Law and Order: Making it a Little Easier

A recent episode of Law and Order Special Victims Unit dealt with a family that had a transgender son that wanted to be a female. From the beginning the father is obviously not okay with the fact that his son is dressing up as a girl. The father goes down to the strip club one night and is almost beaten to death because someone kicked him in the crotch so many times. Later in the episode we find out that the boy is going to the guidance counselor a lot and talking to her about his problems and mentions that his dad is not accepting that he wants to be a girl. The police found a guy that the son was hanging out with and doing all sorts of stuff with and thought that he beat up the father. When they are in court towards the end of the episode we find out that the counselor beat the father and then find out that she used to be a male. She explains that it is very hard to be a girl trapped in a mans body and that one day she was at a bar and a few guys cut off her penis. The parents then start to realize that maybe they need to accept that their son wants to be a girl and it is the end of the world.

In todays world many people have not accepted the fact that their are lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. In class we read Suzanna Walters about celebrities coming out as an LGBT and how when these popular culture icons do this it makes a stride for LGBT people and their rights. It could never hurt to have a celebrity behind your back supporting the same cause you are. I feel this way because many people look up to celebrities and if your idol is doing it then it makes it easier and more acceptable. LGBT rights are becoming more developed. It is just taking a lot of time for people of the older generations to come around and accept it. I believe that when my generation are the people in office and leading the political way then LGBT people will get the support they need.

Television shows like Jerry Springer put a bad spin on LGBT people because it is not real all of the time and they find the most ridiculous people they can to be on the show. I watched Jerry Springer because of how ridiculous and trashy some people could be. The show is fake and done for the ratings. People are not going to watch Jerry Springer if there is not fighting and outragous things going on.

This episode of Law and Order could have changed your perspective if all you knew before hand was Jerry.