Republican Politics

I really try to not be too political here in Cyrsti's Condo but every once in awhile a story comes along to reinforce my idea of why I'm not a Republican. Here's the latest.

Just when they think you aren't paying attention, House Republican leaders quietly unveiled their Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill on Friday, a proposal that differs from what the Senate passed last week in a handful of ways, namely in its omission of LGBT protections and its modified language targeting Native American victims of domestic abuse. The GOP proposal was posted on the House Rules Committee website with little fanfare, along with an announcement that the committee will begin moving the bill forward in a Tuesday hearing. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) will sponsor the bill and the House is expected to bring it to a full vote later next week, a House Republican leadership aide confirmed. Here is a link to their 288-page bill and a section-by-section analysis of what's in it. House Republicans are planning to take up the Senate bill, strip its contents and put their language into that bill. A cursory look at the bill reveals some notable changes from the bipartisan VAWA bill that cleared the Senate last week. The House GOP bill entirely leaves out provisions aimed at helping LGBT victims of domestic violence. Specifically, the bill removes "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" from the list of underserved populations who face barriers to accessing victim services, thereby disqualifying LGBT victims from a related grant program. The bill also eliminates a requirement in the Senate bill that programs that receive funding under VAWA provide services regardless of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Finally, the bill excludes the LGBT community from the STOP program, the largest VAWA grant program, which gives funds to care providers who work with law enforcement officials to address domestic violence.

 Read more here. Thanks Bobbie!

Trans Reversal

Watching a video of what we used to call "tearing down" after a night of cross dressing is not new. I thought I would pass this one along though because of how it's presented by the transgender woman:

Drag Queen and the Transgender Girl

Angel responded to the "What Not to Wear" post here in Cyrsti's Condo:

"We watched that episode. At one point Casey admitted that she stayed away from makeup and clothes that she perceived as being "too feminine" because she feared being regarded as a drag queen. I thought that was really sad."

Of course I thanked Angel for the wonderful  comment and began to think of her thoughts. How correct she was. I have written here about my drag "liberation".  I too was afraid of being perceived as a drag queen.  My feeling was much of the public thought I was one. Many commented "oh sweetie you going out tonight?" I wanted to scream "I'm always this way!" It's not a special night. In response I just stayed away from gay venues and drag shows in general.

Then all of the sudden friends began to invite me out to shows and gay clubs and I started to go through a few fun changes. On Halloween I found I could do the same thing as many genetic women do- put together a provocative sexy costume and have some fun. The experiences carried over to other evenings when I went out in drag once again and found it was fun. All of the sudden I was similar to a gay guy who does drag for fun or attention or whatever except of course I was a transgender woman doing the same thing.

The best part is I don't have to do drag every time I go. I am not once again shoved into a box I didn't want to be in. My girlfriend has said it best a number of times, I should embrace the times my transgender status works for me. The most recent was on the recent New Orleans trip when our tour guide was not so secretively looking down my top. Both of us were relatively sure he was gay, especially when his two male friends showed up to party with him. When I mentioned the incident to her she said "that's the fun of appealing to both sides of the fence".

We all know there is precious little fun walking our chosen gender paths so we need to grab it when we can. After all, it's our trans privilege.  Our own little club.