Being a Political Transgender Person

By nature I am a political person. Raised in the shadow of the Kennedy's and Martin Luther King's assassinations, I felt the hypocrisy of a truly great country which over the years had been very slow to equalize basic rights to all it's citizens. The so called "white male privilege" did buy me an all expense paid trip to Southeast Asia and infantry training.  So why should I complain?
Now it seems, I occupy a unique political spot. I'm old enough to be the offspring of a true "greatest generation" parents and even older grandparents. My paternal grandmother used to tell us stories of going to the Ku Klux Klan meetings in a wagon. Of course I was wondering about my own gender and why people couldn't look past color to co exist as she was talking.
Then there were those old pesky ideas of equal rights. It took until 1920 for the Nineteenth Amendment to give women a national right to vote and the 1960's to get the Equal Rights Bills passed. So what the hell, why wasn't this country practicing what it preached as far as freedom went? It was always too easy to say- well we are better than any other country. Just exactly what does that mean?
It means to me as I read news about the Canadians, Argentina and others making progress in transgender rights I get upset.
I get upset because I feel essentially powerless.
I do join on line causes,  write this little blog and do my best to present myself as a proud transwoman to the public.
On the other hand I see many of the bigger mainstream transgender blogs who seem more interested in endlessly debating terminology than making any significant difference.
Finally, I have never stopped being a competitor and I want my country to be the best it can and the belief we can get there!

It's On!

When President Obama endorsed same sex marriage yesterday, the expected backlash did not take long to materialize but as they say in the old country-"we ain't seen nothing yet"!
By the way, I'm writing another companion post on politics.
For what it's worth, here's my take on the situation:
I believe the President caught all the conservatives off guard with his timing and responses started immediately in the House (of course) but I would bet the "Romney" campaign was burning some serious "midnight oil" trying to figure out their next move.
Romney ends up with the chance to get pushed into a conservative corner most feel he was in anyhow.
Now of course here comes rounds of dirty political tricks from both sides. In fact Bobbie Douglas just sent me this story from "The Raw Story"

"Eric Fehrnstrom, a top aide and political strategist to presumptive Republican presidential candidate former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA), made headlines earlier this year with a gaffe comparing Romney in the primary fight to an “Etch a Sketch” that you can flip over and shake and start over with as a blank slate in the general election. Before he was an adviser to Romney, Fehrnstrom was a political columnist for the Boston Herald. According to a profile in GQ, in 1992, he outed recently-elected Massachusetts Rep. Althea Garrison (R) as a transgender woman, effectively ending her political career.
Althea Garrison was a Boston politician and activist who was elected as a Republican to the Massachusetts state House in 1992. Two days after her election victory, Fehrnstrom published an article in the Herald announcing that Garrison had been born male.
“I can remember his glee when he found the birth certificate,” said a former Herald reporter named Robert Connolly.
The outing of Althea Garrison raises serious questions about the culture of the Romney campaign, where Fehrnstrom operates as a privileged member of the command team and as Romney’s longest-serving, most-trusted political strategist. It has been said that if Karl Rove was “Bush’s brain,” then Fehrnstrom is “Romney’s balls.”

I'm not going to say I'm unbiased and I believe there will be more than a few of right wing preachers who will work this theme into Sunday's Mother's Day sermons.

So get ready. All of this should be interesting!

Andrej Pejic Bridal Pictures!

Well in actuality Andrej Pejic  paraded down the catwalk  in a stunning bridal gown, for Spanish designer Rosa Clara during Barcelona’s 22nd Bridal Week.
Every ounce of my inner female just wants to dislike him! :)

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Argentina-The Transgender Gold Standard?

From our Bobbie Douglas, and the Associated Press:

"Transgender rights activists say Argentina now leads the world by granting people the right to change their legal and physical gender identity simply because they want to, without having to undergo judicial, psychiatric and medical procedures beforehand.
The gender identity law that won congressional approval with a 55-0 Senate vote Wednesday night is the latest in a growing list of bold moves on social issues by the Argentine government, which also legalized gay marriage two years ago. These changes primarily affect minority groups, but they are fundamental, President Cristina Fernandez has said, for a democratic society still shaking off the human rights violations of the 1976-1983 dictatorship and the paternalism of the Roman Catholic Church.
Activists and academics who have tracked gender identity laws and customs worldwide said Thursday that no other country has gone so far to embrace gender self-determination. In the United States and Europe, transgender people must submit to physical and mental health exams and get past a series of other hurdles before getting sex-change treatments.
Argentina's law also is the first to give citizens the right to change their legal gender without first changing their bodies, said Justus Eisfeld, co-director of Global Action for Trans Equality in New York.
"The fact that there are no medical requirements at all — no surgery, no hormone treatment and no diagnosis — is a real game changer and completely unique in the world. It is light years ahead of the vast majority of countries, including the US, and significantly ahead of even the most advanced countries," said Eisfeld, who researched the laws of the 47 countries for the Council of Europe's human rights commission."

Read the whole article here.

The last part of the article-as well as Ontario, Canada's new provincial stance just astounds me.
If this continues to play out around the world (even in the USA)- will I and others like me, have the self determination to be who we are as transgender people with out society's condemnation (which I can handle) and radical transsexual's condemnation (which I can't).

Such A Day!

It almost seemed Wednesday was information overload day around here.
Of course the biggest news was President Obama's support of same sex marriage. Many suspected he would go that direction, but of course not until after the election. It's easy to put a lot into this proclamation. Of course it's huge when a US President comes out in support of gay marriage but that doesn't mean the gay population of America will be able to go out and get legally married anywhere this weekend. Plus (being selfish) what does it mean for the transgender community? Again a lot. If a trans woman or a trans man wants to marry a same gendered person, then the possibilities should become easier.
I am not going to get into politics or the future here. I'm not worthy! At the least I would think even the strongest naysayers in our world would not down play the President's statement.

On we go to the music world. Yesterday the story exploded (Rolling Stone) about "Against Me's" lead singer "Tom Gabel" coming out as transgender or transsexual. Not being the current music critic, I did a little more reading and found "Against Me's" music  is very aggressive and Gabel's voice was so deep and raw and all things associated with masculinty. . (Not a huge surprise to many of us who went through the same phase). Seemingly, most of their fans are angry teenage boys. Maybe that's why they are angry?

Then (lost in the shuffle) was "Sarah McBride".

"Sarah McBride"

Here's the headline from "The Eagle": After years of struggling with gender identity, AU student president
comes out as transgender to supportive campus.
It's important to note Sarah is also the outgoing student government president at "American University" who started her term as "Tim".
Of more importance is "Mara Keising's" description of Sarah:
 Keisling,  is the executive director
of the D.C.-based National Center for Transgender Equality
<http://transequality.org/>  (NCTE) and said "Sarah is remarkable,'' says Keisling. ''She already has quite an
amazing political résumé. She's just going to be a really important,
amazing, significant and visible trans person, I'm convinced. She's
smart, amazing and committed to public service. I think that's why
she's been willing to be visibly out."

Wow! Such a day!!!!

Quote of the Day

"Today is the next day of the life I’ve already had, but at the same
time, the first day of the life I always knew I wanted to lead."

Sarah McBride, outgoing  President Student Body, American University explaining her transgender status.

Let My Trans People...

From Monica Roberts at "Transgriot". If you haven't heard about her she is a writer, award winning activist, lecturer, speaker, native Houstonian and Texan who transitioned in 1994. I have a link to her blog here.
Here's part of her latest post, follow the link above for more:

Let my transpeople pee in peace without being messed with by ignorant cis people.

Let my transpeople access trans specific and non trans specific health care without the Janice Raymond restrictions being used by insurance companies and transphobic doctors to deny them coverage.

Let my transpeople be able to work and keep a job they are qualified for.

Let my transpeople be able to have identity documents that accurately reflect the person they are now.

Thanks Monica!

A Broken Promise

Some where in my dim past here on the Condo I promised more pictures from the Christer Strömholm: Les Amies de Place Blanch exhibition at the " New York International Center of Photography".
The exhibit is described as raising profound issues about identity, sexuality, and
gender - features 40 photographs, historical publications, and
ephemera documenting young transgender males in the heart of Paris’ red-light district in the 1960's.
Here is a picture of "Belinda":

Rolling Stone Gathers Transsexual Mass

One of my "bestest" contributors, Bobbie alerted to me to this upcoming "Rolling Stone" article about "Tom Gabel":
"Against Me! singer Tom Gabel reveals plans to begin living as a woman in the new issue of Rolling Stone. Gabel, who has dealt privately with gender dysphoria for years, will soon begin the process of transition, by taking hormones and undergoing electrolysis treatments.

"Tom Gabel"

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-gabel-of-against-me-comes-out-as-transgender-20120508#ixzz1uNuQhduj