Does it matter what we "are"

When we were doing our in-class art, I was thinking about the story Suellen shared about the Thai boxer and when Seyeon asked if we have any famous celebrities that were transgender and I couldn't really think of any, so I made some. I was looking through the usual "beautiful people" and taking them apart, matching them up to what We as America would not think was so beautiful, the "un-normal imperfect." After listening to the speaker though I realized how important it is not to care what to call or label someone, all that matters is that you are considerate to ask what they prefer. We are all just people, that want to be treated like a kind human being, right? This makes me remember being in probably middle school and a professor in my town had a sex change operation from a male to female. In a small, conservative town, this was big news. I probably joined in the crowd, laughing, telling friends "I saw It yesterday." It's hard when memories of ignorance (mostly due to age, but also social upbringing) sting from embarrassment later in life.