Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

"Kerplunk!" another Sunday Edition from the Condo has hit your virtual front porch! Well, kids, another week has flown by and swept up October with it and brought in some chilly weather in Southwestern Ohio! My hot cup of "Joe" tastes good this morning!

Page 1.- The week that was - or wasn't.  Of course the week that was, included Halloween-otherwise known as "All Halla's Eve" (Holla back) for cross dressers everywhere.  Three of the blogs I follow on a regular basis; Femulate, From "me" to Mandy, and Janie Black all featured some sort of Halloween experiences. I enjoyed the differing perspectives!

We also had a wide range of other "happenings" to reflect upon, such as the first Condo complete guest post ever from Pat, Helen Boyd's post on Trans Partners and our look at "Bob Seger" .

All in all, a busy week!

Page 2.- The Battle goes on.  The tragic discrimination faced by active duty transgender U.S. military members goes on and was brought to the public's eye this week yet again by Army Captain Sage Fox  shown left. Captain Fox essentially was told to go away after she was told she could transition and come back.

This continues to happen to trans military members and I think will, until these very key and vicious mid term elections are out of the way in our country.  Obama could do away with the injustice with a stroke of his pen, but continues not too and the Pentagon says it would be up for a study which is a fate worse than death for any issue.  What a "study" means is: We will sweep it under the rug and spend unneeded money until it goes away and we are working in some sort of other fat cat bureaucratic job.

Let's remember though, Veterans Day is coming up November 11th and it will; be a time to revisit the sacrifices of all veterans -transgender or not!

Page Three.-Positive success stories. 

Lynn Conway

MichellewhoisNovember 2, 2014 at 8:36 AM

There used to be a site that showed so many others that came out a while back. It listed the doctors, scientists, teachers and business leaders that had successfully transitioned. Many on that site were originally in stealth but came out to show the world who they were. I remember Gwen Smith and Melanie Phillips sites that showed us so much information and helped us weed through all the BS sites. Lynn Conway's site Allowed us to see others that were successful. It was these women that helped pave the way for so many to follow.

Absolutely Michelle and thanks!!!  I remember quite early in the game, I too found Lynn's extensive site and was positively dazzled and depressed at the same time.  Dazzled at the amount of transgender women who were so successful and living what I perceived to be the impossible dream. Which led to my depression. At the least though, she showed me what could be possible! 

Page Four.- The back page.  Well kids it's time to get to the store before the Sunday football games start.  I'm sending good vibes out to all of you along with continued thanks for stopping by Cyrsti's Condo!

Chasing my Tail!

First off, we had a  major (no pun intended) moment in Cyrsti's Condo yesterday when Pat actually agreed with my comments on a post called The Toughest Trans Battle of Them All! The post centered on MtF transgender Army Captain Sage Fox in particular and spoke to the continuing tragedy of ruining trans lives one at a time in the United States military.  Which (as Pat wrote) Prez Obama  could fix with a stroke of his pen-but hasn't. I'm going to leave it at that, at the risk of getting too bitter and political. Plus, since Pat lives around the New York, East Coast area, she provided a little more insight into our Totally Transgender post and trans firefighter Brooke Guinan.  Please follow the links for her complete comments.

On a couple of lighter notes:  jen smithOctober 28, 2014 at 3:02 PM  commented:

Ooooh Cyrsti! You were quite the rebel-rousing, button pushing, devil may care one weren't you! Sounds like you had a heck of a good time!!!

Indeed I did Jen! Every morning, I take a moment and thank "Momma Karma" for enabling me to do all this living after so many years of darkness!

Finally, perhaps you have heard classic rocker Bob Seger is touring again at the age of 69.  I'm sure all of you have special groups and songs which have defined parts of  your life and Seger is one of mine.  I knew of him way back before he became "uber" popular because is is from the Lincoln Park, Michigan area and was rockin his arse off when I worked at one of the first "progressive rock" FM radio stations in Bowling Green, Ohio. (Not far from Toledo,  Michigan and Detroit.)  Our listeners also were fans of Iggy Pop and the Stooges from Ann Arbor, Michigan and any other Detroit "head bangin" rockers.  I credit those days to losing a good part of my hearing.  Another chunk went to watching the original Ozzy and Black Sabbath in Germany when I was in the Army.

At any rate, Segar seemed to stick with me through the years.  His "Hollywood Nights" song about a Midwestern boy being too far from home in L.A. became my "anthem" for a Midwestern boy in New York slipping too far away from his birth gender and of course "Running Against the Wind" which describes any transgender person searching for their true gender identity.

One of Segar's stops is going to be in nearby Columbus, Ohio in January.  Haven't given up on getting tickets!

Chelsea Manning's Legacy?

Every now and then something comes along to get me really stirred up about Chelsea Manning who is serving time for treason.  Along the way, I have had my doubts if I had been too harsh with my feelings.  When I read stories such as this one, I wasn't harsh enough.

 After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars training Landon Wilson to intercept communications, the U.S. military was capitalising on its investment in the young sailor, already regarded as a rising star in a critical, highly technical field. But shortly after 2 a.m. on Dec. 7, when a superior tapped him on the back and summoned him outside, one of the secrets that mattered most to Wilson began to unravel. "This Navy record says female, but this paper says male," the grim-faced sergeant major noted, displaying two sets of personnel records. "So, what are you?" After an awkward pause, Wilson, who joined the Navy as a woman but who has long felt like a man, provided the answer that set in motion the end of his military career: "I am male."

Of course U.S. transgender military personnel have one real right-the right to be fired if they are honest about being trans. The article itself comes from a site called World Americas and you can follow the link to read it but my point is, didn't Manning make everything even more difficult for trans military members currently serving? It's tough enough on all of us to be tossed into into the trash can by ignorant bigots but what a shame when one who says they are trans did what Manning did? Look, I'm not saying all transgender people are angels or don't do anything wrong but some are easier to overlook than others in the damage department. I was probably was of the more "nonmilitary" type persons you would have found, serving in the most ill conceived/ unpopular war in our country's history. (Vietnam) I served my time though and learned first hand how military personnel do need every honest break they can get when  in danger of harm.  Don't care if Manning is transgender or not. Do care what he did had and has the potential to put others in harms way-especially current transgender military personnel- who can be injured or instantaneously lose their jobs and careers if they are simply honest such as Landon Wilson was.

By the way, America's closest allies, including Canada, Britain and Australia, allow transgender service- so seamlessly. The Pentagon though seems content in marching on, secure in it's ignorance that trans members are security risks like Manning- an idea which is as backwards and untrue as restricting the ability of same sex couples to adopt. (Ohio) A topic for later here in Cyrsti's Condo

It's a Start

According to theAdvocate and BuzzFeed,
Transgender military service will be examined with a $1.35 Million Grant from the Pal Center. The initiative will explore how the U.S. military could include trans troops without disruption.

Read more here.