I was born left-handed.
I don’t know why.
It was just a trait that emerged when I was young.
I hope that most readers are now thinking, “What’s the big deal?”
And that is my point.
Our society has changed and we accommodate the roughly 10 percent of left-handed people without concern.
But we should remember that if I had been born a generation earlier, my teachers would have tried to change my left-handedness, forcibly.
I would have had my hands slapped, or worse.
In more distant times I would have been looked at with suspicion and ostracized from my community.
The Latin word for left is sinistra, the root for our English word sinister.
Left-handedness was considered an evil trait.
Hard to believe now, isn’t it?
Several weeks ago, a letter to the editor was published concerning gender identification.
As a physician, I believe that the letter was full of misinformation and innuendo.
It did not cast light on a difficult issue, only darkness. It was not helpful.
I write these thoughts on the day after Thanksgiving.
On its eve, we sang one of my favorite hymns, “For the Fruit of all Creation.”
It ends with these wonderful words, “For the wonders that surround us, for the truths that still confound us, but most of all that love has found us …”
Even as we seek greater understanding of the many truths that still confound us, let’s begin from a position of hands extended in welcome, not held apart in prejudice.
Elizabeth Christian, MD,
Port Angeles