TRINIDAD, CO THE “SEX CHANGE” CAPITOL OF THE WORLD
This week, while cleaning my office, I ran across a file of Christian materials from about 15 years ago. I have a hard time throwing anything away, so I scanned through the file briefly and an article on Trinidad, CO caught my eyes. I honestly couldn’t remember ever reading this or perhaps transgender wasn’t mentioned much in the news back then, but I was intrigued by the story.
It seems that Trinidad was considered the “sex change” capitol of the world in the latter half of the 20th century. Hard to imagine since Trinidad was a little-known city located 13 miles from the border of New Mexico. At the height of this business, there were an average of 4 sex changes per day. |
These operations were performed by Dr. Stanley Biber, Trinidad’s only doctor at that time. Dr. Biber had been a battlefield surgeon in the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. He had witnessed the horrors of war where the human body was devastated by wounds to reproductive organs, bowels and urinary tracts. After service to his country, he was hired to provide care to coal miners and their families in Trinidad, but quickly established himself locally both as a surgeon and general physician, with many locals as his regular patients.
In 1969, a social worker who often worked with Dr. Biber approached him with a request, one that for Dr. Biber had never heard of. She was a transgender woman, and asked if he would be able to perform what was known at the time as a sex-change operation. He had never performed a surgery of that kind before, but he consulted medical books and communicated with surgeons who had performed the operation at John Hopkins, who sent him hand drawn notes as a guide. He began perfecting the operation and teaching it to others. Over a period of forty-one years, until his retirement in 2004, his clinic performed an estimated 6,000 gender confirmation surgeries. Starting with his first two transexual females, he saw a 50/50 result of success in the lives of the women. One transexual went on to a successful life and the other was still unhappy with her body and suffered from depression, mental health issues and addiction. |
Even Dr. Biber himself, who was by all accounts a compassionate practitioner, believed that with adequate therapy, most people would simply accept their lot in life. He thought the penile-scrotal flap surgery he performed was “horrible-looking.” I believe that Dr. Biber thought he was helping those who were distraught, but by trying to improve on God’s creation, we just inherit confusion.
Even the people of Trinidad had to live with the confusion of right or wrong with the situation. They liked the doctor but were not appreciative of his transexual practice. In fact, you’ll find no statue, memorial, or even a plaque marking Biber’s long career as the man who brought Trinidad world renown, though many other significant chapters in local history are acknowledged by plaques along downtown sidewalks. It wasn’t until 13 years after the surgeon’s death in 2006, that the local museum included any mention of his work in an exhibit space that celebrates practically every other detail of the city’s remarkable Old West history. |
When we don’t make a stand against what we believe is wrong, things just get worse and eventually we will accept the wrong as right or we will compromise our beliefs to accommodate the most recent worldview. If we give in, so will the community, city, state and the rest of the world.
That’s what happened in Trinidad and has happened in our country. Now transexual men are in women’s locker rooms, competing in women’s sports, and attacking anyone who will not recognize them as “normal”. We have validated them by not speaking up or providing proper counseling. Our public schools teach students in elementary school that they can be whatever sex they want. That cannot happen!!
That’s what happened in Trinidad and has happened in our country. Now transexual men are in women’s locker rooms, competing in women’s sports, and attacking anyone who will not recognize them as “normal”. We have validated them by not speaking up or providing proper counseling. Our public schools teach students in elementary school that they can be whatever sex they want. That cannot happen!!
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” God created man and woman. Who are we to assume we can change or improve God’s creation. He didn’t make mistakes. Some of us have fallen into some sort of “Frankenstein” insanity and can’t escape. Let Christians stand up for truth and reality before the whole world is lost.
P.S. Trinidad is officially a “weed city” now. KLN |