Thursday, September 15, 2011

None of us has the Right to Judge

I found myself saddened by what I learned about bullying on the "Ellen Degeneres Show" today. She had Chaz Bono on as one of her guests. If you havn't heard, Chaz is one of the celebrities that was chosen to be on "Dancing with the Stars" this season and some viewers are upset and want him boycotted off.
One of the reasons I like Ellen and her show is because she's intelligent, funny, down to earth and genuine. She doesn't pretend to be something she's not which was probably a big motivator for her to come out many years ago as a lesbian. She knew this decision to "come out" was not going to boost ratings of her then, t.v. sitcom or win her any popularity contests. It took guts and courage to say she was gay in a society that seems to be uncomfortable with anything that isn't understood by the majority.
Ellen's interview with Chaz was very touching and educational. She asked him if he knew, how being picked to be in "Dancing with the Stars" would cause such uproar and controversy. She did a great job of using her gift as a comedian, to bring out how ridiculous it is that people are trying to get him off the show. I guess some viewers are saying that having Chaz on "Dancing with the stars" will be dangerous and bad for our children.
If you havn't been brought up to speed, Chaz, who use to be known as Chastity, struggled for years with his sexuality. He said he never felt or identified himself as a woman. As the years passed, it  became harder to ignore it.  He underwent gender reassignment surgery last year to become a man. Just like Ellen, it took great courage for Chaz to come out as the transgender person he is.
One of the most poignant moments of the interview was when Ellen talked about the problem of bullying in school. She said that as adults and role models, how do we expect our kids to quit bullying when we're doing it ourselves. "Shame on us," Ellen said, "Shame on us."

9 comments:

  1. Why are people judging Chaz for being on the show. He has just as much right to be on the show as anyone else. This is just like people who boycotted Disneyland in the 90's when they gave health care packages to same sex couples in their employment. I say if you are so judgmental and narrow minded you cannot allow others to have the same rights as yourself, then boycott a show or a theme park by having nothing to do with it. It is pretty sad that people are so cruel. I hope Dancing with the Stars does not give into the bullies.

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  2. Hi JewelandtheSun-I watched the premiere of DWTS last night and it was wonderful. Thank goodness that they didn't give in to the bullies. Chaz was on and did pretty good. How powerful to have a transgender celebrity on the show to give hope to those that suffer in silence. Thx so much for commenting.

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  3. It's so sad that transgender people are looked down upon as almost being sub-humans. A biological alteration occurs at birth, should that person now be labelled as a freak and bullied the rest of their natural born lives?

    Of course not, we need to understand what occurred before we go labeling them as freaks of nature. I feel very badly for Chaz and many others like him. I have gay friends and one of my sons is gay and one of my sister's is also gay I love them unconditionally.

    We are all humans here to share this planet together, no matter what mutations may have occurred at birth. I say leave Chaz be, let him prove to the world that he is a loving human being and worthy of LOVE back. Thank you for sharing this, I love Ellen's show, she tells it like it is and brings things out in the open.

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  4. Hi Vincent-Sounds like you understand full well the discrimination that GLBT's go through on this planet. I too have friends that are gay and it's been a tough journey. Most people don't want to come out because of the judgment they receive. I give so much credit to Chaz for having the courage to be who he really is and for standing tall and going on DWTS show.

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  5. I don't understand people. Did anyone go to school or Bible studies. Our genes show that we are both male and female just one sex dominates the other sex when we are born.

    People assume that God is a male not according to the bible. I will have to come back with the scripture.

    As far as bullying. Its bad enough to be "normal" whatever that is to be bullied but when your different its like. People are afraid to like you because they fear they will lose there social status http://tamron.hubpages.com/hub/BoyAndGirlBullies this article explains what I mean.

    Linda Keep Writing Love the Blog!

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  6. Hey linda...... You've won an award.... check the link: http://sunnysneha93.blogspot.com/p/awards.html

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  7. Hi Tamron-Sorry it took me so long to comment back. You are correct that none of us is born totally hetero or homosexual. When I went for my Masters degree I learned that we are all on a continuum of hetero/homosexual. I too believe that fear is what drives discrimination and judging. Thanks for your nice comments on my blog, I appreciate it!

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  8. Hi David-Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. I'll email you and I think it has to do with me being a cancer survivor.

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  9. Hi Sneha-I'll check out your link about my award. Thx for letting me know.

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