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General Chat / Re: The ANGST thread: Complain here!
« on: August 16, 2012, 09:05:37 AM »
**** you to
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"A man walking in high heels and a dress" could imply many other things beside being gay. That person could have been a drag queen, who performs as a woman for entertainment purposes. Or the person could have been a cross-dresser, someone who gets (sexually) excited by wearing women's clothing. OR the person may have been transgender, identifying as a woman despite being born biologically male, in which case they were expressing the gender that they feel most comfortable/honest as.
It's important to distinguish between the following:
biological sex = based on what genitals you have. 1 in every 2,000 births in America are intersex, meaning that they have ambiguous genitalia. The voice actress who portrayed Meowth on Pokemon was born intersex, raised as a male, before eventually realizing that she felt female and transitioning into living as a woman.
gender identity = how you feel mentally about your gender. Transgender people identify as a gender that does not align with their biological sex. I have a biologically female friend who identifies as genderqueer because she feels that she is mostly female but about 40% male. People whose biological sex aligns with their gender identity are called cisgender. Most people are cisgender, and don't often recognize the distinction between biological sex and gender identity.
gender expression = a person's mannerisms, clothing, etc. How a person presents themself, basically. People can dress more masculine, feminine, or androgynous, depending on what their culture/environment considers to be more masculine/feminine. For example, the man wearing the dress and heels appears to be presenting a feminine gender expression. Many men have earrings (feminine/androgynous), and many women have short boyish hair (masculine or androgynous).
sexual orientation = What gender a person finds sexually/romantically/physically attractive. This is not synonymous with gender expression. A man can wear a dress and still be straight. I am gay, yet I wear pants nearly every day.
I think same-sex couples should have the right to marry legally. To specifically exclude same-sex couples from the 1,000 or so legal benefits that opposite-sex couples receive from the state not only seems unfair, but also sends the message that LGB people are "less than" or inferior to straight people, and that same-sex relationships are illegitimate or lack the same basic commitment as opposite-sex relationships.
Like how Americans have an overly obsessive love for guns and violence in general?