He Never Made a Great "Big Brother!"

Big Brother contestant  Rodrigo Lopes  is now  Rebekah Shelton, a Brazilian transgender woman. Shown here as a transgirl and young man (known from Big Brother Brasil 2004)

Hiding in Plain Sight?

A comment from Michellewhois:

For many of us in the community we have to keep those fears our whole lives like that masks that we are forced to wear. I too am forced to wear the mask so much so that it has become second nature. I always hold out hope that one day it won't matter and everyone will see us for who we really are and not someone that has to hide almost in plain sight.

Unnamed cross dresser

I often wondered about the guy down the street or in the office - who are the beautiful cross dressers I see here, there and everywhere on line.  I'm sure they run the spectrum from the heavy "closet dwellers" to those who live a part of their lives as CD's with understanding families.

We talk about "trans-dar" often in Cyrsti's Condo, and for years I often wondered about the "pretty men" I observed who were thin and had no eye brows to speak of.  Maybe they were the ones with seemingly a zillion "selfie's" on certain photo sites. 

As I got better,  I began to look at where the photos were taken (always in the same room) or out in the world. Then, were the pictures taken by a professional photographer and finally, were they actually a genetic woman or not.  (Pinterest has gobs and bunches of those!) But look, they are pictures-a moment in time, no more, no less.

Finally, I came to a point which in essence is what Michelle was commenting about: how many of us hide in plain site.  Those of us who are the Kristin Beck's of the cross dressing or transgender world and cover ourselves with a deep layer of macho camouflage.  

Surely I will never know.  If you take the Condo for example, I can't remember ever having a response from here in Ohio.  The closest I have came is from Shelle over in Indiana who I haven't heard from and hope is OK.  Facebook is worse.  Someday I'm going to have to go through my reasonably local "friends" and delete all of those who have gone.

Finally, I know too, if there is a cross dresser hiding in plain site across the street from me-she has a reason to be there. Plus, chances are she may labor under that well worn (and true) idea that we transgender women "look down" on cross dressers.  It just so happens I don't.

Michelle, thanks for the comment!

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl" of the Day

Our feature "cover" today is the beautiful androgynous German male model Marta Styuart.

Laverne Cox Coming Soon!

Quite possibly, the best part of my most recent visit to my endocrinologist was when he mentioned a future Laverne Cox speaking engagement in December at nearby Wright State University. Fairborn/Dayton Ohio.

As I researched her visit, I was amazed at how dedicated Laverne must be to "spreading the transgender word." I count approximately 25 speaking engagements for her between now and Wright State.

If you follow the link above to her web site, you can read (among other things) this understatement:
  
Laverne is in demand as a speaker.  She has travelled the country speaking about moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically. Additionally, she uses and encourages an intersectional approach to critically engage with our stories.

Needless to say, I'm very excited by a chance to see her speak on her own terms about us.  If you are here in Ohio by chance, she will also be at Kent State in November.  For other "stops" go back to the link above!

Cyrsti's Condo "Quote of the Day"

Overheard on my Twitter account last night:

"Will the NFL now come up with a new concussion protocol when their players hit women?"

Cyrsti's Condo "Cover Girl of the Day"

Our feature cover today is Brazilian transgender MtF beauty Carol Marra.  Just add a little HRT and surgery and Wow! 

"Trippin" at the Doctor

Yesterday was my semi annual visit to my endocrinologist to have my hormone levels checked as well as other "fluids."

My Doctor works in conjunction with a nearby state university and always has a couple of "resident's" in tow, dutifully taking notes and acting like they know what they are doing. In reality, they are students, but that is cool by me.

This time though, I had one of the residents who wasn't "cool" at all with my transgender status.  First of all, he kept mis-gendering me.  After the second or third time he called me "he" I simply said I didn't appreciate him calling me that and while I am less sensitive than others-he still needed to stop it.  Especially before he went into practice somewhere.  He did say he was sorry and proceeded to do it another three or four more times during the visit. I told him every time not to do it.

The worst thing he did was out of the clear blue sky, was ask if I was sexually attracted to men or women?  Really?  That did it.  I lodged an official complaint against him today. I don't know if he had a real problem with me, or if he was simply treating me like he would treat transgender women in his native country. But of course that is even less of an excuse.

I just hope before the next time he encounters a transgender patient someone gives the jerk a little "sensitivity" training.

Nine-Eleven

This the date of one of the days in my life I will forever remember where I was and what I was doing-clearly and completely. ( I can't remember what I did last Monday.)  Today is September 11th and of course, I am writing about 9/11/2001 when my country was attacked.

I have yet to figure out the depth of hate and violence the human animal can lower itself to. But I do know this, scratch the surface of us all and the animal is not far away.

I am not going to write another word about 9/11, rather, I  am going refer to this set of George Harrison lyrics from the Beatles "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

I don't know why nobody told you How to unfold your love.
I don't know how someone controlled you 
They bought and sold you 
 I look at the world and I notice it's turning While my guitar gently weeps 
With every mistake we must surely be learning 
Still my guitar gently weeps

Renee Reyes

As a follow up to our Cyrsti's Condo post on successful transgender woman exec Martine Rothblatt-  we received this comment from J.AlanaS:

Hey Cyrsti, while searching for tips on transgender makeup I came across Renee Reyes  (left)  She's made a few fortunes and had the experience of being outed in the board room. For those who haven't been to her website or viewed her profile, I'd recommend it. Also, she has links on other sites that cover transitioning.

Thanks so much J.Alana!  I followed the link (as you can too above) and agree it's a wonderful informational place to go for transgender women who are transitioning -or are considering it!

Also, I used a quote and sent along a link on the same subject (Martine Rothblatt) from Helen Boyd.  Here is a partial comment from Jen Smith. from here in the Condo:  


I guess in short, someone who transitioned had to be able to overcome some serious obstacles to get there. I'm sure that people that can accomplish that can accomplish many other difficult things. Maybe to them most other obstacles look a lot easier to overcome?

Thanks Jen, and In my case, I wish I could reclaim all the time and energy I wasted being part of a person I wasn't. How much more could I have accomplished? On the other hand, some people just have a knack for making fortunes or being in the spotlight and I agree - after transitioning genders, much in life is a cakewalk!