Trans Conscription

Transsexual Aricha Ploymaneewong, right, shows up at a conscription venue in Wat Laksi temple, Bangkok, Monday where she was defined as having a gender identity disorder and exempted from conscription. APICHIT JINAKUL

"Back in the day" one of my most distasteful memories was the military draft physical during the Vietnam non War. The whole day was just icing on the cake after an entire youth suffering locker room shyness. But I did get a gift for my pain...I was given a 1-A status which meant my Southeast Asia travel ticket was punched after I graduated college. Obviously my heart went out to the young Thai trans woman above.

All of these fun thoughts came back to me when I read this story from the Bangkok Post:

"The army needs 94,480 new recruits this year, and this week, young Thai males between the ages of 21 and 29 are going to conscription centres to make sure that number is reached. Most are not going there because they want to, but because they have to. They taking part in a lottery that many hope they will lose, i.e., that they will not draw the red ticket that requires them to spend the next two years in the army. For the most part, there is little interest in the lottery, except for the young men involved and their parents and family members. However, in recent years, there is one small group of young “men” that always creates attention.

"
These are young people whose birth certificates say they are male, but who have changed considerably over the years since their births. They wear women’s clothing and many would be considered women in other countries, having undergone operations to change their gender. These transsexuals stand out as they go through the conscription process, creating awkward scenes among themselves and the young men who are already nervous about the draw. That is not a worry for the transsexuals, however. Under current military regulations, they are almost always exempted from the draft because they are considered to have a "gender identity disorder" or in the Thai sense “a gender whose condition is not consistent with the gender of birth."

As always there is more if you go here.

Only Two Things are Certain

In life there are only two certainties, you are born and you die.
A couple weeks ago, just after Thanksgiving I silently and inwardly noted the date of my wife's passing.
A week ago was her birthday.
I write this not out of sorrow or self pity but in the spirit of who she was and what she would want me to do. I have always felt she would have backed my transition completely but we couldn't have stayed married. She knew I was miserable. More importantly, I know somewhere she is behind my effort to help anyone with my story. Up front I'm going to tell you this will be a two part post.

For those of you who have stopped by Cyrsti's Condo for sometime,  perhaps you remember any number of posts I have written about my wife's influence on me-including "You make a Terrible Woman". or "Be a Man enough to Be a Woman". Essentially the first was beating me up for only thinking appearance was important to being the girl I wanted to be. The second was from a rough period we were going through due to my transgender confusion. She made me a better woman from the inside out.

Five years later my grieving is done and of course 25 years of memories will always remain.

The main reason for me bringing all of this up however is some of you will- or already are becoming depressed about the upcoming holiday season. Loneliness certainly does not look good in a red suit and beard or butching it up for your family Christmas parties makes you feel like a liar.
Just remember that life just evolves and what the heck- the Mayans could be right and we all get wiped out on December 21st.  I know it's bleak. Been there friends and have done it.

About now bunches of you are thinking blah, blah blah! Sure you are born and you die and I'm miserable! Got any ideas genius girl?
Well, I do and none of them are miracles and most are achievable.
But not until my next post-you know how I so hate 2 million word epics. Hell, I know I get lost in them, I can only imagine how you feel.

Before we move on, I just want to say please toss out the bravery word with me. I'm just living the life I had to live. Don't need no stinkin awards. Don't deserve them, but:
In order to arrive where I am now,  certain circumstances had to happen in my life. Looking back,  I have been dazzled by destiny and how the most important facets of my life have been set in motion by decisions I made years ago.
However I really don't believe so much in luck and I will tell you why in the next post and why I feel so fortunate going into this holiday season.