Letter to the Editor - Jezabel |18 August 2017

I’ve read of Jezebel and Jezabel in the bible and in the Seychelles NATION.  Both were for drastic changes in behaviour and culture.

In the Hebrew bible Jezebel was a queen who persecuted the prophets of Yahweh as she was for the worship of deities. She fabricated evidence of blasphemy against an innocent landowner who refused to sell his land to her husband King Ahab.

On Monday August 14, 2017 I read Mervin Jezabel Barbe has lost his appeal case to have the gender record on his identity changed from male to female.

Jezabel’s plight in court is understandable to me in our modern world of permissive sexual orientation.

I write because I am confounded by the Court of Appeal’s recommendation to the National Assembly “to consider whether in the Seychelles of today there is justification for the recognition of gender change, at least in conformity with the Charter of Human Rights in our Constitution”.

Justices of the Court of Appeal have washed their hands. The National Assembly will now decide on gender or sex change.

I think it is clear that the birth certificate cannot be changed. It is a type of DNA on paper.

It is said that sex is between the legs and gender is between the ears.  Sex is the type of genitalia one has. Gender is something one thinks about, by the brain which is between the ears, and decides to be.

We live in a material world. When the child is born, one of the first things the midwife does is look between the legs of the baby.  And the birth certificate should have the date and time of birth of the baby, the sex of the child, place and location of birth, and name(s) of parent(s).

The sex of the baby is therefore on the birth certificate just after the birth.

Mervin Jezabel Barbe was born as a male and registered as such on a birth certificate issued by the Civil Status Office in Seychelles in 1972.

Materially, this is the Jezabel who came into this world in 1972. A baby boy. Nature’s doing. Programmed to be a male. Not his parents’ design. Not his choice.

Later, at the age of 31, he changed his sex to become a female, through medical surgery. Even in Italy where the change was performed, he was refused to be recognised legally as female. He was suffering in his mind. His ideal at war with his material.  The part between his ears could not accept he was born a baby boy.

He did manage to change his middle name from Jackson to Jezabel, because change of name is allowed in Seychelles after going through a process.

I am sure even people who change their names have their records somewhere about their origins. The same applies to women who marry. They never completely abandon their maiden names. These maiden names are on the records somewhere. On some documents the married women are often referred to as nee Barbe or born Barbe. She will reclaim her name Barbe after divorce or by choice.

Cars change plate numbers. But on the record at the licensing authority there are documents to state the previous numbers. Vehicles change engines or chassis. Records somewhere will have the previous engine and chassis numbers.

The identity of a person begins constructing at birth, with the registration of the sex and date of birth. To change the birth certificate is to begin changing sacrosanct parts of the identity.

Changing the date of birth on the birth certificate is already forgery. A fabrication that raises suspicion.

The ball is in the National Assembly’s court. What the National Assembly will never be able to change is the 23rd pair of Jezabel’s chromosomes. Our stock.

V. Charles   

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this letter are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Seychelles NATION newspaper.