I am NOT a Crossdresser!

Don't get upset. A while ago I wrote a post on Hub Pages and shared it here on why I'm not a crossdresser.
Here it is again:

Maybe you aren't either.

I don't spend 100% of my life yet as a female, but when I do does that qualify me as a crossdresser? When I'm working as a guy...maybe I'm a crossdresser then?
Where is the mystical line? If you take the word in it's most basic form I am a crossdresser because I don't wear the clothes of my birth gender. Then again, who says what my birth gender really was?
What "clicks" in my brain when I'm a girl? I shop and eat and do girl stuff. I simply love the hair, clothes and makeup! The word cross dresser has no meaning. If I'm not a female, I'm certainly not a guy just dressed in ladies clothes trying to fool the world.
Are you a crossdresser? Even if you are walking through the mall in sky high heels, big hair and a short skirt you may not be. You could be going through your teen girl years. It happens to all of them. They grow up and so will you.
Don't get me wrong here. I know I will never be a genetic female. No amount of surgery or hormones has perfected that miracle of science yet. I am a mix of both genders and something I'm becoming very comfortable with. The crossdresser in you will disappear as you feel more comfortable and your female side establishes what she wants to be.
So,when someone refers to you as a crossdresser, maybe you are not. Think of it this way. I'm a guy out of convenience and a girl out of desire!

Over the months I've had several comments but the one I'm going to share is beyond wonderful!

jeanine commented:

I am a two spirited individual... and could be and can fall into all of the categories... trans anything, to me is just the diversity within our tribe... I do not like what the medical community has done for and to us as a tribe... sense the beginning of time we have been advisers to Kings, Queens and leaders all over the world... we were revered because of our knowledge of both genders... consider Holy men to most native tribes around the world and until the European version Christianity came on the scene we were known as the keepers of the secrets of God... I cannot understand why our tribe has embraced the binary system... since the medical community has been helping us we have been relegated to the Jerry Springer show... I'm having trouble with the medical community telling me I will be more if they make me less... I am not one or the other I am both... transsexuals to me are just the new Eunuchs and they are so beautiful to me... what the world does know but I'm sure you do is we all hear that women are going to be elevated to rule the world completely, so some of us change to get to go to the head of the line... some change because we can and yet others change to get away from the angst that this society has placed upon us... I know there is a day coming when we will be restored to our rightful place of honor... I am not one or the other... I am both... it is the gift from God that we have received... enjoyed the read...

I have written here on occasion on how most of the ancient cultures did revere our knowledge we gain from both sides of the gender divide. I have just not been able to express my feelings on the subject as well as Jeanine!

The Best Womanless Beauty Pageant?

Just a couple pix from the recent "Miss International Queen Pageant" pageant in Thailand!
More pix on the Picture Gallery Page!

Transgender Cup Half Full Or Empty?

As we pause to remember our transgendered sisters and brothers who have died for whatever reason, it is time to consider our past and future.
Here on the blog I try to present the positive and minimize the violence which does plague the transgender culture.
Why?
I try to be a positive person and perceive my cup as half full. Rehashing transgendered violence would make me no better than the 11 local television news. The news motto is "the bloodier, the better."
Having said that, the overwhelming sadness when someone is physically harmed just because of gender differences is just crazy.
Add the torment of emotional abuse from family and peer groups and this is a time to remember the ones who have suffered the ultimate penalty. It is also a time to not forget.
Transgender violence stories should serve as a constant reminder to all of us to be aware of our surroundings at all times. Maybe you should add that Mace pepper spray you have been thinking of buying and keep it in your purse. It's all part of being a woman.
Transgender violence should also remind us to always stand up and be counted when we can when transgender issues arise. 
We can never forget that every little bit helps and together we can move the world.
It's a shame when violence has to motivate us.

Fun Stuff!

Enough already!
Let's get back to real life.
Friday was a great day with my two fave girls.
In a previous post, i mentioned the conversation my daughter and I had concerning the girl scouts.
As we finished breakfast I took the opportunity to give her a little history of how this gender journey of mine unfolded.  As it turned out, the conversation was more comfortable and less awkward than I expected.
If I put myself in her shoes I suppose I would wonder how all of this happened right before her eyes with three people all hiding it from her. The three peeps were myself of course. My first wife (her Mom) and my second wife (Step Mother).
I would wonder how my beer drinking, sports loving sometimes bearded father is crossing gender lines.
Much of the conversation centered on the attributes of both women she called Mom.
I spoke of the time her Mom  really didn't know which gender of me would be picking her up at the airport when she got out of the Army and was coming to live with me.
I told the time her Step Mom told me "I wasn't man enough to be a woman."
Once I started the easier it became to explain who I was really becoming and how long the process took.
All too soon our time was up and the best part was yet to come when she said she wanted to take me shopping! I was just amazed, proud and simply blown away with the experience.  I'm not sure how I got to this point with her or deserve it, but it sure is nice!
Part two of the day was a date with my fave Wiccan girl. She invited me to meet her group and sit in on a psychic reading. Other than enjoying her company, our dates are a total feminine experience for me. We are two women, nothing more, nothing less. Interestingly, we were the best dressed in the room and only one of two obvious couples.
Oh! I almost forgot to tell you the psychic didn't look at me and say "I see BIG changes in your future!"
At the end of the day I was desperately trying to determine what amount of Karma I have saved up to deserve this treatment from those two girls.
I just hope I have more in my savings!

REALLY?

A transgender woman in South Florida faces charges of practicing cosmetic surgery without a license, after police say she injected an unwitting patient’s buttocks with a handful of unsafe substances, including tire mender Fix-A-Flat, NBC reported.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/transgender-woman-arrested-injecting-fix-a-flat-patient-rear-article-1.980273#ixzz1eIhWE4AX

Seeking Attention To Get None

Transgender folk have to seek attention to get none.  Once we get attention the world finds we are just real people like everyone else. We are good people and we are bad people. Same thoughts, same normal life. Yes, I said it normal.
We get up in the morning and go to bed at night and yes we are a part of the human race.
Once we are in the spotlight as transgendered women or men, it takes most of the fun away. Most of the population seems to to say Oh? and moves on.
I have mentioned the show being aired on the UK's Channel 4, "My Transsexual Summer". This show in particular looks in depth at 7 transgendered lives.  You can watch a sample of it on YouTube and here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cts4nFWHvDs
Of course the British can have a more open look at some of the sexuality of our situations especially in the clip I saw. Female to Male transmen were having a realitively graphic look at a few male sexual "aids".
To use a big word, are all these spotlights the antithesis to the transgender stealth mode? "Stealth" is when  one becomes so entrenched and comfortable in their chosen gender they simply disapeer into society?
If we as a transgender culture experience spotlights and publcity, will we too simply vanish into society?
Before any of us are too quick to scream yes we have to take a step back.
Sure the transsexual woman who has been living a quiet life for years next door to you deserves a lot of credit. She built her to the point she wanted. At the same time though, she wasn't the one to step forward and be out and active enough to push our cause forward.
My statement is an observation not an condemnation. I have no right to suggest how someone should live their life. I have a hard enough time with my own.
Only one thing is certain. If the spotlight shines on us and we don't push to make the time a positive one for transgendered people everywhere, we all deserve stealth or the closet.
After all, they may be similar except for the size.

More To The Song?

1. Dude looks like a lady? Always a fan of feminine fashion, "Aerosmith" frontman Steven Tyler, 63, donned a tank top, ladies' straw hat, and nail polish during his vacation in Hawaii this week, where the rocker was joined by his 38-year-old girlfriend Erin Brady,picture and story from Yahoo.

   

                                                                    

A Transgendered "It" Really?

Just when I thought the world was getting just a bit more well adjusted (just a bit) to our transgender world, out jumps another sophmoric comment about us.
This time the comment jumped out and slapped me from my radio on the way to work.
If you are familiar with the "Clear Channel" company, it is a mega broadcasting giant in this country-and a right wing one at that.
The station was one of Clear Channel's anchor's,  700 WLW in Cincinnati and the person who said it was "Gary Jeff Walker".  Normally I just let all this shallow thinking go in one ear and out the other. This comment though (which screamed at me from my radio speakers) went totally past right wing thinking directly into bigotry.
I decided to check into Walker and read his blog.
Amazingly enough, I found a post celebrating "diversity" and Martin Luther King. Obviously Walker's Diversity begins and ends with race and I had to say something.
 I placed this comment on his blog:
"Saturday morning November 19th at approximately 7:50 am you must have tossed your self serving comments on "diversity" out the window when you tossed out the "it" word when you somehow thought it would cute to go back to your high school days and make fun of "Chaz Bono" and other transgender people.
Nice try on trying to cover your bigotry by saying something to the fact it was OK to be transgendered but why did you have to hear about it. Really?
If that was the case, why did you even bring it up?
Shame on you and when you discover someone in your family is a transgendered "it" someday...what will you say then?"
I'm a firm believer in "karma" and I'm sure Walker will get his share of payback in the quest for ratings.
In the meantime, I wonder what female name Walker uses when he parties in the clubs of Cincinnati...or does he go to Columbus to be discrete?

Thank YOU Girl Scouts

I have a granddaughter who is in the girl scouts and my daughter is very active in the scouts too.
I have been very out to my daughter since last spring.
Along the way we have discussed how we would approach the three grand kids with my transgender issue. I would like to publicly thank the girl scouts for their help.
If you remember the story, a young transgender girl wanted to join the girl scouts in Colorado. The local girl scout pack said "no" but the national organization said "yes".
My granddaughter was curious what transgendered even met and my daughter took the time to carefully explain what being transgendered met and used the whole time to open the door to future discussions about my transgender status.
 She told her and then left it alone to give her daughter a chance to come to her own understanding.
The two of us then went on to discuss how much better life would be if other parents would simply allow their kids to understand that difference isn't bad.
Of course we are biased!