Stay Out of Red Neck Bars if you Ain't a Cow Girl or a Sheep

Over the recent years here in Cyrsti's Condo, many have asked me how I finally began to make a transition into a quality feminine lifestyle. First and foremost, I have been able to balance a lack of movie queen looks with a group of cis women dedicated friends. Normally one balanced the other until I gained confidence to "step out" on my own. Look at it this way, instead of hiding in the back of the line, I became an active partner.

Secondly, I began to be more selective on where I went and quit taking chances so to speak. Here's an example: Today Liz and I along with a few acquaintances toured a working artist gallery in an old factory building in downtown Cincinnati. I am not the biggest art expert in the world but I do admire and respect more than a few of the artists work which I met today. And, DUH!!! I was welcomed and Oh-Gee there weren't any of those pesky gender specific restrooms.

So my advice to the novice cross dresser or transgender woman heading out into the public eye for the first time is - go to someplace percent wise that you can relax and enjoy the world. If you can and I know it is tough. I tripped through malls in heels and short skirts and most definitely found my way into some wrong drinking establishments. I was no angel.

In fact, one of my goals for next year is to finally e-pub my second book which details most of my dumber moments in the world. My first literary effort "Stilettos on Thin Ice" was much more of a personal look of how I survived growing up transgender.

Spoiler alert: I may have lived through my visits to a few red neck bars and I had a real tough time passing as a "cow girl" or a sheep. Depending on who who talked to!!!

Dancing Skeletons and Swerving All Over the Road

We chat around here quite a bit on occasion on when someone protests too loudly about a transgender person and their rights-a LGBTQ skeleton of sorts may be dancing loudly in their closet.

Sadly, an overwhelmingly large amount of us over compensate over our lives for the gender dysphoria we suffer. Certainly, I am not covering new ground. You may have recalled Connie and I discussing a few of the reasons we played sports and/or joined the scouts or-or-or---blah, blah blah.

Last night, Liz and I went to another of our meetup group's get together. During the course of the evening, I was amazed to the point of even being shocked that two people out of a group of approx 12 have trans questioning offspring/relation. Both of course are into the struggles we all went through as we were sorting out who we were.

Amidst all of this comes the news that an ignorant, snake worshiping religious right group is fighting Cincinnati's ban on LGBT conversion therapy. I wonder if those are the ones who go home and pull out the gay porn. Plus, the proponents of the "conversion therapy" are quick to point out they should have the right to choose.

Of course I offered any and all support I could come up with - plus this group provides a natural huge welcoming set of arms. I am so happy to be a role model of any sorts. 

Particularly at this point of time (with the political "bantering/bashing" going on) I wonder how it all affects the younger transgender girls and guys like were talked about last night.

I really believe Trump could give a "rat's arse" since he gets more press going after the Muslims. But for any number of reasons (including basic transgender rights) Cruz and Rubio in particular are very dangerous.

I used to be basically a third party person but this election is shaping up to be a no brainer.. Then again, there is a long way to go. 

Hopefully the right skeletons will dance their way out of the right closets!

Cyrsti's Condo Remember?

From CNN:  Before there was Caitlyn Jenner, Laverne Cox or Jazz Jennings, there was Tracey “Africa” Norman.

In the mid-1970s, Norman was the face of Clairol’s Born Beautiful hair color (No. 512, Dark Auburn). She had an exclusive contract with Avon. She did several photo shoots with Essence. She was a house model in Balenciaga’s Paris showroom.

She had also been born male, although almost no one knew her secret, a story she told in the latest New York magazine.

An African-American model already facing discrimination based on her skin color, she knew that any hint that she was also transgender would have ended her career and could have led to her death.

When word did eventually get out, the work dried up.

“I was a model, so males and females were attracted to me, and when they find out that I’m not what they perceive me to be, it freaks them out,” she told the magazine. “That’s what I’ve experienced in my life, what I was getting from straight women and straight men.”

Read more of her story here.