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I was talking to a guy who's a bit older than me...by about ten years...and who seems like a decent fellow--although I don't really know him all that well. He has a daughter who is mentally handicapped, and he is her primary caregiver. And as we were talking, he told me that he had stopped by to visit the place he used to work, and that he found out that the person who had replaced him was a transgender woman. He then proceeded to tell me that this woman had spent the majority of her life as a man, had competed in athletic events as a man, had ("even!") fathered children, and had worked as a coach for a college team, then had decided to become a woman. Although this guy didn't actually say anything nasty about this woman, the sneer on his face said it all. When he stopped his diatribe for a breath, I said, "Wow, that must be really hard for her. To make that kind of decision after so long would take a lot of courage. And there are a lot of people who give transgender folks a hard time." He looked at me as if he thought I must not have understood his story, but then he moved on to another topic.

The thing is, though, that this guy isn't a bad guy, really. You'd probably get along fine with him if you met him. (Unless you were transgender.) And he takes very good care of his daughter. And you'd think that a man who has the care of a handicapped daughter would have seen enough unfair shit come down his (and her) way that he'd be the last person to condemn someone else because they weren't a part of the Herd.

But no.