View Full Version : More news from the ugly south
Pay attention to the comments from the state official. Below the article is the letter I wrote in response.
URL: http://www.heraldonline.com/local/story/3018387p-2761150c.html
Astonished hunter shoots doe in buck's clothing
Published: Wednesday, November, 12th, 2003
By The Herald (Rock Hill, SC)
FORT MILL -- Sometimes horns don't mean you bagged a buck.
Greg Helms shot a deer Friday, a 165-pound beauty with a 12-point rack almost a foot and a half across.
But, well, the buck lacked manhood.
Helms took the deer to Trail's End Taxidermy in Indian Land, and the skinner turned white as a sheet.
'We checked, and there wasn't what you expect on a buck,' said Trails End's Melissa Phillips. 'Outside it was a doe. Except the rack, of course.'
The deer is a rarity, one out of every 50,000 or so, said Charles Ruth, deer project manager for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. Probably not a hermaphrodite -- parts of two sexes at once -- but a doe with too much testosterone, Ruth said.
'Just like the bearded lady,' Ruth said. 'A freak of nature.'
Phillips makes a living turning deer into trophies, but she's never seen anything like this. 'There must have been some male hormones running in there,' Phillips said.
'All I know is he was a she,' Helms said.
'The rack is gorgeous,' said Helms' partner Julie McCoy. 'We thought that, maybe, you know, his maleness was inside. But it wasn't.'
Helms is no hunting novice. He bagged a white deer, another rarity, a couple of years ago, and has hunted almost all his life. He got this deer on family property not far from the entrance to Tega Cay.
'I can say now I have probably seen it all,' Helms said.
'Maybe it's being close to the nuclear station,' joked McCoy.
Trail's End is going to make a trophy rack out of this deer, one Helms is either going to call Boe or Bucky. Ruth even said the meat is fine for eating -- but Helms hasn't touched it.
'I'm afraid, to be honest,' Helms said. 'Something might happen to me, if you get my drift.'
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This article is protected by copyright and may not be printed or distributed for anything except personal use.
_____
Dear Mr. Ruth,
It was with a sense of amazement that I read your comments regarding the intersex deer taken in Fort Mill and published in The Herald on November 12, 2003 http://www.heraldonline.com/local/story/3018387p-2761150c.html. Should you need a reminder, you compared this intersex deer to "...a bearded lady" and "A freak of nature". As an advocate working to erase shame and secrecy for intersex people throughout the world, I am disappointed to read such bigoted and oppressive comments from a South Carolina state official.
Approximately 1 out of 2000 babies in this country are born with an intersex condition. Intersex is simply a variation of the sexual or reproductive system that differ from medically defined standard male or female. We are not freaks of nature, nor could you accurately describe us as 'bearded ladies'. Rather, our issues are very real, and mostly are the result of misguided notions such as yours about who we are. Based upon the latest census figures for South Carolina, your mischaractization of intersex people as freaks of nature impacted approximately 2000 people in your fine state.
I hope you will take a few minutes to learn about intersexuality and learn that we are not freaks of nature. Rather, we are tax-payers, voters, wives, husbands, sons, and daughters who are valuable members of your community. You can learn more by visiting the website of our organization at http://www.bodieslikeours.org, and the websites of my fellow advocates at http://www.isna.org and http://www.ipdx.org.
Mr. Ruth, I would urge you to retract your comment with a public apology at your earliest convenience.
Betsy Driver
Executive Director
Bodies Like Ours
http://www.bodieslikeours.org
PO Box 416
Oldwick, NJ 08858
908-832-9121 voice
908-832-6977 fax
Bodies Like Ours is a 501(c)(3)organization incorporated in and based in Hunterdon County, NJ. Bodies Like Ours provides peer support for people born with atypical genitalia and helps them erase their shame and secrecy.
Cc: The Herald, SC Governors Office, SC Developmental Disabilities Council, Free-Times (Columbia), The State, The Loop (Charleston), 365Gay.com, Q-Notes Online;
I'm happy to say I received a very nice letter of apology from the state official who made the comments in the above article.
Betsy
Thank you Betsy, for your nice letter on our behalf! Glad you got a positive reply.
yeeeeaaaaaaaaa!!!!! betsy!!!
They can get rall ugly dowe south. SOme relly un educated folks.
Ride um-- cow girl Besty:D
I'm glad you got a positive responce to your letter.
I'm a little bothered about what the hunter said...about being afraid to eat the meat. 'I'm afraid, to be honest,' Helms said. 'Something might happen to me, if you get my drift.'
Is this idiot afraid he might catch IS? LOL
Well, it goes to show you...ignorance is still quite fashionable in some areas. :(
Andi
I'm happy to say I received a very nice letter of apology from the state official who made the comments in the above article.
Betsy, would you be able to post his letter here?
thanks!
Ms. Driver:
I apologize if I personally offended you or anyone else that suffers from intersex disorder.
Please understand that I spoke with the hunter that harvested this deer last week and assured him that, although not common, antlered female deer do occur and other than having antlers that result from higher than normal testosterone levels, the deer are normal. They can breed and successfully raise fawns etc. and there should be nothing wrong with the venison.
Tuesday I received several calls from the media including the Herald and a television station out of Charlotte. This in itself is ridiculous to me since this is not news, in my opinion.
To set the record straight, I spent a good deal of time in each of the interviews (particularly the one with the Herald) to fully address the possible causes of the abnormality from a biological standpoint. This included information on the following topics; the deer was a male with testicles that still resided in the abdomen, the deer was hermaphroditic (intersex), and the deer was simply a female with antlers as mentioned above.
In each interview I was told that it had been confirmed (by the taxidermist) that the deer was indeed female and simply had a set of antlers, i.e. the deer was not intersex with respect to the genitalia . That being the case, I described the situation as resulting from higher than normal testosterone levels and that the deer was otherwise normal, fit for human consumption, etc.
Following the comment that I made on the probability of this happening being about one in 50,000, I did make the comment to the reporter that it could be likened to the bearded lady (increased testosterone in both cases, however no implication on my part that there were any other physiological abnormalities). This was only to describe the rarity of this situation in deer to something rare from a human standpoint and both cases being caused by the same thing-increased testosterone. Perhaps I should have likened it to the same probability as the deer getting hit by lightning, but I did not do that (the cause and effect link would have been lost).
Although I may have responded affirmatively to the reporters comment "a freak of nature", I do not believe that I made that comment, therefore, there may have been some liberties taken with respect to the quote (I do 50-75 media interviews a year and this is typical, they seldom get it right). I did say, just like humans, deer can have any number of physiologic abnormalities, but it is still a doe deer and normal otherwise.
Aside from the media tying to make news not report news, I guess the biggest problem I see with the news piece is that I spent quite a bit of time discussing the situation from a biological standpoint and you see what I got credited for.
Again, I am sorry if the way this was presented offended you or anyone else.
Charles Ruth
Wildlife Biologist
Deer Project Supervisor
SCDNR
P. O. Box 167
Columbia, SC 29202-0167
Thanks Besty, you're the best! :)
Billie Q.
01-14-04, 08:43 PM
Originally posted by Jules
They can get rall ugly dowe south. SOme relly un educated folks.
Ride um-- cow girl Besty:D
Bets did a great thing with her letter; but Jules you've just proven the argument Betsy made in that letter.
I'm a proud Southern woman, and educated, to boot!
Billie Q.
01-14-04, 08:47 PM
Originally posted by Betsy
Ms. Driver:
I apologize if I personally offended you or anyone else that suffers from intersex disorder.
Please understand that I spoke with the hunter that harvested this deer last week and assured him that, although not common, antlered female deer do occur and other than having antlers that result from higher than normal testosterone levels, the deer are normal. They can breed and successfully raise fawns etc. and there should be nothing wrong with the venison.
Tuesday I received several calls from the media including the Herald and a television station out of Charlotte. This in itself is ridiculous to me since this is not news, in my opinion.
To set the record straight, I spent a good deal of time in each of the interviews (particularly the one with the Herald) to fully address the possible causes of the abnormality from a biological standpoint. This included information on the following topics; the deer was a male with testicles that still resided in the abdomen, the deer was hermaphroditic (intersex), and the deer was simply a female with antlers as mentioned above.
In each interview I was told that it had been confirmed (by the taxidermist) that the deer was indeed female and simply had a set of antlers, i.e. the deer was not intersex with respect to the genitalia . That being the case, I described the situation as resulting from higher than normal testosterone levels and that the deer was otherwise normal, fit for human consumption, etc.
Following the comment that I made on the probability of this happening being about one in 50,000, I did make the comment to the reporter that it could be likened to the bearded lady (increased testosterone in both cases, however no implication on my part that there were any other physiological abnormalities). This was only to describe the rarity of this situation in deer to something rare from a human standpoint and both cases being caused by the same thing-increased testosterone. Perhaps I should have likened it to the same probability as the deer getting hit by lightning, but I did not do that (the cause and effect link would have been lost).
Although I may have responded affirmatively to the reporters comment "a freak of nature", I do not believe that I made that comment, therefore, there may have been some liberties taken with respect to the quote (I do 50-75 media interviews a year and this is typical, they seldom get it right). I did say, just like humans, deer can have any number of physiologic abnormalities, but it is still a doe deer and normal otherwise.
Aside from the media tying to make news not report news, I guess the biggest problem I see with the news piece is that I spent quite a bit of time discussing the situation from a biological standpoint and you see what I got credited for.
Again, I am sorry if the way this was presented offended you or anyone else.
Charles Ruth
Wildlife Biologist
Deer Project Supervisor
SCDNR
P. O. Box 167
Columbia, SC 29202-0167
What in this letter is ugly, or uneducated? I agree, the article was both. Indeed, Mr. Ruth had no reason to respond at all, and certainly had no obvious motivation to respond as reasonably and graciously as he did.
hmmm.....
It was directed at the chap who thought that eating the deer meat that was intersexed might cause him health problems.
I have family down south, In southern TX whom I have visted many times, so I been very exsposd to the South.
I can make fun of them because I make fun of my own family:D
Out in the decks of the eaterys in many places in TX they hang clear zip lock bags full of water from the ceilings. When I asked my cousin why they do that he said "It Keeps the flys and mo-skeet-os away." SO I looked at him sheepishly and asked him and how does that work? He told me that "The sunlight shines through the bags, gets magnified and blinds the flys and mo-skeet -os. so that they cannot fly on to the deck."
ooooooo.k
I have have tons of respect for how the south treats people in general.
Even though my SOuthern cousin is Homo-phobic I still love him dearly
(Thats another story)
Everybody is a indvidual, and if they want to be educated that is up to them.
There are just as many uneducated people up here as they are down south.
I'm not taking a dig at all the southerners.
just the ones that hang bags of water from there roof to keep the flys away.
Billie Q.
01-14-04, 09:17 PM
Originally posted by Jules
It was directed at the chap who thought that eating the deer meat that was intersexed might cause him health problems.
I have family down south, In southern TX whom I have visted many times, so I been very exsposd to the South.
I can make fun of them because I make fun of my own family:D
Texas is not the South.
Billie Q.
01-14-04, 09:19 PM
Originally posted by Jules
I have have tons of respect for how the south treats people in general.
I'm assuming you mean you have tons of respect for how Texas treats people. For educational purposes, let me reiterate: Texas is NOT the South.
Dana Gold
01-14-04, 09:33 PM
They must have to hang dozens of such bags around the building to ward off bugs that congregate, especially as hot and humid (bug paradise :rolleyes: ) as it gets "down there"
Dana
Yes it is true that TX flatters themselves that they are the LONE STAR REPUBLIC
They claim to be seprate from the south.
But what part of the country is TX in? not the northeast! or the northwest or the west cost? and what does it have to do with intersex???
Why are you taking a dig at me:confused:
I have offered you nothing but support and did it freely and your making a comment to a post I responded to some time ago. You were not even on the board then
In fact the post of the apology letter came after my post not before it, I was responding to the artical.
And by the way.. What and where is the NEW CITY OF THE SOUTH?
I was told the bags of water are psychological.
If you THINK that bags of water keep flys away... Well then I guess it keeps flys away, thats how I was told it realy works.
I still had flys around my meal even with the bags of waters around me:p
Dana Gold
01-14-04, 09:43 PM
the food tasted better than the bags!:D
If the waiter was slow, I could just reach over my head and pull a bag of water off the ceiling to fill my water glass
Oh Damm!! I just let the flys in!!!!!!:D :D :D
Dana Gold
01-14-04, 09:47 PM
the flies from the bags into your water glass?..oh well...it's meat:rolleyes:
Dana Gold
01-14-04, 09:55 PM
Jules, I'm off to home, now (remember I only have PC at work)....enjoy your "drink":D .bzzzzzz:p
How could a "science nerd" not have a computer at home??!!??!!
Dana Gold
01-16-04, 01:39 PM
My current residence is a converted studio apartmeent from a pre-existing master bedroom and it has a defective phone jack (cost to fix it...$$., hence no Internet (dial-up) access. I also spend a lot of time (including week-ends) at work. Some may ask: why not get another apartment?.....I have already been "kicked out of 2 previous apartments : one for being IS/TS (oooooh..disgusting! and the other for TS ("disturb" the neighbors) and when I tried to get aprtment and they did background check...my credit was in old name at that time....scenario 1: Hi, Miss, may I help you? Oh yes, Miss Gold, we have a nice little studio, but may we check for credit etc......After check: I'm sorry Mr. Gold, that's been taken up just now, we don't have any openings and don't forsee any.:confused:
Another scenario: After check credit etc: "Omigod, you're really a man:eek: !! I don't know if you can live here?
I leave and pass by a burly man repairing a car " You heard the lady, faggot, go away.!
The above are true experiences out of many I've had.....saw a lawyer: "hard to prove..hard to win such a case, sorry Mr. Gold."
Also I don't have that much money:
Even though I have medical insurance: Because the med grps I've been in, BOTH do not/did not recognize Gender Identity Disorder as a medical necessity and hence I have to pay out of pocket for all my endo and psych visits (each $100/visit (initial.visits endo =$400..at first had to pay lab tests: hundreds of $$..and a lot of my endo/psych visits had nothing to do with TS....my last was to check cholesterol and blood pressure, of which I take meds for: monthly med costs = $110) Spent thousands of dollars for medical and
(over my insurance yearly limit) dental bills....I owe alimony (initially 1/2 my paycheck, but later reduced to a reasonable amt.. and have large credit card debt due to huge dental bills, electrolysis for face and body hair removal...THANK YOU 6 years of Testosterone shots..
...BUT I have slowly reduced my debt and am /have been fighting med grp and insurance for coverage of endo/psych visits ( thousands of $ spent for those visits/treatments/lab tests).....plus $300/ month in car payment..I got a bit of "not so good deal"...but no choice..my old car went kaput and I had no car for awhile....lawyer costs also include for 2 yrs ago: divorce and proceedings, court costs, name change, consults for discrimination of housing, and med concerns..
SO: does that answer your question, Glenn?...AND last...I am a library person, I like books over computer, but PC IS more convenient...Anyway the good:
I've "proven myself" here at work and job is stable ( I hope...since our Calif. "leadership" has been slashing funding to colleges/universities , might ( :mad: :( ) have to take pay cut!!
The family I live with accepts and acknowledges me for myself and gender, the landlady loves me as a sister, she said...happy, happy...IT IS so nice to be loved:)
I managed to make friends with ex: hence cut in alimony, ironically we get along good now as "sisters"...she understands IS and TS and is sorry for the past....God! I feel like crying.....
A lot of bad has happened to me ...and a lot of good......life is still worth living.
I think I ought to write a book, sometime. Bye.
Dana
Billie Q.
01-16-04, 05:35 PM
I was going to ask the same question Glenn asked!
Thank you for sharing so much about your own, unique situation. Sounds like you've learned to do what I try to do: overlook the bad & ugly, while focusing on the good & beautiful that is this life.
You've got cyber-pals here, Dana.
Billie Qwest
Dana Gold
01-16-04, 05:50 PM
"overlook the bad & ugly, while focusing on the good & beautiful that is this life."
Yes, the above (and healing the wounds) is dam*ed difficult to do w/o becoming cynical and negative, which I've been for such a long time..
I even edited my reply post inre Indigos because it sounded "arrogant", and I did so to reflect all of humankind's uniqueness, for , in essence, each person in this world has their own specialness that is there for them to nurture and share with and contribute to the good of all of humanity.
..being here at BLO and having connected with beautiful, humane people in my everyday life at the University, my Buddhist group and within my community, has helped me tremendously to get out of my sometimes self-induced alienation and other negativities.
"People, who need people, are the luckiest people in the world."
Lyrics excerpt from Barbara Streisand song
Dana
Billie Q.
01-18-04, 09:51 AM
Jules wrote:
". . . what part of the country is TX in? not the northeast! or the northwest or the west co[a]st?"
I believe, if I remember my US geo-politics correctly, that it's considered part of the "chunk" of states that make up the Western region of the US.
". . . and what does it have to do with intersex???"
Admittedly, not a blessed thing...
"Why are you taking a dig at me. . ."
No digs intended, Jules. Honestly.:)
"And by the way.. What and where is the NEW CITY OF THE SOUTH?"
That would be Atlanta. The phoenix that rose from the ashes, "Resurgens" (the City of Atlanta's seal), or as Henry W. Grady put it ". . . a brave and beautiful city."
:)
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