Thanks for all the good replies.  Orin Hatch said something rather similar to Ken Buck, probably for the same reasons.  This all reminds me of when I heard former Colorado Governor Roy Romer speak in front of the Denver Gay Men's Chorus, backstage at the Buell when it opened in the mid-90s.  "I'm a kid from a small town on the eastern plains, and grew up with a set of views about gay people. Only when I met, worked with, and got to know them did I realize how wrong those views were."  Same goes for transgendered folks.  Learn about others.