DAD WOULD TURN OVER IN HIS GRAVE!

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27)

Our church receives an on-line newsletter from M.F.I. (the Massachusetts Family Institute), a VERY socially conservative political action group. I’m against abortion and against “gay” marriage, as they are, although I usually don’t think of myself as being quite as “hard line” in political activism as they are. Sometimes I think they make a big fuss about things they should just take with a grain of salt. Their on-line newsletter of Wednesday, January 28, 2009, however, featured a story that stunned me. It was about the new policy of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles which essentially states that a person who FEELS or THINKS they are the opposite gender can now be designated that way on their driver’s license! I kid you not! Here is the article:

“The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has bowed to the demands of the radical sex movement by releasing an updated policy regarding the changing of one’s gender on your driver’s license. The policy used to require a person to submit medical proof of sex reassignment surgery or an amended birth certificate before allowing a change. However, the new policy only require s a person who wishes to change the ‘gender marker’ on their state issued identification to submit an updated application together with a Gender Designation Change Form. This form, according to the Massachusetts Transgender Political Caucus (MTPC), must be signed by the person and a medical provider attesting to the gender that the individual considers himself or herself to be.

The MTPC says that they were working collaboratively with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and MassEquality to advocate for this policy change with the Massachusetts RMV.”

That was of interest to me because my late father, Eugene A. Baril, was not only a career Registry of Motor Vehicles employee, but retired in 1982 after several years as “Supervisor of Medical Affairs” at the Registry’s Boston headquarters. As Supervisor of Medical Affairs, my father was the guy who had the final say on whether some qualified for “handicapped” designated license plates, whether an epileptic could drive again, whether an elderly driver would be required to take a competency driver’s test, etc. It was during his tenure as Supervisor of Medical Affairs that sex change operations began to be performed on quite a few people. Now it’s ONE thing to get your NAME changed on the license. With marriage, that happens pretty frequently. Women AND men also legally change their full names at times, and the RMV had a procedure for issuing a new license with the new name. The dicey situation began when someone’s SEX designation from “M” to “F” or vice-versa needed to be made on the license. Guess who handled THAT situation? Yup, macho, conservative, World War 2 vet Eugene A. Baril did! I remember the first time a person had come to him at the Registry headquarters with all the medical proof (no he or she did NOT actually have to drop their pants- a doctor’s letter attesting to the sex change was sufficient!) to have the sex designation changed on their license. Dad came home and LAUGHED HIS HEAD OFF! He thought it was the weirdest, most bizarre thing he could ever imagine. He confessed to having had a really hard time to keep from laughing right in that person’s face.

Even my father admitted several years later that by the time he was nearly retired, he’d seen all sorts of people who’d had sex changes and had walked them through the procedure of getting the designation on their licenses changed. By 1982, it was no longer a laughing matter for him. It was as routine as checking a box on a form stating “corrective lenses must be worn”.

Whatever one thinks of sex change operations, and considering I’m a pretty conservative Assemblies of God minister I’m sure you can guess what I think of it; one CAN understand the legitimacy of changing the sex listed on the driver’s license after such an operation has taken place. But what about a “transgender”? Have you seen those Barbara Walters specials where some 10-year-old boy will beat you up if you tell him he’s NOT a girl?! (In my day, a 10-year-old boy would beat you up if you told him he WAS a girl! My, how times have changed!) Those who are “transgender” believe they are REALLY the opposite gender. The “plumbing” and physical appearance means virtually NOTHING to them. I believe the psychiatrists call it, “Gender Identity Disorder”.

O.K. but if a person had that disorder, then he or she or ...whatever...can have the sex that they FEEL they are listed on the license?!

I happen to know my ancestry because it’s been traced back for MANY generations. I know that I’m a mixture of French, Scottish, and English. I am NOT Native American. But what if I FEEL like I’m Native American? What if I love the Native American culture, traditions, music, etc.? Why can’t I just list myself as a “Native American” or “American Indian” if that’s what I FEEL I am. And, I DEFINITELY don’t feel 54-years-old! I truly FEEL that I’m around 36. Why can’t it be O.K. for me to list my age as 36...to list my date of birth as September 19, 1972? Why not?

The truth is the M.F.I. is RIGHT about this and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is FOOLISH and crazy! Dad would turn over in his grave at the thought of this. Come to think of it, I wonder if the ground IS disturbed at Knollwood Memorial Park in Canton?!