Humanity is Not Binary as Catholic Bishops Would Have You Believe

Reader responds to “Catholic Bishops Encourage Parents to Reject Their Transgender Children”

I read the article about Catholic Bishops sending out letters telling parents to disregard Transgender children. That is disgraceful for any religious belief let alone for the Catholic Church.

Although I follow the Catholic belief I have turned away from some of the Catholic Doctrines. One thing no Church has talked about is the fact that there are many different genders all of which fall under the umbrella of transgender. All the churches talk about Binary Genders “Male and Female.”

What about Intersex people for instance. We are swept under the rugs and hidden from society like we don’t exist. It is time the Church, all Churches wake up to the fact that the Human is not Binary. Humans like all Gods Creatures fall within a wide spectrum between male and female. I for instance was born XY male but am female. Stop looking at the Genitalia between the legs. That doesn’t prove we are male or female.

Many of us have both tsetse and ovaries and some of us have both a Penis and a Vagina. It is how the hormone triggers are sent during the many staged of development. Some hormones are sent and received properly and children are born as anatomical Male or Female but many hormones are not sent or received properly according to the “Binary Rule” this is natural not something to sweep under the rug or something that can be changed by Corrective surgery or Social Gender control.

Stop trying to make the world Binary. Inform the world we are all loved by Jesus and Our Lord and so should be loved by all.

Joni Sarah Duflo

We Need More George Carlins!

Reader responds to “George Carlin Can Now Add Fetus to His Dirty Words List”

Dear Editor,

I had a friend in the 1980s who often channeled George Carlin! Dale was the master of taking a blithe slang term such as "whatever" to the outer limits of impact by exclaiming instead, "What the Shit Fuck Ever!" To cut to the chase Dale would say, "Fuck the Dumb Shit!!" Mae West exclaimed, "Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often!" The GLBT community grasped this concept at Stonewall! The people being dragged out of the bar in handcuffs were kicking and screaming, "DO Something!" The crowd without hesitation began pelting "New York's Finest" with bottles, pennies and whatever else they could find and shouting phrases like "Gay power!" and singing "We Shall Overcome."

Like Hitler, Donald Trump uses his guttural style to encourage his otherwise unwitting power base to marginalize, demonize, and discriminate against every minority in our country and around the world to respond with acts of violence!

The only way you can overcome a bully is by getting in their face and not backing down! We once again, as we have often done in the past, need to pick up our Rainbow Nation's flag and march gaily forward to combat our common enemies.

There are two kinds of people in our world.

My kind of people and assholes!

Have I got your attention now!

Respectfully submitted,

David Ferebee

Wilton Manors

Trump is the Most Dangerous Man in America

Reader responds to "The Most Dangerous Man in America is Donald Trump"

Dear Mr. Kent:

Your column “The Most Dangerous Man in America is Donald Trump” about how Trump is paving the way for his autocratic success in becoming the despot American never envisioned was on point. It's scary. But Trump holds even greater risks for people overseas, representing the United States.

I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa in the 1970s under Jimmy Carter. I was a diplomat at the State Department under Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

Not to be overly dramatic, but I fear that the current administration is making it impossible for people to want to serve the United States. Imagine you're a Peace Corps volunteer, somewhere in some small village in the world, and suddenly Trump tweets something about that nation's lack of support for some U.S. initiative. Your life is now at risk, as locals perhaps decide "We don't like Americans at this moment."

Imagine you're a diplomat serving somewhere in the world, and you are making demarches to the local government about some vote coming up at the U.N. Then Trump tweets something contrary to that position, and you're left holding the bag.

I have never feared for the future of our country as I fear now, that the damage Trump is doing (by hollowing out the State Department, for example) will endure for a century to come.

The only thing that gives me some solace is that journalists--like you--are keeping up the fight to shine a light on what the current administration is inflicting on the country. I encourage you to keep at it, and perhaps the president's conflicts of interest will eventually force him from the scene.

Sincerely,

Michael Varga

Wilton Manors

Keep Up the Good Work SFGN

Reader responds to "The Most Dangerous Man in America is Donald Trump" and “The First Trump Year”

To the Readers of SFGN

Norm Kent and Jesse Monteagudo have done an awesome job at covering Donald Trump! Both articles, “The Most Dangerous Man in the World is Donald Trump” and “The First Trump Year” by Kent and Monteagudo respectively, are two pages that perfectly state how I feel and think about Mr. Trump. I would characterize my negative feelings of Mr. Trump as visceral. I think it is the first time I have felt anything about a politician.

Both articles nicely state the reality of a world where the President of the United States is not a patriot. Mr. Kent’s quoting of George W. Bush pointedly shows how a Republican former president realizes Mr. Trump’s behavior as antithetical to that of all our previous presidents. Maybe we did not agree with all our previous presidents, but I never remember going to bed thinking the president might inadvertently blow us all up!

Now, take a stand. I, too, was sickened daily for the first one year plus of tweets etc. coming from Mr. Trump. They were hard to ignore. But now, after reading SFGN I am feeling more like Clint Eastwood with Trump. “Go ahead, make my day!” Our country is great because, as Ronald Reagan liked to point out (from the Preamble to the Constitution) our country is “We the people…”. However imperfect, this is a country of laws we ALL are obliged to follow. It is a country of respect for all people, while imperfect, where we grow toward ideals. We as the GLBTQ community know this better than many! It is a country of immigrants, seeking refuge or just a better way of life.

Next, take action! When election time rolls around I encourage everyone to vote! Obviously, elections do make a difference. Elections in the U.S. are not fraudulent exercises as Mr. Trump would have us believe. Act now by helping your neighbor, and in discourse in our common places continue to be civil even when in protest, now even more so, and show who We the People truly are! The roots of this democracy run deep, and counterintuitively roots are strengthened by attempts to tear pull them from the ground. The antics of Trump, and any other who impishly challenge the fiber of our country will soon learn what We the People have to say, and it will always be so! I can sleep nicely with this thought!

A grateful reader,

Kevin P. Hanaway

Doctoral Student

College of Nursing, FAU University