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THE GUERRILLA ANGEL REPORT — I’m reprinting a response to the Mischa Popoff ‘trans kids baloney’ article many of us have been following. This one was written by Kaitlyn Bogas:

COLUMNIST’S VIEWS ‘HATEFUL’



Monday, 20 February 2012 02:00 Letter to the Editor (Kelowna Daily Courier)

I’m not really sure where to start, or how to express my outrage over your recently published hateful commentary by Mischa Popoff.



Providing a forum for this type of bigotry goes far beyond the realm of freedom of expression. Where does Popoff claim to have acquired his expertise in the area of transsexualism?



I would venture a guess that his position on trans kids is far more likely to be motivated by religious hatred than any knowledge of scientific fact.



Where are these so-called “regretful” transsexuals? How many exist? Why aren’t their stories as readily available of say that of Chaz Bono?



One would believe, if these people are so concerned about teaching our young about this “abomination,” they would go to great lengths to support their claims with real-life stories of those to whom they refer in such columns.



It is frighteningly obvious these scare tactics employed by Popoff and those whose religious beliefs prevent a belief in science and medicine, are tremendously effective – and, thankfully for him, require no substantiation.



All humans are born with their own set of human rights. Those rights are non-negotiable, and singling out minority groups to oppress is a direct violation of those rights to exist as a human being.



Human rights must always trump religious freedom and the bigoted opinions which find their origins in the darkest corners of the Bible.



As a transsexual woman, who struggled through a tormented life, attempting to conform to my male body despite my female-wired brain, I can tell you with utmost honesty how important it would have been to me, so many years ago, to be given the information to identify a proper course of treatment before the masculinization of my body occurred at puberty.



I knew, as early as five years of age that something was not right, but I was never given the opportunity to do anything to help myself. It simply did not exist in the 1960s.



Today, with advances in science and medicine in general, we can begin to understand and treat this condition with understanding and compassion.



I would venture a guess that I know a far greater number of post-op transexual women than Popoff claims in his piece. As a post-op woman myself, I can vouch for the success of this treatment, as will all of my post-op friends, without exception.



Although specific statistics are hard to come by, my personal experience would suggest the widely stated success rate of gender reassignment surgery is very close to the 95 to 98 percent rate which any online research can provide. Find me another surgery of any type that can provide these results.



In general, any negative results usually stem from the reluctance of society to accept the post-op as their correct gender.



You have done a great disservice to both your community and those trans people who are members of that community who struggle to conform to society’s norms.

Kaitlyn Bogas

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/letters-to-the-editor/columnists-views-hateful.html

Other people have responded to the article as well, including an 81-year old trans woman. My thanks to everyone who wrote to the paper.

Previous posts on this topic: https://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/popoffs-trans-kids-baloney-article-triggers-transgender-hate-response/

https://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/mischa-popoff-says-transgendered-kids-a-bunch-of-baloney/

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Categories: Discrimination, Equality, Civil Rights, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans