[Uemarasan]

Congratulations to him. I hope he lives a good life.

Personally, I prefer to refer to the person's original sex when using pronouns, since I believe that sex is something you cannot change except superficially speaking. There are only three as far as I am concerned and these are for life since sex is defined by biology: male, female, intersex. Gender and sexuality, that's left to the individual's mindset to define.

This is something I will hold onto until science has produced the technology that allows someone to generate their own body parts (womb, ovaries, reproductive organs) using their own cells as they correspond to their gender identity. Stem cell research appears headed in that direction.

Unless Hide himself expressly requests me to use the feminine pronoun to refer to him, I don't think I am beholden to do so. Political correctness and fear of social reprisal shouldn't dictate anyone's personal choices and actions. It didn't in Hide's case, and it shouldn't in my case either.

I'm not a homophobe (I am in fact a lifelong homosexual), but I've always believed that homophobes have the right to their opinions and should never be castigated for making them.