Dilema of the transgendered

I feel sorry for Jessie Chung and her husband. The implication of their non-legal marriage status prohibits them from enjoying the benefits that married couples have. I daresay they would not even be able to adopt children legally, should they wish to do so. See the rest of the story here

On a different note, here is a letter published on the problem faced by a transgendered person. Published in Malay, in Utusan Melayu. I am sure the mostly Malay readers of the transgendered community would be heartened to take note. I would be most interested to know what furore might arise from the other segments of the community, who might not be so opened to the idea. Especially the very conservative Islamic groups. I know that it would be a controversy with the religious group I came from.

Whenever I want to do something that the 'elders' of any religious group prohibits (though in this case, I am referring to the one I was from), I am always given this non-choice, "You should put God first above all else". So would that mean, in the eyes of pious, that what Jessie Chung did (and she's a Christian at that) mean that she has given in to the temptation of the flesh would now be damned eternally? We have read what the Old Testament says in the Pentateuch (Leviticus especially) and it has been held as Gospel truth. So let me take the conservative approach and therefore says that Jessie (and others like her) are damned unless they repent of their sin. But, if you are a blue-blooded Christian, you would read the New Testament too, which is the one that did away with many of the out-moded and cumbersome traditions of the Old Testament, when Jesus asked the first person without sin to cast the first stone at the adulterous woman. So, if Jesus would not judge, who are you, o professors of the faith, to do so? You might not agree with what they do. I too am faced with a moral dilemma whenever I come across this question. My religious learnings have leaned me more towards conservatism than liberalism (and I am still at the stage of much thinking, soul-searching and reading). But these people are grownup and know the implication of what they are doing. As the often asked question, why should they subject themselves to unnecessary social sanctions and the glare of an unfriendly society unless they feel strongly of what they do. This is the same for anyone who stands up for any unpopular belief.

In a populist culture, there is always a tendency to reinforce the dominant call of the day. In some parts of community, it is even considered embarassing to still be a virgin by your mid-twenties, nevermind that you are single or unmarried. All these 'old' virgins are either labelled as uptight, social outcasts or 'pig-ugly'.

So at the end of the day, it's all about peer pressure, isn't it? To keep up the appearances, regardless of how unhappy you might be for not being true to yourself. Or maybe because of our fall from Eden, we are doomed to a lifetime of unhappiness?