Republican Politics

I really try to not be too political here in Cyrsti's Condo but every once in awhile a story comes along to reinforce my idea of why I'm not a Republican. Here's the latest.

Just when they think you aren't paying attention, House Republican leaders quietly unveiled their Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill on Friday, a proposal that differs from what the Senate passed last week in a handful of ways, namely in its omission of LGBT protections and its modified language targeting Native American victims of domestic abuse. The GOP proposal was posted on the House Rules Committee website with little fanfare, along with an announcement that the committee will begin moving the bill forward in a Tuesday hearing. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) will sponsor the bill and the House is expected to bring it to a full vote later next week, a House Republican leadership aide confirmed. Here is a link to their 288-page bill and a section-by-section analysis of what's in it. House Republicans are planning to take up the Senate bill, strip its contents and put their language into that bill. A cursory look at the bill reveals some notable changes from the bipartisan VAWA bill that cleared the Senate last week. The House GOP bill entirely leaves out provisions aimed at helping LGBT victims of domestic violence. Specifically, the bill removes "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" from the list of underserved populations who face barriers to accessing victim services, thereby disqualifying LGBT victims from a related grant program. The bill also eliminates a requirement in the Senate bill that programs that receive funding under VAWA provide services regardless of a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. Finally, the bill excludes the LGBT community from the STOP program, the largest VAWA grant program, which gives funds to care providers who work with law enforcement officials to address domestic violence.

 Read more here. Thanks Bobbie!

Trans Reversal

Watching a video of what we used to call "tearing down" after a night of cross dressing is not new. I thought I would pass this one along though because of how it's presented by the transgender woman:

Drag Queen and the Transgender Girl

Angel responded to the "What Not to Wear" post here in Cyrsti's Condo:

"We watched that episode. At one point Casey admitted that she stayed away from makeup and clothes that she perceived as being "too feminine" because she feared being regarded as a drag queen. I thought that was really sad."

Of course I thanked Angel for the wonderful  comment and began to think of her thoughts. How correct she was. I have written here about my drag "liberation".  I too was afraid of being perceived as a drag queen.  My feeling was much of the public thought I was one. Many commented "oh sweetie you going out tonight?" I wanted to scream "I'm always this way!" It's not a special night. In response I just stayed away from gay venues and drag shows in general.

Then all of the sudden friends began to invite me out to shows and gay clubs and I started to go through a few fun changes. On Halloween I found I could do the same thing as many genetic women do- put together a provocative sexy costume and have some fun. The experiences carried over to other evenings when I went out in drag once again and found it was fun. All of the sudden I was similar to a gay guy who does drag for fun or attention or whatever except of course I was a transgender woman doing the same thing.

The best part is I don't have to do drag every time I go. I am not once again shoved into a box I didn't want to be in. My girlfriend has said it best a number of times, I should embrace the times my transgender status works for me. The most recent was on the recent New Orleans trip when our tour guide was not so secretively looking down my top. Both of us were relatively sure he was gay, especially when his two male friends showed up to party with him. When I mentioned the incident to her she said "that's the fun of appealing to both sides of the fence".

We all know there is precious little fun walking our chosen gender paths so we need to grab it when we can. After all, it's our trans privilege.  Our own little club.

Sidney Starr

Sidney Star is a beautiful transgender woman She's a talented hip hop dancer, performer, model and all around entertainer!

Check out her Facebook Page!

Mona Moore

Female impersonator extraordinaire Mona Moore from YouTube:

Girl Talk

Every once in awhile I still encounter the occasional person who thinks all women are sweet, shy beings. Some are of course but this rather X rated comment I heard today from a reality television show showed the not so soft feminine side: (between two 20 something women) " you can take the victim tampon out of your ass"!

I tried to manage rather large groups of female servers for years during my days in the restaurant biz. I would have loved to have heard it then and am surprised I didn't hear it from my female managerial cohorts.

The experience turned out to provide wonderful lessons I needed to start down my transgender path. Primarily,  never forget to beware of the "claws" when you jump into the feminine cat box.

Casey Hits a Home Run!

I recently wrote a post about the transgender woman Casey who was one of the women this year who would be featured on the TLC network show What not to Wear.
After seemingly waiting for months to see the results, I found them on the show's web site.

Wow Casey! Here is the before and after pix...

I'm sure this process wasn't the easiest to undertake but to just have top of the line professionals work a makeover would be a dream come true- for me at least.
You did us proud girl!

For more on the show, go here.

Paolo Ballesteros aka Precious Paola

A couple pictures of Paolo as a cross dressed Paola (left)  giving several genetic women a run for the most beautiful woman on the stage:

Bond...James Bond

Talk about feeling old, tonight I went to see the latest James Bond film SkyFall.   I knew have been a fan since I saw the first 007 movie but I didn't realize it was fifty years ago. Really? that's a half a century according to my advanced math.

All age jokes aside, the Bond movies were a transgender nightmare for me. During the times in my youth I was trying so desperately to fit in as a male, James Bond was one heck of a roll model.  The problem was though the Bond Girls were so alluring to me too. That would have been OK if I had not wanted to be one.

As far as we know only one transsexual woman has made it into the Bond Girl's rank and her name was
Caroline Cossey (right)

If you are a strong Bond fan and haven't seen Skyfall yet, I will only say it is a highly transitional Bond. The movie says not so subtly it's time for us old peeps to step aside.  I knew it was time and was especially fascinated with the pictures of the current 007 (Daniel Craig) in drag. Below.

As I remember though, there were some questions about Bond author Ian Fleming's sexuality and I vividly remember a short story which circulated through a classroom in high school which featured Bond as a cross dressed woman.  For all I know, the very gay teacher could have written it himself and it was from him we heard about Fleming.  So don't quote me!!!

At any rate this latest Bond movie at the least presents an interesting transition into the future. If indeed the producers continue the franchise.

Cyrsti's Condo movie revues!