal identify and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.” In today’s society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try to understand, this is why participation of transgender in sport is a controversial issue and raises concerns such as hormone levels particularly higher testosterone levels. However can beta-blockers (any of a class of drugs which prevent the stimulation of the adrenergic receptors) prevent the onset of puberty in children long enough to ensure an even playing field at younger levels.
Within the recent years, the transgender movement has become more apparent than ever. With television shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, “Keeping It Up With Cait” and “I Am Jazz”, the voices of transgender people are more public than ever. Celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverene Cox are changing the face of the movement by showing people that it is never too late to be their true selves. American laws acknowledge the rights of transgender people, but not in a positive way. These are just people trying to be their best selves.