April 19, 2008

Prejudice and persecution

This, from Zoe Brain, following the suicide of a young woman in Nova Scotia:-

In a week's time, many schools will have a Day of Silence, to commemorate the silence GLBT people must bear in order to protect themselves from persecution. This year, we especially commemorate the execution-style slaying of Lawrence King, a 15 year old shot twice in the back of the head at his schooldesk for not remaining silent.
And this "short short story" Zoe wrote a couple of years ago:-
DiEthylStilbestrol (by Zoe Brain)

One in five genetic males whose mothers took that drug have Gender Dysphoria.
Simon: pushed under a bus by bullies at age 7. She didn't 'vibe right' as a boy.
James: slit her wrists at 16, after being raped after school. Again.
John, Freddy and George: all kicked out of home for being 'sissy boys', shaming their families.
John: took the wrong one home, and her mutilated body was found in a back alley. She was 19.
Freddy: OD'd on her 20th birthday, just another tranny whore.
George: turned tricks, saved, paid for her treatment at 24, with enough for legal studies too. Georgina, now a successful lawyer, and her partner Sue live two doors from Samantha. Georgina hides her past carefully.
Sam: supported by her parents, transitioned at 21. Samantha's married, with two adopted children. Only her husband and her gynecologist know her medical history.
Neither Georgina nor Samantha know about the other.
William: earned a posthumous decoration at 24, charging a machine gun nest. Ending her pain.
Charles: ate her gun at 25. Her platoon never knew why.
Andy: resigned her commission after being surprised in drag. Drugs, Aversion Therapy and repeated ECT didn't work, so they tried lobotomy. The body died of pneumonia years later, but she was gone at 28.
Harry: A chief design engineer, lost her job, her savings, her family, her home too, when she started transitioning. She's 42, now on the game as she's unemployable. Saving for treatment. There's still hope.
Like Zoe says, this isn't fiction, this isn't some hypothetical, this is real. Go read the whole thing.