Tall and slim with natural blond hair, the young lady walking by us exuded a confidence that belied the struggles she must have gone through to be where she was. I gestured toward her. "No matter what I do, I'll never be able to look like that," I complained.
"Me neither," said the middle-aged woman across from me. "Lots 
of women would love to look like Amanda." It was 2002, and we were at a gender conference in Tucson's Sentinel Building. In addition to her successful career at Raytheon and her activism with the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance, the lovely Amanda Simpson was serving on the City of Tucson Commission on LGBT Issues.
Yet none of her qualifications have prevented a stream of invective from being directed her way since President Obama appointed her as a special adviser to the Department of Commerce. There was the silly, contrived television skit with Alan Kalter running from the room after David Letterman's announcement about Simpson. But that’s minor compared with the remarks of people like Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality: "This is a man—and by the way he is a man; he's not a woman—who is one of the leaders in crusading for so-called 'civil rights' based on gender-confused behavior," he claims.
Obviously, LaBarbera has never met Simpson. Far from being gender-confused, she displays an innate femininity that makes it hard to believe she's ever been anything but female. Indeed, were she not so open about her past, no one would ever guess. LaBarbera, who evidently doesn't even understand the crucial distinction between transsexuality and homosexuality, is the one who's gender-confused.
Equally confused is Peter J. Smith of Life Site News: "Amanda, formerly known as Mitchell, is a man who worked for Raytheon Missile Systems in Arizona, during which time he made the transition from 'male' to 'female.' Simpson was a major homosexual activist ... ." I knew Simpson from 2001 to 2008, and never saw her concern herself particularly with "homosexual" rights. Her identity has been as a transsexual woman, and that's the direction her activism has taken.
The vitriol continues online as bigots are able to spew their venom about a woman they, too, have never met. Here's one from someone called "njjoe": "Well, no one can accuse BHO this time of appointing a weak leader without balls." Hello? Simpson had sex reassignment surgery 10 years ago. That means ... well, "njjoe," get your mind out of your drawers and connect the dots if you're capable of rational thought. Really, if these people weren't terrified of the fact that gender isn't necessarily dependent on the sex assigned at birth, couldn't they find better things to do with their time?
This is the "Don't-confuse-me-with-facts" mindset. Show them proof of global warming and they'll still say it doesn't exist. Show them Obama's birth certificate and they'll still deny he was born in Hawaii. Show them a picture of a pretty woman, and they'll claim she isn't really a woman despite the evidence right before their eyes. And no matter how brilliant and well-qualified that woman may be, some narrow-minded people will never accept her if she happens to be transsexual.
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