Remember and Reclaim your History

I reflected on the quote in Genevieve's Gems. I thank my sister Monica Roberts for mentioning this wonderful quote in her Transgriot blog. For the life of me I cannot see how people can reclaim names that were used to demean and put us down. Too many people have died because of this bigotry.

I'm tired of people who reinforce the stereotype that we are less than human. I cringe when I hear young blacks use the N-word because a half century we were demeaned by the same word. When I hear words such as "fag", I can remember when gays were demeaned by the word. My question is why reclaim something that was used to put me down. What galls me is the cavalier attitude the users of these have in using them.

I have been out only about five years. I am grateful to the many transgender people who came before me. Some were beaten, thrown in jail, and murdered because they dared to challenge the status quo. Every so often I reflect on how far we've come and how far we have to go. I am proud of my history and you should be too.

Genevieve