Paying Forward

From RNZ:

"A star of the award-winning film about American Samoa's national football team has given the keynote address at the 40th Annual Conference of the East Coast Asian American Student Union at Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jaiyah Saelua talked about her experience of sex discrimination at a college campus in Hawaii, how football and the film Next Goal Wins, in which she starred have opened doors for her and how faaSamoa embraces and accepts faafafine like herself as the third gender and as human beings.

The East Coast Asian American Student Union mission is to inspire, educate and empower Asian American & Pacific Islander students in higher education."

Jaiyah Saelua speaking at the East Coast Asian American Student Union conference. Photo: Supplied

"In 2009 when Saelua was dismissed from the University of Hawaii Hilo men's soccer team tryouts, she said it felt that she didn't have a voice.

But she told the conference that the title of being the first transgender in the world to play in a FIFA World Cup Qualifier gave her that voice.

She said it gave her an international platform and a responsibility to be the voice of many others like herself.

She pondered whether to remain in American Samoa and continue to live comfortably in an atmosphere that respects her, while the world of football continued to be completely careless to transgender interests, or whether she should capitalize on this opportunity to make a difference in the world."

For more, follow the link above.

Laverne Cox and the Politics of Trans Beauty

From the Daily Beast, a lengthy post about Trans is Beautiful becoming more than just a hash tag:

"In 2015, transgender actress Laverne Cox told the world that “trans is beautiful.” Two years later, there’s proof of that everywhere you look.

Carmen Carrera

Take just the past 30 days, for instance: Transgender model Carmen Carrera walked the runway at Chromat’s New York Fashion Week show, YouTube star and fashion icon Gigi Gorgeous released a new documentary, and Cox has been rocking the awards-show red carpet—as well as the press circuit for her new CBS drama Doubt—in an array of stunning dresses and gowns, like the remarkable one-shoulder chain-link get-up that she wore to the Grammys.

But wait, there’s more: French Vogue announced its first transgender cover model Valentina Sampaio, model Anjali Lama became the first transgender woman to model at India’s Lakmé Fashion Week, and teenage transgender TV star Jazz Jennings got her very own doll sporting a white beret and a tiered tulle skirt.

And there is so much more! Go here.

Boy Meets Girl

Following our Cyrsti's Condo post concerning the premier of "Doubt" with Laverne Cox, Paula Goodwin astutely mentioned the movie "Boy Meets Girl" with another transgender actress Rebecca Root.

The film is on my list of "must see's" which I just haven't seen yet! Thanks Paula :)

Connie also commented on the show:

"I was unable to catch the premier (Doubt) last night, but it's probably "on demand". I'm disappointed, too, about the "reveal" - especially right off the bat. Not knowing the question to which she responded, I don't know if her response was a very good one. I consider myself to have been a woman all my life; I only played the part of a man because I had to. 

I think most of us come to this realization at some point, and I'm sure Laverne, herself, has. Being a transgender woman is hard enough to explain, anyway, but it bothers me when one of us is portrayed as a "woman who used to be a man". The answer to someones question should either be, "It's none of your business" or "Do you really want to learn something?". Of course, an attorney is going to charge for every minute of the lesson if it's done in her office! :)"

Connie, since it is on CBS and if the ratings are half way decent, I am sure they will show it again! Plus since the transgender subject has already been covered, maybe that will be the last we will see of it.