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| JJ Hart in Key Largo |
On occasion, it seems to me that I am playing chess when the rest of the world is playing with checkers.
Of course, I am referring to how my gender dysphoric issues
have affected my life. Let me be clear too, I have never been a chess player in
real life ever. None of that stops me from having the utmost respect for
someone who excels at the game. So why can I compare playing chess to my life
at all? The reason is I can understand life a little bit better than the average
person just because I have lived my life on both sides of the primary gender
borders. I have had the opportunity to see firsthand how men live and then
women when I was allowed behind the gender curtain as a transgender woman.
Having the opportunity to live in both gender worlds has totally
put me at odds with some in the world. Especially those who worship the orange
pedo/felon. It has been ridiculous how many laws have been passed in certain
areas of the country against the transgender population. My prime example is my
native Ohio, where I live today. For all intents and purposes, the Republican
state legislation has voted me out of existence. The question is why. To find a
closer look, you must follow the money here in Ohio where a deep funded dark
money political group rented out and renovated offices right across the street
from the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. It turns out the primary objective of
the group was to push for anti-transgender laws in the state.
Of course, in the already corrupt legislature, the anti-trans
push worked. Often in the dead of night when the Republicans pushed it through.
By now you may be wondering what all this political talk has to do with playing
chess. With all the new laws, transgender women and transgender men have been
forced to be more skillful when they go out in public. To their credit, many of
the transfeminine people I know have continued their push to live an everyday
life.
On the other side of the coin, those rednecks who would not
accept us have never met a trans person in their lives and don’t know how to
react when they discover we are just trying to live our lives the best we can. Which
gives us a better chance of acceptance when they do.
I think also, many strangers don’t trust us because we have an
abundance of life knowledge and skills behind us. Which is the reason many men
reject us because they know we were once in the male club and know all the
tricks. On the flip side, as I was transitioning into the feminine world, I had
several women ask me personal questions on how to deal with their men since I
had lived in the male camp for so long. Sure, It took me a long time to be
awarded my feminine chess set, but once I was, there would be no looking back
and no one was going to take away my new found freedom.
Certainly, I feel the same way today as I did when I came
out of my gender shell over a decade ago. This fall, my wife Liz and I are
taking another tour. This time to Boston, Vermont and Maine. Even though this
is our fifth tour and I have never had any restroom problems before, I always
pause to consider the consequences if I do this time. All it takes is one bigot
to ruin it for everyone. One way or another, no tRumper is going to keep me
from using the restroom of my choice with Liz. If the last tour was any example,
I won’t have to worry about any gender related questions because the best one
we received last year was were Liz and I sisters.
After being able to live so many years on both sides of the
gender border, I feel now I am more than qualified to bring my chess game to
the public and leave my old male checkers behind. Now, I even anticipate the
sport of anyone trying to challenge me in the world. It took me long enough to
get here, so it is time to enjoy it the best I can without something as petty
as the restroom standing in my way.
Sorry about the politics in this post, but sometimes I just
need to vent the best I can when someone is succeeding in taking our
transgender rights away. We just have to be better than our rivals who know
nothing about gender chess.
Never forget, men play checkers while women play chess in
life.
