Her Story

 Richards not only starred in Her Story, she also co-produced it. The show went on to receive an Emmy nomination back in 2016. But more importantly, Richards, who has since appeared on TV series like Nashville, Better Things, and Tales of the City, has been working hard to promote trans visibility.

She founded an organization called Trans 100, which works to honor and recognize trans people and businesses that are doing positive things for the community. She has also been an advocate for pushing producers to cast actual trans people in trans roles. Her picture is below.

Tossing the "T"

Many different directions I can go with this. Maybe "testosterone", or how about "tranny"?

I have written many times here in Cyrsti's Condo how I feel about the use of the gender slur.  If you have ever read any of Parker Molloy's posts, you know she writes well and with authority  Recently, she wrote on the subject of gender slurs, primarily from the privileged group with the TGLB culture- gay cisgender males.

Here are a couple excerpts from Molloy's post:

"A common argument in favor of using "tranny" is, "But that word is just part of drag culture!" Here's my rebuttal: I don't care. "Drag culture" or not, that's not a word that's appropriate to throw around. It's a hateful slur that is often the last thing that trans women hear before being beaten or murdered. Just as it wouldn't be acceptable for me to go around using the word "f*ggot," as I'm not a gay man, it's inappropriate for gay men and male-identified drag queens to use "tranny."

and:


(In The Huffington Post) " Joe Hutcheson blogged about his evolution toward accepting the use of female pronouns and terminology -- "she," "her," and "girl" -- for male-identified gay people. That's cute and all, but some folks actually care about pronouns. If someone is going to call me "she," "her," or "girl," I want it to be because that person, you know, sees me as a woman, not because they're just so super-sassy that they say, "Pronouns and identification be damned. I'm calling you 'girl' because, um, fierce!" Do whatever you want, gay dudes, just stop doing things that harm trans people in the process. Can you manage that? It's bad enough that while trans people still struggle to use the restroom without legal repercussions, we're expected to sit quietly as marriage rights take the bulk of money donated to LGBT (more like GLb...[t]) organizations. We shouldn't have to worry about whether or not you're going to stab us in the back with words too.

 In conclusion, don't say "tranny." Just don't. It doesn't matter if you do drag, or if "it's not meant as a slur." If you are a cisgender gay man, that is not your word to use."

There is much more to read of course and you can go here to the Huffington Post to check it out.

As a side note, this happened to me several months ago when I was in a rather small local gay venue I go to every now and then:
The performing drag queens pretty much are the same and in fact one of them is a co owner of the place.  They kind of get aggravated when I really don't watch the shows often. (Seen one drag show-seen them all.) When they were taking a break between sets, one of the drag queens came by and said "glad you could get out tonight."  In my part of the world that's commonly referred to as "glad you could get all dolled up and way from your "drab" (guy) world tonight." I quickly told the queen and the bartender that I didn't have to get anywhere tonight and I live my life this way. What was I wearing? My favorite "boyfriend" jeans flip flops and a frilly tank top. It wasn't like I was doing drag. The queen was quick to stereotype me though and a chance for me to tersely lay some trans education on them. 

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!

Autumn Sandeen On Transgender Vets and More

All you regular peeps here in Cyrsti's Condo know I am a transgender vet and follow Autumn Sandeen's (left) views on the subject with great respect.
Following transgender Navy Seal Kristin Beck's coming out party and book, I was anxious to read Autumn's take on the whole situation. To fill you in, Autumn is truly a ground breaking trans vet fighting what often I'm sure looked like a very lonely fight.

Here's an excerpt of what she said:

"I’d like to comment on instead is the implications of her story on the broader movement toward open service for trans people. One of the many arguments that were made by the LGBT public policy organizations, such the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), was that we wouldn’t want to discharge hardcore fighting corps, such as SEALS and Army Rangers, just because they were gay. America would be removing tough, smart, well-trained soldiers out of America’s special forces for a reason that had nothing to do with whether or not they were effective at doing their jobs.

That’s an effective narrative, but the LGBT community never had any former SEALS or Army Rangers it could point to and say, “And this is the kind of special forces soldier you’ll kick out of the military if they said they were gay on active duty.” In the trans community, we do have such a soldier now. We can now point to Kristin Beck and say, “If Senior Chief Beck came out as transgender while she was in the Navy SEALS, she would have been kicked out for a reason that had nothing to do with whether or not she were effective at doing her job. Is that what America really wants?” And is it?"

Allow me to paraphrase and get you to her actual statement but Autumn points out there are questions for an open trans military service AND the the preliminary work has been set in motion for a national discussion. Such as (from her previous column) the narratives of trans Department of Defense (DOD) contractors and civilian employees who’ve recently served in Middle Eastern combat zones – narratives such as those of Nicole Shounder, Rachel Bolyard and Erika Stetson.

Then there’s (Autumn's) narrative about her historic fight to have her recorded gender changed in the DOD databases. Huge, in that it showed that the DOD  acknowledged that trans servicemembers and veterans even did exist. Fortunately, this seems to be just the tip of the iceberg and hopefully the hypocritical transgender ways of the Pentagon have first class seats on the Titanic!

As you can read much is happening on this front. For more on the story go here

.

Victim is Spelled Many Ways

The En Gender Blog written by "My Wife Betty" author Helen Boyd comes up with quite a few "Damn I wish I had written that" thoughts. Here's one:

"I wrote this recently in response to a question, or an assertion, that nobody chooses to be born trans, but that often, the advice is that you can choose what to do about it. My wife says that a lot, and it makes some trans people unhappy.

 The way she puts it: you got a shit hand, but you still get to decide how to play it. Whether or not transition itself is a choice is an idea I will leave for another day. But here, in a nutshell, are some basic tenets I hope are useful. does it matter why? i don’t know what trans is – genetic, medical condition, etc. no one makes any distinction between nature/nurture anymore. nature is what? DNA? as in, something made out of protein that is created within a physical environment which is impacted by all our culture. just forget it. that binary is over, done with.

 Are people trans? yes. do they need to transition? yes. should they own their shit & do so as responsibly as possible? yes. should cis people start to fucking understand transness is not going anywhere, that it IS, in the same way that, say, queerness IS? yes.

 If you got married & you’re trans & you’re going to transition you’re going to wreck your wife’s life, pretty much. own it. minimize the damage however you can. your life was already wrecked by transphobia and represssion and who knows what else. your transition will give you the chance to change in a way that you’re looking forward to. your wife may, in turn, change her life into something she wants, too, but in either case, you will both experience a great deal of loss. none of it is fair, not a damn thing about it, & not for anyone. but stop, STOP, making it all about you.

 If there is anything i say to trans people all the time that none of you listen to – & that includes my lovely spouse – that is it. as she likes to say: trans people make Narcissus weep."

Enough said!

Trans Ohio Symposium

Well, before I knew it April is here and the Trans Ohio Symposium is coming up quick! Here's the scoop from their site:

"2013 Trans & Ally Symposium - Early bird registration is open! Registration is now open for our 5th TransOhio Trans & Ally Symposium. Prices go up if you wait to purchase tickets at the door! Save Money! Early Bird Registration! Our keynote speaker this year is writer and poet Andrea Jenkins. In addition to Andrea's keynote, she'll be presenting two workshops: Issues for Transpeople of Color and The Role of Art in Transgender Movement, so plan to attend! Andrea is the author of two chapbooks, “tributaries: poems celebrating black history and “Pieces of Scream”. Recently elected to chair the newly established GLBT Caucus of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Andrea is lives in Minneapolis and works as a Senior Policy Aide for the 8th Ward City Councilmember, Elizabeth Glidden. For more information about Andrea Jenkins, please visit her website at http://andreajenkins.webs.com/ Photo provided by Waning Moon Images, Ayana Muata."

I'm going to be a workshop presenter this year with my partner and if you happen to be going stop and say Hi!
Here's another link for prices and tickets. The annual event is in Columbus this year.

The Silent Enemy

Speaking primarily for me, I have been critical of the LGBT movement and the silent "T".
Truthfully, the farther I have transitioned into society the more silent I become. Not necessarily by design- I started to blend better into the world. All of a sudden it wasn't "hey isn't that a..?" to androgyny.
None of that means I would be less politically active in the transgender movement if I knew how to how to help more.
Before you think that is an excuse, here is what I have tried and what I plan to do. I have contacted my local LGBT center in Dayton and have received absolutely NO feedback-don't care. In the future, I going to put together a proposal to do a presentation at the state wide trans convention this spring.
I sometimes get the idea some think I'm just a know it all. Perhaps I am in the areas of late life transition, building a new friend network and even dealing with the Veterans Administration. I certainly don't ever think I can come close to knowing it all but I have gone there.
So, that's why I think the "T" is silent. Here is a much better in depth look from Ashlee Kelly in the UK.


In true dyslexic manner, here's the end of her article in GayStarNews:


Trans people are a minority within a minority. Our representation within wider society is so small that even the most basic transition stories can attract national attention. So it's important we work on our visibility. If even LGB people can't see us, how can we complain about being underrepresented? For more go here.

More from the UK's Paris Lees

We have posted articles in the past about Paris Lees and her Meta publication.  If you haven't heard,   ‘META’ is available online and features news, features and entertainment from a

feminist and transgender perspective.

Over the past two years, Paris has embarked on a campaign to raise awareness about transgender people, appearing everywhere from BBC Breakfast to primetime Channel 4. She says her message is simple: “I just want people to stop bullying people like me. I understand that difference can seem strange, but really we’re just people and should be judged on our actions — not what was between our legs when we were born. After all, who gets a choice in that?” She adds: “I used to feel ashamed of who I was, but then I realised I had nothing to apologise for. Despite the discrimination we face, trans people help run councils and manage the NHS – the prime minister even takes advice from people who are transgender.”

Here's your link for more!

OutServe Magazine

Of course I'm biased towards any info concerning transgender vets in this country and anywhere. Outserve Magazine 
recently added Brynn Tannehill as a contributor.


 

Brynn Tannehill is a 1997 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, former Lieutenant Commander helicopter pilot, and a fully transitioned transgender woman. She has a wife and two loving children.

She just posted a very enlightened look into her visit to this summer's Columbus, Ohio's Pride visit. (In my part of the world). Here's an excerpt in which she very adeptly covers many segments of the transgender community and the "Holy Grail" of presenting as a female (in this instance).

" I didn’t come to pride events until I finished
transitioning and felt I had some ability to blend. Even at a pride
event, I didn’t want the trans label by not passing. After two years
of hormones, three years of electrolysis, and $35,000 worth of surgery
I thought I could avoid most stereotypes and blend in. Only then did I
feel comfortable going to my first pride event this year in Columbus,
Ohio.

I didn’t know what to expect. Most of the people seemed very ordinary.
The drunken frat boys overindulging at the beer trucks weren’t very
novel. The small but memorable assorted mix of people making a point
by being over the top either by the clothes they wore, or what they
chose not to, stood out. Some of them were very visibly under the
transgender umbrella as drag queens, female impersonators, or cross
dressers. Others were making a point of being overtly gay or lesbian.
Again, not unexpected. I wasn’t sure how I would explain to my kids
about the folks who looked like extras from “Avatar”: well toned,
wearing almost nothing, and brilliant blue from head to toe, though.

What did come as a surprise was what a surprise I was. When I
introduced myself to an online friend with the HRC in person for the
first time she exclaimed “Oh, wow, somehow I thought you were taller!”
At the OutServe booth I had to mention that I was trans before anyone
caught on why I would be writing for the magazine without being in the
military anymore. Same deal with the National Organization of Gay and
Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals. When I asked if
transgender people were part of their charter, the woman at the booth
replied “Why, do you have transgender friends?”

Everywhere I turned, I passed.  The fact that I didn’t look like all
the other visibly trans people at Columbus pride really did challenge
their notions of what trans is. Both of these gave me a bit of a warm
and fuzzy. What made it even better was the extremely positive
response I got from some of the younger people I met who found out I
was trans. As one 20-ish woman put it, “You’re trans? Really!? I’d
never guess. That so totally rocks.”

While these experiences were self affirming, they were also
instructional. It is only the outlandish examples that people
perceive. You notice the people trying to stand out, not the ones
trying to blend. I hear it so often that “I’ve never met a trans
person”, or “I don’t know anyone who really looked like <their target
gender>.”

Follow the link for more!

Let My Trans People...

From Monica Roberts at "Transgriot". If you haven't heard about her she is a writer, award winning activist, lecturer, speaker, native Houstonian and Texan who transitioned in 1994. I have a link to her blog here.
Here's part of her latest post, follow the link above for more:

Let my transpeople pee in peace without being messed with by ignorant cis people.

Let my transpeople access trans specific and non trans specific health care without the Janice Raymond restrictions being used by insurance companies and transphobic doctors to deny them coverage.

Let my transpeople be able to work and keep a job they are qualified for.

Let my transpeople be able to have identity documents that accurately reflect the person they are now.

Thanks Monica!