Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Fantasy 101

Ok girl and guyfriends, I know the word "fantasy" invokes delicious thoughts!
Sorry, kids I'm going to bring you down a bit and jump back to the "SNL" and "Craig Ferguson" shows.
The "big guys" pick what goes on of course but who wrote the garbage that slammed us?
My fantasy is to sit face to face, eyeball to eyeball with the people that write this slop.
I assume they are in NYC's "ivory tower. I lived there for awhile and the average New Yorker had very little idea of the rest of the nation that existed between the coasts. Maybe all they know is the old "Club Kids" scene or any of the "Drag Queens" in New York.  Maybe they even have met "RuPaul"! Which means they know nothing at all of us as a group. Perhaps they even saw one of the old "Church Lady" skits years ago when SNL was funny.
Maybe they missed the point that the "Church Lady" was poking fun at a particular kind of woman, not a group per se.  We all knew "Dana Carvey" was a man but he was playing a woman. Not a transgendered woman.
The SNL writers totally and completely missed all of this.  Ferguson's drivel was just that...nasty like the rest of his show designed for the substance challenged late night masses.
My other fear is that I would meet a stone cold bitch and all logical conversation would be lost! As a group we would be certainly farther behind!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

"Mo Boo!"

Surely you remember the 5 year old boy who caused such a stir with a Halloween costume.
I remember thinking at the time what a stir the poor kid caused.  Being a five year old, "Boo" and his friends are probably  past the whole issue but of course the adults aren't. Specifically the adults in the church his family belongs to.
The true hero in all of this is Mom and she has a blog you have to read. "Nerdy Apple Bottom"  is the name of this amazing blog.
Her church of course has accused her of "promoting gayness". She is just promoting the right of her son to be who he is! Here is a brief sample."And again I say to you that bullying is not okay, even if you wrap it in a bow and call it "spiritual care."
Most importantly, this woman did not run and hide from all of this. She came out swinging!
Read her blog and see if you agree she embodies much of what we all admire in a woman!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Why?

How could anyone think we make a conscious choice to walk down the transgendered road when it is so difficult to navigate?
Do they really think we could put it down like smoking or drinking?
The recent stats show how many of us live in total poverty.  Worse yet,. the number of us that face violence (and lose) is just scary.
Add on the suicides, loss of family and friends and even discord within our own community and no reality show could ever really scratch the surface.
To coin a term OMG!
Over the years, I've tried to think of some of my worst enemies who I could share my "condition" with and came up with a big fat zero. I've never hated that much!
On the other hand I wouldn't want to share the "euphoria"I felt last night. Yes, I am that selfish and I couldn't even begin to realistically explain it to a "normal" gendered person. Walking through a group of partying people with my long black wavy hair. Shoulders back, favorite outfit, scarf and bling. OMG it was fun!
What can I say, except I'm so lucky not to live in poverty. I am not lucky enough to say I haven't considered offing myself. What's left of my family knows I'm trans and I really get upset over those in our community who believe a total sex change makes you a better person than a crossdresser.
The only certainty I have is uncertainty.  Do I risk health problems at this point in my life to be more of a female. Do I go away and live full time? Do I continue the dual status I live now?
The only answer I have is that I don't know.  Some days it's my own personal gender nightmare. More than likely, one I'll take to my grave.
All these years "they" said I could put all this behind me.  OMG!
(OMG means Oh My God!)

Sunday, February 6, 2011

British TV Girls?

The British are giving the old "Benny Hill" series a run for it's money.
The "Push the Button" stars Ant Mc Parlin and Declan Donnelly  played characters from a fictional family and promoted the second season of the British show.
Ant played the Mom and Dec (below) went all out as the daughter and her best friend too.



Follow this link to see a picture of Dec "before" and more information on this show. : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1351640/Howay-er--lads-Ant-Dec-glam-drag-promote-TV-show.html#ixzz1DF3a2qFb
 
Sooner or later (later) our "transphobic" nation  might feature a television star or two do a realistic makeover!


Saturday, February 5, 2011

DUH!

I just had to pass this bit of reality to you all...we are being discriminated against because we are transgendered?
Really????
Here's the headline:

Groundbreaking Report Reflects Persistent Discrimination Against Transgender Community 

The National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force are receiving significant media coverage for “Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey,” released by the two organizations on Friday morning.

Certainly it is great for this earth shattering information to be placed in the public eye. Maybe now the new governor of my home state (Ohio) will reinsert the transgender protection clauses? (He conveniently deleted)

He probably didn't know we were discriminated against until now!

I know I'm just a bit cynical. Hopefully every bit of this attention truly does help our cause!


Trans and the VA

More and more transgendered veteran information is showing up in the media with the recent repeal of "don't ask don't tell." in the military.
Reports are surfacing about the VA providing meaningful care but seemingly has no real policy. Not a surprise that we are falling through another set of cracks.
Along the way, I did find a transgendered vet story that closely follows mine.
The VA actually prescribed hormones to a bi-polar vet and let her work three months in their library to pass the requirements. I have to believe this is a very rare instance.
I too am bi-polar and I take a very good regimen of drugs that keep me as normal as I can be! Every couple months I check in with a "junior shrink". I call her that because she is more qualified to dispense meds than counsel. However, I'm one step away from telling her my condition and seeing the real shrink.
Problems are cropping up however when transgendered veterans actually have legal name changes.  All important records are being disturbed and if you ever have been in the military, you know how disturbed that can make you!
I am reaching a juncture in my life where this is all so important to me.  Do I think anything meaningful will happen soon? No, but that won't stop me from trying to lend what support I can to make it happen!

Regrets?

Several years ago "MSNBC" did a show on a transgendered person who was going the distance to live as her chosen gender until a church entered her life. Here is one of the "after" pictures.
The entire story is at"A Gender Variance..Who's Who? . I remember being fascinated and saddened by Micheal Burke's story but I never knew she went to "Wright State University" which is in my backyard so to speak.
To make a very long story short, Micheal spent nearly 80 grand to become "Michelle". She never completed the SRS and ended up in Florida.  Somewhere along the line in the "Sunshine State" Michelle fell under the spell of a mega church and reverted back to Micheal.



Now Michelle is stuck again as Micheal unable to raise 80 grand to go back.

There really is no "moral" to this story. Looking back , it seemed "MSNBC" took the mega church to task for meddling in a fragile person's life. Seemingly Michelle was a more comfortable, complete person than Michael ever was. Maybe, confidence and courage  were her greatest shortcomings.

Link up with the "Gender Variance" site for more stories such as Michelle's.
'

Friday, February 4, 2011

Really Split Ends!

An ancient story returns once again, "Mona Lisa" was a male. Several sites have reported "Mona" was modeled after a possible Leonardo da Vinci love interest.
The claim came from Silvano Vinceti, chairman of the Italian national committee for cultural heritage. He went on to say  the Florence-born Renaissance artist's male apprentice and possible lover Salai was the main inspiration for the picture.
Nothing new here. We always knew the most intriguing women are guys!
On the flip side, have you heard of the Justin Bieber web site? Well not quite. This site is "Lesbians who look like "The Bieb's"
Here's your challenge "gf's"  A trans male who dresses as a lesbian to look like Justin Bieber. Then again, who would want too?

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Saturday Night Dead?

By now, I'm sure you have heard of the fuss concerning a skit "Saturday Night Live" produced called "Estro Maxx". Here's the way it's playing out.
Media watchdog the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
is calling on members to protest NBC skit comedy show Saturday Night
Live
for airing a “dangerous and blatantly anti-transgender segment.”
In the skit, men dressed as women hail advanced estrogen replacement
therapy
Estro-Maxx for making their modern lives easier.
Dangerous? I'm not so sure. Anti transgender? Certainly in that it makes us look like a bunch of clowns. Isn't that premise SNL has always survived on?
Maybe that's why I'm not outraged. Consider the source?
Today I had a very in depth discussion with a close transgender friend.who could not understand why I was not outraged?
I agreed with her every point. The whole skit was a ridiculous cheap shot at our culture and at us as individuals. All of this would come back to hurt us as a culture.
It would if something like this was on "60 Minutes". The last I noticed SNL was not a platform for social issues. Just one for social satire.
On the other hand "GLAAD" is doing it's job by vigorously protesting "SNL". We need a constant "watch dog".
In the mean time, I'm sure "SNL" has enjoyed the firestorm of publicity.

Sitting Pretty

Image from JJ Hart. It never took me being a genius to figure out my appearance as a woman would cost me much more than my male self ever di...