This letter was published in The State News in the Friday 10 January 1996 edition with the title, "Article made fun of transgendered people."
Editor
The State News
Just what is it that makes "'Mr. Right' turns out to be woman in Web affair" (SN 1/9) worthy of being reprinted in The State News? Did you all get a good chuckle out of this, and decide to pass it around, or what?
There could indeed be something interesting going on behind this story, but you print only enough to titillate and to make fun of the people involved. There is nothing humorous about transgendered people, or about the sad and sorry situations into which society forces us.
That two people meet, fall in love, marry, and discover that the marriage won't work is not unusual. This is a painful situation, not a humorous one. Are you so badly frightened by those of us who do not conform to your gender norms that you can only blush, snicker, and run away?
Is this one of the primal fears that keep so-called normal people awake? That you might fall in love with someone who turns out to be, gasp, the wrong sex? What would that say about you? About sex and gender? About our current institution of marriage?
Why don't you ask those questions of yourselves and stop making fun of us.
Lisa Lees
Systems Analyst
Department of Computer Science