Quick note about a public tragedy

Unless you live on Mars, you've probably heard about the tragic passing of Jett Travolta due to his seizure disorder. I realize that there are a lot of strong feelings out there about Jett's family and their religion of Scientology. Here is some advice, though, that I would like to give a lot of bloggers, tabloid news shows, columnists, and other celebrity watchers.

SHUT THE FUCK UP!

You don't know the specifics of Jett's disorders and treatments, and it's none of your goddamn business. There's a reason why you have to sign all of those damn privacy forms at your doctor's office. Nobody has a right to nose into your medical history, and you don't have the right to nose into Jett Travolta's.

This is family that has had a rough road and is dealing with terrible pain and guilt. They need your support, not your wild theories of neglect and abuse.

Now for something less angry

I am very hopeful that President-elect Obama will be supportive of the needs of people with disabilities. The main reason I believe this is that his chief adviser David Axelrod has an amazing daughter with special needs. David Axelrod has a history of being an advocate for individuals like his daughter. I am sure that he will continue that now that he has a national platform.

Writing the Other

matociquala just said some brilliant things about "Writing The Other without being a dick." I couldn't agree with her more. This was something that I struggled with in my first novel. My protagonist is a lesbian. There were points that I really questioned myself about writing a character who is not of my gender or orientation. I have a lot experience in that world, but I still questioned my qualifications for writing it (if you don't know why, ask me at BarCon). In the end, I realized that it was better to make some mistakes than to force that character to become a straight white male. I drew a lot of strength for this decision from truepenny's choice to write from a gay man's POV in her phenomenal Doctrine of Labyrinths series. That was the right thing to do for that character, and she wasn't afraid to do it. Not only was it right for that character, it exposed many of her readers to somebody who came from a very different background than their own. This is the way that we all learn to accept the differences of the Other.

Writing stereotypes is horrible, but so is making the Other invisible. I live in a world where the only character on television that resembles my daughter is Timmy on South Park. It's not right that the only time Caitlin sees somebody like herself is when they run commercials for lawyers who will help people sue for their child's Cerebral Palsy. I would rather see people try to write children with special needs and make small mistakes than to live in a world where it seems like those people don't exist.