The LGBT Heart of it All!

When you think of Columbus, Ohio you probably think it's yet another mid sized Midwestern conservative city. You may know it as the capital of Ohio and the home of "The Ohio State University".
What you probably didn't know is that Columbus, Ohio is one of the most open gay cities in the country. Columbus measures over 50,000 gays in their population. A higher percentage than Chicago.
For those of us who are life long Ohioans, we know "C-bus" (as it's called) is a different world from the other other larger cities in the state.
30 years following the cities first Pride March, a publication called "614" recently featured an article called "Why Is Columbus So Gay?"  Consider the first pride participants wore bags over their heads to hide their identity. Today companies pay to advertise in the parade!
Writer Travis Hoewischer  does an excellent job of explaining how an ever increasing gay population has helped to "gentrify" decaying urban neighborhoods and has become an economic and political force.
Being gay in Columbus has become a non issue.A year or so ago Ohio State hosted a huge "Andy Warhol" exhibit. On one of the Sunday's men were encouraged to come in "drag"! Really.
Follow the link and read the article. Forget San Fransisco and check out Columbus!

Araguz To The Supreme Court?

Texas widow "Nikki Araguz" must sit and wonder what a long strange trip it's been.

From the talk show circuit as a young transgendered woman to a marriage in Texas that ended tragically in her husband's death...she seems to be always on some sort of hot seat.
She lost her court case to claim death benefits in Texas and now is considering taking the case to the Supreme Court.
How does a person do this?
John Wright from the "dallasvoice.com" provided some insight.
"Nikki Araguz, who until now has been represented by Frye & Associations, said she expects Katine & Nechman will partner with national LGBT advocacy groups on the appeal.
Araguz said she chose to switch law firms because the high-profile case could have broad implications for transgender equality, possibly addressing fundamental legal questions about how gender is determined.
“I think that collaborating with multiple national organizations’ legal teams, and the Supreme Court experience of Mitchell Katine, is the better way to go for the greater good of everyone who’s going to be affected by the outcome of this case,” Araguz said this week in an interview with Dallas Voice."
From this statement I gather you go high power legal with backing from national groups and go to court.
On a purely personal level, I never forgot "Nikki's" appearance on Springer years ago explaining her oral sex act with a guy.
On the other hand I agree with her opinion all of this may have or could have far reaching considerations. Certainly governments have legislated gender. It's time for the highest court in the land to decide why they shouldn't.

Copacetic? The word nearly sounds like a new mouth wash.
Then again it means so much more to me these days.
I can tell you I have never been in this situation before. My constant internal gender battle has subsided.
I can also tell you I'm not sure I'm not in the calm eye of a storm.
For the meantime it's been a peaceful break.
Perhaps it's because I'm starting to finally realize this not the old me. I don't have to wait days or even weeks to externally appear as the person I want to be.
I do not have to suffer bouts of paranoia about being accepted in society.
I do know none of this is permanent. Everything and everyone suffers highs and lows.  The wonderful part of all of this is I'm not on a high.
I seemed have reached another level of gender awareness. Rather than running out and looking for the next, it feels good to stay here for awhile!

"Driving my Ol 55"

I discovered a couple nights ago how you just can't take the hippie out of the girl.
On the way to meet a friend I happened to glance in the rear view mirror and saw this girl with long straight blond hair looking back at me. I happened to be wearing my favorite worn out bell bottoms and a frilly black sheer top. I was even wearing my "peace sign" ring. I definitely did know the woman in the mirror!
She reminded me of an older version of women I admired during my "hippie" days
I turned my attention back to the road and as the summer sun was setting I flashed back on a relatively obscure 1974 "Eagle's" tune. It was from their  "On the Border" album. It was called the "Ol 55"  The song essentially was about a guy heading home in his old pickup truck on a busy highway. Here I was years later driving down a busy interstate in a small pickup truck. He was heading home at dawn and I was heading out at sunset. Differences to be sure but close enough for a mystical connection.
I never will have the chance and go back and be the blond haired girl riding beside a guy in an old pickup truck. Just for a magic moment my rear view mirror gave me a chance to think it was possible!

"Han's" Down, She's Got It!

From the "The Wall Street Journal" (really)..." The South Korean media almost never miss the story when a Korean, or someone of Korean descent in another country, wins an international competition."
According to "Evan Ramstad"  Han Min i didn’t get much attention for winning the 2010 Miss International Queen Crown in Pattaya, Thailand, last fall. The beauty contest is for transgender/transsexual contestants and went mostly ignored in South Korea's conservative press.

All of that is about to change with the first issue of "Yahae!"
The publication will publish a set of stories on sexual minorities in Korea and will feature Han Min i as a cover girl.
As of now we still can't claim an American transgendered cover girl star.
"Lea T" is from Brazil, "Andrej Pejic" is from Serbia initially and the latest rising star "Valentijn de Hingh" is Dutch.
It's time!

New Friends and New Ideas

I met a friend in person for the first time last night and she shared her thoughts on being on female hormones for a year.
Most of her thoughts I had heard before. It was really nice to hear them from a voice.  She felt the changes were more profound from a mental point of view. Sure her skin changed and she developed her own noticeable breasts.
We talked about the changes in perception she had gone through on an emotional level primarily.
The conversation moved on to actually having the opportunity to join the sorority, even on a temporary basis. Any small glimpse into the "other" gender will give you a definite idea if you want to continue to join the sorority.
"Jezebel's" Melissa Jeltson recently wrote an article describing how her best male friend became her best girl friend. 
Very important gender issues such as space and power are discussed in the article. Here is a sample.
"Juno's experience as a woman is so new. Over dinner and wine, we talk about what it means to identify as female. She tells me of the first time she experienced female jealously, felt the piercing glare from another girl, wracked with envy. She tells me about feeling a loss of personal space as a woman, of having to protect the area around her body in a way she never had to as a man."
So real! Men reach over and around me in a way that would never happen if I was a guy.
On the other hand the positives of being more in touch with your body are also discussed." She tells me about feeling the power of being a woman, how the world can be gentler to you, people smile at you more, treat you kinder. She says physically, she feels more relaxed and engaged with her body."
I am more in touch with my body already without the hormones. The different curves I have give me a completely different feel of the environment  Close spaces need to be negotiated different or a breast bump on an object or person is not out of the question! Sure guys may not mind it but it certainly is awkward.  Let's not forget the totally different dynamic of wearing a skirt. A skirt alone will make you very more aware of your body.
I agree the world is a kinder, gentler place as a girl...even a trans one such as I!

Picture Panic!

The new techno girl Cyrsti has a new "Android" phone. Talk about feeling backwards!
I finally figured out how to actually answer a call and more importantly text.
I'm a text "addict" and I look forward to seeing how the phone works with my nails.
Texting works well for me in the noisy places I hang out in.
I don't like the fact a mere phrase can be taken out of context though.
I have written about about the cell phone as an accessory. Now I can use it as better access to by blog and social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
If I can only figure out to use it!

Paying Attention?

I decided to split these two small posts up because I did "come out" to the female friend I mentioned tonight.
She is a dear "long term" friend and I really wasn't planning on saying anything.
The meeting we attended partially involved planning the future. As we talked about the future, I just had to tell her mine.
As I figured, she took it in stride and said "so what?" I had much more trouble telling her.
Now I have told almost all of the people I care about being transgendered.  What a relief!!!!

Who Wears The Pants?

Very rarely do I ever attempt to dress up a much as a guy.
I do my guy drag to go to work and other than that I just don't need male attire very often.
Tonight was one of those nights I was meeting a female (birth) friend who at the start of the evening knew nothing about me being transgendered. We were going to a meeting that required a male clothing upgrade.
It really wasn't until I started to go through the closet did it occur to me how neglected my male clothes are!
No real surprise as I started to think about it. The only real surprise was that I hadn't thought of it before.