California made headlines recently for being the first state to fund sex reassignment surgery for a convicted murderer.
On the one hand, I’m tired of talking about and being mad about stuff like this. But on the other hand, I think it’s important to be culturally aware and well versed enough in current issues to be able to talk about them.
So.
Officials justified this being funded by taxpayer dollars because the state is required to fund medically necessary care for inmates in regards to both their physical and mental health. I get that. But can we also recognize how there’s a huge lack of research into long-term effects of undergoing this type of surgery?
And even if you were one to generally support the decision of individuals to remove their genitalia and try to construct that of the opposite gender, can we agree that the government shouldn’t pay for this? That’s absolutely an abuse of taxpayer dollars. But yes, I paid for this reassignment surgery. I did not consent, and I think it’s a problem how little control the average Joe has over how our money is used.
Another issue I see here is regarding mental health. The discussion surrounding mental health can be tricky. I get it.
But how can we just say that having surgery will solve the very real issues a person in this situation is undergoing?
If we’re going to talk mental health, I want us to talk about this too.
When our minds do not see reality as it is, then we can pursue treatment to change our minds to conform with reality, or change the physical thing in reality that clashes with our minds.
Follow me for a second here: There’s a 30 year old woman suffering from anorexia and she weighs 75 pounds. But because of the mental difficulty that is anorexia, she will still think she is fat. Would anyone who loves her and wants what is best for her encourage her to vomit or refuse to eat? Now I’m not going to recommend a course of treatment for people in this situation, but I think we can agree that help from a trained professional would be needed. The woman is suffering from not seeing reality as it is, and hopefully with treatment and healing, she will see her body as it is one day.
Now I know the world of gender is a delicate arena. But I don’t see how it’s very different.
A biological woman feels or somehow comes to the belief that she is a man. She is physically and biologically a woman. But somehow our culture has gotten to the point where refusing this woman the opportunity to physically mimic the body of a biological man has become bigotry.
I don’t know about you, but I’d call that biology.
What are your thoughts, and how do you handle this type of situation?
To Life,
A Drop in the Ocean 