Letter to the Editor of the Opinion Section of The Gettysburgian

By A Conservative and a Liberal

Letter to the Editor of the opinion section of the Gettysburgian in response to “The State of Bigotry Part II.” Writers wished it to printed in both publications. It has been submitted as is and the editor they address is the opinions editor Jaimie Schock.

Dear Editor,
We are writing in response to the article printed last week entitled “The State of Bigotry Part II.” After our initial shock and admitted anger we decided to research what was mentioned. We found the claims unfounded and the general tilt of the piece to be narrow-minded as opposed to the open mindedness it claims. Facts are important in all opinion pieces and the facts were unavailable for verification in yours. Shooting hate from either side of the political spectrum is still shooting hate.

First, you addressed the possible addition of the letters A or I into the acronym GLBT. Though you immediately say that GLBT will be sufficient for use in the column so, it is unnecessary to even mention the A or I. Furthermore, despite hours of research we were unable to find any recorded information on the possible addition of an A for AIDS. We would love to know where you got this information, because if it was just talk amongst friends, it is not needed or warranted or viable in an opinion piece when it is treated like fact.

The addition of a hermaphroditic sub-category or addition of an I is not the main issue or contention, rather it is the addition and seeming support from the writer to add an AIDS acronym or A. The addition of this category would be disastrous. The gay community has worked for years through activism and education to show and prove that AIDS is not a “gay disease.” It effects both the homosexual and heterosexual communities and is blind to sexual orientation. Furthermore, besides perpetuating an outdated and uneducated view on the disease you would make it unfair to people who are homophobic and suffer from the disease. It would add more shame to a disease that is struggling to find support and teach education in mainstream America.

Regardless of political affiliation, everyone has to deal with mainstream America at some point. Also, the addition of AIDS to the acronym would be disastrous in terms of raising money and negates the support groups that are forming in third world countries. It would invariably slow disease recognition and treatment in third world countries because of the stigma that would be associated with the disease. Adding an A would set AIDS education back decades.

Now, in regard to your use of the word “transsexual” we would like to point out that, in fact, this is the incorrect term to use in this instance. First of all the T in GLBT does not mean “transsexual;” what it stands for is “transgendered.” This of course leads to the question: Well, what is the difference? Transgender is an umbrella term used to include all transsexuals, transvestites, intersexual people, etc. Transsexual is a specific term used to discuss a person who, either pre-op or post-op, feels that their mind (gender) does not match the body they were born into (sex). This sort of close-mindedness is exactly what people who are a part of a marginalized group in society have to struggle against for their whole lives in addition to the emotional and psychological problems that come along with being truly transsexual.

Past this, which may simply be a lack of research, a larger problem, which is inherent in the language that you use in your published article, is the fact that you refer always to the possibility of a transsexual student. This, my friends, is an assumption of the grandest degree. First and foremost what must be understood is the sheer size of the decision to undergo the process of changing your sex. It is monumental. It is life-changing. The risks are not by any means negligible; it is a dangerous process, one in which people can still die, either because of medical complications or by their own hand. And, the greater danger still, making the choice and realizing that you were wrong. The idea that a student, let’s say an average student, between the ages of 18 and 22, would be a transsexual is far-fetched to put it lightly. To know, with any certainty at this age, that you want to change your sex is hasty at least and suicidal at most.

However, putting aside all the emotional and psychological readiness, the timing of the process simply would not work out for a student to be in attendance at this college and be undergoing a sex change. The first step in changing one’s sex is extensive sex hormone therapy, which the patient is not allowed to even begin until they are no longer a minor. This hormone therapy is a long process because essentially the patient is regrowing their body; the bare minimum for this process is two years. Then, taking into consideration the possibility of a need for cosmetic surgery, the next several years of the person’s life is taken up by learning how to live, both with themselves and in society, as the other gender. Then finally, years after the process has started the final genital surgery takes place, which requires, as we can imagine, extensive healing. At this point, there is no way an average student would still be enrolled at Gettysburg College, they would be on their own living with people who understand and can care for them.

If, for some arcane reason you remain unconvinced, consider this: because of the extreme stigma that is attached to being a transsexual many people have families that do not or would not, if they knew, support the person in their desire to change themselves. Most transsexuals must support themselves entirely and the process, as again we can imagine, is not by any means inexpensive. To fund both a sex change process and an education at a private four-year institution like Gettysburg College would be impossible for the average student.
Now, we speak on behalf of the campus to the claim that “Granted there would be a select few to help and befriend this person [the transsexual]—but somehow I think it wouldn’t be enough.”

Let me ask you how many close friends do you let know about your sexual preference/activities. For most people, it is an intimate group, and the more people does not mean it’s better; that goes for whether you are gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or even practicing bestiality. I think that you need to re-examine some of you own stereotypes before you preach from your soapbox about the alleged “conservative campus.” This campus may be classified conservative but by far it is more apathetic than any one affiliation (and that in itself is a different problem). We are an apathetic and not an activist or concerned campus. The generation of the reverse bigotry against conservatives and people who may just not have any experience dealing with someone who is or would be transgendered does not make them hateful. After all we live in Gettysburg, not the sprawling metropolis of New York City, where coincidently the is still hatred. College is about learning who you are. I cannot emphasize this enough: Conservatives do not equal hate. We do not sit in our living rooms and discuss what ways we can take down minority groups. This misconception is false, and I would challenge you to get to know some of the conservatives on campus, drop the holier-than-thou attitude and you may get to know some of the best people I know.

In our opinions one of the most offensive parts of your article was your conclusion in which you openly offer your “pity” to anyone wishing to attempt to be both a student and a transsexual. What makes you think that your pity is either wanted or needed? Pity is the absolute last thing that anyone who is involved in a lifelong, life or death struggle with both themselves and society as a whole, needs. If there is any pity to be doled out, let it be from us to you, dear Editor, for your misconceptions and your inability to propose even a partial solution to the problem you so avidly describe. For your perpetuation of stereotypes that you think you are breaking and for your extreme hypocrisy as you place stereotypes on others even as you condemn bigotry, we also, accordingly, pity you.

Sincerely,
A Conservative and a Liberal