I was essentially saddened by retired Brig. Gen. Reid K. Beveridge's commentary on transgendered students in the Cape Gazette issue of Dec. 12. His scattergun review of the situation seemed aimed solely at fault-finding – Democrats, President Obama, misguided school authorities - and singularly lacked compassion and empathy for the youngsters engaged in such personal turmoil. Taking Beveridge at his word, were it not for bathrooms and school sports locker rooms, this subject needn't be raised.
I
n fact, his disdain for transgender children is the primary attitude permeating his commentary: transgender youngsters only need hormone treatments; he judges gender by voice timbre rather than accepting the speaker's self-designation; the military's management of the issue among adults should be the model for schools and kids; and the design of school bathrooms and locker rooms is the predominant problem in addressing these intensely personal circumstances. His disdain even extends to male students in general, claiming school boys will urinate anywhere if deprived of urinals.
That Beveridge even thinks he has standing on this topic is the clearest evidence that his commentary is pure projection of his own moral hysteria. While he asserts he is qualified to speak on behalf of God or nature's "laws," the whole article makes one wonder what in his personal life explains the heat this issue clearly has for him that he lashes out so.
Schools are not parents and have different responsibilities. They are not competitive with each other.
School administrators should be encouraged to address transgender circumstances with care and concern for the affected youngsters in their custody, and as long as they do so, they deserve our support.
Policies along those lines will go a long way to engendering comradeship among all students and reducing the basis for bullying, as well as helping ease the turmoil being experienced by those undergoing transgender upheavals.
Tony Codella
Rehoboth Beach
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