Information

Recently I received a message from a representative from Junomedical.com who has put together a comprehensive world wide guide to Sexual Reassignment Surgery (SRS).

The guide is very informative and I thought you may want to take a look the same as I did! Follow the link above.

Shouldn't You Really Wait?

A couple weeks ago here in Cyrsti's Condo last week we sent along the story of trans woman Elaine Walquist who was able to set up a meeting with an Oregon legislator. He (the legislator) was attempting to pass a bill prohibiting 15 to 17 year old transgender youths from going through SRS. He had never met a trans woman and she reportively didn't change his mind - but what do you think?

As much as I wish I had had the information and family support to begin a very early transition in my life, going as far as sexual reassignment surgery at that age may have been going to far.

First of all of course, one has to consider the maturity level of the person - plus factor in the influence of puberty blockers and HRT on the transgender youth considering such a huge move.

I have seen a couple kids in that age bracket around here who you would never in a million years think they were born into the wrong body. And remember, it is being proven puberty blockers can be reversed. 

Finally, I know I am more mature and not the best example of a passable transgender woman but then again I have been able to carve out a pretty decent life these days. I just don't think two years (15-17) would be too long to wait.

Transgender and Mormon

From the Big Gay Picture Show

In the last couple of the weeks the fact the courts in Utah have allowed gay couples to marry has thrown the spotlight on gay Mormons. Utah is, after all, the church’s home territory. Indeed over the years there’s been a fair amount of talk about gays and Mormons, due to the fact the church has, until very recently, actively worked against gay rights. However a subject that is hardly ever talked about, are those people brought up Mormon but who are transgender. 

The short documentary, Transmormon, takes on this topic, and it’s well worth a look. Created by OHO Media (aka Torben Bernhard, Marissa Lila and Travis Low), the film follows Eri Hayward, who ‘was born and raised in Utah County, comes from a conservative Mormon background, was raised in the LDS Church and even went to Mormon private school – but something wasn’t adding up. 

Eri was born a boy and it was a slow, painful journey for her to recognize she is transgender.’ The short covers a few months as Eri and her family navigate the transition, and she prepares to go to Thailand for sexual reassignment surgery.

 

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

Another Transgender Hard Fought Victory

From the Los Angeles Times:


" Kaprice Williams (right) has been waiting four years for a new birth certificate. Williams, 50, transitioned from male to female when she was 15, but some essential legal documents still do not recognize her as a woman. That had not been an issue until a job interview went sour when her paperwork revealed she is transgender. Efforts to change her birth certificate had stalled because Williams, a native of Washington, has not had sexual reassignment surgery and cannot afford thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees. Those obstacles are about to become history: Last month, the District of Columbia Council passed the country's most liberal policy for updating birth certificates, one that transgender activists hope will become a nationwide model. The mayor is expected to sign it Tuesday. Activists say the tremendous boost to gay marriage provided by the Supreme Court's rulings in June ultimately will benefit everyone in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. This, they say, is the time to focus on the needs of transgender people, who are seen as the most vulnerable of the four groups."



Go here for more.

Social Security Steps Up

From ThinkProgress  Victory for the Transgender Community!:


"Today marks an important victory for the transgender community, even though it may appear to be a small paperwork technicality. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that it is now much easier for trans people to change their gender identity on their Social Security records. All that will now be required, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality, is for individuals to submit government-issued documentation reflecting a gender change, or a certification from a physician confirming they have undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition.

 This is a significant departure from the previous policy, which required documentation of complete sex reassignment surgery. Many trans people never undergo such procedures, either because they are too expensive, because they do not want to lose their procreative ability, or because it simply isn’t an important change for them to make to find authenticity in their identities. The SSA change eliminates this high standard for trans people to obtain the appropriate documentation for the gender that reflects how they live their daily lives. Though Social Security cards do not display gender, the SSA does maintain that information as data, and it can impact other governmental programs. For example, individuals seeking coverage under Medicaid, Medicare, Supplemental Security Income, or other public benefits could face complications if their gender markers do not match from form to form and identification to identification. In addition to an invasion of their privacy, the discordance could even lead to a denial of benefits.

 The new change will eliminate the obstacles trans people can face to access protections they often need because of other forms of discrimination they otherwise experience in society."

This is positively HUGE for people like me!

No Love for Santa

Poor Nicole!  All those years as a young boy waiting and hoping for the jolly "St. Nick" to bring him his own Barbie. All he got were guns and trucks.
One day though, he just knew he would show the world and own his own Barbie doll.

Well, the transsexual youth spent 200,000 pounds and 12 years transforming himself from a boy into a real life Barbie doll. Proof positive dreams can come true-with enough cash.

Jason Torres,  now Nicole Sanders, (above) has had surgeries from nose jobs to breast implants and brow lifts in a quest to be like the iconic blonde. Nicole even had controversial silicone injections in her buttocks, thighs and hips to create the feminine curves of Barbie and hide the boyish frame of her previous life. Since the age of 18, Nicole has had five boob jobs, four nose jobs, a brow lift, cheek implants, jaw surgery, chin implants, calf implants, filler injections in her lips, botox jabs and sexual reassignment surgery. There is more here.

Proof positive Nicole didn't need no stinkin Santa for her Barbie and all those cookies left under the tree for the "jolly one" didn't go to waste.
Most importantly, I can go to bed tonight knowing my Christmas spirit is intact!