Sign of the time

originally posted on myspace.com/kbp54

March 25, 2009 - Wednesday

As some people have heard, from T.V., etc. there is a "man" giving birth or in acuality has given birth to a baby. I won't bother giving the names, its a fairly well known story on the news.Basically its a woman who has legally changed her status to being a man, removed her breasts, and taken testosterone in large quantities to at least make her appear to be a man. She (I won't call her a man) is in a relationship with an older woman and they are raising the child together. There are ramifications aplenty from such an arrangement. I'll make my thoughts short here with a longer explanation of them to follow here.If this person wanted to be thought of and to legally be a man, then she/he should act like it and accept the fact that she/he got his/her wish and is no longer a woman and cannot or should not act in that capacity. Just because something walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck does NOT make it a duck. The media says its a man giving birth, but in the real sense of it all, she is NOT a man.Why am I writing about it? Because I like to use blogging to throw my thoughts out there as I analyze and reflect on what I see in the world.Now the extra stuff...Some time ago I read about this she/he's situation in People magazine I believe it was. Tracy (as her birth name is) is of islander decent, and was a teenage model. As I recall in the article, which details of I have yet to hear of anywhere else because perhaps they are unsavory to some, this young woman met her now lover/wife when she was still a minor and started her relationship with her around that time frame. The older woman in the relationship, whose name eludes me at the moment, is/was a family friend and at least 20 years older. I don't have an issue with significant age gaps. I do have issues when what I see as abuse being done. i.e. a much older woman starting a homosexual/lesbian relationship with a female minor. It really is immoral.This person (Tracy, who is now called Thomas) wanted to become a man. She/he felt like thats what she should have been, etc. Initally I can understand that even though I do not readily approve of it. Its that person's choice however wrong I may view it to be. Keep in mind that in "A Proclamation to the World" from the leaders of the LDS Church states: "Gender is an essential characteristic of premoral, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose" To me that implies that despite our efforts here, we will be what we were born as, unless there is some special judgement by God. That is His ultimate decision of course. What a shock it will be to 99.9% of transgender people when they are resurrected (as all people will be) to find themselves restored to what particular sex they were when they were born. Michael Jackson is also in for a rude awakening. As Dave Chappele said about Michael "Only in America can a poor black boy grow up to be a rich white woman" Ok, thats a bit crass, but to me its essentially on point. Speaking of which I'll meander my way back to a semblance of one.Despite my misgivings about this unacceptable union of these two people and for Tracy/Thomas' gender reasignment I have an even deeper one. Tracy/Thomas is legally a man, even though she/he still has all her female organs intact (minus her surgically removed breasts). It is she, not the legitimately still female partner, that bore and gave birth to this couples baby. They wanted kids, and the female partner couldn't get pregnant (perhaps because of her advanced age?) so they decided that Tracy/Thomas would get sperm from a bank and take care of that issue. What my real issue with this all is that Thomas who wants to be looked upon and accepted as a man is carrying out the function of life that only women are privy to. If she wanted to be a man then she should have gone the distance and truly accepted her decision to be one. In my mind a person cannot be both. They are either a man, or a woman, with the powers and responsibilities inherent in each sex. It is not in a man's power to grow a baby, and it never will be by divine design. Is this all a sham to get what these two want? How did they ever think that any of this would be acceptable to people? They have recieved death threats and harrassing communications. I'm not abdicating that, but I question their thoughts and motives and actions. I find it all sick and offensive.A person could ask me "Don't they deserve to be happy, or to do what they think will make them happy?" To that I would say yes, but I would also say that there is a right way to do things, and a wrong way to do things. I would also say that if you don't feel inclined to be with a member of the opposite sex don't go through the motions of becoming a member of the opposite sex and then go back on it when its convienient to get what you want.That would be like me having my man parts surgically removed so I could legally go watch women in the shower because women are still what I prefer to be attracted to.Also I think of Alma 41:10 (Book of Mormon) "Wickedness never was happiness" and I believe it was President Monson who said "You cannot do wrong and feel right"It is also a sign of the time, as this blog's topic is. The scriptural reference eludes me at this time but as was foretold, in the last days it will become hard to distinguish men from women and women from men. I think this situation fills that to a T.