Patti Harrison

 

From the "Advocate" :

" In the new comedic film Together Together, Harrison portrays Anna, a character attempting to become the surrogate mother for a single man, Matt (Ed Helms). It's the kind of role that she, as a transgender actress, would love to be cast in more often. And she hopes her hilarious, heartfelt performance sends a message to Hollywood."

"Harrison has appeared in a variety of productions, from A Simple Favor to Shrill to voice acting in Big Mouth and Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon. However, Harrison is dismayed by the scripts that usually cross her desk, which tend to be some variation of a "down-on-her-luck trans sex worker" who overcomes the trauma of family rejection to become a "brave 'yas queen' girl boss."

"When people only see you as [your marginalized identity], you're not getting the same opportunities" as other actors, Harrison noted."

Loosening Up

 Since I have been fully vaccinated against Covid and still practice safety procedures such as proper distancing and masking in public, I have been able to get out to run a few errands. Curiously, in some ways it seems like I am starting to learn all over again in a feminine world.

At The Ohio State Union with Brutus 

Yesterday was a great example as I had to take a small package to the Post Office.  For some reason I thought I could get away with just slipping it into one of their drop boxes but it wouldn't fit. Not a problem, I had my mask handy, so with no makeup, I briskly headed into the lobby. It is a small Post Office, so there was just one woman behind the counter and I was the only other person there that I saw. As the woman behind the counter saw me, she lit up like a light bulb and enthusiastically greeted me. I think she knew I was transgender and was super accepting. Which was nice as I was struggling slightly to get into the swing again of being back in the public's eye.

I better get used to it, as I have scheduled several other public engagements. The first of which is Friday which I call my own private "D-Day". Meaning it's my dental appointment during which they are going to pull teeth and get me ready for upper dentures. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to the visit but I am looking forward to getting back my smile. At any rate, I am going to have to hitch up by big girl panties and get through it. So far the whole dentist's office has gotten my pronouns correct. 

Coming up, I have several webinars including a couple on aging and one follow up from Trans-Ohio regarding my/ours Transgender Month of Visibility presentation. I still think mine left a lot to be desired but the whole process was a learning experience to build from. 

The weekend coming up in a couple of weeks could be a real "re-coming" out experience. My partner Liz and I have been invited to a small get together of several old friends we haven't seen for awhile to hear one of them perform his music. The following day, we head up to Dayton, Ohio for a high school graduation party for my oldest grandson. 

All in all, it feels good to dive out of my Covid comfort zone and re-insert myself into a feminine world. 

Jenner Strikes Again

  Unfortunately, one of my least favorite people is back in the news.  By now you have probably heard Jenner (I refuse to use her first name) is running for the California governorship as a Republican of course. 

As a quick refresher, Jenner initially supported Benedict Donald Trump, a fierce anti LGBT president. She eventually said she didn't vote for him in 2020 and skipped the election all together to play golf.

Now Jenner has come out totally against transgender youth and athletes everywhere  by saying competing as trans athletes would be unfair to their cis counterparts. By now, you would have thought Jenner could see past her privileged  wealthy past and attempt to do something good for the transgender community.

It's bad when the trans community has a well known person seemingly speaking for us. So many civilians don't understand the diversity within the transgender culture. 

Jenner is nothing more than a hypocrite and a traitor to us all and the worse part of all this is, I'm sure I will have the chance to see/hear more from her as her campaign for governor digresses. 

Pose

 The television drama "Pose" has been around for awhile now. In fact it just premiered it's third season.

Here is a look at the show from Google :

"Set in the 1980s, `Pose' is a dance musical that explores the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in New York: the ball culture world, the rise of the luxury Trump-era universe, and the downtown social and literary scene. Blanca forms a `house', a self-selected family that provides

 support to LGBTQ youth who have been rejected by their birth families. Damon is a dancer who joins Blanca's house. Together, they compete in the balls -- where house members challenge each other in various categories and are judged on their outfits, attitude, or dance skills -- against Blanca's former house mother, Elektra. Pray Tell is Godfather to the children who compete in the balls. Angel is a streetwalker who develops feelings for a new client, Stan, who has a loving wife, Patty. James Van Der Beek co-stars as Stan's boss, "

Of interest to us is the fact the show is produced by transgender icon "Janet Mock" (above right) and features several transgender actors. 

I watched it for the first time recently and was fascinated. Even by the reproductions of the New York drag balls. I have never been to anything close to a drag ball but have been to several fairly good sized parties which featured many drag queens. I remember the energy was palpable. 

One of my favorite characters is played by Indya Moore (right) who identifies as transgender and non binary. Preferred pronouns are "she/her" and "they/them". 

The show is on Sunday nights at 10pm EDT around here and airs on the "FX" network. I'm sure it's available on a streaming service too.

Would You Give Birth?

 This was a question which was posed by one of the many bloggers I follow.  The only difference was, it was supposed to be answered only by cis guys. I couldn't let it go and jumped in with my answer as a transgender woman. 

Over the years, I have known or encountered many trans women who would consider giving birth as the ultimate feminine experience.  Others even crave the idea. 

Over the years my idea of pregnancy has changed. I suppose it goes all the way back to my days with my deceased wife when she was fond of calling me the "pretty, pretty princess." Adding I didn't have any real  idea of what life was like for a cis woman. Sadly, she was right.  The last thing I wanted to think of was what cis women had to think of (and do) when they bear children. I was too busy thinking how I looked as a woman was the most important part of my life. 

Politically also,  pregnancy is the point many cis women transphobes make that only real women can bear children The argument of course doesn't hold water because many cis women are born sterile without the proper "equipment" to go through a pregnancy. Not to mention the countless cis women who don't desire parenthood at all.

These days, possibly due to the effects of hormone replacement therapy my ideas on pregnancy have changed. Of course it is easy to say at my seventy years of age (plus) deep down I can sense I wouldn't mind being pregnant. However, I don't view the whole process as the ultimate pinnacle of my femininity. For some reason now, my body tells me now it wouldn't be out of the question if it was medically possible. 

Possible or not, the whole pregnancy idea has become yet another question to ponder. These days I think I would/could give birth if it was possible.