The Seeds Of Hate

The seeds of hate are nourished by confusion and ignorance. Not an earth shattering statement to be sure but I saw it up and close and personal the other night.
I've seen this guy notice me a couple times in one of the places I go. There is no real secret there of my past so I believe he knows I'm trans.
The last time I saw him, our eyes locked for a few seconds (which I try never to do). I think I saw the hint of confusion in him. Did he find me attractive. If he did what were the feelings he was dealing with? Unfairly I looked at him as a overly macho, redneck guy.I know as little about him as he knows about me.
I began to think. Is this where it all starts. The confusion over looks and an ignorance of what it means?
We all know a simple act of aggression is a male reaction to some problems.
The simple act of aggression can easily turn into a hate crime.
Thank God she hasn't challenged with me that yet and thank God for the really nice female friends who go out of their way to make me feel welcome!
Simple meetings such as that can only make me imagine what torture the truly attractive transgendered women go through.  Telling a man up front is the right thing to do for sure. 
Craving attention and hating loneliness shouldn't be a sin either. Being beaten or worse yet killed for hiding the truth are terrible.
I believe I may seen just a small part of that road the other night.

There Is Progress!

Here are a couple of "feel good" stories.
The first comes form "Jacqueline White" at the "StarTribune"
Here is an excerpt,
"It sounds like a great set-up for drama: My spouse, Marcus, who used to be Margery, goes back to the college he attended as a woman, which happens to be a women's college, Mount Holyoke.
How will the alumnae respond when one of their own shows up at their 25th reunion as a man?
The drama turned out to be a nonstory. Of course some classmates did initially --understandably -- look to me as the presumed alumna.
The worst thing to happen was that one person laughed when Marcus showed up at the registration table claiming to be a graduate. But he still got a registration packet.
When he took his turn saying a few words about what he'd been up to since he graduated, his classmates responded with hearty applause. And guess what?
Other than his gender transition, what Marcus had been up to was not all that different from what his classmates had been up to. He got established in his career, bought a house, served on some nonprofit boards, got married and adopted our daughter."
"In the end, he turned out to be just another guy with a receding hairline reminiscing at his 25th college reunion."
Unfortunately, Marcus's story does not take into consideration the 63% of transgendered individuals who have experienced simple to severe bias in their lives. (2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey) .
The difference it seems is largely based in how the family accepts the gender transition.
The next story is an excerpt from a continuing one you have probably heard of.
From the "Mother Company" comes part two in a story called "Raising a Boy in Pink".
Son "Sam" suddenly announced he wanted to wear a pink dress to school and here is part of the reaction.
The parents coached Sam on what to say to the children at preschool who might tease him. They role-played things he could say back to them. They talked about how much teasing can hurt, but that teasing is wrong. At that morning’s school drop-off, Mom's faith in Sam moved up a notch when he announced to his teacher, “Look at my pretty dress! No one is allowed to make fun of me.”
After school, Sam beamed as he reported that his teachers had said they liked his dress, and the other four-year-olds had said he looked pretty. But the kids in the five-year-old class teased him and told him that “boys can’t wear dresses,” and that he “must not be a boy.”
“What did you say back?” I asked. “I said, ‘Don’t make fun of me! I can be a boy and wear a dress, because it is my choice!’”
Enough (and more than enough) said!

The Final Stand? Or Sit?

In a bathroom?
Who would have "thunk it"? The great gender battles we are seeing about the use of bathrooms?
Quite possibly "it's" the biggest bathroom experience a transgender person faces in life after learning to use it in the first place.
Using the "line in the sand" reference and linking it to a cat box is appropriate. If a person who resents you for being transgendered has no other recourse, the bathroom is the last resort for protest.
It has happened to me. I've written about the woman who resented my presence period. She got me barred from a woman's room for a period of time.
I was accepted by the other patrons and caused absolutely no trouble but that was not good enough for her.
Am I missing something? Maybe the release of body waste is a highly personal matter to women?
It certainly hasn't been to the women I've seen use the men's room at certain concerts and sporting events I've attended as a guy.
Just another double standard? The men's room is much more open to viewing whatever than the women's room. "Me" thinks it is a double standard!
I've heard the chatter in the "sanctuary" and discovered no top secret CIA information. That idea is out. The women discussing those guys wouldn't have cared if "Larry King" was standing there.
On the other hand I'm careful to cherish and protect my restroom pass! I tidy up after my self and get in and out.

If the restroom is where the conservative genderists want to draw the line, we all need to do our best not to have it drawn in front of us!
Finally.... OMG sit down to pee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!