The Library of Congress Case...

The "transgender" community is thrilled, as well they might be, over the decision handed down by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case of Diane J. Schroer vs. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress. Unfortunately, while this case represents, at least for the moment, a great victory for the transgender, it has the potential to turn out to be a horrible case for those with Harry Benjamin Syndrome.


First off, the case can, and may very likely will, be overturned on appeal. Schroer's case is not a particularly strong one, and the Library of Congress raised some issues that, while perhaps not valid in fact, are not invalid in principle. That is, the LOC can argue that they were not really acting out of prejudice, but out of genuine concern, and a higher court may well accept that reasoning.


Schroer is a classic example of transgender, not HBS. Schroer had a long and successful career as a male. There is no evidence in Schoer's past to show any signs of HBS, or even of gender identity disorder prior to the decision, rather late in life, to transtion. Schroer is another man who has decided to retire as a woman.

Now, not everyone with HBS will transition early in life. Some will, usually because of family or religion, delay transition. For others, it was simply a lack of resources (30 years ago, it was a lot harder to find a qualified therapist if you lived in much of the country). And in many cases, people might well have been mislead by the information that was available to them at the time. I do believe that 30 years in the future, late transition among those with HBS will be almost unheard of. But one thing that is characteristic of those with HBS who transition late is a lifetime of issues related to their condition. They are likely to have led absolutely miserable lives. Someone who is forced, for whatever reason, to endure life with a brain that is at odds with their body is not going to have had a happy existence. And that unhappiness is going to affect all areas of their life.


Unfortunately, when someone like Schroer comes along, it raises troubling questions about what is really going on. By all accounts, Schroer had an outstanding and successful career in the military. And not just the military, but as a member of the Special Forces, i.e. a Green Beret. This is one of the most elite units of the U.S. Army. It should be noted that women have never been allowed to joint the Special Forces. This is an area of the military that is strictly limited to men. Schoer apparently had no trouble fitting into this group, which is notorious for being hard to join. Currently, those wishing to become Green Berets have to go through three levels of training. The first, includes advanced infantry and Airborne. After that, only 35% make it through the second round, and then only 20% of those make it through the third round. That seems to present pretty good evidence that Schroer was not the least bit troubled by the supposed disconnect between his body and his brain.


And that presents the major problem with this case. Here is a person who clearly made a choice to "become" a woman. There is virtually no hope of actually arguing that Schoer suffers from any sort of medical condition that was present from birth. That means that a discrimination case that could easily negatively impact people with HBS, not because it actually involves an HBS person, but because the transgender activists insist on dragging us under their "umbrella," a case which could, quite easily, make it to the Supreme Court, is based on behavior, not an intrinsic trait. And such a case could easily result in a precedent that discrmination based on the "behavior" of being "transgender." which would be broadly, and incorrectly interpreted, becoming the law of the land.

And this is typical of the transgender mindset. They would rather go down in glorious defeat, taking HBS people with them, than actually make some progress for those they claim to include. It is simply not acceptable that people who have had surgery can change their birth certificates. The law must allow anyone to claim to be a different sex. It isn't good enough if a law prevents people for being fired for what they do on their own time, men must be allowed to show up in dresses when the mood strikes them. They push for the ridiculous, and laws that might actually accomplish some good never make it past the point of being a joke.

Some of the reasons the LOC gave for not hiring Schoer are not remotely legitimate. But when they raised the question of how Schoer's transition might affect the ability to testify before Congress, they brought up a legitimate question. And again, this points up a problem with the transgender mindset. Clearly, Schoer does not really want to be a "woman," but desires to be a transgender person instead. Being in such a public situation, where his past would be a major issue, and would lead to the possibility of regular publicity, would be be horrifying for an HBS person. There would be no chance of being taken seriously as a woman. Why anyone would seek such a situation is beyond me.

But such is the world of the transgender.