Five seconds and four words. The concept is not hard.

[backscatter712]

"Her name is Chelsea."

There. A complete concept in how to correctly address or refer to a transgender person in the case of Chelsea Manning.

Do not tell me that it is difficult or confusing. It is not.

Here on DU, I've seen two types of people who didn't know or apply this concept: Those who figured it out in five seconds after reading those four words, and those who aren't willing to treat our fellow GLBTQ brothers and sisters with the love and respect they deserve.

The terms of service at DU are clear:

No bigoted hate speech.

Do not post bigotry based on someone's race or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or lack thereof, disability, or other comparable personal characteristic. To be clear: This includes any post which states opposition to full equal rights for gays and lesbians; it also includes any post asserting disloyalty by Jewish Americans, claiming nefarious influence by Jews/Zionists/Israel, advocating the destruction of the state of Israel, or arguing that Holocaust deniers are just misunderstood. In determining what constitutes bigotry, please be aware that we cannot know what is in anyone's heart, and we will give members the benefit of the doubt, when — and only when — such doubt exists.

Abide by the rules or get out. DU is a GLBTQ safe zone. I don't give a damn if your post count is 2 or 200,000. Ever time I see my GLBTQ brothers and sisters disrespected, I'll click the alert button and check the TOS box, and there's plenty of others who will do the same. You'll take your chances with the juries, MIRT and the admins.

Any questions?

What should happen at DU to those who disrespect the GLBTQ community?

5 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Banhammer!
	5 (100%)
	I don't respect the GLBTQ community. Please ban me.
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[MotherPetrie]

1. K&R

[Heidi]

2. Kick!

[Jim Lane]

3. Going forward, I agree with you. Retroactivity raises different issues.

I agree with you that "DU is a GLBTQ safe zone." The open question is whether it's a nuance safe zone. There's a regrettable tendency here to see anything less than full-throated, unequivocal support as being the moral equivalent of fervent opposition. If you criticize Obama about anything, then you're planning to vote for Palin in 2016, etc.

In an attempt to evade the nuance-phobics, let me comment on Manning by using a less emotionally freighted example that's been mentioned here: a prominent boxer's change of his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. How should someone writing today describe the 1964 world heavyweight boxing championship fight? It was promoted as a bout between Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay. The result was reported as a victory for Cassius Clay. If, as the winner exited the ring, you had asked him his name, he would have said, "I'm Cassius Clay."

In some contexts, saying that the winner was Muhammad Ali would be misleading. For example, there were boxing writers who were very upset at the new champion's subsequent decision to join the Nation of Islam and to change his name accordingly. Their bigotry affected their writing. To describe how one of them reacted to the 1964 fight, while referring to the winner only as Ali, would give a false impression that the writer had no issues with the change of name and was able to celebrate the boxer's abilities regardless of the cultural aspects.

On the other hand, there would be contexts in which it would be misleading not to give retroactive effect to his name change. If you compile a summary of his career, then even if you title it "List of Muhammad Ali's notable prizefights", you should include his 1964 upset of Liston.

Returning to Manning, I don't agree with people who say, "It's 'Bradley' and masculine pronouns in all contexts unless and until he has sexual reassignment surgery." Nevertheless, one can reject that absolute position without accepting absolutism on the other side.