Cyrsti's Condo

 This comment comes from Connie based on my recent "Memorial Day" post: " Thank you for your service, and thank God you survived it. At the time I entered college (1969), student deferments were in effect. So was my gender dysphoria deferred, through pure will power and suppression. When the government decided to drop the student deferments and institute a lottery, I became fearful of being drafted with a lottery number of 122. At Photo Courtesy Connie Malone first, I thought I could go over to the ROTC building, register, and then complete my education. Talking with some vets in my dorm, though, I learned that doing so would make me a  "  2nd lieutenant, and being one would put me in a higher casualty position than if I were just inducted as a private. OK, I thought to myself, maybe this would be a good time to come out (suppression doesn't work 24/7, but it adds an extra door or two to the closet your in). I figured that it would be the ace up my sleeve, anywa

 The group which is presenting me with a honor for my LGBTQ transgender military service so many years ago requested a picture if I could find one. It was so many years ago (1972-75) and was a time which I wasn't especially fond of having my picture taken anyhow, I doubted if I could find one.  I was sure I didn't have any pictures "just laying around" the house. Finally, I remembered a few of the former guys who served where I did on the American Forces Radio and Television Service - Thailand Network actually put together a website years ago. I began to wonder if I was in any of their pictures. I went out on a limb and googled my deadname and AFTN and amazingly, there I was. Listed in a group picture of the entire crew of the military Udorn, Thailand radio/television station in September of 1972. I would have been approximately six months removed from basic training and the station itself was still fairly new. A year before, a battle damaged fighter jet had crashed i

Perhaps you have read somewhere by now, the Navy has given a waiver to serve for a stellar transgender active duty person. As you probably remember, for no good reason (except pleasing his red neck base) the liar in chief banned all transgender troops from serving. Since I am a transgender veteran myself, this story really hits home. Now.  “The acting Sec retary of the Navy has approved a specific request for exemption related to military service by transgender persons and persons with gender dysphoria,” Navy spokeswoman Lt. Brittany Stephens told CNN.  Here is more from the LGBTQ Nation: “This service member requested a waiver to serve in their preferred gender, to include obtaining a gender marker change in (the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System) and being allowed to adhere to standards associated with their preferred gender, such as uniforms and grooming.” The unnamed officer came out after the ban went into effect in June 2019. They were represented by the National Ce

I follow a non transgender based blog on Word Press called Lifes Fine Whine . Today she posted she wanted comments about childhood dreams and how they came out. I decided to provide a comment about mine. The comment was designed to explain some of the angst of being transgender without getting too in depth. Here it is: All through my childhood, I wanted desperately to be just like the girl next door. Unfortunately I was a boy born into a male dominated family. So, I played football when I wanted to be a cheerleader. Went to the prom in a tux instead of the beautiful dress my date wore. After college, I was drafted into the military during the Vietnam War. I served my time but never lost the idea I was somehow living a lie. I cross-dressed every time I had the chance to relieve the pressure and explored the idea of living a feminine life. Along the way, I went through two marriages to women who knew of my "secret." The second passed away quite unexpectedly leaving me fr

A new study is being released this fall on the connection between the military and transgender vet according an article in San Diego by Beth Ford Roth : " A soon -to-be  published study claims men who served in the military were twice as likely to consider themselves transgender as men who were not veterans. The study by Air Force veteran and psychologist George Brown  looked at more than 5 million veterans as subjects." The study went on to say many joined the the service to become a "real man" and was a way of suppressing their gender dysphoria. No real surprise. Right? I'm a little different in that I was a "draft induced" vet from the Vietnam era and the exclusion for genetic females was yet another cause to yearn to jump the gender fence. In her article Roth contacted the Pentagon for a reaction to the upcoming release.  Their official reaction was quoting the Dept of Defense regulation that states transgender people are not allowed to se