Monday, February 15, 2016

The First Transgender President?

Jennifer Finney Boylan © 2007 Photo by James Bowdoin
Jennifer Boylan
It's President's Day and I began to think of any possible transgender closeted president we have had (in relatively modern times.)  

Wouldn't that be cool? Ideally, a candidate who could understand those on both sides of the gender aisle? 

Allegedly though, the closest we have come in recent memory has been FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's closet full of dresses. These days, as we approach elections, LGBT organizations may continually have to fight tooth and nail for our freedoms. Let alone think about a trans president.

On another subject:

In my constant search around the world wide web, yesterday I did find another wonderful interview with Jennifer Finney Boylan from the New York Times called: "You've gone to a lot of trouble to be a woman-don't be a stupid  one."  Plenty of wonderful quotes for you to take a look at!


Sunday, February 14, 2016

Cyrsti's Condo "Sunday Edition"

KerPlunk and SMOOTCH!  Welcome to another Valentines Sunday Edition of the Condo which has hit your virtual front porch. We are between the bitter cold I wrote of yesterday and snowy weather today a great day to cuddle in my "jammies" with a hot cop o joe or cocoa! Let's get started.
Page One-The Week that Was or Wasn't: The week that was, revolved again around LGBT rights, especially transgender restroom rights in many areas of the country. Do the best you can to get out and support the trans youth in your communities. Here in Ohio, once again, legislators once again are trying to push a LGBT rights bill past a Republican controlled legislature. Not to mention a governor who happens to be a presidential candidate which means he is not above "blowing in the wind" and changing positions for votes. Now he is in South Carolina groveling to the Evangelical conservative right. 
Page Two- Yesterday's Coffee-Opinion: Perhaps you have heard by now U.S.  SupremeCourt Justice Antonin Scalia, the leading conservative voice on the high court, has died at the age of 79, a government source   and a family friend told CNN on Saturday. Perhaps, he was known recently for his "gobbly gook" opinions such as same sex marriage rather than sound conservative opinion. Like him or not, Scalia may have been an example of why Supreme Court justices should not have an automatic seat for life, once approved. Now of course the fight begins on who will replace him and many are saying the Obama administration should not have a choice. All in all, the process should be another increasingly interesting and important look into the American justice system.
Page Three- Rest Rooms and the Alamo? Both have incredible inconsistencies. The story (as told) is mostly fiction as you saw it on the big screen. To the uneducated, the easiest way for the radical right to prey on our rights is to mention imagined horrendous restroom activities by transgender women. The reason I bring it up again is, according to Mara KeislIng:


"The backlash against trans people that we’ve been expecting for years is here. As of today, we’re fighting against 29 pieces of anti-trans legislation in elevenstatesAnd more are coming. And if we lose even one, our opponents will only accelerate their efforts.
Make no mistake, these anti-trans bills are not only attacking trans adults, but they’re attacking trans youth. Our children. They’d make it illegal for transgender students to use the restroom at school and even place a bounty on their heads—rewardingclassmates for turning them in.
NCTE is taking a strong leadership role in these battles. We are helping coordinate messaging and strategy while finding trans people in target states to step up tell their stories. We have spent a year gearing up for this, but NCTE simply doesn’t have the resources to fight these.
Even if you don’t live in Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington or Wisconsin, where these bills are already up and running, they are threatening all of us and our kids all over the country."
Page Four-The Back Page: Well kids, it's time to go. As always I love you and thanks for stopping by Cyrsti's Condo!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

"Book' EM" Cyrsti

The last week or so I have actually settled into what I think I can and can't do with my latest book project, and along the way have actually stumbled across a couple proof readers, who work for coffee. One of them I live with also, which is a potential big stumbling block.

It's taken a lot but I have given her a red pen/pencil and said go after grammar/punctuation mistakes. Well, I just had to get over it as my efforts came back looking as if someone died on it with all the red. (And that's after Microsoft Word helped with it's own miracles.)

I'm sure those of you who are regulars here in Crysti's Condo and are grammar freaks like my partner catch me making tons of mistakes. Here is my excuse though, lots o times grammar just got in my way when there were points to make or my imagination was running wild. How's that?

On the bright side, I have figured how to move blog posts into the book after I copy and paste them to Word. Once I have something in place in my noggin it normally stays. Plus, the whole task of ever doing a book was the impossible dream for me and I have a close friend who is actually getting published and has a couple E-books. I can't come close to saying how much work that is, how creative she is and how she keeps that little all knowing
grin on her face when someone else talks about how they "should write a book." (Love it and can you tell how much respect I have for her?)

So, since goals seem to be a real live part of my life these days, the book is off and running for the finish line. The Trans Ohio Symposium or Pride Days this summer could be a real possibility if I keep working on it. 

Hopefully you are asking by now what's it about? The best and worst of my transgender life as told through Cyrsti's Condo.


A Complex Day

  JJ Hart. (right) Mother's Day  last night. Liz on left. Another Mother's Day is here and as always, it presents me with many compl...