Reflective Tag- This movie absolutely sobered and horrified me. I myself have a slight uncomfortableness to transgender, I will be honest, and their choice kind of freaks me out. But it is their life, their decision. I have no place to argue or throw my hat into the argument. The sickening part is that men and women were allowed to die because of their choice to change genders. That pisses me off. I do not care what a person chooses, but a human life is a human life. You do not let someone die because they freak you out, or make you uncomfortable. You put on your adult pants, swallow your goddamn bias, and save the fucking life.
Transgender is the new hot bed topic of the gender debates. The moral, physical, and spiritual aspect of the changes of the members of this community has a spectrum as heavily divided, and as fiercely defended, as the differences in the Allies and Axis in World War II. The heavy burden these individuals carry, and the darker side of the opponents of the movement, are brought to light by the movie Southern Comfort, telling a story of love, intimacy, and tragedy for a transgender couple in Georgia.
Robert Eads was your typical good old boy. He enjoyed smoking his pipe, watching the sun rise on his farm, and spending tie with his love, Lola. There was something out of place with Robert, however. He was a female to male transgender individual, who had retained his female genitalia. Lola Cola, his love, was a male to female transgender, who had retained her original genitalia as well. Robert was a happy, settled man, content with his plot in life, even despite the absolutely horrid ordeals he had been subjected to. For you see, he had very little time to live, for his body was attempting to kill him. He had terminal ovarian cancer.
This condition, extremely treatable in the early stages, had been allowed to progress by doctors who were attempting to protect their reputation, or to keep their other patients comfortable. This man, who had sacrificed family, friends, and a way of life to pursue what he felt was right, had been sentenced to death by those sworn by the Hippocratic Oath. Sadly, this was not an uncommon problem for those members of the transgender community. Unsightly scars, sloppy operations, or downright refusal of service were epidemic of these individuals. Robert Ead’s story, and others like his, spurred a grassroots campaign for the improvement of the healthcare of transgender communities.