About the Baltimore Incident

The first thing I woke up to this morning checking up on the internet is someone’s journal linking to a follow-up on the story of the Baltimore McDonald’s beating of a transgendered woman (as I’m sure you’ve heard about now, but in case you haven’t, please educate yourselves: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-viral-video-mcdonalds-20110422,0,4613709.story ).

Yeah, its one of those ‘sensationalist’ stories- people hear something related to an already-sensitive topic and get riled up for nasty heated responses. Not to downgrade the gravity of the matter- I’m about as disgusted as any rational human being at how anyone can act in such a craven and primitive matter. But what is it that really heats people’s blood listening to this news? Is it the fact that the person was a transvestite really the reason for people to rage over the incident? Because, from what I’m seeing in the story, no one in that restaurant stood to that person’s aide. Absolutely no one cared enough to deter the attackers from possibly killing her save an elderly lady who risked her already dodgy physical well-being (she had said she initially hesitated because of her back injury) just to spare her any more blows. What excuse did anyone else have, who I can’t imagine had to be in any worse shape, that even the slightest intervention they could offer would have been enough to save someone’s life? When you think about that reaction, you have to then ask, “Does anyone really care about the fact that it was a trans woman that was beaten up?”. Or is the story just an excuse for people to snarl and rage, to complain about ‘minorities’ and ‘intolerance over gender confused people’ or ‘hate crimes’ without thought or feeling? Or let’s put it like this: that the people that talk about how reprehensible the incident was were the very same people that stood inside that restaurant and watched it unfold without lifting a finger. Put yourself in that position and ask yourself again. Would you have done something about it? Would you have cared enough to save a stranger’s life at the expense of your own, transgendered, black, disabled or not? The elderly woman that had intervened claims that she isn’t a hero, but the truth is it would have been a rare day to find someone who would do what she had done, when you look at the big picture.

I found myself thinking further on it over the course of the day, about why this ostracization exists at all. I thought back of the Philippines, about how gays and lesbians and transgendered people intermingle with society everyday without a hitch. They aren’t looked down upon or made to feel bad about who they are; rather on the contrary, people embrace them for it. I think the worst they would have to suffer through is being the butts of jokes centered around them (mostly the gay guys, who admittedly tend to be over-extravagant to the point of being made fun of, but some actually do this on purpose) , but otherwise, they are seen no differently as any other person. I thought more on this, though, and realized that wasn’t exactly true, either. Even in the Philippines there is that fine line that these kind of people tend to toe. Let’s face it- people in that country have grown up humble, simply for the fact that most can barely afford their family’s daily necessities, much less afford to give a damn about infinitesimal issues such as gender roles. But there is that unspoken stigma that comes up in private- ‘as long as that person’s not part of my family, I wouldn’t care.’

I have two cousins, one in the Philippines and one in the States, both who have both decided to pursue alternate lifestyles as lesbians after a series of failed relationships. In both cases, the families involved were perfectly fine with such people, but quickly became intolerant when one of their own has decided to be part of those that were ‘different’. The keyword ‘different’ leading to my next train of thought: if you walked into a bar with a bunch of drunkards, what would you be most likely beat up for (without provocation)? For being transgendered, for starters. For being black, too, I guess, if it wasn’t some specifically redneck pub. For being obviously of a different race if it was maybe a Mexican pub. For being fat, too, probably (if you were a girl). For being physically disfigured (perhaps encountered some unfortunate accident or suffering a debilitating disease). In all amounts to the same thing in the end- people hate you for being –different-. It has nothing to do with specifics- a deviant from a culture’s ‘standards’ (from image to gender-preference) would always be met with scrutiny, some more violently than others. But why so angry about a person’s decision, something that may not even affect you? I can’t answer that with any amount of accuracy, but I believe it just comes up as another part of our instincts as humans. Despite us evolving into an organized bunch above all known lifeforms on the planet, we can’t fully eliminate our more primitive natures, which includes savaging the hell out of something for any reason at all. Historically, we’re just pretty damn bloodthirsty, and living so long in peace, sometimes people feel they have to find something to be angry about. Something that will start a fight, get the blood pumping. To get that adrenalin rush, the need to be right or show dominance, even in something as detached as an online argument, or as petty as a guy deciding to wear a bra.

For all people’s good intentions for attempting to make society more aware and more tolerant of such people, to dispel the ignorance and antiquated views on it, sometimes I feel it will be a difficult endeavor coming. It feels like…people will want to keep pushing these issues around, and that people will want to stay ignorant regardless. So they’ll always have an excuse to fight about it.

~Taddle