JJ's Sunday Edition

Ker Plunk! Listen closely, another Sunday Edition is hitting your virtual front porch! First, the weather. It's sunny and chilly here in Southwestern Ohio with highs barely getting into the 60's today. Excellent day for a hot cup o joe (coffee) or Chai Tea. Let's get started.

Page One: the Week that Was or Wasn't: On the entertainment scene, transgender woman Laverne Cox just made trans history again with her new series Doubt.  Cox will play a series regular character in the upcoming CBS legal drama Doubt, making her the first transgender actor to portray a transgender main character on a broadcast series.
Of course on the national scene, the sweeping revisions and backing by the Federal Government has led to a firestorm of protest-and support. There are lawyers everywhere sharpening their pencils waiting to make a great paycheck on upcoming litigation-thanks to the morons in North Carolina and Mississippi. Although approximately 28 other states have similar bills proposed by legislators opposed to tackling real problems.
Page Two: Yesterday's Coffee - Opinion. Perhaps you have noticed several "archived" posts from 2013. I personally think they had more interest than my current efforts for a couple of reasons. First of all, the world was "bright,shiny and new" as I was basically really feeling the results of HRT for the first time. Plus, I was just beginning to feel the warmth from a new circle of friends Liz and I were part of. As I found out later, a couple of them have transgender family. Being around them has made life so much richer and I have become so much closer to stealth than anytime in my life. In fact, I believe my next mini series of posts will be about stealth and the misconceptions surrounding it, from my angle.
 Page Three: Oh No She Did-unt!: As it turned out, the stories of Caillyn Jenner de-transitioning were fake according to her friend Jennifer Finney Boylan: "There it was, big as hell, CBS News reporting that Caitlyn Jenner was de-transtioning.  And there was I, as I often am while poised at my computer, clutching at my forehead muttering, “Jesus H. Christ in a chicken basket.” And: "The source for the story, 

interestingly, was a fellow writing an unauthorized biography of the Kardashians. He had not spoken to Jenner personally.  And yet CBS — the House of Murrow! — figured, what the hey.  No one from the network called Jenner for a comment.  By mid day, after a statement from her publicist, CBS changed its online headline to “Caitlyn Jenner’s Rep Responds to De-Transitioning Report.”  The whole sad baloney sandwich was tossed on the internet compost heap by day’s end, and with it, I suppose, my interest should have waned.
You can go here to the "Advocate"for more.
Page Four: The Back Page: Time to head out and walk the dogs kids! You and yours have a wonderful week!
Luv ya!!!!
JJ

The First Transgender President?

Jennifer Boylan

It's President's Day and I began to think of any possible transgender closeted president we have had (in relatively modern times.)  

Wouldn't that be cool? Ideally, a candidate who could understand those on both sides of the gender aisle? 

Allegedly though, the closest we have come in recent memory has been FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's closet full of dresses. These days, as we approach elections, LGBT organizations may continually have to fight tooth and nail for our freedoms. Let alone think about a trans president.

On another subject:

In my constant search around the world wide web, yesterday I did find another wonderful interview with Jennifer Finney Boylan from the New York Times called: "You've gone to a lot of trouble to be a woman-don't be a stupid  one."  Plenty of wonderful quotes for you to take a look at!

"Back in the Day"

Perhaps you have heard of or read some of Jennifer Finney Boylan 's work. (Shown below left.)  She writes for the New York Times and her recent article caught my eye because of how I identified with it.  Both of us grew up in rural settings and as she points out, yes we had "boyhoods".  Here's an excerpt from hers: 

(About her summers growing up in the 1960s)  "Although I became a woman in adulthood and struggled with the gender business until then, it’s nevertheless true that I had a boyhood, and that many moments in it were pretty blissful. I passed my days in the farmland and forests of rural Pennsylvania. I went fishing for brown trout, dived into creeks from covered bridges and shot off model rockets with my father. I climbed onto the top of the backstop at the elementary school playground — abandoned in summer — and learned swear words from a boy named Kevin Walsh."

She goes on to write:

"I’m not sure I would have traded my boyhood for a girlhood, if given the chance. I know I would have been grateful to have been spared the misery of adolescence, of course, and the wearisome transition that came after, but on the whole I give thanks for those July days I spent staring up at the blue sky. That boy lives inside me, even now. His dreams are still mine."

Finally, 
"As for me (Jennifer Boylan) , I have shed a few tears over the course of my life, searching for the boy I was. There aren’t that many people alive now who remember him, besides me, and that makes me a little sad. Like a lot of people, I sometimes ask myself the question posed by David Byrne: “Well? How did I get here?” Finding the answer, a sense of peace between past and future, is one measure of wholeness and well-being."

There is much more to this article in the Times and I hope by giving you excerpts, I have been able to give you the essence of her thoughts.  Plus, not that she cares, I wonder if there are those who have taken her to task for not being a true "transgender" woman because she knowingly took so long to transition? "Me thinks-yes!"

Go here for the entire post!

The Yin and the Yang?

Two stories on the web this morning caught my eye offering up the differing directions the transgender community is going-both with positive results.

The first comes from Barnard College:

Barnard today announced that celebrated writer and activist Jennifer Finney Boylan (left) will join the College’s English faculty as the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer-in-Residence. In this newly created position honoring one of Barnard’s most esteemed and dedicated alumnae, Boylan will teach two creative writing courses each year, while also engaging with Barnard students and faculty in various capacities that will support and enhance the College’s legacy of cultivating talented young writers. 

 “Jenny’s writing addresses some of the most pressing issues of our time, and working with her will be an extraordinary opportunity for our students and faculty,” said Barnard President Debora Spar. “Welcoming her to Barnard, while simultaneously honoring Anna Quindlen’s invaluable contributions to the craft of writing, marks a truly exciting moment for the College.”

The other is from New Zealand as Transgender modelling hopeful Amy Brosnahan will compete in the national final of the Battle of the Babes in Auckland. The 18-year-old made it into the final after competing in a heat last month. Organisers at one stage told her she couldn’t take part because she was transgender, but quickly changed their minds after some thought. They said they hadn’t known how to handle the situation, but Brosnahan says ultimately everyone was welcoming at her heat. If she wins, the next stop will be competitions in Hong Kong.

"T'd" Me Off

An article from the Huffington Post recently had me thinking about a recent experience with a guy using the gender slur Tranny with me.  For reasons he would not admit to, a guy showed up in one of my "Google+" Transgender groups. Of course I couldn't let it alone since the original post was referring to the well worn subject of why transgender women carry the stigma of being promiscuous.  Of course he didn't believe in any of that but he and his wife have been looking for a "tranny slave" or two for their domination "fun" group. Not only are all of all "easy" we just love to be dominated!

Let me point out I could care less about anyone's sexual preference or fetish, it doesn't matter to me what most do as long as I'm not hurt...Within legal reason of course. He kept accusing me of that when my main point was his use of the "T" gender slur. Couldn't get him to understand the process was the same as using the "N" word or any number of other racial slurs.  His main argument was the transgender women in the group had no problem with being called a tranny. Very similar to "I'm not a bigot, some of my best friends are black."

Again he would have no part of my point that his "transgender" women weren't.  They probably were fetish cross dressers, gurls or even she males.

Unfortunately the abuse doesn't begin or end with a man like him as documented by Jennifer Finney Boylan  (left)

"Hey, can we have a conversation about the word "tranny"? It's a word that is generally considered dehumanizing and offensive when referring to transgender people, like the "N" word for a person of color, or the "F" word for a gay man. But there it was in headlines last week in the story about DJ Mister Cee, who'd been outed as having had sex with a transgender prostitute (see "Is That You Boo? Mister Cee DRAGGED Out The Closet By Alleged Tranny Lover Who Taped Their Encounter??? [Video]"). There it was in a Daily Beast interview with actor Jared Leto about his performance as a transsexual woman in the new movie Dallas Buyers Club. (Writer Marlow Stern's first question: "How did you summon your inner tranny for this role?") And there it was, virtually everywhere, when Chelsea Manning came out as trans last month, causing editors from The Huffington Post to NPR to go running to their copies of the AP Stylebook for help. Politico's Dylan Byers actually wrote a smart article about the challenge, titled "Manning Switch Challenges Style Editors," which you'll have to admit was putting it mildly."

Of course there is much more to this post which you can read here but I'm going to finish off with this excerpt:

"Once, early in transition, I found myself wandering around L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine, wearing a wig that would have been better off used as a home for red squirrels. If you didn't know better, you might well have called me some kind of a "hot mess." I still remember the huge eyes with which a small child, holding her mother's hand, viewed me as I drew near. "Mommy," said the child. "Who is that?" To this day I am grateful for the mother's reply. "That," she said, "is a human being."

FYI, I had that wig and the kid said "Big MEAN woman".

Damn Lesbians!

Well, not exactly or at all but maybe the title got your attention.
What I was referring to was a recent interview with Jennifer Finney Boylan and Joy Behar. Of course one of the questions just had to include those pesky sexual preference labels for Jennifer and long term wife. Here it is on Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

Big Day on the "Tube"

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to see a short interview with Jennifer Finney Boylan.  Jennifer is an   author and professor plus one of the best known transgender people in America. She appeared on the NBC Today show with wife Deedie and son Zach and talked about her new book Stuck in The Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders.

According to TV.Broadwayworld.com  later Friday night, 10p/9c on "Rock Center with Brian Williams," viewers will hear more from Jennifer and her family, including her wife Deedie who opens up about her reaction to the news, how she handled the transition and her fears about how it would affect their sons. A must see!