Is She Serious?

I suppose if you live in Maryland, or are staying up better with your transgender politics than even I do, you may have lost track of Chelsea Manning. If you have, here is a look at what she has been up to a year after President Barack Obama commuted her sentence. This story comes from the Washington Post:

"Manning, who became America’s most famous convicted leaker isn’t taking an extended vacation. Far from it: The Oklahoma native has decided to make an unlikely bid for the U.S. Senate in her adopted state of Maryland.

Manning, 30, filed to run in January and has been registered to vote in Maryland since August. She lives in North Bethesda, not far from where she stayed with an aunt while awaiting trial. Her aim is to unseat Sen. Ben Cardin, a 74-year-old Maryland Democrat who is seeking his third Senate term and previously served 10 terms in the U.S. House.

Manning, who also has become an internationally recognized transgender activist, said she’s motivated by a desire to fight what she sees as a shadowy surveillance state and a rising tide of nightmarish repression."

Here is her platform:

"Close prisons and free inmates; eliminate national borders; restructure the criminal justice system; provide universal health care and basic income. The top of her agenda? Abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency created in 2003 that Manning asserts is preparing for an “ethnic cleansing.”

Manning ticks off life experiences she believes would make her an effective senator: a stint being homeless in Chicago, her wartime experiences as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst in Iraq — even her seven years in prison. She asserts she’s got a “bigger vision” than establishment politicians.

But political analysts suspect the convicted felon is not running to win.

“Manning is running as a protest candidate, which has a long lineage in American history, to shine light on American empire,” said Daniel Schlozman, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s a very different goal, with a very different campaign, than if she wanted to beat Ben Cardin.”

Manning’s insurgent candidacy thus far has been a decidedly stripped-down affair, with few appearances and a campaign website that just went up. In recent days, she approached an anti-fracking rally in Baltimore almost furtively, keeping to herself for much of the demonstration. But when it was her turn to address the small group, her celebrity status was evident. People who never met her called her by her first name and eagerly took photos."

For the record, I don't think what Manning did was right and did the entire transgender community a dis-service (not to mention the country) when she did it.

Don't Believe all That you See!

Over the past week or so here in Cyrsti's Condo,  we have covered an amazing amount of ground. From Chelsea Manning's senate run, to dressing for success as a 40 plus aged woman with Deborah Boland. 

And, speaking of looks and your feminine presentation, I have always preached to the choir here about the need for preparation, before you can even begin to think about about putting your best transgender  foot forward in public.

I know from reading her blog, it turns out the "gold standard" in the transgender community, Stana from Femulate feels the same way and passed along an interesting comment about my Raquel Welch crush:

StanaJanuary 15, 2018 at 10:12 AM

Jacqueline Bisset, in 2017

"Actresses Jacqueline Bisset and Jaclyn Smith were my idols. Years later, I mentioned this to a Hollywood makeup artist who was giving me a makeover at a trans convention and he said that I had a better complexion than one of my idols, who he had worked with! So, you never know!"

Thanks Stana!

I always have loved Jacqueline Bisset's voice, as well as her looks.

Stana also mentioned she has had problems posting comments to the blog. If it happens to you, you can email me at cyrstih@yahoo,com. Please just tell me if you dont want the comment posted!

Thanks :)

Transgender Senatorial Run

In Maryland, former Army soldier, Chelsea Manning has announced her run for a Maryland Senate seat as Cyrsti's Condo reader Jeni Skunk pointed out in a comment:

"Jeni SkunkJanuary 14, 2018 at 5:53 PM

Chelsea Manning

News item - Transgender politicians

Washington Post - Saturday 2018-01-13

Chelsea Manning files to run for U.S. Senate in Maryland

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/chelsea-manning-files-to-run-for-us-senate-in-maryland/2018/01/13/6439f0d0-f88c-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html?utm_term=.146b4a5ae5a5

Chelsea E. Manning, the transgender former Army private who was convicted of passing sensitive government documents to WikiLeaks, is seeking to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, according to federal election filings.

Manning would be challenging Democrat Benjamin L. Cardin, who is in his second term in the Senate and is up for reelection in November. Cardin is Maryland’s senior senator and is considered an overwhelming favorite to win a third term."

Thanks Jeni for this update.

As much as I would love to see another (or one) trans senator, I cannot support Chelsea Manning. As a transgender veteran, I just don't respect want she did.

Chelsea Manning

LGBT transgender woman Chelsea Manning has recently posed for Vogue Magazine:



It seems her transition is coming along well!

UpDateable

An estimated 0.7 percent of youth ages 13 to 17, or 150,000 youth, identify as transgender in the United States, according to a new study released by The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. This study is the first to provide population estimates for youth who identify as transgender in each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.
"

By now you have probably heard outgoing President OBama commuted the sentence of transgender veteran Chelsea Manning  allowing the convicted Army leaker to go free nearly three decades early as part of a sweeping move to offer clemency in the final days of his administration.




And a couple comments from our on going "Dime" posts:
Connie... the last post takes us into the mid to late 1990's!

And Pat:

"I think that if I have read you correctly it was a long slow process over the years that led to your epiphany that you are transgender. I would surmise that if you are transgender then getting out and about while dressed for shopping, restaurants, etc. was not a slippery slope but an affirmation of your core essence. 

Is the slippery slope analogy related to the concept of sneaking out on you wife to seek your feminine affirmation. If so that is a difficult issue. A real strong part of you (us) wants and needs to get out and about presenting in the female gender. At the same time we know that our wives may not like that idea. They may resist all gender issues or they may simply fear that people will find out and that there will be the issues that go with that. In any event I know that my wife fears disclosure and she fears, rationally or otherwise, all the bad things that can happen if I were out in a dress. This presents a bit of a hard choice. We need to go out but our going out upsets the person we love. Is the compromise to simply not tell her we are going out while dressed? Is this your slippery slope?"

Yes Pat, perhaps to put it more succinctly, deep down inside I knew I was transgender. The "slippery slope" reference came as I kept making excuses not to follow my heart until I was pushed into it by others as you will read in an upcoming post. 

My wife was a critical part of all of this of course, until she passed away.

And finally again from Connie:

"OOOOO...Hot in Cleveland! Did you ever apply to be a member of the Vanity Club sorority? They consider themselves to be "A" listers, I'm sure, but the fact that they do is enough to keep me far away from them (I was urged relentlessly by one of them to submit my photo(s) and profile).

 I never found posting a ton of pics to be validating, nor did I find "making the scene" with a gaggle of cross dressers validating. I'll always be grateful that they were there to get me jump-started, but the quick lesson I got was that I was not like them. I think we sometimes need to experience things just to find what we ARE NOT in our journeys to find who we are."

No. I was never a member (or applied to the Vanity Club. As you said I was busy experiencing things on my path to transgender self discovery!

She's Baaaack!

I am back again on my PC and all is well again in my web world.  Recapping a couple of  items from the Sunday Edition this week, the military was in the transgender news with Chelsea Manning and beyond. Chelsea won the approval to be called "she/woman" and  the U.S. Army has taken a step that makes it more difficult to discharge transgender troops, but other branches of the armed forces have yet to follow.

The Army announced Friday that it was elevating authority to discharge transgender service members from local to the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs, the highest level to which that authority has ever been assigned.  “In essence, the announcement places a moratorium on dismissals by requiring officers to explain their decision to discharge a transgender soldier to a high-ranking civilian leader, a move many would view as potentially damaging to their careers,” reports USA Today.

We also spotlighted a story on transgender model Andreja Pejic. (above left)  She told Gay Star News about the ten years it has taken her to get to this point in her life. In the article Andreja spoke of knowing the possibility of a MtF gender transition was possible as early as 13, but was hesitant for career reasons and now says there are other trans models in the closet for the same reason.She also mentioned the Leelah Alcorn tragedy. Follow the link above for more.

Finally, a couple of you commented on the addition of a direct link to "Frock Magazine" on the top right hand side of the blog:

1. Sally BendMarch 6, 2015 at 1:39 PM

   Very cool idea putting Frock directly on the front page, hon. What I did was create a page for it within my blog, and then just update the cover image/link on my front page for each issue
2. Pat ScalesMarch 6, 2015 at 2:52 PM

   It was an excellent article in Frock. I am proud of you for your contributions to the T community. We are a diverse bunch in terms of age, interest, proclivities and needs and you surely fill a spot in the T world.
   Pat
3. Thanks to both of you ladies!  In fact Sally, Katie Glover, the editor of Frock mentioned the same idea to me!  And, Pat, Katie and I had actually been "chatting" back and forth for over a year before we could come up with an idea which would possibly work.  Thanks so much for the compliments!!!

The Trans Beat Grows Louder

As I wrote here in Cyrtsi's Condo recently, every morning it's difficult not to hear a story or someone's interpretation of the recent flood of transgender news. Plus more and more trans peeps are coming out of the woodwork to comment.  Thanks Bobbie for sending along this story:


"According to the Guardian’s Editor-in-Chief, former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning will soon be writing an opinion column for the British daily neMwspaper’s U.S. website.
Readers will likely, of course, remember Chelsea Manning formerly as Bradley Manning – responsible for the largest leak in U.S. history of classified information. The people’s patriot and whistleblower declared publicly his desire to transition to a woman in August of 2013 and began the transition from male to female last year.
Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for her role in the historical information leak."

Also, on the Meredith  Viera Show,  Patricia Arquette was one of the guests. She talked about her current projects, then of course the topic turned to her transgender sister Alexis. (left)  Patricia did a wonderful job of describing how brutal our lives can be and said, I paraphrase "it's not the package -it's the person which matters."

Unlike the stupid misdirected comments from a very ignorant Sharon Osborne about Bruce Jenner's sexuality on the Talk

Chelsea Manning's Legacy?

Every now and then something comes along to get me really stirred up about Chelsea Manning who is serving time for treason.  Along the way, I have had my doubts if I had been too harsh with my feelings.  When I read stories such as this one, I wasn't harsh enough.

 After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars training Landon Wilson to intercept communications, the U.S. military was capitalising on its investment in the young sailor, already regarded as a rising star in a critical, highly technical field. But shortly after 2 a.m. on Dec. 7, when a superior tapped him on the back and summoned him outside, one of the secrets that mattered most to Wilson began to unravel. "This Navy record says female, but this paper says male," the grim-faced sergeant major noted, displaying two sets of personnel records. "So, what are you?" After an awkward pause, Wilson, who joined the Navy as a woman but who has long felt like a man, provided the answer that set in motion the end of his military career: "I am male."

Of course U.S. transgender military personnel have one real right-the right to be fired if they are honest about being trans. The article itself comes from a site called World Americas and you can follow the link to read it but my point is, didn't Manning make everything even more difficult for trans military members currently serving? It's tough enough on all of us to be tossed into into the trash can by ignorant bigots but what a shame when one who says they are trans did what Manning did? Look, I'm not saying all transgender people are angels or don't do anything wrong but some are easier to overlook than others in the damage department. I was probably was of the more "nonmilitary" type persons you would have found, serving in the most ill conceived/ unpopular war in our country's history. (Vietnam) I served my time though and learned first hand how military personnel do need every honest break they can get when  in danger of harm.  Don't care if Manning is transgender or not. Do care what he did had and has the potential to put others in harms way-especially current transgender military personnel- who can be injured or instantaneously lose their jobs and careers if they are simply honest such as Landon Wilson was.

By the way, America's closest allies, including Canada, Britain and Australia, allow transgender service- so seamlessly. The Pentagon though seems content in marching on, secure in it's ignorance that trans members are security risks like Manning- an idea which is as backwards and untrue as restricting the ability of same sex couples to adopt. (Ohio) A topic for later here in Cyrsti's Condo