Trans Support Group Meeting

Last night's transgender - cross dresser meeting was interesting from a couple of different views.

I finally figured the participants who for the most part are giddy with excitement and do most all of the talking, have no one to talk to at home, so that is all good.

And, speaking of good, I have grown used to not feeling guilty about not having anything really negative to say about myself.

My only negative last night was having to sit beside the token transgender t-Rump supporter in the room. She just bugs me negatively on so many levels.

I also had a chance to meet another trans vet, and now there are at least three in the group. She was/is having severe problems with her hormone levels. She literally came up showing she was pregnant on her last blood labs and has been lactating through her shirts. It turns out she is a walking study of losing her family and lives in a camper she has to move from location to location. Mainly in state parks I guess.

My only contributions last night were mentioning my meeting with my partner Liz and long time therapist together (for the first time) and the Trans Ohio Symposium workshop submission which I actually sent in yesterday.

Another good thing that happened was one attendee who has continually threatened suicide in the past, was able to come out successfully to his two teen sons. To seemingly counter that was another trans woman who told her story of trying to commit suicide on Christmas Day.

So as you can tell, the meeting fell way short of having no drama at all and was far from boring.

Transgender Health Care

In response to the Cyrsti's Condo post "Are You", which concerned my conversation on the phone with the VA receptionist who was scheduling my mammogram. She asked if I was male or female, to which I replied "transgender."

Connie wrote about her experience at the doctor:

FABULOUSCONNIEDEEJanuary 7, 2018 at 4:12 PM

"When it comes to health care, nothing short of full disclosure should be deemed acceptable - even at the expense of hurt feelings or embarrassment. Still, discreteness should not be sacrificed for the sake of disclosure.

When I first saw my current GP, he had never had a transgender patient. He obviously had received some training on how to talk to a trans woman, but he was very awkward about it. The second time I had an appointment, he had either done some research or asked some questions, which made him even more careful in how he talked to me - worried more about offending me than in dealing with my health issue, it seemed to me. 

Interestingly, I was suffering from a urinary tract infection at the time, and he hadn't known the source of it until all of the lab results had come in. UTIs are more common with women than with men, but the source of mine was my prostate gland - something he neglected to check on my first visit. The antibiotic he prescribed, therefore, was ineffective. I told him that I was totally aware that my biological makeup was male, and that he could not offend me in the least by treating it as such. Although he never admitted it, I believe he avoided doing a prostate exam for fear of offending me.

My very first physical exam, early in my transition, was done by a doctor who is very popular with trans women in my area. I had not yet changed my name or gender marker, but I arrived for my appointment appearing to be all the woman I could muster. As I sat waiting in the exam room, the nurse wheeled in a tray that was covered by a white towel. The doctor, after a discussion with me concerning my general health and trans issues, lifted the towel to reveal a complete set of instruments for a gynecological exam! She held up the speculum and said, "I don't think we need this...yet." We both got a good laugh out of it, and she proceeded with a digital exam of my prostate (talk about killing a laugh...). 

Even if I ever get to experience the need for a gynecological exam one day, I hope to still have to suffer through the prostate exam. The alternative would be to be permanently connected to a colostomy bag, which is not the image of femininity I have for myself."

Thanks for your experience!

Let's Be Careful out There!

Tragically, what is believed to be the first transgender Murder/death of the year has been recorded in Massachusetts.

Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien was found stabbed to death in her home on Friday evening. Her husband, Mark Steele-Knudslien, has been arrested on suspicion of the murder after he confessed to police that he had killed her.

An autopsy sound that she died from a loss of blood from a stab wound.

She also had blunt force trauma to the head.

The 42-year-old’s death has been ruled a homicide.

Let's be careful out there! Remember you don't carry the old male privilege with you anymore which helped to curtail violence . 

When you see all the cis women protesting against sexual harassment and violence,  don't think the protest doesn't apply to you too!