*Input Required* "LGBT History Month"

[franalexes]

Many people have made contibutions to society. None that I know of did so because they were gay or otherwise. It was their special talents, not their screwed up sexuality that made the difference.
While T-gurls tend to have higher mental skills, I haven't seen that transform into a higher culture.
I am proud of WHO I am but I have to cope with WHAT I am.
You might find me at some art festival or a seminar on forestry biology but there is no annual award day for metal art work created by transexual artists who major in forestry biology.

You might as well ask for recognition of people that wear a warm coat on a cold day.

Sorry, but stuff like this just smacks of Tokenism as far as I'm concerned.

It's a bit like saying lets have a Black/LGBT/Whatever History Month so we can then safely ignore them the rest of the year.

[randolph]

Originally Posted by franalexes

Many people have made contibutions to society. None that I know of did so because they were gay or otherwise. It was their special talents, not their screwed up sexuality that made the difference.
While T-gurls tend to have higher mental skills, I haven't seen that transform into a higher culture.
I am proud of WHO I am but I have to cope with WHAT I am.
You might find me at some art festival or a seminar on forestry biology but there is no annual award day for metal art work created by transexual artists who major in forestry biology.

You might as well ask for recognition of people that wear a warm coat on a cold day.

Very well put Fran, you are a real asset to this forum.

[smc]

Originally Posted by franalexes

Many people have made contibutions to society. None that I know of did so because they were gay or otherwise. It was their special talents, not their screwed up sexuality that made the difference.
While T-gurls tend to have higher mental skills, I haven't seen that transform into a higher culture.
I am proud of WHO I am but I have to cope with WHAT I am.
You might find me at some art festival or a seminar on forestry biology but there is no annual award day for metal art work created by transexual artists who major in forestry biology.

You might as well ask for recognition of people that wear a warm coat on a cold day.

I don't want to speak for the OP, but in general the purpose of celebrating "minorities" and their contributions is not to make the point that their contributions to society were made because they are black, or transgender, or whatever, but to point out that people make contributions regardless of such things. "History month"-type celebrations are meant to take an opportunity to step back and remind the world that despite their best efforts to do otherwise, white men cannot take credit for everything.

[TheSkronkDonkey]

Originally Posted by smc

I don't want to speak for the OP, but in general the purpose of celebrating "minorities" and their contributions is not to make the point that their contributions to society were made because they are black, or transgender, or whatever, but to point out that people make contributions regardless of such things. "History month"-type celebrations are meant to take an opportunity to step back and remind the world that despite their best efforts to do otherwise, white men cannot take credit for everything.

Yes, thank you for breathing some SANITY into my thread.

* * *

I'd also like to thank this community for its enthusiastic response to my inquiry, made on behalf of a friend, looking to bring some light and understanding to the world. Thanks to fine folk like franalexes, Natalie_J and randolph, I have lots of well-argued, insightful ideas to feed back to him, as well as a magnanimous assurance that he is doing something positive with his time and energy. Thanks to the plethora of thoughtful, open-minded and highly-supportive responses about a subject you've confirmed is near and dear to all your hearts, he'll be knocking this societal-wide bigotry on the head in no time. Cheers one and all!

[Amy]

Originally Posted by franalexes

Many people have made contibutions to society. None that I know of did so because they were gay or otherwise. It was their special talents, not their screwed up sexuality that made the difference.

To be fair, a few transgender individuals in the past have been in positions to achieve things because of their uniqueness. Many cultures in the past, for example, have recognised us as having a special connection to gods, resulting from the idea that we possess a soul of one gender and a body of the other. It's believed to be a source of magical prowess, and often would lead to apprenticeship to the local shaman.