Acceptance

The community expects personal details to be rigidly guarded in such things as medical records and law. It seems when we step into the public domain such things don’t apply. Everything is fair game.

Recent reports in The Timaru Herald highlight this. Firstly the report on Caster Semanya. Being a black South African it is no mean feat achieving international fame. Although she has been female since birth, officials are suspicious of her muscularity. Many top athletes have exceptional physical attributes. Yet she is subjected to the indignity having her sexuality publicly dissected. What pressure must have occasioned the outburst ‘‘Would they like to see my vagina?’’ Whatever happened to that privacy we cherish?

Recently there was a headline ‘‘Gay All Black’’. The man would be selected for his outstanding abilities on the rugby field. What on earth has his personal sexuality got to do with it?

We no longer stone people for adultery and aspects of human sexuality are no longer criminal. Hopefully we now accept people for themselves. I once taught a class with three sets of identical twins – they were all individuals. As God’s creations we are all unique. Dennis Veal

Timaru