The author does not understand transsexualism. Gwen Araujo did not ask to be born into a male body; she was a young transsexual woman who was about as male as Britney Spears, save for her genitalia. The continued use of male pronouns and her given name, and calling her “a boy who dressed as a girl” continues to fuel the fear and ignorance that killed her and that inspired the author of this article. She did exercise bad judgment, but to call it “rape” is an outrageous stretch. To do so blames the victim and exonerates her killers to some degree. The truth is that, in her mind, Gwen was female and a heterosexual one at that. She would have grown up into a beautiful woman and had the surgery to make her body completely female. But she grew up in a society that still does not understand gender identity issues. And articles like Mr. Calef’s do not help.

Christine Beatty

Software Engineer

Los Angeles, Calif.