Hoy dismisses transgender concerns in his column, rather than trying to understand

Matthew Hoy’s Dec. 4 column (“Democrats and the news media don’t want to learn anything from the election”) deeply alienated me. One of many ignorant statements was when Hoy mentioned “comical new (gender) pronouns,” ridiculing transgender Americans. Mr. Hoy, pronouns wouldn’t seem comical to you if you were one of the 40 percent of transgender people (whose internal gender identity does not match what they were assigned at birth) who attempt suicide because they face people like you who make no attempt to understand them, not to mention rejection by family or assault.

Our culturally constructed man-or-woman binary doesn’t reflect the variations of masculinity and femininity within people. Changing our language to reflect this reality is logical, not comical. Guess what: This “gender studies major” isn’t “making coffee at Starbucks.” I’m a professor and transgender man. I teach students to write and think critically, to cultivate a more compassionate America where we can communicate without ridiculing each other and where fewer people are driven to despair.

Mr. Hoy, why waste time mocking people when you could see the inherent value in them and learn about what goes on outside your own head? I think this is what you want Democrats to do, but you have to do it, too.

This story was originally published December 11, 2016 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Hoy dismisses transgender concerns in his column, rather than trying to understand."