Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Our Guy?

If you are not familiar, there is a third Republican presidential candidate who has been lost in the circus dust from the two remaining candidates and he is Ohio's Governor John Kasich. The other two , Trump and Cruz have been able to cloud the issues so much that Kasich's flaws just kind of slip through the huge cracks. Like this one:

From TheEdgeMediaNetwork:

John Kasich

During a recent campaign stop in Troy, New York, GOP presidential hopeful John Kasich was asked about Leelah Alcorn, the trans teen from Ohio who made headlines after she took her own life by walking into traffic after her family refused to accept her and wanted her to undergo conversion therapy.
Though the Ohio governor was "not familiar" with Alcon's tragic story, he took the moment to talk about same-sex marriage, LGBT rights and the anti-LGBT "religious freedom" measures popping up in a number of states, ABC News reports.
"This is a very tough issue for people, and let me tell you my view of it: First of all, I'm not familiar with that case," Kasich told a crowd of supporters. "But I've been watching what's happening in North Carolina what happened in Indiana - I'm not watching it closely - but what happened in Mississippi. We have all this legislation that people are proposing... I don't want any discrimination against anybody. I'm not in favor of discrimination, period, end of story."
"Secondly, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage," he continued."I'm a traditional marriage guy, but the court ruled. I'm allowing the court ruling to stand. I'm not looking for some constitutional amendment - it's done."

Actually, I think Kasich is more of the consummate politician and he knows how a North Carolina law would fly in Ohio, into the nearest wall. However, for him to claim he knew nothing about Leelah Alcorn's tragic suicide about 100 miles south of him on I-71 is tragic as well.

Maybe he was already out of the state looking for money? 

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Uber Safety?

We have not discussed the need for safety here in Cyrsti's Condo nearly enough! As we transition from men to women, no matter how effeminate we used to be, there still is a huge change in safety. It's bad enough violence against cis women is on the rise, multiply it farther for transgender women.

Now, in certain parts of the country,  Chariots for Women is an up and coming "Uber Service" designed for women only - including trans women.

My partner Liz gets the "way to go girl" for seeing this one on TechCrunch.com. :“The premise is the same as all the other ridesharing services,”  (Founder Micheal)Pelletz said in a phone interview. “There’s a driver app and a client app, except that what makes us unique is our safety feature that other apps forgot to do.” The service’s patent-pending technology gives the driver and the client a code in the app after a ride request has been made. When the car arrives, the driver and passenger make sure their codes match before the passenger gets in the car. Chariot for Women donates 2 percent of every fare to charity, and the company does not use surge charging.


In addition to only having women as drivers, Pelletz uses Safer Places, which has a reputation for performing the most stringent background checks. Chariot for Women also requires that all drivers pass Massachusetts’ Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check, the same deep background check used in daycare centers and schools. Chariot for Women pays for the CORI check and will add fingerprinting for its drivers as soon as it’s possible.
The service will also pick up kids of any gender under age 13, as well as anyone of any age who identifies as a woman. “If they’re trans and identify as a woman, they can drive and ride with us, no problem at all,” Pelletz said."
Pelletz goes on to say: "We’re doing this because there is such inequality when it comes to security that afflicts driver and rider due to gender,” Pelletz reiterated. “Women are across the world the ones being harassed and assaulted by male drivers. In my eight months as an Uber driver, I didn’t hear any negative feedback from men.”
At the time when you are (or have transitioned) into a woman, you will know this is yet another very needed tool, such as wage equality, you will be facing.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day"

"I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

Staying in your Own Gender Lane

Image from Earnest Tarasov on UnSplash. Staying in my own gender lane may have been more difficult than I had ever imagined. Of course, it a...