Facebook user caught out sharing transgender man’s photo in attempt to shame Caitlyn Jenner

A MAN who used a picture of two army soldiers in the heat of battle to shame Caitlyn Jenner’s “brave” transition has been humbled after an amazing discovery was made about the post.
Terry Coffey found a picture of what he thought was a war battle and posted it on Facebook with the caption “This is what real American courage, heroism and bravery looks like”.
He was posting after getting upset that Caitlyn Jenner was labelled a hero for revealing herself as a woman and it was shared more than 800,000 times.
But it turned out the picture was fake.
The ‘men’ in the picture turned out to be toy figurines.
In an ironic twist, those figurines were created by a cross-dresser who turned out to be the biggest hero of them all.

Mark Hogancamp’s amazing story was revealed in The New York Times in May. It turns out the 53-year-old was the victim of a vicious assault outside a bar in 2000 because he was transgender.
He was left in a coma for nine days and awoke with brain injuries and post traumatic stress disorder.
To help in his recovery, Hogancamp turned his attention to creating an entire city using figurines. It was celebrated in a documentary titled “Marwencol” in 2010. It shows him creating scenes of war but also of peace, including a marriage.
“I needed a way to work things out, for me,” he said.

When his photographs were spotted by an art dealer and displayed at the Allouche Gallery in New York City, Hogancamp turned up in military gear and his favourite heels.
As for Terry Coffey, he had to eat some humble pie.
He redeemed himself with a post the next day.
He wrote: “This is the photo I shared yesterday in the spirit of spotlighting ‘true bravery’.
“This photo that accompanied my words, was chosen from a quick image search. Just wanted something to fit my words. I wanted to find out who the photographer was, so I could credit his work.
“In an ironic twist, I have discovered that the photo is part of a documentary created by a man who was beaten nearly to death outside of a bar in 2000. After spending nine days in a coma, suffering severe brain damage and being unable to walk or talk for a year, he chose to try and cope with his pain from the tragic event, by creating a world of stories and characters and photos set in WWII.
“Why was he nearly beaten to death by five strangers? Because he was a cross-dresser.”
He said he could have chosen one of hundreds of other photos but believes it happened for a reason.
“What happened to this man was wrong, cruel, and unforgivable. Hate helps nothing. Love wounds no one. And God heals all.”
He finished by saying: “Irony makes us think”.
And Mark Hogancamp - you win the internet.