Olympic pole vaulter Yvonne Buschbaum, who finished sixth in 2000, has said on her Web site that she is beginning the process to become a man.
“I feel as if I am a man and have to live my life in the body of a woman,” Buschbaum said in a statement on her Web site, according to AOL Sports blog FanHouse. “I am aware of the fact that transsexuality is a fringe issue, and I do not want to be responsible for it remaining on the fringe.”
Good for her. It’s pretty amazing that more and more people in sports, both men and women, are taking stands to be themselves. And added bonus for her, she already looks incredibly hot to me; she’s going to have no problem with the guys . . . or ladies, whatever she’s into. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
Thanks to Ross Forman for the tip.
on Dec 28th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I’ve never liked that transgendered was lumped in with homosexuality (and now Outsports is doing it).
Being gay and being transgendered are two entirely different things, not related. The “T” in GLBT has always seemed out of place to me.
If someone really wanted to be true to themselves, they wouldn’t change themselves.
on Dec 28th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
You can take that line of thinking and say that lesbians and gays should be separated, and bisexuals should be removed too.
We never say GLBT in our stories because I don’t like the term either. There are “gay” issues and “transgender” issues. However, the social issues we face - confusion, persecution, discrimination - are similar. So I actively pursue stories about transgender people and issues. The battle they face in society is even more difficult than ours.
on Dec 29th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
“If someone really wanted to be true to themselves, they would’t change themselves.”
It’s not that simple. He is already a man; the surgery will reflect what he already feels inside. Having the surgery is akin to coming out; it’s not a change so much as an articulation/expression of who he is. As for including transgendered people: GLBT people are oppressed by hegemonic constructs of gender and sexuality that penalize and marginalize anyone who subverts the male/female and straight/gay categories. Some of the issues are different, but in many regards we’re fighting the same ignorant ideologies.
Some could argue that gay men and women shouldn’t be lumped together because we lesbians are also battling patriarchy and thus dealing with different issues. The inclusion of gay women with gay men could be interpreted as a manifestation of patriarchy in that gay women aren’t given their own space. The bottom line is that no two situations or people are exactly the same; we all bring different experiences and expectations to the table. We can find common ground though.
on Dec 29th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I thought what made a man or woman was the chromosomes in their body. Not how they feel
on Dec 29th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
John,
Not exactly. Do you know what YOUR chromosome configuration is? Or are you just assuming that it’s XY? What if you had a chromosome test done and the result was that you were, in fact, XYY or XXY or any one of more than 50 different possible combinations? Would THAT information change your self-perception of your gender identity?
I think not. Sexual anatomy is between your legs, gender identity is between your ears. And chemistry, while significant, is quite often completely independent of and irrelevant to gender identity.
Hope that helps…now run out and get yourself a chromosome test if it’s all the important.