Walking Tall -Two

Thanks to all of you for the comments concerning the "personal security" post I wrote a couple days ago which happened to involve -more precisely a transgender woman's murder (suspect arrested) and my partner Liz and I's night at the Northern Kentucky Pride event pub crawl.

As far as Cincinnati goes, the downtown area along the Ohio River is positively booming and will soon be home to a huge GE (General Electric) headquarters but as with any other place, there are places you don't want to be as a guy and especially as a woman and even more so as a transgender woman.

I'm fortunate for all the wrong reasons when my personal security is involved.  To quote a term from the trans woman (left) in the movie "Better than Chocolate", she is not just a big woman-she is enormous. 

This body I received through no choice of my own has kept me healthy over 65 years, big enough to not be bullied, etc...but...of course it does not MtF easily. Like so many others, I wasn't lucky enough to be born into a time and a family where I could have considered a choice of not having my body do what it was born to do...masculinize.


So now, this curious gender critter I have become has a chance of keeping unwanted advances away. The usual good news/bad news story.

None of it mattered though if and when I found myself  in potentially violent situations.  You all know the drill.  Know your surroundings and if you can carry some sort of deterrent such as pepper spray.  I have read comments here and there cross dressers and or transgender women saying they are "packing heat" (a gun) and are ready to fire away.  To be certain, if I did that, I would be in danger of shooting myself first and yes I did go through Army infantry training.

The most important lesson I pass along every now and then here in Cyrsti's Condo is how fast you can find yourself in a bad situation.  Years ago, I was cornered by a much bigger guy than I and would have been put in a possible very bad situation if I wasn't "recused". 

Before that experience, I had a very smug idea about women being sexually assaulted.  I always wondered why some of them didn't see it coming.  Two out of three of the potentially bad spots I found myself in, I didn't see it coming,  and one in fact, was in a friend's decidedly upscale home.

In the past, I have had as many comments around here concerning personal security as I have had about rest room issues.  All you have to do is look at the stats to see how big of a problem violence is to the TG/CD community and the problem is even worse if you are a transperson of color.

All of us just have to be extra careful out there!

Conspiracy Theory

I'm the first to admit I have been a little distant around here in Cyrsti's Condo and most of it does start with my friend who still is in an induced coma.  Even though she is decidedly older than me, she is yet another person I always assumed I would not outlive.

But there are other "follow the bouncing transgender" issues which of course come and go with regularity, along with various stages of intensity, which I won't bore you with now.

Fortunately, My active noggin does have a self defense mechanism which manufactures fun games for me to play with during these times. On this occasion it tossed at me,  two old conspiracy theories concerning famous women.

The first has to do with my trans-dar and Ann Coulter shown on the left.  Regardless of what she has always said and done to make a living, I simply have always looked hard for that operated on Adam's Apple. Her latest deal was slamming the soccer wave which is sweeping the country.  Who ever was reporting the story said she wondered if Ann played soccer when she was a little girl...my mind thought (before I knew it) was Ann ever a psychical little girl?  Please don't send me comments...it was just a rhetorical thought.

The second is a little more vague.  Perhaps many of you remember actress Mae West  She went back to the vaudeville days and was one of the more controversial movie stars of her day and encountered many problems, including censorship.  To many though, she was one of the great feminine caricatures of all time and so good-only a man could do it.  I thought no, certainly at death someone would have advanced the theory further! But then I thought, could Mae simply be our American version of the UK's Queen Elizabeth being a man theory?  Hey Paula, Vicki and all you other Brit ladies who stop by Cyrsti's Condo, we are just trying to keep up here in the colonies!

Well, that's it. Like I said, just a little fun to break things up when I get a little too serious about life!

Happy Fourth of July from Cyrsti's Condo

Justin Vivian Bond

Unbelievable! Here we are at the 4th of July already.

To paraphrase John Lennon, the country is another year older and what have we done?

Actually from his Happy Christmas: "So this is Christmas And what have you done Another year over And a new one just begun" I'm sure you get the point.

 I have decided to not pull  my soapbox out and go political on this occasion. Except to say even though our system does have it flaws, we still are maybe the world's best chance to lead by example.

On this 4th of July, let's raise a toast  and look at the strides our country could be on the verge of making if we keep up the fight!  When we do, our trans cup will indeed be half full. - A tasty enjoyable adult beverage for you on our nation's birthday. 

Finally,  be careful not to burn a hole in your new summer blouse with a stray firecracker!!!

Here's hoping you have a safe and enjoyable fourth!