Bullies of the world, bullies at home, bullies of society. Or, how to make sense of Leelah's request.

ORDINARY CITIZEN'S NOTES. 1 JAN 2015. THUR. N4.
Bullies of the world, bullies at home, bullies of society. Or, how to make sense of Leelah's request. 

I HAVE TAUGHT in the extreme conditions: the best of conditions and the worst of conditions. 

First: I have taught in four Catholic seminaries, and I have seen real bullies up close. The bullies were priests. The bullies were administrators. The bullies were seminarians themselves. Those of you who have become ex-seminarians know--and you might want to confirm--what I am talking about. 

Second: I have taught in three single-sex colleges for women. One of this colleges is still the model for diversity and LGBT discourses in medieval and Dark Age Filipins. The two others, I am not sure. Been away from these for more than a decade. 

Third: I have taught in one single-sex college for boys, and the testosterone is just something the less testosterone-endowed had to endure. I have seen how things went, and I did not tolerate any act of bullying. I did not know if the admin people--and they wore the 'saya'-like sotana--knew what was happening in their school. 

Fourth: I have taught in a state university at a time when discrimination policies were finally put in place, and that calling out on other gendered people and leave those incriminating evidences that you are making them second class citizens would lead you to prison pronto. I had a student, and the first time that I called the roll, things happened so quick when I called out on a male's name, and a beautiful transgendered responded to that name. At that time, she probably have not been able to legally change her name. There was silence in the room, and that was a respectful silence. You know well that dignity was intact. 

Fifth: I now teach in the state university where you are expected to deal with everyone equally. You do not do your job, you get out. Or, you can go to jail too. 

This is how it is supposed to be in the world, where every man, woman, child is given the respect he/she deserves. 

A scholar has said about 'gender trouble.' 

We still have this, and in the United States as in da Filipins (remember Jennifer Laude?), we still have a long way to go. 

Sometimes the trouble begins at home, with mother thinking in two colors, and two colors alone: a pink for a pink child (the cute, princess-like girl), and a blue for a blue child (the rugged, toughie, toughie boy). 

The moral of the Leelah story is that death by suicide is never an excuse for repeated stupidity in looking at the world, at our humanity, at sexuality--at who we are--in binaries. 

We make it a point to have Leelah's suicide the last in 2015 until the end of time. 

HON/