Cyrsti's Condo "From the Hart"

Cyrsti's Condo "Woman of the Day/Year"

I can't/won't even begin to look back on last year and pretend to have the knowledge or skill to pick a transgender "woman" of the year.  I can tell you I wouldn't pick the prettiest face.  That's typically a real insult to generics as well as trans women.  Sort of like picking  a cheer leader for her looks when the girl across the room is ready to discover a new law of physics.

I am as guilty as most though in getting tangled in the culture of looks. Truly, I am astounded at the mtf gender transitions of some of the women I see and  pass along to you. Also,  I will not backtrack on the impact of the Laverne Cox's and Janet Mock's of the world. Both are obviously talented, smart and beautiful women. But then, there are the other trans women we don't hear so much about such as  Dr. Jillian T. Weiss (left) a  Professor of Law and Society at Ramapo College of New Jersey, and a researcher in the area of transgender workplace law and policy.


She has authored numerous academic publications, presentations and other scholarly works, as well as articles and interviews for media organizations including The New York Times and Associated Press. She is a member of the Board of GetEqual, a direct action non-profit organization dedicated to LGBT rights, as well as a member of The Williams Institute Advisory Board, an LGBT rights think-tank at UCLA Law School, and former member of the Board of Advisors of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

She also provides consulting services for private and public employers, including Harvard University, Boeing and New York City, and pro bono legal representation in cases involving gender identity and gender expression discrimination. She is a member of the National LGBT Bar Association, and Chair of the Planning Committee for its annual Transgender Law Institute.

What a beautiful year 2015 could be if for once the transgender community could pull together in one unified direction?

Don't I HAVE to Have Lists?

Well, sure I do!  The problem I have is remembering 2014 because it was a blur and it is easy to get stuck on tons of individual events.

Easily though the #1 Worst happening of the year was when I was gender slurred at the LOKI Group dance near Cincinnati. My partner Liz identifies as lesbian and she wanted to go so I did and for all intents and purposes got bounced. Later I got this message:  "An Organizer removed you from this Meetup Group. Check out other LGBT Meetups near you." As I said at the time, I ran into an obvious radical feminist protecting her pile of sand in the girls sandbox.  It just brought to me the reality of bigots in the world.

Easily, the #1 Best happening of 2014 came on the night Liz and I went to a big sports bar/tavern close to her to watch our "The Ohio State Buckeyes" play Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game. Sure, the Buckeyes won big (an incredibly tough task coming up against Alabama this week) but even bigger was the fact absolutely no one gave me a second look.  Groups of guys playing darts, families, other women-no one. 

(Don't ask me to speculate WHY the most likely transgender bigots come from within the LGBTQ community?)

The biggest surprise of the year actually came recently in the month of December. For some reason, my HRT hormones went into hyper-drive. I became moody, my breasts were sore and other minor changes happened.  Often I am not the sharpest tack in the box and after I was whining for probably the thousandth time to Liz, she said relax, you just had a period.  You couldn't bleed of course, but the rest of you had a period.  It's taken a while and normal is difficult for me to relate to; I'm getting back there now.

Looking back at 2014 though, I have to toss you a cop out.  Without question, the year was the most exciting, scary and satisfying one of my life.  I am sure I will think of other "additions" to this post later. Maybe 2015?