I’m not particularly religious but I have read some of the Old Testament. I am familiar with the story of Lot, and the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah where buggery was so rampant that even the angels of the Lord that visited there were at risk of being violated. Hence it was with an element of trepidation that I attended a lecture at the University of Lethbridge Saturday evening presented by that institution’s Student Union (Gay) Pride Centre. It was the keynote event of a four day workshop and lecture series on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered issues, called Outspoken 2012.

I had perverse visions of ending the evening half naked in an alley somewhere, brutally neutered, a pathetic, ragged -ass poster boy for Preparation H, and worse, maybe even liking it.

My fears weren’t lessened any when I saw the keynote speaker, Kate Bornstein. Once a Jewish male, Ms. Bornstein is now a 64 year old, transgendered- woman. She is also an author, performer, play-write and gender theorist.

Her appearance is something she calls diesel femme. Her stylish blonde hair and perky horn rimmed glasses were contradicted by a tough looking black tank top and enough tattoos on her arms for any three big-rig truckers. A visual dichotomy this woman gave the appearance of someone you don’t mess with. I again figured that maybe this white boy was in for an ass kicking, queer style.

Perhaps sensing my apprehension Ms. Bornstein approached me in the lecture hall and introduced herself. She came across as bright, articulate, reasoned and personable, an easy person to like, appearances, history and reputation notwithstanding.

To say that Kate Bornstein wowed the audience would be understatement. For just over two hours she theorized on what makes life worth living and how people can make their own lives worth living, particularly those faced with the challenges of being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. She postulated that fully realizing one’s identity and desires, and accessing resources is compromised by a hierarchical system of oppression made up of binaries such as gender, sexuality, class, language, political ideology and family. These binary constructs traditionally provide two dichotomous choices and are characterized by their requirement for yes or no answers. With respect to social class, for example, the choices are worker and owner. All people are one or the other and the question, is which are you? Are you are worker, yes or no? Are you an owner yes or no. There are no other apparent options.

Ms. Bornstein suggests that answering yes or no to such questions promotes the myth that there are only two choices, and that it limits the potential of the individual. With respect to gender and sexuality, for example, there is more than just male and female or heterosexual and homosexual. In fact these two binaries contain at least 750 diverse categories including straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual (no sex) transgendered, inter-sexed (not fitting either  male or female), sadomasochist, kinky, and a host of others ranging even to people who have sexual attraction to stuffed animals (plushies). It’s a complicated world.

And the question is, in a complicated world that people insist on approaching in a black and white, yes or no fashion, how does one make life worth living? Ms. Bornstein advocates world peace through sexual positivism and gender anarchy or G.A.S.P., the acronym achieved if you rearrange those words. She suggests challenging binary constructs such as gender and sexuality through mindfulness. This can defuse the emotional, gut level triggers that binary thinking can generate, triggers such as the word faggot which can produce a knee jerk emotional response devoid of any conscious realization that the person being referred to is a human being.

She is also an advocate of the radical welcoming of people different than you and suggests that there has never been a politic based on compassion. My take on that is that people have certainly tried the compassionate route; Christ and Gandhi are examples but they were killed for their efforts. And in Christ’s case his message has been so analyzed and interpreted and argued over that its meaning has been largely obscured in fine print and rhetoric.

On a personal level Kate Bornstein advocates doing whatever is necessary to make life worthwhile providing that does not involve being mean. If that brings you into conflict with your God she says find another one; there are plenty out there. And while, from a personal perspective, that seems a radical and overly simplistic concept who among us, Christian or atheist, can say that we have never harmed another human being and have given up being mean, even to ourselves?

In keeping with her advice Ms. Bornstein provided each audience member with a "Get out of Hell Free" card. Apparently some time back, on a beach in New Jersey, she had a talk with the devil and offered to serve time in hell for anyone who was sent there for doing anything that wasn’t mean to someone. The devil laughed but took her up on her offer.

I suspect, however, that Kate Bornstein has already served her time in hell and won’t be returning there any time in future. At least that is my hope.

She has paid her dues. On six different occasions life’s circumstances brought her to the brink of suicide. Her experiences in this regard served as inspiration for her book, "Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws."

Ms. Bornstein’s keynote address was enlightening, entertaining and educational. I wish her well and thank her for the "Get out of Hell Free" card. I just might need it.