Wow! She Transitioned Well!

 Yesterday I wrote a Cyrsti's Condo post on Nicole Maines transgender character being part of the features in the new DC Comics Pride Anthology issue. At the same time I noticed a post in Femulate from Stana. Without a doubt we all have different distances to travel in our public presentations as we transition genders. 

Take Nicole Maines for example.  She gained "passing privilege early in life from her parents when she was accepted for who she really was. She was "allowed" to not go through testosterone poisoning before and during puberty.  Even to the point of becoming a transgender activist at an early age. I am sure most of us would feel so fortunate to have been in the same situation. 

Now, let's take Stana from Femulate for example. In her recent post, she described how she was mistakenly confused by an intake person as being a feminine person. She has always written concerning being a "feminine" male. Again, you can see from her wonderful pictures how well she has transitioned. Or maybe she would argue she didn't transition at all. She is just living as her authentic self.  

Then, there are the rest of us. All have faced differing levels of being able to try our best to present a feminine image. If you see many true photos on line (which are getting harder and harder to find) you will see many who have struggled with the basics of transitioning.

The sad part, or even tragic part is all of us are only trying to do what comes naturally. Forget the transition word, we were always girls and women. The only beneficial part of not being particular feminine was I was able to fool the bullies and they left me alone. 

My most recent example came yesterday when I went to the Cincinnati VA Hospital for my second vaccine.  When I went in for my first shot, I was mis-gendered at least three times which nearly broke my heart. This time, I gathered my resolve to not get mis-gendered so many times. I spent extra time on my eye makeup, since my eyes would be the only part of my face which would be seen. I also spent extra time trying to style my hair different. Again, looking ahead to wearing a mask.

The good news was this trip I wasn't mis-gendered at all.  More than likely, the year off from interacting with the public I have gone through has made me lazy when it comes to my feminine presentation. 

At the least, maybe someone will think I transitioned well.

In the Comics

 Nicole Maines (below) , "Supergirl's" first transgender television  super hero  will now be featured in a  DC Pride  anthology comic. 

 From Wikipedia:

"Nicole Amber Maines (born October 7, 1997) is an American actress and transgender rights activist. She was the anonymous plaintiff, Susan Doe, in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court case Doe v. Regional School Unit 26 regarding gender identity and bathroom use in schools"

As an aside, Nicole and her identical twin brother Jonas were adopted at birth  and grew up in Portland, Maine.

Go Sarah Go!

 From CNN: Transgender activist and political candidate "Sarah McBride" on Tuesday won her parties' (Democratic) in Delaware for a state senate seat. Which puts her solidly on the path to be the first person  out transgender person in the country to be elected to a similar position!

Hopefully Sarah (pictured below) will be the first of many. Thanks to Bobbie for the heads up!

An Egyptian Transgender Journey

You may be interested in checking out this moving transgender story from the Associated Press in Cairo, Egypt. Here is an excerpt:

"Malak el-Kashif left home on her birthday seven years ago. Walking into an uncertain future, she was underdressed for the weather and armed with little— except for some makeup, a few women’s accessories and 50 Egyptian pounds (at the time about six American dollars).

“I was afraid but I didn’t hesitate,” she said. “There weren’t any other solutions.”

That night, el-Kashif identified as a 13-year-old boy. She has since emerged as perhaps Egypt’s most outspoken transgender woman activist.

It’s a label that in a largely conservative and patriarchal society has meant battling a war on multiple fronts.

“When you declare you are different, you should get ready for war. A big war,” she said. “The society will stomp on you and treat you like you are the enemy.”

She has been ostracized by her family and scorned by some who accuse her of tampering with God’s creation. She has been attacked by others scandalized by her activism for LGBTQ rights. Legally, she still holds a male’s identity card."

There is much more to her transgender struggle and you can read about it here.

Jari Jones

Transgender activist and model Jari Jones:

Hunter Schafer

Transgender actress and LGBTQ activist "Hunter Schafer" who stars on the television show Euphoria:

Is She Serious?

I suppose if you live in Maryland, or are staying up better with your transgender politics than even I do, you may have lost track of Chelsea Manning. If you have, here is a look at what she has been up to a year after President Barack Obama commuted her sentence. This story comes from the Washington Post:

"Manning, who became America’s most famous convicted leaker isn’t taking an extended vacation. Far from it: The Oklahoma native has decided to make an unlikely bid for the U.S. Senate in her adopted state of Maryland.

Manning, 30, filed to run in January and has been registered to vote in Maryland since August. She lives in North Bethesda, not far from where she stayed with an aunt while awaiting trial. Her aim is to unseat Sen. Ben Cardin, a 74-year-old Maryland Democrat who is seeking his third Senate term and previously served 10 terms in the U.S. House.

Manning, who also has become an internationally recognized transgender activist, said she’s motivated by a desire to fight what she sees as a shadowy surveillance state and a rising tide of nightmarish repression."

Here is her platform:

"Close prisons and free inmates; eliminate national borders; restructure the criminal justice system; provide universal health care and basic income. The top of her agenda? Abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency created in 2003 that Manning asserts is preparing for an “ethnic cleansing.”

Manning ticks off life experiences she believes would make her an effective senator: a stint being homeless in Chicago, her wartime experiences as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst in Iraq — even her seven years in prison. She asserts she’s got a “bigger vision” than establishment politicians.

But political analysts suspect the convicted felon is not running to win.

“Manning is running as a protest candidate, which has a long lineage in American history, to shine light on American empire,” said Daniel Schlozman, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s a very different goal, with a very different campaign, than if she wanted to beat Ben Cardin.”

Manning’s insurgent candidacy thus far has been a decidedly stripped-down affair, with few appearances and a campaign website that just went up. In recent days, she approached an anti-fracking rally in Baltimore almost furtively, keeping to herself for much of the demonstration. But when it was her turn to address the small group, her celebrity status was evident. People who never met her called her by her first name and eagerly took photos."

For the record, I don't think what Manning did was right and did the entire transgender community a dis-service (not to mention the country) when she did it.

Love at Christmas!

Recently, MtF transgender activist Janet Mock began hosting an online show on MSNBC . Then, she celebrated another milestone- a romantic one!

This weekend the longtime boyfriend of transgender author and activist Janet Mock upstaged her Friday debut as a host of an online show for MSNBC. He popped the question, and Mock revealed the news — and showed off the ring — to her fans and friends on Instagram andTwitter, declaring, simply: “I said YES.”

Here's the juicy  love story from the Advocate: 
Tredwell met Mock early Easter morning of 2009 at a bar in Manhattan, and as she described their first encounter in an article on XOJane, she caught him looking at her as she twirled on the dance floor. “He's a fantasy come true, and I want him to want me,” she recalled.

They went for a walk on Houston Street. Over lattes and a cinnamon roll, they shared their stories: He’s from North Dakota, takes photos, and trains dogs for a living; she’s from Hawaii and works as an editor for a popular website. She told him she wants to tell stories that matter.

After a month of casual dates, Mock revealed her own story, saying, “I was born a boy.” She told him what she called her “whole story,” because she was falling for him. Her revelations includded “I knew I was a girl from my very first thoughts”; “I began presenting as female from age 12”;  “I took hormones in high school”; “I flew to Thailand to have surgery at 18.”

Afraid, worried about what he would say, Mock waited for him to react. And his reaction, as she described it, provoked tears: “Can I hug you?”
Mock credits her relationship with Tredwell and his desire “to know me, to ask me questions about my past, force me to retrace steps that have made me the woman I am today” for inspiring her to write her best-selling memoir, Redefining Realness. 

Follow the Advocate link above for more details on her first show So Popular with Janet Mock.