Damn! I'm Old!

In this day and age when more than a few transgender women want to throw the "I am more trans than you card" and many of my most asked questions pertain to when did I know I was gender dysphoric , this newspaper article pretty much says it all: (kind of-or at least a starting point)

 ((Originally published by the Daily News on December 1, 1952. This story was written by Ben White.)
At that time, I was approximately three.

Of course my reading skills at that age were less than stellar, so I can't tell you I went out and read my parents newspaper about the story.

What I can tell you is, not so many years later I did hear of the Christine Jorgensen story and was fascinated. So, I guess my trans pedigree is blurred. I can't say the first time I read the Jorgensen story at the age of three I knew I was transgender or transsexual or any other of the words which had not even been invented yet. So i guess I am not trans enough for most. Blah, blah, blah.

On the other end of the age spectrum, I was listening to one of the national sports talk radio shows this morning and they were having quite the Bruce Jenner discussion. With no particular horse in the race, Dan Patrick matter of factly pointed out most younger peeps never knew how much of a famous athlete Jenner was. Plus he (Patrick) could not shake the idea the subject was very serious but Jenner was using the interview as a "teaser" promo show for the upcoming reality series.

Transgender "Catfishing"

Ever watch the "Catfish the TV Show"? By total accident  recently when I couldn't find my remote-again-I stumbled upon an episode  about a guy named Jamie and girl named Ari.

Briefly, a "catfish" on a site such as Facebook is misrepresenting themselves as who they really are.

So, as I banged away at my computer, I wasn't paying in real attention to "Ari" who "had a secret of sorts she was hiding from Jamie. Well, it turns out Ari was/is a transgender woman.

I thought "here we go again." But surprisingly, Jamie took it fairly well and it was Ari who basically shutdown everything and walked off.

Most importantly to me was the link MTV added after the show-providing information and possible help to transgender women and transgender men. Follow the link above and you should be able to view the episode.

Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

KER PLUNK! Another edition of Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition" is hitting your virtual front porch. It's a chilly, sunny spring morning here in Ohio so the "Joe" (coffee) is on and lets get started.

The Week that WAS or Wasn't.- Finally the much awaited Bruce Jenner interview with Diane Sawyer has come and gone. The two hour show at the least created a whole different level of who we are as a transgender community as many television stations featured a follow up interview with a local trans woman after the show. However you want to look at it, a whole new group of people were able to see we trans people are just that-humans. Not the monsters painted out by local bible thumping ministers or right wing politicians. To put this week in a "Jenner-esk"  sports reference-he has passed the (decathlon) baton to us and it's up to each one of us to run with it.

Hello Carol and Debbie!  Last night Liz and I went to a local Gay Couples get together at one of the couples beautiful home. Not long into the evening we began chatting with a lesbian couple (Carol and Debbie) and enjoyed it immensely. I should say a long term married lesbian couple. Not too long after we began chatting, I broke two of my personal promises to myself-as inane as they may be. I was not going to out myself or discuss Jenner. Blah, blah, blah. We did talk about Jenner and it was cool and as far as "outing" myself-everyone there I suspect knew anyhow. I was flattered to find several went out of their way to make me feel welcome. Good to meet both of you!

We Got Mail! I 'm going to sort through a couple which centered on Bruce (of course). The first comes from CalieApril 25, 2015 at 1:17 PM

I've got to agree. (about Bruce's media storm) The whole thing makes me very uncomfortable and I don't know why. My gut feeling is that this is not, at least right now, good for our community. Perhaps at some point I'll blog about my feelings on this whole thing. For now, it's a circus and the media - my occupation - is making the most of it. Funny how the story came out on the second day of the most important rating month of the year.....

Thanks Callie! There are no "coincidences" in the media-right? And another person who should have her own blog - Connie:

"The best we can hope for is that public awareness will open a few more closet doors, as well as a few more hearts. I think that we often forget how long it took for many of us to come to grips with ourselves and our gender identities. We need to give others some time to deal with it, as well. Whether coming out can be construed as an act of bravery (as many are saying about Bruce) or not is nothing compared to the responsibility we have to both ourselves and others when we do so. One of the most important things Bruce said was at the outset of the interview, asking that we keep a sense of humor about all of this. Humor can go a long way in easing the suffering of slings and arrows, as well as in keeping our own nobility - if not, at least, our own humility."

The Back Page:  Finally, what was the tasteless idea for a "joke" sandwich aimed at Bruce Jenner. It was part Taco and part Hot Dog. There you go. Essentially though, it doesn't matter what the sandwich was or the intended humor behind it. We (trans) have been the subject of jokes, smirks and out and out laughter- the world just needs to know they aren't funny anymore. Someday with equal rights and acceptance humor will be be fine, until then one person's "humor" is another's salt in the wound.

So there you go!!!! Another Sunday Edition in or "on the can." Have a great week!