cratic Republic, married as a man and they had 2 children.To suppress feelings of being a woman, Lindner worked three jobs at once in addition to being politically active.
In 1996 Lindner was elected Burgermeister in the village of Quellendorf in Saxony-Anhalt (where Lindner had been born and raised), for the Party of Democratic Socialism. After an announced of intention to transition, the villagers voted 2-1 to dismiss their Burgermeister.
In 1999 Michaela had surgery, and also moved to Berlin where she founded a theatre agency. She married a
- Michaela Lindner: Ich bin wer ich bin. Ein öffentliches Leben als Mann und als Frau. Frankfurt am Main: Eichborn 2000.
- “Michaela Lindner”. Wikipedia: Die freie Enzyklopädia. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaela_Lindner.
While "Quellendorf" can be translated as "native village", it is a real village in Saxony-Anhalt.
PART 1
ReplyDeleteAs a U.S. Army Reservist, I had the distinct pleasure of acquainting myself with Ms. Lindner during a year-long, German-state-funded Marketing course, in former East Germany.
I observed that MOST of U.S. students were, at the very least, perplexed by the ‘phenomenon’ of (my choice of words) an ostensibly biological male (at birth), “transforming” into a female adult. (Again, please pardon my wording. I am speaking with the words I was thinking, at the time). And, sadly, there were some “haters” among us. As we say in the U.S.: Haters will be haters.
Over time, Ms. Lindner, through her humble demeanor, second-to-none knowledge and experience in the matter being presented, her kindness, and her willingness to share with (to help) others, like me…over time some of the students softened on their more militant rejection of the very concept of”transforming”.
Others just suppressed outward displays of continued hatred.
(Our class was largely composed of immigrant Russians, Volsdeutsche, Eastern Europeans and a few Nigerians—all of whom I got to know well enough to know their sentiments).
Some of them asked me how I could talk to, sit with and generally tolerate Ms. Lindner.
I will not share my entire answer to such inquiries, here, but, in a nutshell, my privilege to get better-acquainted with Ms. Lindner was a credit entirely to HER PERSON.
We spoke of politics (she, caucusing with the Left in German politics, and me a fairly Conservative American guy). We spoke on banal personal and family matters. And, thanks to Ms. Lindner’s willingness to openly share SOME of her trans-related experiences and opinions, I was afforded a ‘window’ into some of the things I might never have known about her “Trans-related” experience.
Thankfully, we never wasted any time talking about sports, the weather, or cooking!
We had some fundamental disagreements on some political matters. I’m certain we still do.
PART II
ReplyDeleteThe real ‘beauty’ of my time in the presence of Ms. Lindner was not just the valuable knowledge and experience she brought from her past life as a municipal politician (Bürgermeister). The beauty was in the FREE SPEECH-FRIENDLY atmosphere Ms. Lindner afforded me to speak plainly about my limited understanding of things “Trans”, to include her kind patience with my honestly-expressed doubts about whether a “Trans Woman” is simply a “Woman”—also matters originating in my sub-conscience, where I struggled to internalize the idea that “Trans Woman” = “Woman”, with no “but’s” or caveats attached. Truth be told, I am still in a mental space that continues to assign those caveats.
Ms. Lindner always (firmly but respectfully) insisted she is a “woman”, but one with a history of having been cast into life as a “man” (without her consent, of course). Ms. Lindner suffered the manifestations of my sub-conscious self when I (rather frequently, at first) referred to her as “he” or “him” in the third person, during class, or in three party conversations.
In direct contrast to those who hated the Trans-concept—a few fellow students privately berated me for using female pronouns to refer to her—Ms. Lindner showed remarkable patience and grace at my frequent pronoun slips.
She clearly did not like it.
She would remind me, later, that “she” and “her” (in German) were her correct pronouns, but I never sensed hostility directed towards me for my use of male pronouns. I believe Ms. Lindner understood my effort to show her respect as authentic, and that she held back on chiding me…well, she chided me gently.
Anyway, on politics, we’d probably still disagree.
And I am firmly against invasive surgical procedures for Trans-identifying children—which is not to say that I am right, but that I think some children need more time to sort out their feelings before such permanent, often irreversible medical procedures are applied.
PART 3
ReplyDeleteI never hated “Trans people” but like many, I saw trans people as weird anomalies in nature, to be pitied or even made the occasional brunt of humor.
Thanks to the fine example Ms. Lindner set, as a Trans Woman, and, even moreso, her behavior as a PERSON (devoid of all the -ism’s), I was able to reinforce, in a meaningful way, my lifetime philosophy as guided by two maxims:
—Live and let live.
—Treat others as you would have them treat you (were the situations reversed).
(That last one comes from the Bible, but wisdom is wisdom, no matter where one’s spirituality lies).
Ms. Lindner embodied that latter principle. She made a true effort to separate malice from ignorance (in others). To consider another’s INTENT before quickly rushing into being “OFFENDED”.
As with the non-Trans community, the Trans community has its share of intolerant, militant shitheads.
Ms. Lindner, at least in my experience of a short, year-long acquaintance, is just a fine, intelligent, compassionate person.
I am eternally grateful that SHE moved beyond “American soldier” and “Conservative hetero Christian male” to treat ME like a PERSON, too.
It’s a fairly simple way to deal with other people, until they give you a LEGITIMATE reason not to like or trust them.
Since those “school days” I have only glimpsed Ms. Lindner on TV/in the press.
I hope she’s still the same Michaela Lindner I got to know, a little, nearly 30 years ago. I was mobilized for OEF Afghanistan just a few years later, but the memory of her positive example weathered the many years away I spent in military-related missions.
PART 4
ReplyDeleteIn the U.S., people often say:
“We can agree to disagree.”
From my experience, the people who say that are usually just trying to extract themselves from rational debates which they are too intellectually weak to continue in.
In Ms. Lindner’s case, “agreeing to disagree” was something different.
In the United States the Left screams “tolerance” as if they own the word—all the while trying to shout down or physically harm anyone who disagrees with them.
Their behavior is the anti-thesis of “tolerance”.
Ms. Lindner EXEMPLIFIED THE TRUE MEANING OF TOLERANCE, at least in my dealings with her.
We could use a little more Lindner Tolerance on the Left, here in the U.S.
Germany —and the German Left—are lucky to have her.
((End Comment))