Chelsea Manning

Many years ago, many in the transgender community were insistent that anyone seeing themselves as trans should be immediately supplied whatever they needed to do whatever level of transitioning they needed.  The heck with the expert opinions of doctors and psychiatrists, all forms of health insurance and health care needed to cover this and it was to be served-up on a silver platter to the person desiring some level of transition.  Maybe the person just needed a new nose in order to feel prettier.  Maybe the person wanted some really ripped biceps that looked sexy in a man's tank top.  Or maybe the person wanted the whole package with whatever additions, subtractions, or enhancements were wanted.  Access without question or hindrance was the goal.

There is a minority of us who feel getting whatever we want whenever we want might not always be a good thing.  The Bible teaches that there is wisdom in the counsel of others.  I don't care how far advanced modern medicine is at gender change, if you make a wrong decision at some point in the process, it is difficult to impossible to undo that mistake and put things back the way they were.

Then the early reports of prison inmates demanding sex changes were published in the news media, and many of those same people who had demanded free, no-holds barred access to sex changes began to modify their stance, saying criminals demanding such treatment gave the trans community a black eye.

To my surprise, I found myself on the other side of the argument.  If a prison inmate can demonstrate need and doctor's approval, I'm in favor of them receiving whatever treatment they need.  This probably stems from my goody-two-shoes (which are black patent, by the way) attitude that I truly want to help those in prison become better persons.  Yes, it's probably pie-in-the-sky, but I would rather try to do good for someone rather than nothing at all.

Chelsea Manning recently came out as trans and plans to transition while in prison.  Apart from the crimes this person committed (as determined by a military court of law), if you can find anything on the personal life of Chelsea, you will see that this is a person who was possibly preyed upon by others, was already terribly confused in her personal life, and could have really used good counsel from friends, family, and church which she apparently never got.  That's already a great tragedy in anyone's life.  She has to live this tragedy along with the tragedy that sent her to a military prison.

Long story short, when you say your prayers at night, I think this is a person worth mentioning in those prayers.  Pray that she gets the help she needs.  When looking for great things to happen in people's lives, the Good Lord is always first on the list to seek that help from.

Kelli