Trinidad doctor helping people change gender
Re: “Trinidad’s transgender rock star,” July 1 news story.
It was heartwarming and uplifting to read about Dr. Marci Bowers and Dr. Courtney Ridley. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to agree with someone or even understand them in order to accept them as they are. Dr. Bowers performed surgery on my sister just before Thanksgiving of 2005, and I’ll always be grateful to her. She gave my sister what she needed to feel like her mind matched her body. Unfortunately, the decades-long battle with depression coupled with the rest of our family’s decision to disown her became too much and she took her own life earlier this year.
Please ask yourself if there’s someone in your family who needs love. Give it to them. Even if you don’t understand them, just listen to them. Give them an ear and a shoulder and you might be surprised to discover that you have more in common than you think. I miss my sister every single day and wish just one more person had tried to reach out to her.
To all of you transgendered people who are also depressed: There is help and there are people who care. Please keep hanging on and the sunshine in your heart will rise again. And there might be a few upset that the paper printed a word that describes a pleasurable function of sex. That word was buried more than half way in. If your kid read that far, good for him or her for reading. After all, reading is fundamental.
Diana Woods, Westminster
. . .
Is gender surgery really front-page news? Sexual perversion elicits a double-page spread in the Sunday paper? Men want to become women … but still want relationships with women? And we simply celebrate their expression of individuality? These are our heroes/heroines?
I’m sorry, but the story was not heroic; it was horrific. The quote that said it all: “There’s the Hitler view – you look at society and see what you think is wrong and try to exterminate it … . The opposite view is unconditional love and acceptance.”
Really. These are the only choices? How about unconditionally loving people by calling them to a standard of decency? What’s next: unconditionally loving pedophiles and lauding them in a two-page spread in next week’s paper?
The homosexual community has long told society to stay out of their bedrooms. But in reality, that was never good enough. Full acceptance of any form of sexual expression is the end goal. And Sunday’s paper shows they are not far from their dream.
A little shame could do us all a lot of good.
Shane Fookes, Highlands Ranch
. . .
When I learned that Dr. Stanley Biber was going to retire from service after decades of helping people become who they really are through surgery, it worried me. Who would help these suffering souls? I read in The Post that Dr. Marci Bowers has stepped in, and Trinidad will continue to be a haven for those who need sex-change operations.
As a devout Christian, my heart is with anyone who is outcast either by society or tormented inside themselves. Blessings on Dr. Biber in his retirement and blessings on Dr. Bowers in her new career. Special thanks to the people of Trinidad, who accept people going through sexual transformations.
As Clement of Alexandria said of God, “He changed sunset into sunrise.” God can also inspire a person to become a surgeon who gives someone their true gender.
Dixie Elder, Longmont
. . .
The best The Denver Post can come up with is a story about changing your sex in Trinidad?
No wonder the left has a problem communicating with the general public. No wonder the conservatives have a strong foothold in talk radio.
The people really don’t care about some guy changing himself into a woman with the aid of hormones and surgical procedures. We don’t care.
Terry Bellomo, Aurora
Impact of new ozone laws on individuals
Re: “Ozone compliance is worth the effort,” June 25 editorial.
Instead of describing the scientific process of ozone creation, your editorial should have focused on the impact of the new laws on individuals. “Working on ozone reduction efforts locally” sounds fashionable, but once the reader gets to the suggested site,, the fancy wording materializes into a horde of inconveniences: from major mobility impediments such as “reducing driving by delaying trips, combining errands into one trip and using public transportation,” to petty annoyances such as “delaying painting and refinishing projects for spring and fall,” and “not mowing until evening.”
Anyway, if the damages from current ozone levels (0.084 parts per million) are so great and if environmental and health advocates demand a reduction down to 0.06, why settle at 0.07-0.075? This is an example of a “do-something- to-be-perceived-as-doing-something” regulation with the costs borne yet again by consumers.
Snezhina Kovacheva, Fairfax, Va.
Prediction on the outcome of Guantanamo case
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of some detainees at the Guantanamo prison. Here is my prediction as to the outcome:
The four far-right-wingers plus Anthony Kennedy will vote to uphold the administration’s right to hold the prisoners indefinitely, and that will be the end of it. Another branch of our democracy will have been decapitated.
This court has proven to be just what many said it would be before the last two justices were confirmed. It goes along with the administration almost as diligently as the Republican Congress did for five years, before it was voted out of office.
All three branches of our government are rapidly becoming one of far-right extremism in every area, with virtually no consideration for the country as a whole.
John Ruckman, Lakewood
Show your medals, vets
America’s veterans are the face of America, coming from all walks and backgrounds. They served our nation valiantly and we honor that service. But how do we honor the veteran – the individual who put on the uniform and gave his or her all for our country?
This July 4th, I am asking every veteran to wear their medals as part of what we at the Department of Veterans Affairs call the Veterans Pride Initiative. I’m proposing we take an extra step in honoring each individual veteran and the role he or she played in preserving our independence and freedom.
We began this initiative last Veterans Day. It focuses public pride and gratitude on our veterans as individuals with often untold histories of patriotism and honor. Each American veteran has his own story of service. That is why I am calling on America’s veterans to wear their military medals this July 4th and also on our other patriotic holidays, Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Wearing their medals demonstrates the deep pride our veterans have in their military service and reminds all American citizens of who they are and the sacrifices our veterans have made.
It is our hope that families and communities will engage in greater dialogue with a veteran in their midst and learn their unique story of service.
Veterans, wear your pride on your left side on patriotic holidays. Let America know who you are and what you did for freedom.
R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C.
Cats’ reasons for being
Re: “Cats came to people hungry,” June 29 news story.
According to an article in the journal Science, cats wandered into man’s domain eons ago in search of food. Could it possibly have been that they saw that man needed their help in controlling the rodent population? After all, they have served this purpose very well down through the years, possibly saving mankind from decimation due to the resultant diseases and loss of crops. And being the wonderfully adaptive creatures that they are, cats quickly learned to form a bond that was mutually beneficial. Today, the souls of cats, mystical and spiritual creatures that they are, align themselves with our souls in order to teach us lessons, to help us heal, and to help make our journey on this planet a little more pleasant. And that takes cats out of the realm of science and elevates them to the realm of spirituality.
Joe Felice, Aurora
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