Out and About

Two transgender women who forsook the stealth closet in 2013 have made the news again:

Fallon Fox, the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter who came out transgender in March, said in a GQ profile that passing is everything. The 5-page story follows Fox, 37, as she prepares to fight Ashlee Evans-Smith. Along the way, we learn that Fox wasn't always sure she wasn't a boy. “There was no time to think about that back in East Toledo, Ohio, in a house where fearing the Lord was a full-time job,” GQ wrote. 

As early as 5 or 6, Fox experimented with girls' clothing. “I stood in front of the mirror, and I knew it was right,” she said. “But it also meant I was damned. I mean, that seemed totally logical to me. You feel that way and you think you've got the Devil in you, just like they say.” “Where I came from, it was more shocking to be an atheist than to be transgender,” Fox said. In 2006, Fox boarded a plane to Thailand to undergo sex reassignment surgery. She went alone. 

“Passing becomes everything, everything,” Fox said. “Every time you go into a Starbucks and there's nothing in someone's eyes, it feels great.”

And there was  Lana Wachowski, (right) who transitioned in 2002. She's one of the most influential directors in Hollywood, having inspired a generation of filmmakers with her Matrix trilogy. Quite the outfit! 

T

Hormones and the Transgender Jock

Many of you who are regular guests to Cyrsti's Condo know I'm a sports fanatic and of course I'm happy my The Ohio State Buckeyes are going back to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA basketball tournament

Hillary Thompson

Recently though, so much more is happening in sports.  Transgender and  transsexual women are increasingly trying compete with their own gender.  Kick boxer Fallon Fox comes to mind, along with trans golfer Bobbi Lancaster and skate border Hillary Thompson.

Of course I am for equal transgender rights at every turn but I'm not so sure of the inherent fairness of sports competition with genetic females.

I can only go with my own personal observations of how HRT has sapped my male strength but still think my basic body crafted from years of testosterone would give me an unfair physical advantage. IF skill levels and mental attitudes were comparable, changes are I would win.

I also considered the deep seated ideas of athletic competition between men and women which go back to our earliest days of getting beat by a girl.
That theory goes out the window though when you consider transgender roller derby skater Kayley Whalen? I'm thinking most of her fellow female skaters could care less and said so and vice versa as Kayley went on to fight with the bigoted transphobic Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. (Which has barred transgender participation).

Kayley Whalen, right.

.

Bobbie Lancaster

I guess the bottom line is I'm trying to do the infamous "pound the round peg into a square hole game". To each their own and let the best person win...transgender or not.

Transsexual MMA Fighting

I suppose you can say in our own small way we all fight for our right to be transgender or transsexual or even human. Then again there are those that REALLY fight for it.
Read on:

Fallon Fox: center

"Fallon Fox is bracing herself for controversy, and as the first on-record transgender female fighter in mixed martial arts, she's going to get plenty of it. On Monday, the 37-year-old Fox (2-0) revealed exclusively to SI.com that she's a transgender fighter -- the first on record, male or female, to compete in the combat sport. Fox won her second professional bout with a 39-second knockout (via knee) last Saturday at Championship Fighting Alliance 10 in Coral Gables, Fla. Fox, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2006 along with the supplemental hormonal therapy, is scheduled to fight again for the CFA on April 20 in the semifinals of its eight-woman featherweight tournament. However, Fox's license approval is now under investigation with Florida's Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation."

For more go here.