The Transgender Issue: An Issue of Compassion and Tolerance
by Jennifer I. CowickThe politicians will do as politicians do and mainstream media will do as the mainstream media does. But perhaps this issue is not one of civil rights or the lack there of. Perhaps this issue is not one of sexual predators and personal privacy being stolen. Perhaps it is an issue of compassion and tolerance. {{more}}I think I can safely say that we have all received our healthy share of articles, news clips, speeches interviews, not to mention, countless editorials and commentaries on the subject of transgender and public restrooms. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t tired of the topic some time ago. But just for good measure I would like to throw this one idea out there.No matter where we fall on this particular issue, there is a common ground. That ground is compassion and tolerance for the sake of peace.Empathy as defined by Miriam Webster is the ability to share in the feelings of another. The ability to walk in the shoes of another is how I like to put it. To take the time to see past our own fears, our own beliefs and our own issues; and attempt to understand what the world might look like or feel like from the perspective of someone else.If I am a transgender individual, am I not capable of understanding how this issue might seem strange and foreign? How it could fill some with fear or stimulate a protective instinct in regards to their children or wives? If I took the time could I not garner the compassion in an attempt to, in a way of patience, soothe or dispel these fears and misunderstandings with education and gentle rationalities. If I am an individual who is appalled and offended by the mere thought or mention of a transgender being able to enter any restroom or locker room of their choosing; do I not have the capacity to exercise understanding? Can I not find solutions for myself and my family that would protect them from what I perceive to be a threat as I struggle to relate or empathize with this group of people on a deeper level?Articles and speeches and talk shows intended to inflame and provoke us to anger and fear will continue. However, on an individual level, do we not have the ability to rise above this provocation?As individuals and as examples to other individuals, especially young ones; can we not exercise character traits such as patience, gentleness, tolerance, compassion, empathy, consideration, respect, and self-control?If not for our own sake, then for the sake of those around us, for the sake of peace. If the answer is no…Then I contend that this is not an issue of transgender or restrooms or even civil rights, but an issue of crisis on an individual level. An issue of each of us as individuals not being able to find and exercise the love and respect for others that we would want for ourselves.
