Transgender Pageant Aussie Style

Miss Gay & Miss Transsexual Australia 2013, an alternative beauty pageant, is being held on 2 February 2013 at Yarraville, Victoria. The organisers of the pageant, The Victorian Secrets Promotions, has already successfully organised the pageant three times, starting in 2009. According to its website, the interstate beauty pageant "embraces diversity in the LGBTI community and provides a safe space for people-like-us to share their beauty and showcase their talents to the general audience."

"Chained Melody"

Author Debbie Martin recently sent me an email asking me to review her recently published love story which crosses the frontiers of transsexualism. For what ever reason I was not able to open the file on my computer.
Since she went to the trouble of finding me on the world wide web, the least I could do was pass along the info to all of you from Goodreads.com. 

Here's an intro of sorts:
" Even with the sexual revolution of the permissive seventies and eighties, men remained men. But as childhood friends Tom and Will enter adulthood, for one of them maturity isn’t just growing from boy to man. He develops into someone completely new as surely as the butterfly emerges transformed from its chrysalis, irrevocably and chaotically also transforming both their worlds in the process. Through battle ground bravado in Northern Ireland, drugs, sexual betrayal, IVF, transsexualism, and ‘forbidden’ love, they each search for courage to live life their way. Can love be strong enough to fly in the face of the chains of convention? The answer only becomes clear after events transpire to ultimately create a simple choice for them both; life or death, and they have to face the consequence of their choices.'

There are a couple of great reviews on the link above. Perhaps in the future I can pass along more!

Ville Ruuska

From Finland's yleuutiset Ruuska ,  Finland’s first male-female model.

" Signed by modelling agency Paparazzi, he is set to grace international runways in the near future. Fashion agencies are increasingly hiring male models to model women’s clothing, Ruuska says, going on to explain on Yle's morning show Aamu-tv on Monday what it means to be a man in a woman's world. "The fashion world has always been interested in special cases. It’s nice that it’s breaking down gender barriers. It adds some spice to fashion when there’s some question over whether the model is a man or a woman," he says."

Before the femme nazi's go off again on the unrealistic idea of a super model's ultra thin figures. (Duh!) Ruuska explained:

 "That androgynous modelling is not about being thin. He compares the male-female form to that of child models aged around 14, before feminine curves have blossomed and a boyish figure is still natural. Yet he maintains that fashion should not be taken too seriously. "I don’t want to encourage women to try to lose weight to be super skinny. Fashion is conceptual, it’s fantasy," he says."

Horror Scope

Yes!!!!!!!!! It's time for a new "Horror-Scope" for all you Libra's  here in Cyrsti's Condo:

 Libra (September 23 - October 22) Romance will come back like the sun’s arrival after a stretch of gray days. All your past woes will fade, and it's only warmth you’ll feel from this week on forward. Be thankful for the moment, as it should be an inspiration for your times to come. Looking up is essential now, so put your self-sabotaging ways on hold, because this week it’s all about love.

Got to love this one! Horror scope is my term for yours go here to theFrisky!

Countdown to Fat Tuesday!

As always, time is flying by and my trip to Mardi Gras is coming up in less than two weeks.
The trip to "Naw Awlins" will provide a number of firsts.

It's my first trip to Mardi Gras although I have been to the city a couple of times. It's my first trip to the city as a woman and the first time I have had to pack for such an adventure. Since I have never been one to shy away from a party, this is a big one!

Of course the packing part is providing the biggest challenge. I will be leaning heavily on my girlfriend for guidance!!!!
So far, I have made my hair appointment for a couple days before we leave and still have to schedule a time to get my nails done. Then I have to find a dog sitter for my constant furry companion and I'm off!!!
Of course I will keep you up to date.

Telling It Like It Is!

I love the simplicity of this crossdresser's video on YouTube:

Diamond Stylz

Check out her website. In her own words: where race, gender and sexuality collide. Go here.

Taking on the Military

As genetic women won the much deserved right to serve in combat functions in the United States military, transgender individuals are still on the outside looking in. More precisely really looking in since we are forbidden to serve at all.

Here in Cyrsti's Condo, I have mentioned Allyson Robinson. Who is a decorated veteran, a wife, a mother, an ordained Baptist minister, and the executive director of the recently combined advocacy organization for LGBT people in uniform, OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. The Army veteran was tapped to lead the 6,000-member organization in October, and her appointment is noteworthy not only because she is one of the few women leading a military group but also because she is the first transgender person to lead a national LGBT organization.

A new feature in  theAdvocate  spotlighted Allyson's qualifications:

"Robinson’s appointment is anything but an affirmative-action hire, said retired Navy captain April Heinze, cochair of OutServe-SLDN’s Board of Directors in a statement announcing the hire. “Allyson Robinson is exactly the right person at the right time to be our leader and voice in Washington in the fight to achieve full LGBT equality in the military,” said Heinze. Indeed, Robinson is exceedingly qualified for her new position. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Robinson served as a commissioned Army officer commanding Patriot missiles in Europe and the Middle East, a senior trainer for NATO, and an adviser to the armed forces of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar."

Read more here.

Jimmy...No Jenny Olsen

From XX Factor's Alyssa Rosenberg:

"Over the past several days, a rumor, based on both still photos and IMDb credits for Zack Snyder's upcoming Superman movie Man of Steel, has spread throughout the nerdosphere: that Snyder's made an important change to the Superman canon, turning Superman's pal, cub reporter Jimmy Olsen, into a girl. Some observers have suggested that the switch, if it proves to be true, would have some basis in Superman comics, given Jimmy's habit of dressing up like a woman. But if Snyder really is gender-bending Olsen, I hope he's thinking about what a permanent sex change might mean for the character—and what it would mean for Superman to have a close female friend. Superman writer and comics commentator Grant Morrison has suggested that Jimmy Olsen turned to drag in response to his essential uselessness to Superman. "Jimmy Olsen could barely stand to be himself for more than five pages," Morrison wrote in his book Supergods. "Prefiguring David Bowie and Madonna, his life became a shifting parade of costume changes and reinventions of identity." Jimmy may have gotten power from dressing up like a woman, but those transformations underscored the extent to which Jimmy as himself wasn't much use to Superman, and in fact, often ended up in need of rescue."

Read more of the post here . She approaches the idea of "Jenny" being a true equal to Superman rather than any transgender angle. That's OK, she doesn't have to. That's our angle. Speaking of angle's, I remember how difficult it was for me to get those seams straight on the stockings!