Andy Moreno is upset. Moreno, a senior, has been disqualified from running for homecoming queen at North Dallas High School. The reason Moreno was disqualified is that Moreno is a man. Moreno believes he should be allowed to compete for Homecoming Queen because, despite his male biology and physiology, he identifies himself as a woman. Technically Moreno is "transgendered". Transgendered is the term of choice for people in Andy's predicament. The school has told Moreno he is free to run for king, but he doesn't want to be a king. He wants to be a queen. Queer Liberation, a gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered rights group, is preparing to go to court to defend Moreno's right to be a queen.
Moreno asserts he is a woman because he believes he is a woman. For Moreno and his supporters, that is enough. However "male" and "female" are not social, psychological, or cultural designations. They are biological designations. But Moreno and his supporters refuse to yield to biology. They insist that biology is irrelevant.
Moreno is free to believe he is anything he wants. He can believe he is a woman. He can believe he is a wizard. He can believe he is Queen of England for that matter. But believing it does not make it so. Neither does feeling it. Moreno has the right to dress like a woman. He has the right to behave as a woman. He has the right to believe he is a woman. But he does not have the right to be a woman. That is a right no Earthly institution can grant.
The human mind may know no limits. But nature does. If people want to contest with nature, that is their prerogative. However, they should be prepared to lose. They always do. Andy Moreno may believe he is a woman. He may dress as a woman. He may behave as a woman. He may someday obtain status as a woman. He may even have surgery to appear as a woman. But he will never be a woman. That is not because of ignorance, intolerance or bigotry. That is because of nature. If Moreno has an objection with nature, he will have to take it up with a higher authority than North Dallas High School.
Moreno is not demanding that he be left alone or tolerated. He is demanding that he be embraced. In doing so he is not simply asking for something that belongs to him, he is demanding something be given to him. He is demanding the approval and respect of others whether they want to give it or not.
Moreno has vowed to fight on. He may think he is fighting North Dallas High School, but in truth he is fighting something out of his league. It is out of every one's league.
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