Still a long way to go to learn tolerance

Opinion

Discussion

April 21, 2009

Anonymous The Daily News of Newburyport Tue Apr 21, 2009, 03:56 AM EDT

To the editor:

Recent news of Mike Costello's support for the so called "Bathroom bill" and the public outcry that followed shows just what a long way our community still has to go, to learn and practice tolerance. Our fear of anybody who doesn't fit what our culture determines as "normal" is the main cause of this public outcry. We can dress it up as "fear for the safety of our children in public bathrooms," but this is truly about our own fear of those who are different and whom we don't understand. I draw this conclusion not from being transgender, but from teaching gender studies and medical anthropology at the college level.

I often see students learn tolerance by simply taking the time to listen to what life as a transgender is like. If you have not had this opportunity, I suggest the documentary "Southern Comfort" by Kate Davis. I just called the library and hope they will have the DVD available for our community shortly.

For those who are so certain that the entire world is divided squarely into males and females check out the work of Brown University's Anne Fausto-Sterling. Her research shows there are plenty of people who are "gender ambiguous" — she estimates the number at 1.7 percent of the world population. This includes, for example, genetic females (XX) with masculinized external genitalia.

In other words, gender ambiguity is not "all in your head." Just check out the Intersex Society of North America's Web site: www.isna.org. Education is the best path to understanding those who we believe are so different from us.

A final note: anybody with the title pastor (see Pastor Ron Johnson's April 16 letter to the editor) should be at the forefront of the movement for tolerance and inclusion, not the opposite.

Julia Kirst

Newburyport

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