Bibiana Fernandez

 From Wikipedia:

"She was born as Manuel Fernández Chica and spent her childhood in Málaga. Despite being born male, she decided to receive hormone treatment in adulthood.^[1] She completed her sex reassignment surgery in 1991 and changed her name to Bibiana in 1994.^[2]

After spending some time performing in various shows around Barcelona, she went on to make her film debut in Vicente Aranda's Cambio de Sexo (Sex Change).

With this movie she rose to stardom in Spain, appearing in several TV shows and releasing several hit songs such as "Call Me Lady Champagne" and "Sálvame".^[2]

In the 1980s she began working with film director Pedro Almodóvar and was cast in many of his movies. She also hosted different television shows while acting in more films."

Nikey Chawla

From India, this in an excerpt from an interview with transsexual star Nikey Chawla:

"first of all, I would like to educate others that the Trans community is vast. People in Western countries have different definitions of Transgender than people in India.

I have gone through proper medical treatment and support. All my documents have been changed and updated. I am a transsexual, a female soul who was trapped in a wrong body, but with hard work and medical help I got a SRS (Sex Reassignment Surgery) done. The Indian Government also supports this under Medical Term.

Nikey Chawla

I turned my weakness into my strength. People who said ‘No’ to me, who denied me work as they found me different and not acceptable by society, are now the ones who give me opportunities, love and respect. When I chose To Be ‘Me’ I got recognition. I believe be yourself with pride and the world will accept you. Yes I have many problems but someone had to take initiative. I took the initiative and became the voice and the face of transgirls openly. Now, I feel proud that in last 10 years a lot of new transgirls and transboys are showcasing their talents proudly and living the life they want. I feel proud."

For more of the interview go to the "We for News" site here.

Cyrsti's Condo "Silver Screen" Update

As I wrote in the Sunday Edition, Liz and I watched "The Danish Girl" Saturday and "Carol" on a rare weekend when we go out to see two movies. Carol stars Cate Blanchett who is at once a powerful/cold wealthy woman at love with Rooney Mara.

On the other hand, Blanchett is vulnerable in the role and goes from sort of a regal/imitator to the girl next door peaking out of the shower with no makeup,

As I said/wrote before, we were interested in watching Carol also since it was filmed here in the Cincinnati, Ohio area and we happened to be downtown when they were gathering the vintage cars for the movie.

Since Carol is a love story between two women-yes there is a very erotic love scene. Sort of icing on the cake (so to speak.)

Of course between the two movies, "The Danish Girl" meant more to me from a purely personal nature. Lili Elbe's life (even though years apart) were so similar-MAINLY the interactions between her and Gerta her wife. I think I walked into the movie thinking Gerta gave Lili the green light for a transition which went all the way to one of the first sex reassignment surgeries. I was wrong. Gerta was hurt and questioning-mad and hurt through out the experience. To the point she used the magic words most all of us hear if we are married crossdressers or transwomen from our wives.  A transition is all about us.

I don't want to go into any more spoiler alerts than I did. I did overviews. 

Finally, if you live in an older city the size of Cincinnati, you may look around for what I call "boutique" theaters. They are usually around big colleges or upscale suburbs in reclaimed movie theaters.  Plus, the theaters are more apt to hold on to movies a little longer than the big box places with all the kids!

Here I "Is!"

Math has never been one of my strength's but it seems to me I have spent a couple of days away from Cyrsti's Condo which may have been a record for me since I started the Condo.

The simple answer to why is, life got in the way.  I headed down to Cincinnati to spend the weekend with Liz and my car had yet another malfunction- this time with the brakes. Over the past three months it has decided it has wanted nothing to do with holding fluids...oil, power steering and now brakes.  It's now getting past the point of diminishing returns.

Buying a car right now for me ranks right up there with digging my own grave, jumping into it and shoveling the dirt in on top of me- myself.

But (and I hate this saying) it is what it is.  Dammit!

On the bright side, I have plenty to chat about with all of you seeing as my life is nothing but a blog post anyhow.  Starting with this headline:

The highest-paid female CEO in America used to be a man. (from the New York Post)

Martine Rothblatt, 59 — who founded the $5 billion pharmaceutical firm United Therapeutics and also co-founded Sirius — had sex reassignment surgery in 1994.

“I can’t claim that what I have achieved is equivalent to what a woman has achieved. For the first half of my life, I was male,” Rothblatt, who has four kids and is still married to her wife of more than 30 years, told New York Magazine.

Rothblatt made $38 million last year as head of United Therapeutics, which she launched to create medicine for her daughter, who suffers from primary pulmonary hypertension.

First of all I haven't even had the chance to read any of the reaction to this "Jerry Springer" style headline.  But, then again it did come from the "New York Post." 

After a good night's sleep I will get back to you with it in the morning! (Tuesday)

Raika Ferraz

From OnTop Magazine:

Twenty-one-year-old Raika Ferraz (shown on left) Monday won the title of “Miss T Brazil” in Rio. Twenty-eight contestants competed for the title during the country's second annual pageant. Ferraz won a sex change operation in Thailand but said she would not undergo full sex reassignment surgery. “I'll get my nose done and a bit of botox,” Ferraz told gay news site Neto Lucon. “I also think I'm a little bit fat.” “What matters is that you feel happy with who you are, you know,” Ferraz told the AFP. “If you're a transsexual who hasn't had surgery and you like yourself that way, well that's what matters. And what also matters is respecting individuals.”

Marjorie Marchi of the Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals of Rio told the news agency that the pageant also serves to increase awareness. “We use beauty as a political strategy, so that these people can benefit from policies that could change the sad and degrading context that transvestites and transsexuals still live in in most South American countries,” Marchi said. Ferraz will represent Brazil at next year's Miss International Queen 2014 in Thailand.

Roberta Close

Roberta Close was born in Rio de Janeiro on 7 December 1964 and is a Brazilian model.  she was the first pre-operative transsexual model to have posed for the Brazilian edition of Playboy and  is probably Brazil's most famous transsexual woman. From Wickipedia:

"Roberta Close was born under the name of Luiz Roberto Gambine Moreira, and as an adolescent, began to adopt feminine attire and secretly began taking female hormone injections. By the age of seventeen, Close's career as a model and actress was beginning to take off. Close won the "Miss Gay Brazil" beauty pageant at the age of twenty. That same year, she made headlines and was dubbed "The world's most beautiful model". She has played a cabaret singer on a popular soap opera, starred in the 1986 movie Si tu vas a Rio... tu meurs, hosted a late night talk show, and was the inspiration for a hit song by Roberto and Erasmo Carlos.

In 1989, Close underwent sex reassignment surgery at Charing Cross Clinic in London, England. Afterwards, she appeared in an extensive photo spread in the Brazilian men's magazine Sexy, and was subsequently voted the "Most Beautiful Woman in Brazil."

This Cyrsti's Condo big screen video will give you an idea why!   ** Warning parts of this video have a dose of Brazilian "spice" and get the kids out of the room!

We Got Mail!

Our fancy high tech Cyrsti's Condo mailbox has been jammed full of responses lately.

 From Shelle  :"It is always risky to play in any part of the girls sandbox for girls like us, we are likely on most occasions to dig up something similar to what a cat may have buried there." True!! I'm afraid I have had some of the "buried treasure" dug up and tossed at me too but over the years I think I'm learning a little about how the cat fights too! What's that television slogan I'm seeing now? "Men fight wars, women wage battles."

Then to a couple comments on our FtM post. The first from Paula: " It is a great shame that so often the F to M seem too be ignored by the "T Community" I sometimes wonder just what sort of community it might be."  I used to think that too Paula. Sometimes now I believe the trans men are the force now in our community. What has helped me are the discussions I have had with my trans guy friend Draco. I wonder too what the future holds for the women and men of the transgender community.  For whatever reason I think stealth still hurts our side of the group more than the guys but I have absolutely no solid evidence to base my idea.  Let's call it trans woman intuition!


Finally, on the same FtM subject, Pat commented:
Many years ago I had a matter which called for some research into the medical issues involved in TS surgery. I recall finding one article in the medical literature written by a surgeon who did both MtF and FtM surgery and I will never forget this quote, "It is easier to dig a hole than plant a pole"

All you can say is all those years of medical school paid off for that surgeon!

Thanks to all of you girls! and guy!

"A Touch of Eden"

From Hareetz:
"Eden Yohanan has a mane of honey-colored hair, pretty brown eyes and a smooth complexion dotted with freckles. She also has long legs, a vivacious personality and a tendency to laugh loudly and expose lovely white teeth. Yohanan plays Avi the Singer’s girlfriend on the mockumentary “The Life of Avi the Singer,” which began airing three weeks ago on Hot’s Comedy Central channel.

In the audition scene − which appears later in the series ‏− the character of Avi the Singer, who is trying with all his might to make a comeback and regain the public’s awareness, introduces his transsexual girlfriend to his agent. The latter goes completely crazy, and forbids the two either to see each other or be seen together in public.


Originally from Afula, Eden Yohanan, 24, works as a bartender and dancer at parties. Three years ago she underwent a sex-reassignment process in Thailand. It’s possible that if she weren’t so open and didn’t speak so freely about it, none of the people around her today would even be aware of her former gender"

For more on a visit to "Eden" follow the link above.

Cyrsti's Condo Sports Desk

Fallon Fox

Yesterday we passed along a post about Fallon Fox who came out recently as a transsexual MMA fighter.
Today a story emerged about a transgender volleyball player in San Francisco:

Peachy Tablilos

"Peachy Tabilos says she's long known two things for certain: in her heart she was born to be a woman, and she was born to pay volleyball. These days that means playing volleyball on the City College of San Francisco men's club team. "I identify as a woman," Tabilos told the Bay Area Reporter recently. "I've always dressed like a girl. My family has been supportive, especially with my mom: she was very supportive. She loves me for who I am. And my friends – they push me to do whatever I want." And what Tabilos, 21, wants is to play volleyball. Although she identifies as a woman, she has not gone through sex reassignment procedures and therefore is not currently eligible to play on the women's team. "I really would like to have the chance to play for a women's team someday, but for now I am happy to play with the men," Tabilos said. Happy because she's found a home on a squad of supportive teammates."

My sport's desk editorial is we have only seen the tip of the iceberg as far as transgender or transsexual athletes go from the pro ranks down. Sooner more than later a major pro athlete will come out as trans.

Until that time the athletes which have been appearing mainly in the college ranks will certainly open the doors for others!

For more on the Peachy Tabilos story go here.

Male Privilege

Relax, I'm not going into a contrived emotional post concerning "male priviledge".
Talk about a horse that has been beaten into the ground!
Recently I read a article called "Sex change patients are getting younger and are more likely to be women".

That's right. "Transsexuals in Hong Kong are now seeking gender-changing surgery at a much earlier age than two decades ago, and those coming forward are more likely to be women seeking to become men. "It seems that more and more patients are in their 20s," said Dr Albert Yuen Wai-cheung, chief of service at Ruttonjee Hospital's department of surgery and the only specialist performing sex reassignment surgery at the city's public hospitals. "In the past, they were in their 30s. Now they are quite young, still studying," Yuen said. "With more information available, more are willing to see doctors." Also, women undergoing sex change operations to become men now outnumber men wanting to become women."

Granted this is a very small sampling but interesting none the less. I'm fortunate to know two trans men. One is exploring how he can finance his change and the other is in a very exciting exploration phase. Both could speak to this issue much better than I know but it seems to me I see more women where I live who are really masculine in appearance.  I'm not talking about the much maligned idea that women are allowed to wear men's clothes and not vice versa. I'm talking about women who would have given me a run at my masculinity in my macho acting days. Now,  I also know that having a male ready body does not make a person a transgender candidate. Most of you also know I'm a proponent of the increasing blurring of the genders. (Jamie) Is my small local sample an example? The last thing I claim to be is a statistician, so let's just call it an observation and move on.

Regardless of all of this, the true male or female privilege is the ability to change your body to the extent you need to feel comfortable.  If nothing else, new medical advances have the potential to completely blur the genders- if one has the resources to do it.

For more on the article above, go here.

Japanese Transsexual Star

Ai Haruna possibly, is the most famous transsexual singer and one of the most popular TV personalities in Japan. Haruna was born as a boy named Kenji Ōnishi in Osaka on July ,1972. She underwent a sex reassignment surgery when she was 19 years old. Following SRS, Haruna started her entertainment work by imitating pop Japanese singer Aya Matsuura which made her widely known. In October 2009, she won the Miss International Queen (a beauty contest for transgender
people held in Thailand), becoming the first Japanese contestant to win the title.

Move Over Thailand!

Perhaps I don't get out much. I just made the comment that 70 grand was an extreme amount of money for SRS etc. 
Of course then I read a post about Serbia being a new hotbed of SRS surgery for several reasons- one of which of course was cost.

According to the New York Times

Nearly 100 foreigners and Serbs have undergone sex reassignment surgery in the past year, and the numbers are growing, according to theBelgrade Center for Genital Reconstructive Surgery, with candidates coming from France, Russia and Iran, and from as far away as the United States, South Africa, Singapore and Australia.

Dr. Marci Bowers, (right) a gynecologist in San Mateo, Calif., who has performed 1,100 sex reassignment operations over the past 10 years and is herself transgender, noted that in the United States, a global center for sex changes, only about five surgeons were performing the operation regularly. She said that social conservatism and a lack of surgical skills in many countries, combined with surgeons’ fears of potentially catastrophic complications, were promoting the growth of transgender tourism.
Here's my point on the cost:
Foreign patients say they are attracted to Serbia by the price tag of about $10,000 — compared with $50,000 or more at some clinics in the United States for the more expensive female-to-male procedure. So when you add other procedures I'm sure 70 grand is out of the question.
Finally, you may be asking "Why Serbia?"

Sociologists say the more accepting attitude toward transgender people in Serbia signals the first glimmers of a shift in a country where conservative currents still run deep.

“We are the children of two parents: one is the Orthodox Church, the other is communism,” said Dr. Dusan Stanojevic, a pioneer of sex reassignment surgery here.

He said transsexuality was so taboo in the former Yugoslavia that it was not even mentioned in medical textbooks. But a surgeon, Dr. Sava Perovic, began performing the operations in 1989 after being approached by a man suffering from gender identity disorder.

Follow the NY Times link above for more!

Transgender Model

Lauren Foster was born in South Africa and is one of the world's most recognized transsexual women, having been one of the first to pose for Vogue Mexico in the 1980's. She began transitioning in her teens and by 17 she was undergoing hormone therapy and living full-time as a female. At the age of 18 she underwent sex reassignment surgery, which was performed by world renowned surgeon Derk Crichton.