Geezus people.
My late uncle lived into his 50's with Down syndrome and Autism, my cousin has full blown Asperger's and is a complete social misfit, my very own daughter we suspect has a mild case of Asperger's. It's all very sad, personal and it is what it is.
My entire life i've heard the term retard thrown around at work, by close friends who never met Mark, and in social circles...but guess what? Those "insults" and remarks aren't directed at me or my family. I don't get insulted, not by my co workers and certainly not by you guys(and gals) here on this message board. I refuse to be insulted. It's not personal. Learn to separate....and btw, playing the PC card here is retarded.
View attachment 12190
Ever since reading that post from the special olympian, I've been doing my best not to use that word. Like what happened in this thread, it was a word I used without intention to harm but it does harm. Because of that, I don't want to use it.
But I gotta ask you, if somebody said it in a derogatory way in Mark's presence, would you stick up for him? Even if it wasn't directed at him? That's kind of my point here. It's not that it's directed at any person. It's the way people were mocking the thought that Kaepernick could date a trans-gendered person. It creates an atmosphere where you make trans-gendered people feel uncomfortable and even ashamed for who they are.
Memento is a tough cookie. I'm sure she's fine. But she's also my friend. I'm going to speak up when people are saying things without thinking that are insulting towards her.
I don't look at it as making fun of a transgendererd person. I was just making fun of Kaepernick. I have a good friend who is transgendered. Sit with her at my sons peewee football practices. This world needs to learn to laugh more. Everyone pulling the race card or the gender card is getting old. It isn't necessary for every transgender person that reads these comments to take it personally. I have lived with facial deformities much of my life and there came a time that I just refused to let the comments and stares affect me. That was when I finally grew up. I was only hurting myself and handing power to everyone around me. I realized that many people are weak or callous or just dont consider how the things they say or do can affect others, but they are not intentionally being cruel. The few that were just being cruel were just exposing their flaws. I learned to feel sorry for their ignorance. I would hope that if someone were to make a difficult choice like having gender reassignment surgery or just living as a transvestite that they are at peace with their decision and are strong enough to handle the fallout from it. If not, then they probably weren't ready to take that step.
The "race and gender cards" are being "pulled" because they need to be pulled. It's about damn time this country wakes up, looks itself in the mirror, and recognizes the issues present. If those cards aren't pulled, people go on ignorantly pretending things are fine. That's not a world I want to live in.
I'm glad ignoring it worked for you but it's unrealistic for you to think it should work for every other person. Many trans-gendered people aren't at peace with their decision. Because there's such a stigma around being trans-gendered. But it's who they are.
As I said before, it's about being mindful of what we say and how it will affect others. People were making fun of Kaepernick without thinking about the harm their words can do. I made the analogy earlier...I think a good number of the people here wouldn't have stood for posters mocking Kaepernick through racist comments. Why? Because we know how wrong it is. What happened here wasn't really any different. Joke or not, it has the power to hurt people.
I gotta say, I'm disappointed to see so many defending their words rather than simply saying, "Yea, I didn't think about it when I made the joke."
Anyways, this is getting too political. Point is to be mindful about what you say. You may not have any intention to harm when you say it but words can still do harm.