Reflection & Analysis
After reading the article “Tranny-gate,” I could not believe that there hasn’t been more backlash against the owner of Anderson’s Fifth Estate. As a heterosexual female in my early twenties, I became friends with many gay males as I lived in a predominantly gay neighborhood in Chicago. As the years went by, a third of these gay male friends became transgender and after the sex operation became transsexuals. I learned a great deal about the hardships and emotional stress of this extremely difficult and costly transformation. Becoming a male to female is not an overnight make-over, it is an extensive process lasting anywhere from two to five years. Not only is it a costly procedure, but a transgender must be evaluated by a psychiatrist in order to conclude the mental capacity of transforming to the female sex.
It infuriated me when the article referred to Mrs. De La Frenier as a 6’2 “bruiser” in a dress. The New Times publication is aimed towards an eclectic audience, which includes people with an alternative lifestyle. I was extremely disturbed when the paper had the gall to ask Mrs. De La Frenier to show them her genitalia, as if this would have made any difference in the outcome. Who cares what she has between her legs? This transgender is going through a transition she is living her life as a female, and ultimately is a female as it is registered on her Arizona State driver’s license. I was also disgusted after reading Mr. Anderson stating that he never said “I don’t want your kind here.” Mr. Anderson did not need to announce these words, his actions made this message crystal clear. I want Mrs. De La Freniere to know that she has supporters out side the transgender community. There are numerous heterosexual people who feel she was unjustly banned from this bar due to homophobic complaints and ignorance by women who felt uneasy with Mrs. De La Freniere in the women’s lavatory. I applaud Mrs. De La Freniere for alerting the media and or anyone willing to listen to her experience concerning prejudice against the transgender.
Currently, there aren’t any laws that protect transgender or transsexuals from discriminatory actions in Phoenix. Mr. Anderson may have the law on his side for now, but thankfully there are people like Mrs. De La Freniere who are not taking things lightly; she is fighting for her civil liberties to be treated like any other woman. Using the ladies lavatory frequently and taking time primping by the mirror is a ridiculous excuse to ban a person, if this had been any other female no one would have cared. Many people may or may not know that drinking alcohol over stimulates a hormone in the bladder that makes people feel the urge to use bathroom frequently, even after drinking just one alcoholic beverage. As for the complaint of Mrs. De La Freniere and her friends taking their time primping by the mirror and making the other female patrons of Anderson’s Fifth Estate uncomfortable, they should be ashamed of themselves! I believe that all females love to primp by the mirror and take their sweet time doing so. I am surely guilty of such actions in my club/bar hopping days. I believe that the excuses used for banning Mrs. De La Freniere permanently from this bar are ridiculous and certainly prejudice and not the characteristics of anyone who considers themselves open-minded.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
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