Transgender Youth Fighting for her Future

A headmaster tried to ban a transgender schoolboy from sitting an exam dressed in girls' uniform - until the pupil slammed a copy of the Equality Act on his desk.
Ashlyn Parram, 16, wore girl's tights, a skirt and blazer to her first GCSE exam but was told she could not sit the paper, because she was not in correct uniform.
Incredibly, the furious teen had printed off a copy of the law governing discrimination in Britain and marched straight to head teacher Chris Wall's office for a showdown.
More from the "Huffington Post"

"Ashlyn pointed out the law to the gobsmacked head - a former Olympic diver - who then admitted he could not stop her taking the test.
But when Ashlyn reached the exam room she was forced to sit apart from the other pupils on the other side of the sports hall - in segregation.
The year 11 has openly lived as a girl at home for two years but has sensitively toned down her appearance at Giles Academy, Boston, Lincolnshire to avoid abuse.
Her mum Miranda Johnson on Monday publicly backed her gutsy daughter, who has officially been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The family have lodged a formal complaint against Mr Walls, who they claim has failed to help protect Ashlyn - one of the youngest in Britain to begin sex-change treatment on the NHS.

Ashlyn and Mom (right)

They claim Ashlyn has been forced to ensure a string of bullying and discrimination by pupils - and even teachers.
Shockingly, during a series of meetings with school bosses to address failings alleged by Ashlyn's parents one senior teacher even told them gender dysphoria doesn't exist. The teacher said: "This is Lincolnshire - we are a very conservative county - we don't have things like that."




Really???? Follow the link for more!

Hero Worship in the Heartland

Transsexual 26 year Kara Hays was born Kody in Ohio and has decided to emulate pop-star Britney Spears.

As with any other young girl. Kara (pictured on the right above) had her idols.
She focused on Britney and Christina Aguilera for her inspiration.

 The 26-year-old says her new appearance, which has turned her into a lookalike of the pop singer who shot to fame with her debut album '...Baby One More Time' in 1999, has finally brought her happiness following years of anguish.
After shocking classmates by turning up at a Halloween dance, aged just 12, dressed in a red vinyl body suit in homage to Britney's costume in her 'Oops I did it again' video - he caused uproar in the town in Ohio, US, where he grew up.( In all fairness to my home state, I can see the possibility of a costume such as that being an attention getter in a lot of places!)
But at the age of 15, his parents allowed him to see a doctor and he was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 1999 and began taking female hormones.
Over the next few years, he sprouted breasts, began to freely dress as a woman and changed her name to Kara. Eventually opting for SRS.


More importantly, what is Chris Crocker going to think? Chris used to be Britney's biggest fan!

300 Grand

Hits are just aren't friendly words.
We just passed 300,000 hits on Cyrsti's Condo.
 I prefer visits. So what!
The bottom line is I value your visits highly and "yall stop back soon"!

Defining "Transgender"

Imagine my surprise when I saw the story about the military gay pride march in San Diego. Sure, there a plenty of gay pride march stories which have absolutely no bearing on my life as a transgender woman. The surprise came when Yahoo News ran a supporting story on new transgender diagnostic terms.
I don't pretend to be any sort of an expert in psychiatric terminology- unlike a person such as Sherri Lynn but this article got my attention.
It seems to me the new diagnostic terms being debated could take the transgender community out from under the mental illness tag we have lived with. (That's was my first stop at the Veteran's Administration.)
Before I pass along a few excerpts from the article, I need to mention the nation's psychiatric establishment is  working to overhaul its diagnostic manual for the first time in almost two decades. This process just doesn't happen very often.
Being labeled mentally deficient is bad enough and that is only the beginning.  Read on:

"The most symbolic change under consideration so far for the manual's fifth edition, known as the DSM-V for short, is a new name for Gender Identity Disorder, the diagnosis now given to adults, adolescents and children with "a strong and persistent cross-gender identification." In the manual's next incarnation, individuals displaying "a marked incongruence between one's experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender" would be diagnosed instead with "Gender Dysphoria," a term that comes from the Greek word for emotional distress.

While the shift may seem purely semantic, switching the emphasis from a disorder that by definition all transgender people possess to a temporary mental state that only some might possess marks real progress, according to Dana Beyer, a retired eye surgeon who helped the Washington Psychiatric Society make recommendations for the chapter on "Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders."

"A right-winger can't go out and say all trans people are mentally ill because if you are not dysphoric, that can't be diagnosed from afar," Beyer said. "It no longer matters what your body looks like, what you want to do to it, all of that is irrelevant as far as the APA goes."

Historically, what is happening does resemble what the gay community went through years ago:

" But while there are parallels, achieving what the APA did for gays four decades ago is more complicated for people who identity as transgender, an umbrella term that encompasses transsexuals, cross-dressers and others whose self-concepts otherwise do not align with the male or female label they were given at birth. Unlike sexual orientation, the accepted protocols for treating many patients expressing profound discomfort with their given gender call for medical intervention."

I have taken you as far as I can on this extremely important and complex subject. For more go here.

One final comment.  A huge debt of gratitude to Dana Beyer and so many other transgender and transsexual men and women who did not go stealth and decided to make a difference!

Quote of the Day

I'm not spoiled...it's a lifestyle...
My Dog

Transgender Yin and Yang

Certainly transgender women and men have never "cornered" the market on suicide thoughts and attempts but sometimes I think we dominate it. Here's another story:
"Jay Ladin took out a two-year life insurance policy in 2006, intending to kill himself and leave everything to his three children.
After he discovered insurers would refuse to pay out on the policy in the event of a suicide, Ladin took out another life insurance policy of sorts: becoming Joy Ladin".
 (pictured on right)
I will argue with anyone that until you walk in our transgender shoes, (heels or wingtips) you have no idea how easy it is to not being able to find a solution.
As facts and figures are starting to be collected it seems at least one out of four young trans youth have considered or tried suicide.
Very recently I have had the chance to interact closely with four transgender friends who are wonderful examples of the yin and yang.
I need to point out that all four of these folks identify transgender and not transsexual at this point in their lives. 
For the sake of clarification in this post, I'm using the transsexual term for a person who desires a full genital change and the transgender term for a person whose desire to live a life dictated more from a mental basis.
Between the four I was able to ride the Yin and Yang trans roller coaster at it's finest and most varied.
My spirits soared with a friend who is going through a successful coming out party with the world and one who is on the verge.
My heart went out to the other two in various stages of figuring how to live a life they desperately need to exist in this world.
Regardless of current circumstance, the four of them and I have all most likely visited the dark side.
One has for sure as I heard the story of an all too handy pistol. Mine was a bottle of pills which I thought had a very good chance of doing the job but fortunately didn't. I can't speak for the other three.
More than likely, most have you have visited that totally dark room.  You can't find a door or a window or even a sliver of light to guide you out.
Truthfully I don't know what to call the moment when you find that light "Yin or Yang" and it doesn't matter.
All that really matters is reality.  If you have passed on- certainly most will remember your gender legacy-the wrong one.
That little flicker of light that appears in your dark room just may be more light than you will see when Yang closes your coffin lid.
I'm selfish, I want you all to experience the joy of self acceptance with "Yin" and mention how proud and happy I am for my one friend!






Read more of Joy's story here.

New Form of HRT?

For nine months, William McKee took the generic version of Propecia, the pills that promise to halt hair loss.
But the drug had radical side effects: Instead of becoming a better-looking man, he started becoming a woman, he claims.
“My rock-hard chest from the gym began to soften . . . reaching the point where I had noticeable ‘breasts’ even under my clothing,” he says.
Among other changes, the 38-year-old software engineer claims, “my shoulders were literally falling into a more feminine position, and my hips were loosening and becoming wider, as on a woman’s body.”’

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/bald_cure_made_me_woman_9whwIzBiccvWIMacwRlkqO#ixzz21MueN9Z5

 

 

"Mandy" before and after generic "Propecia"

What Kind of Daughter Did Your Mom Want?

 (I posted this question Oct. 7th, 2010 on Cyrsti's Condo.)
Yes girlfriends, I'm talking about us.
Some Mom's really wanted a daughter and dressed some of us as girls. Some Mom's may have found it interesting to relate to us on some level as a girl and let us in on a little makeup or clothes. Other Mom's may have shut us out all together.
All of the mother/son interaction intrigues me because of a couple of reasons.
The first would be the simple question of why me? Did my Mom set me up for all of this? (My brother believes she did).
The second would be is how much I look like her.
How many of you believe your Mom knowingly  or even unknowingly opened your door into a female world?
I remember vividly the way my Mom blotted her lipstick and made sure the rest of her outfit was together before she went out.  I would bet you my brother doesn't!
The age old question-environment or genetics? Was I predisposed to be trans? Most likely it's a question I will never know. (Update! Perhaps the DES drug my Mom very well could have taken during her pregnancy could been the answer.)
Maybe the whole "daughter" question explains my total lack of respect for women who do not take care of themselves. This girl was raised believing that appearance was part of the female gender.
My Mom passed away years ago and I believe in two sure facts.
She would like the fact I try to keep up a good appearance.
She would hate the fact I'm a lot like some of the girls I brought home she didn't like!!!!!!

Another Transgender Candidate!

Gina Duncan could make history on Aug. 14 by becoming the first transgender person in Orange County to be elected to a County Commission seat.
According to FOX 35 of Orlando, Gina was born Gregory Pingston. A senior management in banking for 30 years, she decided to transition in 2007 at 50 years old, and after having a long marriage and two children.


The candidate said she hopes the campaign centers around the issues at hand, and not her gender.
“I hope some day, and maybe not in my lifetime, but some day being transgender means no more than being right or left-handed; and I hope that happens soon,"

With people such as Gina the future could be here sooner than expected!