Sex Crimes and Jihad

I was recently interviewed as a terror analyst for FrontPageMag.com. It didn’t take long until someone from Australia had read the article (Sex Crimes and Jihad), subsequently read my blog, and then wish to post something after reading Homosexual Marriage and a Mormon Presidential Candidate.

The post was from nuclear scientist Zoe Brian. Zoe used to be Alan. She used to be a he and he used to be a she! According to her, Zoe’s blood has 46xy chromosomes which has kept her hormonally unbalanced. A few years ago, she wrote, her medical diagnosis changed due to an unknown hormonal change. Zoe said she went from an undervirilized (slightly intersexed) male to a severely androgenized (extremely intersexed) female... Whatever that's supposed to mean.

Not to be flippant, but when my wife and I first married we bought two cats, Italics and Cymon. We thought they were both female, but Cymon turned out to be a hermaphrodite, having both male and female reproductive organs. Although as in all hermaphrodites, including humans, one gender or sex organ is predominate. The comparison is trite and likely totally inaccurate of Zoe's (or Brian's) case, I know, but I wasn’t trying to make a comparison, per se—that’s just what came to mind.

Years ago when I worked as a hospital volunteer, I recall doing some research in the hospital library when I ran across some medical studies of hermaphrodites. I remember feeling so sorry for the young girl pictured there. A sexual corrective surgery was done to remove a minute fleshy tissue resembling what could have been the beginning of a penis sprouting from her vagina.

What is all this about? you ask. Well, Zoe opined that my using the comparison in the aforementioned Front Page interview of transvestites or transsexuals to those who act unnaturally violent (i.e. suicidal terrorists) was an inaccurate label. It wasn’t meant to be all-encompassing. Nevertheless, first, let me say that his/her background and perspective humbles me. It makes me realize just how expansive the world and universe are and how little I know about anything.

Secondly, those were my words and not Dr. Kobrin’s whom I referenced throughout the interview. Thirdly, there wasn’t enough time to go into ultra-detail, and I have not made an exhaustive study of the transvestite-terrorist comparison anyway—nor do I care to. But I obviously was stricken, if that's the right word, with this response from this man-turned-woman or woman-turned-man-turned-woman, whatever the case may be.

We find reporters often looking to wrest or twist the words of those in the political arena. Likewise, with me, there simply wasn’t time or length in the said interview to be more thorough. And, obviously every transgender/transsexual person is not going to lead a life of terror, just like every young terrorist isn’t laden with a testosterone-driven anger, which I also referenced, and which are not Dr. Kobrin’s words either. Just consider the 64-year-old suicide bomber in Algeria recently; surely he doesn’t fit that mold. No, we must use building blocks in understanding terrorism. Many have written about terrorism, Dr. Kobrin’s angle and prospective helps provide unique understanding in many ways very supportive of those other findings, but different enough to give incredible insight.

And, finally, I simply do make mistakes. I wish I didn’t but I do. Sometimes my idiosyncrasies and blundering savoir faire cause me embarrassment. My friend, Audrey Hudson, a witty Washington Times homeland security reporter, corrected me not long ago and saved me face. On another occasion when I wrote my blog Veteran’s Day in Iraq, I initially labeled it Memorial Day. Duh. What was I thinking? When I sent out an email to friends and family with the link to the interview, I wrote that “I couldn’t resist my latest war blog…my pick for ‘Person of the Year.’” What I meant was I couldn’t resist SENDING the link to my war blog, “even if they just saw the picture.” That, and the other mistakes, made me sound narcissistic and foolish.

My buddy Brett and I used to go water skiing and snow skiing a lot as youth. We’d often say, ‘If you don’t fall, you’re not trying.’ Anyone who stands up to speak—figuratively or literally—risks sticking his foot in his mouth. I’m no different. But I don’t think I did any toe-sucking in the referenced interview. That said here’s the link to my latest interview, Sex Crimes and Jihad.