Can The P in LGBTQIP Stand for Parrot?
As astonishing (and sad) as it is to read all this, the Financial Times reports that in England, the Oxford English Dictionary has introduced a new abbreviation, Mx, allowing a man to use this if he does not want to identify with one particular gender.
As explained by "Mx Bunce," who is pictured as female and then male in the article, "I consider myself gender fluid or gender variant. I like to be Phil one day and Pippa another ...."
And remember that all this, from gender fluid to genderswirl, is included in the T of LGBTQIP, which got me thinking about the man who identifies as a parrot, Ted Richards, an Englishman.
He's 57 years old and, as a boy, was tormented by the presence of his ears, wearing long hair to cover them.
Now that he's had his ears removed (yes, a surgeon actually removed his ears), he's as happy as a lark (or should I say parrot?).
So, if skoliosexual and zucchini are accepted terms of "sexual and romantic identities," and ogligender and genderfuzz can be included under the T of LGBT, then why not expand the categories a little further to include those who identify as animals (or, at the least, want to look like animals, as Ted Richards certainly does).
Why not?
The reality is that Ted Richards is no more a parrot than "Mx Bunce" is both Phil and Pippa.
And no matter how many surgical modifications Richards undergoes, he will no more be a parrot than Bruce Jenner will be a woman.
This may offend some of you reading this article, but truth and reality can sometimes be offensive, and if we really care for people who struggle with their identity, then, to repeat what I've said over and over again, let's help them find wholeness from the inside out.
That's what true compassion would do.
Now, if you're ready for a shock, click here to see what Ted Richards looks like today, and lift up a prayer for him today.