Monday, March 31, 2008

A pregnant man?

No, it's not an April Fool's joke. The story is making the rounds about a "pregnant man." But all is not as it seems.

There has been a lot of buzz in the media lately about Thomas Beatie, who is being touted as a pregnant "man." This is just the lastest example of the silliness that is the transgender paradigm. Beatie is a female to male transgender person. What Beatie is not, is a pregnant man. Beatie is a woman who, having undergone hormone therapy, and chest surgery, appears to be a man, but Beatie never had any surgery to remove the female reproductive system.

Because Beatie's partner had undergone a hysterectomy, they decided that in order to have a child, "he" would have to carry the pregnancy. So, Beatie stopped taking testosterone, and after "his" periods returned, "he" became pregnant.

Give me a break!

This is not a pregant man. Now, one of my best friends, now deceased, was an FTM who had a child from before he transitioned. He grew up in a time and place where he saw no hope of ever being able to have a normal life, and like some with HBS, he married, and tried to have a normal life. And for him, that included having a child. It should be noted that during labor, there were complications because my friend's pelvis was too small for the child to pass easily through. It was a very difficult birth. Quite literally, he was built like a man more than like a woman.

But that is different. Beatie is not someone trying to cope with things that are not fully understood. This is a person who has claimed to have dealt with "his" gender issues. But, like many who are properly classed as transgender, as opposed to HBS, Beatie wants to have it all.

Some might praise Beatie for "sacrificing" for his family. But given that Beatie is telling his story for any and all to hear, it does not appear to be that much of a sacrifice.

But all of this raises all sorts of troubling questions about the transgender paradigm.

I know many will applaud this as a great step forward in the battle to put an end to the bi-gender paradigm. They will say it represents a breakthrough in the battle for transgender rights. They will praise how this is a step forward.

Personally, I think it is a nightmare.

This is the sort of thing the Religious Right lives for. The articles are flowing from their websites. Here, they have proof that the "transgender" crowd is a bunch of kooks. This gives them something that can show that "transgender" people are just making stuff up. And, of course, the transgender crowd keeps insisting that we are all the same, so to the Religious Right, and to a lot of other people, this begins to serve as evidence that we aren't truly who, and what we know ourselves to be.

One of the biggest problems with this case is that Beatie has apparently had "his" sex legally changed on "his" birth certificate. This illustrates a major problem with such laws. This sort of thing should only be allowed where someone has actually changed their sex. In Beatie's case, "he" had chest surgery, but no modifications were made to "his" genitalia or reproductive organs. Now, in most states, this would raise some serious questions about how whether or not "he" had met the legal requirements to change "his" birth certificate. I certainly don't believe "he" should have been allowed to do so as long as "he" retains the ability to conceive and carry a child.
Men don't get pregnant. At least not in the real world. But in the fantasy world of the "transgender" such things are not only possible, but they are to be bragged about, and publicized. Beatie will have "his" 15 minutes of fame. But the damage this person is doing will last a lot longer.

No comments: