Cyrsti's Condo Thought of the Day

"Are you less popular with more life insurance the longer you live?"

Super Human Powers?

Come on now, have you thought an "itty bitty bit" about what sort of "superhuman" powers you may want? How about a figure to match a "Wonder Woman" costume at Halloween, or how about a "SheZow" super ring which turns you into a female super hero everytime you say "you go girl"?

That's all right, it's your secret and we won't tell!

Now it seems the folks at theFrisky have taken this idea a step further and tied your superpower possibilities in with your Astrological sign. We Libra's did well!  :

"Libra–Shape Shifting. Your ability to change shape allows you to adapt to any situation, environment, or group of people. This power allows you to experience life in many different forms."

I like it!!! If I have your curiosity and want to know your superpower, go here.

Divide and Conquer the TGLB

My "Buckeye State" coverage continues today in Cyrsti's Condo as I read about this tactic going on in my hometown and perhaps others called the wedge. This comes from my hometown Springfield, Ohio Equality Group:

"Ugly strategies of division die hard in Springfield. When ES brought their message of equality to city commission meetings, you could see some members scratching their heads. Why were white evangelical pastors suddenly preoccupied by African-American civil rights when these conservative leaders weren't visibly worried about our community's racial tensions on the other 364 days of the year? Other communities have seen this odd behavior too, and some language leaked from the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) clarifies the confusion.

 Under a plan called "Not a Civil Right," NOM explains "the strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between blacks and gays." How do they do this? Trick LGBT advocates into comparing their trials to the African-American struggle for civil rights--even to the point of suggesting "civil rights" is an expression that gay folks would never in good conscience use if they didn't want to compare themselves to African-Americans. (Forget for the moment that women, ethnic groups, veterans, people with disabilities, and, yes, religious folks of all stripes also have civil rights.)"

Yes, I know you didn't see any mention of transgender women or men in this post. I will give Equality Springfield a break on this because quite possibly I'm the only transgender person most of them have ever seen and I have only been to one meeting. My second will be tonight.

It's also interesting to note that Springfield is one the last remaining towns of any size in Ohio still resisting insuring civil rights to all it's citizens and the good old "Tea Party" political folks had a hand in planting some of this plan. Remember them? Wasn't their original agenda a fiscally responsible government?

All of this makes the meeting tonight extra interesting in that a Tea Party backed candidate is running for a key city commission spot this fall. Bring on the fun!

**If you live in the area and would like to contact Equality Springfield, here is some relevant info:
Equality Springfield P.O. Box 506 Springfield, OH 45501-0506

Success in Ohio

From the Columbus, Ohio Dispatch:

"Returning to work after a long vacation can be a shock, but when some top brass at the Columbus marketing company Resource came back from the beach last year, a true surprise was in store. Shelly Moss, a creative director at the company, had some big news for HR director Jamie Barcelona and company founder Nancy Kramer: Moss is transgender and was transitioning into a man who thereafter would use the first name Decker. “My initial reaction was, ‘Wow! This is a day I thought I’d never have,'" Barcelona said. “ Then you instantly go into, ‘How am I going to handle this? What do I need to do?'"

"Decker (center)"

At Resource, that was definitely OK. For decades, the marketing company has been in the forefront in dealing with such issues. Resource was one of the first in Ohio to offer same-sex partner benefits; and in 2007, Kramer testified in front of Congress in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA. This revelation was entirely new ground, however, and Moss didn’t know if anyone had ever presented a similar case. Legally, he was in somewhat murky territory. Transgender status is not explicitly protected under federal or Ohio anti-discrimination laws, said Jim Petrie, chairman of Bricker & Eckler’s labor & employment practice group. However, “the U.S. 6th Circuit has held that persons identified as transgender may be protected under Title VII if the employer discriminates against them based on their inability to conform to sex stereotypes,” Petrie said. “Moreover, a Columbus city ordinance expressly prohibits employers from discriminating against a person because of his/her gender identity or expression."


Interestingly,  as most of us know who navigate society as a transgender person, what does the term mean to others?  Barcelona echoed that thought and said  the biggest thing was understanding what does transgender mean and going from there.

As always, there is more and you can read it here.

The Wonder of Diversity

Everyonce in a while here in Cyrsti's Condo, as dawn is breaking, (also known as the butt crack of dawn) I have a chance to surf around and visit some of the bloggers I link up with here and who they link up with. This morning I landed on Marian's Blog, Crossing T's and Dotting I's, and read her "Scratching an Itch" post which primarily dealt with shopping. From her blog I jumped to a blog I'm not linked to Call Me Meg. Her recent post "Not Trans But..." caught my attention there. What was that all about?

Marian and Meg are about all of us in some small way as is the less than glamorous trans sex worker who has plied her trade in my town for years. I used to say yikes and ran as hard as I could from believing I had anything in common with her. Who knows though we all may be linked with a transgender gene as yet non discovered? I certainly came away with a different view of some of the poor trans kids who end up on the streets when I met a former one at Trans-Ohio this year. Sure I can relate to the Marian's, Meg's and Stana's of the world because of similar social upbringings but am I missing the big picture?

Two things are certain. We are an ancient tribe which quite possibly traces it's roots to the first caveman who tried on the woman's loin cloth and went out to collect berries instead of going on the hunt for a Mastodon. And, we are a highly egocentric group for any number of reasons. Putting on my "shrink" cap for a second, I think it is tough not to be.  Most of us are hidden in our own closets for so long, it's tough to break out of the "it's my world, don't mess with it" lifestyle.

As normally happens, dawn has broken here in western Ohio as has my dog's usual summer battle with fleas. It's time to hope my back is better and embark on a epic wrestling match at a local self serve dog wash. She is not small, very stubborn and has a very thick coat of fur. A lot like me without the fur!

Cyrsti's Condo Words to Live By

"The world is three drinks behind, when it catches up - it will be a better place to live."
Humphrey Bogart

I Felt the Earth Move

I live in Ohio, not quite the epicenter of earthquakes in the country although I know there could be one anytime.

The earth did move around here this week when the Pope said he couldn't or shouldn't pass judgement on gay people. Then the nearly not as revered but probably more wealthy than the Pope, Pat Robertson came out and said he has no problem with transgender individuals. Then, there are the reports of the hate monger Rush Limbaugh being on the ropes as he addressed reports that he is getting dropped from Cumulus, the second-largest radio network in the country, on Monday. "Nothing is gonna happen that you will notice," Limbaugh said on his radio show. "Nothing is going to change. You are going to be able to get this radio program on as many if not more radio stations down the road than it's on now, and what you're being treated to is just a public business negotiation. Negotiations have been taken public by one side of this and I thought it was done!"

The difference in what the Nazi Rush didn't say was advertising dollars drive the viability of a network radio show and he just lost one in the Bojangle's Food Chain. When you have him on the run, it's easier to provide monetary pressure on him- not unlike the major fast food chicken chain I'm sure I don't have to mention to you. An effective boycott for them is when they cater an event, just casually spread the word about how inherently wrong it is to support their company and what the owner stands for.

Look, I know people are sheep and there are major problems in our country with mini Limbaugh's out there to cash in. Just look at the giant Clear Channel radio conglomerate. It has single highhandedly killed free speech over the airways in this country by buying tons of radio stations in the same markets. Clear Channel  specializes in right wing shock jocks on every level in every market spewing easy answers to tough problems. You can bet they have "superstar" or two lined up to fill Limbaugh's shoes.  In the meantime though we need to keep the pressure on the Nazi. Everytime he sticks his mug in a microphone, it's time to complain to the advertiser on his show.

That's our own small way to keep the earth moving in Ohio, except for the never ending interstate highway projects!

Oh, by the way, here's Pat:

It's a Start

According to theAdvocate and BuzzFeed,
Transgender military service will be examined with a $1.35 Million Grant from the Pal Center. The initiative will explore how the U.S. military could include trans troops without disruption.

Read more here.

Welcome to my World.

I used to hear it from genetic women a lot. I certainly understand why I did and I think I understand why I'm not so much anymore.

Perhaps you have heard me refer to the transgender learning experience as "playing in the girls sandbox". Until you climb in, you really don't know how the process works. The only certainty is the lessons come at you fast.

Women of course wonder what the hell you are doing in the sandbox at all?  Are you creepy, are you serious and/or are you sane. If you aren't creepy, are serious and reasonably sane (me) then you are allowed into the mix. Of course you will get get sand kicked in your face until you find which group of women you can bond with.

You know how guys bond with sports, business success or cars and women bond with- well - being women. Relationships, kids, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends and men at large form the bond. Early in the process I learned I needed to bring my personal past into play.  When I was asked did I have any kids, I simply said yes but I never needed to say I birthed her. Also, I'm fairly sure all of my close women friends know I'm a widow and I was married to a woman for over 25 years. For the longest time, that was a "need to know" fact which I didn't toss around easily.  The bottom line was though, I became a real person.  So what if I was transgender, I didn't B.S. anyone and to the best of my ability  I was good people. Quickly it seemed I was making the leap from "welcome to my world" to "where have you been?"

For all of you who are still fixated on appearance getting you a spot in the sandbox, I can't say enough if you are blessed with a good head of hair, go with it! Hair is such a huge selling point to presenting as a woman and the girl stuff like clothes, hair and makeup are just fun play toys. Older genetic women just don't understand and I don't want to be a geek and tell them I still am like a teen aged girl in a makeup or clothing store! In fact it's times like that I want to say "Welcome to MY trans World". It's a blessing from somewhere to be transgender and living like I am.  Thanks "Mother Karma" I love my spot in the "box".