Sandeen Should Keep His Advice To Himself

Well, "Autumn" Sandeen, one of the more obnoxious of the transgender extremists, is back with his latest silliness.  He has taken it upon himself to advise Janet Mock, the editor of People.com who has chosen to out herself as part of the "It Gets Better" series of videos.


Ms. Mock transitioned very young and had previously not revealed her past.  She chose to do the video out of concern for young transsexuals.  It is admirable that she chose to do this, and to be honest, I envy those who have access to this sort of information now.  When I was in my teens, the only term I knew was "transvestite" until I saw Christine Jorgensen mentioned on a show hosted by Joe Pyne.  It did not provide much in the way of real information, and when I read "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex..." I got horrid misinformation about my options.  It was not until I read "Canary" by Canary Conn that the possibility of transition and surgery became known to me.  But, other misinformation prevented me from pursuing transition for a number of years after that.


Mr. Sandeen presumes to lecture Ms. Mock about what she can expect.  He presumes to try to impose his experiences on her.  He has no business even remotely doing this.  He is suggests that she can expect to be seen as a "man in a dress" by some.  Yes, I suppose some extremists on the Right might attempt to impose that term on her.  But that is not what Mr. Sandeen is talking about.  He is talking about other women.  I am sure Mr. Sandeen is speaking from experience, as that is exactly what he is...."a man in a dress."


Quite obviously, Mr. Sandeen is upset that Ms. Mock has made it clear that she is a "transsexual" not "transgender."  He is not a part of Mr. Sandeen's imaginary community.  She is a woman, who has left her past behind.  Worse, from Mr. Sandeen's point of view, she is someone who can help change opinions about the differences between transsexuals and transgender.


I don't know what Ms. Mock's future plans include.  Hopefully, she will simply continue her life and the fuss will pass quickly.  That, of course, will deeply disappoint Mr. Sandeen.  Like Mike Penner, who for a while was known as Christine Daniels, Mr, Sandeen hopes to puff himself by some association with a public figure.  But he really should just keep his advice to himself. I seriously doubt Ms. Mock appreciates it.