Bradley Manning has let it be known that he wants to be now known as a ‘she’ and she wants to be referred to as ‘Chelsea.’ I’ve debated how to respond to her recent revelation. I am going to withhold my opinion until a time in which I can respectfully express my opinion while considering the true matter of transgenderism. I’m not in a place to say whether Chelsea Manning is transgender. I’m not in a place to deny her what she truly believes she feels. Regardless of whether I think she’s guilty or innocent, a heroine, or a treasonist, I’m not in her head. Who you are as an individual is inside of you.
I remember learning the golden rule as a child. I’ve carried the golden rule into adulthood, and I still carry that rule as my own mantra. You treat others as you want to be treated. You can treat me as the worst person on this Earth, but I will treat you with the utmost respect, because that’s how I want to be treated. I hold Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” to heart. The only difference is I will replace ‘the color of their skin’ with, “what makes you different from me.” Being transgender doesn’t define Chelsea Manning’s character. What defines her character is what she did.
In a world when we need to find resolutions to bullying, in a world when we need to let people know bullying isn’t “cool,” we have FOX News. I don’t like to harp on FOX News, because being gay already comes with the stigma of being a liberal, and automatically dismissing that channel. People will say I’m being harsh towards FOX News, because I’m gay. For those that think that, I invite you to follow me as I talk about what I feel about Chelsea Manning’s transition, and what I have to say about the midterm elections and the elections of 2016. I’ll defy your expectations. I’m not cutting FOX News down simply because I’m gay. I’m being critical about FOX News, because they’re promoting bullying. They can think whatever they want about homosexuality and transgenderism. I might have a problem with what they think, and I might call them on it. This isn’t a matter of what they think, but a matter of their bullying. In a recent advertisement for their next segment after a commercial break, FOX and Friends made a blunder. They chose to play Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” while showing a picture of Pfc. Bradley Manning on the left and an unflattering photo of Chelsea Manning on the right.
Their choice of music doesn’t just demean Chelsea Manning, but it denigrates those that identify as transgender. Instead of choosing to talk about a story in which they likely disagreed with, they chose to make fun of those that identify as transgender. As the voice of the conservative movement, they should be ashamed of themselves. FOX News is promoting bullying when they should be an upstanding news agency discussing the news.
The Political Queer 