Let’s talk about it…

CTMike

I don’t personally know any trans-people, but I know of a couple. 

- One was the son of a good friend of mine from the military who transitioned. I don’t know any details, other than they completely cut their parents (my friend and his wife) out of their life somewhere along the way. Again, I don’t know the details but it would be easy to assume my friend and his wife weren’t very receptive - old school Italian families on both sides. Just supposition on my part. 

- The second was someone who worked at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard while I was there on the Dallas in the late 90s. I would have interactions with them as electronics systems I was responsible for were turned back over from the yard to ship’s force control. They transitioned from male to female, and I guess there was quite a bit of discussion amongst the yard workers around restrooms.  

I can’t imagine the personal, internal hell someone goes through when trying to come to grips with this (how to approach family, friends, and much more I imagine), let alone the external hell they most likely have to deal with day in and day out.

This world would be a much better place if everyone subscribed to the bumper sticker I saw today:

- “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

Ozzie_Isaac

Elijah said:

Hopefully "sins" isn't in reference to my comments. A "sin" to a person is in reference to them. The broader thing is being a good person. 

Not in reference to you at all.  More in reference to the JD Vance’s of the world.

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

The “sins” people choose to obey and enforce are more emblematic of society and fear than in following God’s word.

We used to be a pretty devout Christian family.  I still consider myself a Christian, just without the church.  I have a lot of reasons why, which I won’t go into, but people ruin church.

@The Cen-Tex Smoker I can understand your fear about getting a call from the police.  I unfortunately had that call while I was out of state.  I couldn’t even think straight, my whole goal was to get back home as soon as humanely possible.

My son was attacked and his face was smashed in and he needed surgery to reconstruct his face. We had all the tests, and thankfully he had no brain damage.  We still suffer from it, my daughter saw it happen and couldn’t help.  It has deeply affected her just seeing it and she still struggles emotionally with it.  The fact people can do that to each other for any reason is beyond me.

Holy crap Ozzie. That is horrifying. Glad he’s ok. 

Physical he is, thankfully.  It has completely changed how he views the world and there are certain behaviors I see in him now that make me very sad.  Nothing probably anyone else would notice or think about, but as a parent you can see it.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

CTMike said:

I don’t personally know any trans-people, but I know of a couple. 

- One was the son of a good friend of mine from the military who transitioned. I don’t know any details, other than they completely cut their parents (my friend and his wife) out of their life somewhere along the way. Again, I don’t know the details but it would be easy to assume my friend and his wife weren’t very receptive - old school Italian families on both sides. Just supposition on my part. 

- The second was someone who worked at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard while I was there on the Dallas in the late 90s. I would have interactions with them as electronics systems I was responsible for were turned back over from the yard to ship’s force control. They transitioned from male to female, and I guess there was quite a bit of discussion amongst the yard workers around restrooms.  

I can’t imagine the personal, internal hell someone goes through when trying to come to grips with this (how to approach family, friends, and much more I imagine), let alone the external hell they most likely have to deal with day in and day out.

This world would be a much better place if everyone subscribed to the bumper sticker I saw today:

- “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

Thats a great quote, Mike. The world would be a better place if we followed that wisdom. 

Interestingly, the first adult trans person I met (with caliking, foghorn, and 20stone) was a naval electrical engineer who went from male to female. Her birth name was Mark but we knew her as Vivian. She came out after being married and having kids. I can’t imagine the internal struggle she must have gone through to finally come out. I don’t know the impact on the family she left behind but i imagine it was not easy for any of them. 

She was co-owner of the pig farm where Cali, fog, 20, and I bought our first pigs and leaned how to butcher (her wife taught butchery classes on the farm). 

This was the place haha: 

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1994259#Comment_1994259?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=bacon+seed+

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Elijah said:

Hopefully "sins" isn't in reference to my comments. A "sin" to a person is in reference to them. The broader thing is being a good person. 

Not in reference to you at all.  More in reference to the JD Vance’s of the world.

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

The “sins” people choose to obey and enforce are more emblematic of society and fear than in following God’s word.

We used to be a pretty devout Christian family.  I still consider myself a Christian, just without the church.  I have a lot of reasons why, which I won’t go into, but people ruin church.

@The Cen-Tex Smoker I can understand your fear about getting a call from the police.  I unfortunately had that call while I was out of state.  I couldn’t even think straight, my whole goal was to get back home as soon as humanely possible.

My son was attacked and his face was smashed in and he needed surgery to reconstruct his face. We had all the tests, and thankfully he had no brain damage.  We still suffer from it, my daughter saw it happen and couldn’t help.  It has deeply affected her just seeing it and she still struggles emotionally with it.  The fact people can do that to each other for any reason is beyond me.

Holy crap Ozzie. That is horrifying. Glad he’s ok. 

Physical he is, thankfully.  It has completely changed how he views the world and there are certain behaviors I see in him now that make me very sad.  Nothing probably anyone else would notice or think about, but as a parent you can see it.

You can see it indeed. Damn. Hate to hear that. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

CTMike said:

I don’t personally know any trans-people, but I know of a couple. 

- One was the son of a good friend of mine from the military who transitioned. I don’t know any details, other than they completely cut their parents (my friend and his wife) out of their life somewhere along the way. Again, I don’t know the details but it would be easy to assume my friend and his wife weren’t very receptive - old school Italian families on both sides. Just supposition on my part. 

- The second was someone who worked at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard while I was there on the Dallas in the late 90s. I would have interactions with them as electronics systems I was responsible for were turned back over from the yard to ship’s force control. They transitioned from male to female, and I guess there was quite a bit of discussion amongst the yard workers around restrooms.  

I can’t imagine the personal, internal hell someone goes through when trying to come to grips with this (how to approach family, friends, and much more I imagine), let alone the external hell they most likely have to deal with day in and day out.

This world would be a much better place if everyone subscribed to the bumper sticker I saw today:

- “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

Thats a great quote, Mike. The world would be a better place if we followed that wisdom. 

Interestingly, the first adult trans person I met (with caliking, foghorn, and 20stone) was a naval electrical engineer who went from male to female. Her birth name was Mark but we knew her as Vivian. She came out after being married and having kids. I can’t imagine the internal struggle she must have gone through to finally come out. I don’t know the impact on the family she left behind but i imagine it was not easy for any of them. 

She was co-owner of the pig farm where Cali, fog, 20, and I bought our first pigs and leaned how to butcher (her wife taught butchery classes on the farm). 

This was the place haha: 

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1994259#Comment_1994259?utm_source=community-search&utm_medium=organic-search&utm_term=bacon+seed+

I just read through that thread again. Holy crap haha. Great stuff. 

Qular

It's nice to see your dedication and respect for him

CTMike

I just remembered a  couple co-workers (one an acquaintance, the other a casual friend) who transitioned. 

 The coworker transitioned male to female immediately after retiring, and then transitioned back a couple years later. I can’t imagine the internal struggles going on there. 

The casual friend also transitioned male to female after retiring,  The thing that has all of us shaking our heads is that she is very Pro-MAGA,  and very vehemently anti-Pride and anti-LGBTQIA. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

CTMike said:

I just remembered a  couple co-workers (one an acquaintance, the other a casual friend) who transitioned. 

 The coworker transitioned male to female immediately after retiring, and then transitioned back a couple years later. I can’t imagine the internal struggles going on there. 

The casual friend also transitioned male to female after retiring,  The thing that has all of us shaking our heads is that she is very Pro-MAGA,  and very vehemently anti-Pride and anti-LGBTQIA. 

There is a lot of self hate and shame in the LBGTQ community. Caitlyn Jenner is a public example of that. It’s not only confusing for people on the outside looking in. It’s not a coincidence that some of the loudest voices against being gay or trans end up being exposed as closeted or, even worse, an abuser of some sort (priests, politicians, televangelists etc). 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Qular said:

It's nice to see your dedication and respect for him

This is a safe space. You don’t have to hide behind your troll account to say what you want to say. You are certainly not alone in your views so why not just say what you want to say as yourself? 

ColbyLang

What did I miss here? 

billt01

I too am a Christian, without the church. I grew up Southern Baptist, then transitioned to Presbyterian. I got weary of all of the judgement and the "tea" which was shared. I've come into my own and realized that good is good, bad is bad...as long as one doesn't force their views we can live in harmony.. 

Human Judgement can be extremely volatile. A small group of people can pressure others which had a neutral view or even a slant away from the one's doing the pressuring.  Even worse, a single person in power can use personal experience to push a more extreme judgement for the same crimes others commit.

For those who do not believe in God, I would implore you to investigate Jesus' disciples..most didn't die of old age. 

Would one be willing to die for something you didn't believe in?  Time and distance can remove a lot of emotion to determine, but there are but a few things I would give my life for..and all would be for an exact reason.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

ColbyLang said:

What did I miss here? 

Not much. A reg taking what they assumed were shots at me and my kid with their troll account (mis-gendering trans people is a way to make the libs cry). Too scared to use their main so that says all it needs to say. 

I’m right here- ready to have all those discussions in the open as myself but, I guess some folks are too scared 🤷‍♂️

DieselkW

I've been all around the world. Travel is, to me, fatal to prejudice. I strongly believe in "Live and Let Live". The political rhetoric (yikes, you live in TX) is unkind to the trans community on one side of the aisle, and I fear a percentage of the other side as well. It's all about personal experience, isn't it? Nancy Reagan was dead set against stem cell research until her husband got Alzheimers, right? We will have a gay president long before we have an atheist president, right?

Acceptance is difficult for those that think they know what others need. My friend had a vasectomy and nobody picketed the urology office, nobody implored him to reconsider, nobody got all up in his business over it. 

Must be a chromosome thing.

Hug your children, love them unconditionally and let them know when life is confusing and hard you'll be there to help. What else can you do?

Be careful who you vote for, obviously.