All the world is abuzz about Sarah Palin’s announcement that her 17 year old daughter is 5 months pregnant. I won’t lie by saying that I feel just a little bit of schadenfreude upon watching a woman against both abortion and sex education announce that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant and is going to get married. Clearly a double dose of abstinence-only (school and home) was the wrong message for this young woman, as it is for so many young people.

But beyond this, I find myself feeling mostly concerned for Palin’s daughter. Under different circumstances, would Bristol have: completed the pregnancy/kept the baby/married the father/acted excited about it? Sadly, we’ll never know and Bristol will never have that choice. Her mother had to have known about Bristol’s pregnancy the night she decided to accept the offer of the VP slot. In doing so, she immediately subjected a pregnant 17 year old to national media scrutiny and effectively removed Bristol’s ability to deal with her pregnancy in any way that was not acceptable to the Republican base. Talk about anti-choice… Being young and pregnant can be hard enough without having to be young and pregnant and deliver and raise a child in the public eye while being held up as a role model for “family values”. Adults can’t handle that kind of pressure, how will Bristol? Do Bristol and her young fiance have to stay married for as long as her mother might be in office?

Additionally, in choosing to run for VP, especially while raising a very small child with special needs, Palin will not be available to help her daughter weather what could be one of the most difficult periods of her life. Research shows that without strong family support, young mothers suffer. Will Bristol be sitting on the sidelines as her classmates graduate from high school while her mother possibly steps up to the second-highest office in the land? As McCain’s campaign offered Palin the VP spot, how did thoughts of her young child and her daughter’s soon-to-be child weigh on that decision? In leaving Bristol on her own and exposing her to scrutiny no daughter should ever have to face, Palin puts political ambition above family values. I thought the Republican party was against that.

For another, equally disturbing perspective, check out BeyondChron.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been disappointed in past Democratic candidates: Bill Clinton, while overall wonderful, soured me with his stance on welfare reform. When Gore came along, I was disappointed with his pussy footing around issues that I embraced with my full heart. The same rang true with Kerry. I voted for the Democrats not because I embraced their ideals 100%, but because I wanted to keep what I felt were the real evils, the Republican candidates, out of office. I was expecting the same voting malaise with Obama.

Last night, I hadn’t planned to watch a minute of his Democratic National Convention speech. Rather, I’d thought about pecking away at a pile of preparatory schoolwork or enjoying a margarita with friends. As luck would have it, my sweetie texted me to inquire whether or not I’d like to head out to the pub and watch the speech on the big screen (we don’t have cable, after all). I reluctantly accepted.

We seated ourselves down the block with frosty pints of IPA and chatted over the hubbub of the local patrons. Come some time after 7 PST, the room fell hush as the jukebox was silenced in favor of the speech. Not one to speak up over the reverent silence, I found myself tuning in to the words that followed.

At the pub, all heads turned.

How shall I describe it? To say that Obama captured my attention would be a misnomer; instead, I felt myself nigh moved to tears. This is an accomplishment for someone who had priorly pooh-poohed the speeches of Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Make no mistake: I know that Obama is not writing every last lick of his speeches, nor do I expect that he will follow through with all of the promises that he makes. I have lived too long, and have become too cynical to expect such a miracle. Rather, I was entranced by the sheer eloquence of the words, the sincerity in his voice, and the tentative hope that our nation can turn tail from a war in Iraq, the whisperings of defining birth control as “abortion”, the rising gas prices, the plummeting economy…

For the first time since Bill Clinton took the White House away from the Republicans, I want to believe. A single working mother raised my own mother, so I want to believe. As a child, my parents had to use food stamps for a time, so I want to believe. I couldn’t afford to finish my undergraduate schooling due to finances, so I want to believe. But beyond the working class issues (of course direly important), there are other key points to consider.

Obama speaks of a living wage for all of us… not just men. In a world where women want to make more per dollar than men, the only option is sex work. I support sex-workers with all of my heart, but understand that it is not a reality or possibility for all women. To quote Obama:

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day’s work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

And when it comes to a woman’s right to choose, Obama neatly puts the anti-choice folks in their place with a very Centrist and cordial rebuttal that also calls out the preponderance of pro-abstinence sex education in our state school systems:

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country.

And on the issue of GLBT rights:

I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination.

I’m not going to say that it’s perfect, but what Obama is proposing is a start; and for the first time in my 30-year memory, I’ve actually been excited about a presidential hopeful. Let’s cross our hearts that the rest of the nation is ready to vote for this change.

The transcript of Obama’s speech can be found in full here.

Image courtesy of neublack.com.

It’s always a treat when I stumble upon a gem of a blog like Questioning Transphobia. Lisa, a trans woman in her thirties, began transitioning in her teens; her thoughtfully-written blog dispels the belief that being a trans person means that one should feel that their gender is “inferior and something to be ashamed of.” She tackles transphobia on all fronts: within feminist communities, GLB communities, and society at large.

One of my favorite pieces is Transphobic Words and Deeds, which beautifully outlines what transphobia is and what it isn’t, and delivers plain talk about privilege (something that we all have to some extent or another) in the context of trans persons.

This piece not only made me think, but it was also cause for reflection on my own cisgendered privilege and how we can go about dismantling transphobia in our daily lives. As a whole, I came to two immediate remedies: listening to trans people and educating ourselves.

Listening to the voices of trans people and reading their words are as simple as paging through a blog or a book; and there are many wonderful books that I have pulled directly from the Babeland shelves:

Transgender Warriors by Leslie Feinberg
This book has remained one of my favorites through the years. I often refer to this work as a “my first trans book,” as it touches upon trans history and the multitude of trans identities, complemented by lush photographic illustration.

Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein
Kate Bornstein combines autobiography with a thoughtful and often humorous deconstruction of what it means to be a man, woman, or “other” in US society. Her succinct cultural critique is handled in a warm, open manner that open minds without putting the reader on the defensive.

Sex Changes by Patrick Califia
Best known for his sizzling BDSM erotica, Califia is a heavy-hitter when it comes to politics and theory. Sex Changes is likely the first book on trans politics that I polished off while vigorously nodding my head in agreement. Never shy, Califia’s acid-tipped pen challenges past heavies (Krafft-Ebing, Harry Benjamin) and trans critics (Janice Raymond) while providing a superb historical and modern context for the trans experience. Not one to dumb down or sugar-coat his words, Califia delivers a brilliant tome that remains highly accessible and infinitely informative.

GenderQueer ed. Ricki Wilchins, Joan Nestle, Claire Howell
I’ve mentioned this anthology in the past, but it definitely deserves another blurb. Running the gamut of trans identities and experience, each essay is a delicious gem. Some pieces induce laughter, while others wrench tears; overall, it’s a cover-to-cover treasure that will open the mind to the multitude ways of being.

Whipping Girl by Julia Serano
As a smart friend of mine said “this book is going to change the way gender is taught in the classroom.” I couldn’t agree with her more. As a PhD researcher in the field of Evolutionary and Developmental Biology, Julia Serrano backs up theory with hard, indisputable fact. Whipping Girl is a dense book that spills over with revolutionary ideas and re-working of language. Possibly a lot to digest for a newcomer to these ideas, this is still a book that I hope will soon be standard reading for gender study the world over.

While this is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to educating ourselves, these texts are a splendid starting point. It’s time to abolish transphobia and replace it with knowledge, understanding, compassion, and love.