Added Link to Cyrsti's Condo

I have added a new link to our blog roll here in the Condo.
The site deals with info for cross dressers wives. A very important resource for many in the community.
Follow the link or go here for more.

Dear Abby Advice

In another sign of better times for the transgender community comes this advice from a recent "Dear Abby"  column:


"Dear Abby: Last night at a restaurant, my husband and I were surprised to see a male server wearing a blond wig and full makeup. I was, to say the least, shocked and very glad we hadn’t brought the children, ages 11 and 14, with us. How do you explain something like that to an 11-year-old? The 14-year-old would be able to “get it.” What kind of policies are in place for restaurants in cases like this? What if customers are offended? Could I request a different server or just leave? Your comments would be appreciated. — Taken Aback In California Dear Taken Aback:

In California, people have the legal right to dress in a style not typical of their gender without fear of discrimination or retaliation. That right is protected by state law. If customers find it offensive, they can either request a different server or take their business elsewhere. Presumably, the customer would pay for food that had already been prepared. Because children today grow up quickly and are less sheltered than in past decades, I recommend you explain to your 11-year-old that not all people are alike, and the importance of treating others with respect. It’s called reality."

I really like the last couple of sentences!!!


Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Classic Movie Clip

A look at the 2003 Calpernia Addams story as told in the "Soldier's Girl" Movie starring Lee Pace as Calpernia. (below)

No Surprise...

Julie Ross has had the courage, conviction and compassion to step and out to discuss her own transgender child.
Of course she has been vilified as well as praised for the decision. Note the use of the word vilification. Not the criticism word. Big difference-no surprise.
Just take a look at the trans community for examples!
I felt it for the first time on one of the big transgender transsexual social sites when I tried to write about my own experiences. I learned my lesson early but I still am stunned on occasion by comments I get here.
Examples?
I have been trashed for waiting so long in life to transition, having a prom date as a guy all the way to having any fond memories of my male life.  Plus, I left the best for last-I'm not worthy to lead a feminine life at all because I don't have a store bought vagina.
No chance for discussion or questions just bitterness and even almost hate-all right here in our so called trans sisterhood.
So I can sympathize with Julie's thoughts:

"Over the past several months I have been venturesome (or perhaps stupid?) enough to publicly share my interpretation and personal feelings from my front row seat as the parent of a child who has identified as transgender. (You can find them here on HuffPost... they may be helpful in grasping the back story.) I have been equally supported and vilified by readers far and wide. I have been told that I am an "incredible parent" only to be corrected by a different reader that I am actually a horrible parent and that G-d does not make mistakes, just I do. Compliments for my honesty and style of writing are usurped by bashing for "rambling" and being a "horrible writer." I have been called "wonderful" and "self-centered" in the same thread written (sometimes viciously) from the comfort of computers around the world that I will neither find nor seek to find. And it all makes me wonder."

From the comfort of my computer - Julie Ross has done wonders by stepping up and out for present and future transgender transsexual kids everywhere.  Way to GO!!!!!
For more go here.

Transgender Vets and the Veteran

Yes I am a transgender vet and yes I have posted nearly every story I can find on the subject.
My experience with the Veterans Administration (VA) has been overall positive but unfortunately other transgender vets (even in my own state of Ohio) have not fared as well. The VA centers seem to operate on their own agendas, perhaps not to the extent of denying directed care for transgender veterans as much as the respect shown in the process.
The latest story I found is a very positive one from CBS in Minneapolis, Minnesota and involves the story of a trans man who served as a woman in the Marines:


"There is a program available at the VA hospital in Minneapolis that’s serving an often hidden population — transgender veterans. Peter Klicker served in the Marines as a woman, Karin Klicker. Years later, the veteran says he’s finally found the help he’s hoped for. Klicker grew up in a house full of older brothers in the ’60s and ’70s. And, one summer, the then 7-year-old Karin convinced a group of guys she was a boy, so she’d be able to play baseball. “When you’re seven, you don’t really think about that foresight,” Klicker said. “My mother made me wear a dress on the first day of school.” Jan James, a nurse practitioner at the medical center, has taken it a step further. As part of her doctorate program, she had to identify an underserved patient group. As part of her plan, the clinic now offers hormone therapy and counseling services to transgender veterans, so they’re not forced to find black-market alternatives. “My mission is not just to identify that group, but to give them a voice within the VA system,” James said.

 Go here for more!

Dusting Off the Old Pix

Every once in a while here in Cyrsti's Condo I start going back through back posts and pictures.
It is always hard for me to believe enough of you from litterally around the globe have seen fit to stop back more than 337 thousand times over the couple of years and wade through some 1300 posts.

Before the end of the year it would be fun to do a "Best Of" photo spread-or at least play with the idea.
Check the example to the left of a member of Prince William's military squadron of a great before and after.

Or, this dazzling shot of a young womanless beauty contest contestant at his school!

Or

Summer Is Over

In my part of the world, fall has not quite arrived but the seasonal changes are close.
I love the seasonal changes. The trees change their colors, the fields are ready for harvest and the frost is on the pumpkin.
AND! I survived my personal late summer hormonal furnace!!! Perhaps I will have short respite from the knowing stares I get from my genetic women friends who know full well what I'm going through (even if they are not totally sure why I would.)
As I push towards the one year mark on HRT (at the end of the year), I wonder if the cold of winter will affect me more.
If those chilly blasts do make me shiver...then my women friends will once again look knowingly at me and smile. Little do they know, it's me getting the last laugh!

Thailand Transsexual

As I followed this through, it does have a link on YouTube to a blog that seems a little too commercial for my tastes. I don't particularly like the "ladyboy" tag but I will leave the judgement to all of you.

Transgender and your Bucket

Is your bucket list half empty or half full? Certainly before we all know it and we are fortunate enough to make it- it's time to start looking ahead to the force calling your number. Poof! "You be Gone!"
I started my transgender Bucket List approximately five years ago. I began to see how much living I could do as a woman or maybe I should say- a trans woman.
I found I could live and more importantly wanted to live as my chosen gender. Ironically I got hammered from within the trans community for waiting so long. Even being called just "another old guy on hormones". The big bad outside world on occasion was more accepting.
To make a long story short, my bucket became very full.
Here's my point: I could have made the move to a full time feminine existence two very specific times in my life-basically at the age of 30 and 40 and didn't. If you are younger (I'm 62 now) and considering the move, I can say time will slip by before you know it.
I can't and won't tell anyone to transition but I do recommend checking the waters if you can. It just confuses me when someone writes me or I read somewhere a person is going to try to go through SRS without living the life! It's a problem created by places like Thailand who really don't care about much more than the cash.
Sure it takes quite a bit of courage and a whole lot of trial and error to experience the feminine socialization process.
Don't think you have to be old to have a bucket list. Do think you don't want to be living a regret later in your life when the bucket has a huge hole in it.
I've known fully changed transsexuals and cross dressers justifying life in the closet who have gotten really bitter over the experience.
Certainly, we all have only one life to live and we all have responsibilities to others.
Just as certainly we all have the responsibility to be true to ourselves.  You may consider starting a transgender bucket list to discover what your truth might be.