Still in the Fight

Perhaps you remember Nikki Araguz. (Shown below with her new family)

If you really remember her, she goes back to early talk show appearances on Jerry Springer I believe as a party girl with a little extra. She resurfaced in Texas years later with the story of the tragic death of her husband Thomas Araguz III ..  Thomas Araguz was a volunteer firefighter in Wharton, Texas and was killed in the line of duty in 2010.


However, Texas’ 2005 marriage amendment doesn’t recognize her marriage to a man and her 2008 marriage to her late husband, Thomas Araguz III, became invalid leaving her out of her husband's death benefits.

Now, the 13th District Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi will hear her case on Sept. 18. Araguz is appealing a 2011 ruling by Houston state district Judge Randy Clapp, who ruled that Araguz was born male and Texas’ 2005 marriage amendment doesn’t recognize her marriage to a man.

Advocate's are calling this case ‘incredibly important’ for transgender equality and it's way too difficult for a person of my limited intellect to explain.

Go here for more!

A "Smokin" Headline"

From the "Scottish Express":

 Sex swap cannabis farmer avoids a spell in the joint  Really?

 A SEX swap patient caught with cannabis worth more than £10,000 has escaped a prison sentence.

Mellow out and go here for more...wow, far out man!

How "ya" Like Us Now?

It seems daily there is more and more "coming out" news from the transgender world.
The first today comes through the "Huffington Post" Parent's Site and features a MtF transgender parent's story on coming out to her 10 year old son as well as others:






And then from Russia is Masha Bast (right) who is used to facing formidable tasks. As the chairwoman for the Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights, Bast has worked on some of the most high-profile and politically sensitive cases in the country. Only recently, with those cases having come to an end Bolotnaya has she found time to fully embrace another, deeply personal project: living her life as a woman. With the past and current wave of homo and transphobia in Russia, Masha most certainly is courageous at the least with her public transgender stance!

Read more here.

How encouraging is it that so many are stepping up and out of their closets to lend their lives to make our future better.

Cyrsti's Condo Quote of the Day

" When won't is used enough never will be along for a visit
shortly"

cyrsti hart

Jared Leto Makes a Woman?

The God like Jared Leto

Headline from The Rolling Stone : "Jared Leto makes a beautiful woman."

Will there now be a backlash from the immoral right? Really?  Jared Leto has made a woman?  Will the Catholics make him a saint?  After all, can't only God make a person?

Looking way back in my past, I had the same power.  More than once someone would say I made a great looking woman.  Where was she? Did I make that hot redhead down the sidewalk? Where was my spot in the Bible?

Of course I just didn't think I belonged up there with the grand creator.  Not only that, I found plenty of those who couldn't spell what I was. I became a gurl or a grrl and even a tranny.

I am happy to say most of all of this is fading quickly. Needless to say, I didn't make anyone and I now I promptly reject any and all shemale gender slurs directed at me.

I do wonder however how Jared Leto feels about his new found creation powers?

Fashion, Style and the Trans Girl

Transgender, cross dresser and genetic women alike all are effected by fashion and style.  For the sake of simplicity, let's define fashion as the "concrete" basics of clothing, shoes, accessories etc.  Style is the innate ability to put fashion together.

To be sure, this whole process at once can be the most challenging and fun part of being a girl, or a way ticket to frustration. For better -or worse- fashion/style is dropped into our laps as we enter the world of the high maintenance gender and one of the initial reasons we came snooping.

Most of us can remember a certain girl or woman in our past we wanted to emulate.  We yearned to be the girl next door in a frilly Easter dress or a sleek Prom gown. It just couldn't be that difficult to put those feminine images together, right?  Wrong!

Sooner more than later we learned the "angst" of trying to not do an effective Bozo the clown impression in a dress.  Of course a huge problem was not having Mom or girlfriends contributing to a positive outcome. Self taught fashion/style takes a lot of work and finances. It is not easy maintaining dual gender wardrobes, most of the time under lock and key.

Luckily today our options have exploded.  Plus size clothing has grown ever so stylish over the years, discount purchase options have exploded and self help guides are everywhere on line and on television. Along the way cross dressers and transgender women have even become a desired potential market for cash hungry retailers.

No matter what anyone may think, nothing has really changed though for me in the challenge of making myself as fashion/style successful as possible. Plus it excites me the process will always be a fluid one which changes with the seasons and age.

Interestingly, I can't even figure out the right colors to paint my house trim but I can color coordinate from my fingernails to my clothes, jewelry and shoes. If you ask me why, the only answer I can come up with is how closely I watched and watch the rest of the feminine population for most of my life. Once I figured I wasn't dressing for men but instead women, I was on a better path to success. Why?

My best example is my own days of squeezing into too tight or too short clothes and blissfully attacking the world. My problem was I was trying to duplicate what I often admired as a guy looking at women.  None of it worked because of course I didn't have the body for what I was trying to do.  Finally, even I recognized women do dress for each other and if I was to be included I would have to also.

Safe to say I (along with the vast majority of the female population) will never be an Andrej Pejic. (right) But on the other hand, I love the lure of the hunt for fashion pieces which fit my style on a budget I can afford.

It's also safe to say this entire process has been and will be an incredible amount of fun and lends all the "pizzazz" I thought it would to my life as a transgender woman!

Halloween Countdown

Today is Friday the 13th and my lazy non mouse catching black kitty is staring at me, so it must be time here in Cyrsti's Condo to pass along a Halloween video. What the hell, the big box stores around here are already pushing Christmas lay away so why not? After watching this video, I'm guessing David has since spent more time "transitioning"!

 

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day"

"Plan B... when the end result is not the end result."

cyrsti hart

OMG! Low "E" in Men?

I believe one of the fasted growing "feel good" medical fields is the treatment of low "T" (testosterone) in men. Everyday on any given number of radio stations I listen to, I hear the plea to "get your number checked" - your "T" number.  Similar to genetic women in the menopause years it seems men lose their "T" along with their virility.

I have written here in Cyrsti's Condo about secretly desiring to have my "T" checked and when the number comes back as very low, start celebrating and run out of the office.

It turns out now, the same insecurities men carry about being effeminate may come back to haunt them again. Read this from the Associated Press:

"TV ads tout testosterone treatments for "low T," but surprising new research shows a different hormone may play a role in less sex drive and more fat as men age. Estrogen — the female hormone — is needed by men, too, and the study gives the first clear evidence that too little of it can cause certain "male menopause" symptoms."

Can you imagine sitting in the "T" clinic and getting your scripts to be all manly and virile again and as you are leaving someone calmly also gives you a script for estrogen?

Is there a conflict of interest there?  Me thinks the idea will not be discussed with the boys over beer and wings. Yep, the same ones who are afraid of the "side effects" of developing breasts when their wife offers them a Midol for pain.

Just a thought!