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March is Women’s History Month. As such, we all have at least one woman in our lives worthy of honor — our mother.

And today, March 31, is International Transgender Day of Visibility.

These two competing moments of recognition and celebration have me baffled.

I see tweets and posts on social media from folks in the transgender community saying the only regret they have is not becoming their genuine self earlier.

You have women who are now claiming to be men and men pretending to be women and celebrating it.

Yet all month we’re supposed to honor and celebrate the importance of women throughout our history.

But here we are at the end of the month and my head is spinning. Can we really celebrate the accomplishments of women throughout history if, perhaps, by chance they were never allowed to be their “true selves?”

How do we know that the women we learn about in history felt like women? That they would have identified as women if they had a choice?

How do we know that biology would’ve been their guide rather than their feelings?

At a time where it is controversial to suggest things like men can’t get periods or only women can have babies, why are we celebrating women at all?

After all, gender is just a choice, right? It’s a feeling. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s whatever we want it to be.

And gender is fluid. So the people we’re celebrating this month may well decide to be men next month. And that’s totally OK, at least that’s what they say.

My head spins just trying to keep up with what I’m supposed to think, feel and believe today — the last day of Women’s History Month but THE day of International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Do I celebrate women? Do I celebrate men who pretend to be women and men who pretend to be women?

Because it feels like if I’m supposed to celebrate the men who pretend to be women and women who pretend to be men, gender really doesn’t seem like anything important. If it is that interchangeable, then what difference does it make?

Throw in the fact that we’re all “equal” and I have to question why we have a Women’s History Month at all. I mean, women are equal to men and men are equal to women. So why put either on a pedestal?

If this opinion article felt herky-jerky and seemed to lack flow — know that was intentional. Because I am not sure how these two ideas can not be considered to directly conflict with one another.

Celebrate women…also celebrate women pretending to be men and men pretending to be women.

Am I the only one who sees the irony in this?

Author: Jacob Hall

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