Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our feature cover of the day today is a very "80's" looking Grae Phillips.  If you don't recall Grae's story, he was billed as the "original Tootsie." I still remember clearly when he made his first appearance on the Phil Donahue Show.  He couldn't land a job as a guy singer in NYC and just " happened" to throw on a dress and makeup with the help of a girlfriend and was much more successful performing as a woman.
There are tons of Grae's videos on YouTube plus you can follow the link above for a website.

All The Letters in the Same Room

As you may recall, I posted here in Cyrsti's Condo about attending a Trans Ohio community organizational meeting.  Several were set up around Ohio. The main idea was to explore the main issues we face as TGLBQ individuals.  Meetings such as this have a tendency to either be used as a platform for some to vent on specific grudges or become extremely boring as a few seem to love to hear themselves talk.

This two hour meeting was neither.  The mediators managed to keep an incredibly diverse group on track. Approximately 14 people attended, two of which (including me) identified as transgender. The remainder were either gay or lesbian and even a person who identified as gender fluid.

As issues were discussed, we transgender women were able to mention primarily the lack of understanding from the rest of the community.  Of course, another main concern was the total lack of cooperation under the entire community umbrella.  In fact, the meeting started with one individual launching a mini rant on another person who wasn't there.  Needless to say, an unfortunate example of the problem.

My personal goal for the meeting was raising the goal of visibility for the transgender community.  I pushed the need for a central "clearing house" within the TransOhio organization.  What I mean is, a spot where a gender studies program, church or any other organization could go to get information or even a speaker.  I know it happens now, in isolated spots but to expand it, I believe you need an easy accessible central place to go for info.  In Ohio at least, one of the more populous states in the union, none exists which is publicized.

Here's an example.  A local small liberal arts very upscale university where I live, does have some sort of gender studies program but the professor I'm acquainted with who is involved knew absolutely nothing about trans people. In fact, he only acknowledged the gays and lesbians in his speeches. Plus, I know larger schools probably have several trans students who have come out but are the major issues of suicide and health care being discussed in  insulated college settings?

As with any meeting, what happens with the discussions in the days and weeks ahead determine success or failure.  We will see.

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day"

The Shopping Hormone?

I have mentioned here in Cyrsti's Condo of the internal changes which come with HRT.  Last night, or should I say early this morning, I felt the changes in a big way.

I don't know if because I had a long day yesterday and did quite a bit of physical labor, I was extra tired when I went to bed.  I went to bed early, around 11 pm and was up around 3 just depressed as hell.  First of all, depressed may be the wrong word.  I believe the sadness caused with HRT is more of a melancholy feeling.  When I experience it, I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly where it is coming from.  I just know it's so real. I am learning though, crying it out helps.  The problem is, crying is still a conditioned problem with me.  Finally last night, I just let the tears go and along with a glass of milk, I felt better soon enough to go back to bed.

Luckily, I'm retired and work my own schedule, so I slept in a bit.  When I woke up though I started to wonder what could lift my spirits and came up with a little shopping.

I figured if I was going to have to put up with the negative emotions of this MtF transition, I might as well have some of the fun.  Is there a shopping hormone as well?

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our feature cover of the day is Australia's Estelle Asmodelle. Asmodelle is an Australian transsexual who was instrumental in gaining recognition for transsexual and transgender people through her solo campaign to gain rights for transsexuals.

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day"

Cyrsti's Condo "Power Scope"

The natural need of Libra's to balance will be temporarily set aside this week. Go ahead and jump off the scales fellow Libra's!

(September 23-October 22): You’ll be in a daydreaming mood as your routines put you into a trance. Feel free to let loose, because wherever you jump, the universe will somehow find a way to save you from bad consequences and give you a peaceful resolve. Call it a miracle or a boo that watches your back — just be grateful for whatever breathes life back into you again.

Or, we are looking for a soft landing!  All the rest of you can go here to theFrisky  your own scope.

I Don't Get It

"Although my heritage is not Irish (British/German/Hillbilly), as you all have probably figured out, I am not one to shy away from a big party.  Many others aren't either.  What I don't understand is why bigots try to ruin it.

Fortunately, mayors and sponsors of two cities, New York and Boston are coming out against the madness of keeping TGLBQ groups out of the parades.  In fact, both mayors refused to even be in the parades.

As important as that is,as always money is even a more powerful motivator. In response to the bigotry, major sponsors such as Sam Adams and Guinness Beers are pulling their financial support from the parades as well.  Their reason was simple and to the point. It was the right thing to do. Plus, just maybe, we TGLBQ peeps support their products!

"Wearin' o da green with William Belli"

My hope is St. Patrick  would feel the same way. If you are Irish or "faux" Irish, enjoy the day, responsibly!

Look Behind the Headlines

Cincinnati has an area of it's downtown which used to have the dubious distinction of hosting more murders within a certain area of any place in the country.  Now it's being transformed block by block into a thriving restoration area-almost.
About a week ago, the area was hosting their annual "Bock Beer" Fest and one of the local TV stations was doing a segment of the area and it's recovery.  Of course, as soon as they did, about a half hour later, they reported a person was shot and killed only two blocks away from the festival.

I recently read two stories from Brazil which played out the same way.

The first of which came from the New York Times and featured a look at the rise of transgender models recently on the runways of Brazil. One of which is Melissa Paixao, shown at the left.

Then, not much later I read the story of a slain "transvestite" in Brazil.

Of course I'm not bringing up Brazil for unfair criticism. Especially after I read the story of  Andi Dier. a transgender woman from New York who was roughed up by the employees of The Irish Times Pub and Restaurant in Holbrooke.As she was bruskly removed  from the premise,  Ms Dier says they used transphobic slurs and tried to take her I phone after seeing she had recorded part of the incident.

The moral to the story is, as transgender women or men in any part of the world - many times headlines are just that- only headlines.