"Gwen"

Last night, I was watching a movie on Lifetime (don’t start; Lifetime is what’s up….sometimes) about a “woman” that was brutally beaten to death. It was a pretty interesting movie and I’m not sure whether or not it was a true story.

The movie, whose title I completely forgot at this point, was centered around uncovering what had happened to the “woman” and why she was beaten so brutally.

The “woman” was a transsexual who was born a perfectly healthy male. Throughout his entire upbringing, he said that he never felt right in his “male skin”—that he always felt like he was placed in the wrong body. I’ve seen several talk shows and stories about cases like this but it wasn’t until I saw this movie that I actually understood it.

In the movie, a therapist of the then-male teenager had told the boy’s mother that they believed that something psychological had happened to him while he was still in his mother’s womb. That he was technically a male but while being “created” in the womb, female traits/personality/etc were all stored in his male body. So while he looked like a male, in his mind, he was really female. That revelation weirded me out, to say the least.

But when it was broken down like that, it made more sense to me. Despite the many talk shows and stories I’ve read and watched, I’ve always had an inner judgmental eye for transsexuals that said, “yea…you’re a freak”. I’m not one that cares what a person does in their personal life, so bisexuals, homosexuals, and transsexuals never phased me too much. It’s what they are and has nothing to do with me and my life whatsoever. In fact, one of my best friends is a lesbian. However, even with all of that, in my mind, I still didn’t excuse transsexuals from being extremely different and yes…weird. But as stated, that psychological explanation hushed up those judgmental thoughts completely.

But back to the movie. The mother of the child always knew something was different about her son and even said that she felt a change go on within him while she was still pregnant with him (which I personally didn’t believe but then again—who am I? I’ve never had any children but as they say—“a mother knows”—shrugs). As he grew older, he began experimenting with makeup and jewelry and soon began wearing it regularly. He was taunted and ridiculed, no doubt, but his mother began to accept him and when he changed his name to “Gwen”, she called him by the name he chose. She was very cooperative and understanding and I think that’s all “she” really desired in the first place.

After a few years, “Gwen” had become a full-fledged woman on the outside. “She” began dressing as such, living her life as such, and even had a boyfriend, to which case problems definitely arose.......because “she” had never told him of her situation.

There were men that were curious though. “Gwen” had big feet, hands, and very strong features. One of the men even remembered “Gwen” from high school…….when she was still a he. It dawned on them that “Gwen” could have possibly been a “he” as “she” had never had sex—only oral. For them, all of the pieces fit…and they were going to do something about it.

Needless to say, “Gwen” was beaten to death for being a “freak”. “She” was beaten for five hours, hung, and buried by men “she” knew and had befriended.

Sad indeed.

Questions:

1. Do you think that “Gwen” deserved the beating?

2. What about marriage? There are people that decide to wait til marriage to have sex. My granny says that “the waters should be tested before jumping in the pool” and to that degree—I concur! But what do you think?

3. What would you do if you ever found that your mate was a transsexual? Personally, I’d do a looot of fighting. I’m not a confrontational person in the least….but that? That warrants it.

But how about you guys?