Sitting in the Back of the Church

From Stana at Femulate:



"More so than the folks in the LGB crowd, a lot of folks in the trans crowd will get clocked by civilians who are scrutinizing people to determine whether or not we are discrimination-worthy. Size is often our giveaway (big transwomen and small transmen) and there is not much we can do about that.

And stop calling it a "religious freedom" law. It's a freedom to discriminate law, that is, you are free to discriminate according to your prejudices and then use religion as an excuse. How twisted is that?

Tell me, Mr. Christian, if a transwoman needed some carpentry work done, what would Jesus do?"

Stana is sooooo good at reducing a topic to a few basic well placed words!!!! Follow her link above to read more.

Cyrsti's Condo "Yesterday's Coffee"

Lots to get to from our Condo "mail slot!"

Mandy Sherman returned from yet another trip and checked back in and commented (on Alana's picture and the post "Going Commando"):
Have been out of town visiting our son (wish I could have been wearing a skirt) and just got back, so I can get caught up on prior posts. Gee, thanks so much for the mention, Cyrsti! I really appreciate it! And Alana, you look great! Keep up the good work!
Mandy

Then, of course Connie chimed in with her "ain't that special" brand of Pacific Northwest humor on my "kitchen based beauty help":  

Olive oil? So, you've gone past cross dressing and on to salad dressing? You already were full of vinegar, anyway.

Good point! This week some have thought I was full of a "little too much vinegar" concerning my comments about Indiana hiding behind religious freedom to LGBT discriminate.
From my responses I was even called a hater. You can follow all the comments back and forth in the archived posts. Be forewarned though, I do get passionate and I could have pulled out my old musty history degree but didn't to make myriad points. But-understand-until you have walked a mile in my shoes, experienced what I have experienced (including military service)- only then you can comment on my passion.

I will get to all of that in my next post!

Less IS More!

Among all glitz and glam of cross dressers and trans girls on the internet, every once in a while - I do find a story and picture of what I call a real transition. I featured Alana not long ago here in Cyrsti's Condo in a post called "Going Commando". She replied with more background I thought you all may be interested in!

Wow. Thanks for featuring my photo, There's quite a background story to this picture, taken at 3am. I'd had a 2hr session of electrolysis just before my salon visit. I highly recommend splurging on a good hair salon, even if the visits aren't as frequent, the results speak for themselves. I've been practicing the "natural" look, which doesn't mean not using makeup. In fact I've got foundation, a touch of blush, mascara, three color eyes shadow, thin line MAC eye liner on the upper eyelid, and powder applied to my forehead, nose, and chin, Finally, I'm using a ballerina pink Sephora lip stick, which is very subtle and nearly matches my natural lip color. 

After my salon visit, I went to a transgender support group, had a great time hanging out with our tribe. Finally, I have to admit that I'm weeks away from beginning HRT. I guess my body was already primed to be female, in spite of the pipes. 

Love your blog.
Hugs,
-Alana

Thanks Alana! I think sometimes the point is lost on most - buying the most expensive cosmetics does not necessarily equate to being more attractive. Example? My sister in law last night was bugging me about not having "puffy" eyes like she has. I suggested genetics but then went on to tell her about using a touch of Olive Oil mixed in with my moisturizer/wrinkle cream. Thanks Liz!!!! 

Inner Transtioning

Most certainly, I give myself many "talking to's", in fact, once here in Cyrsti's Condo, I wrote a post about when I began to make the effort to quit mis-pronouning myself. 

It was tough. Here I was doing my male drag in the world while I was desperately trying to "sync" up my gender dysphoria. Those of you who have been through it-"nuff said". If you haven't-I compare it with a case of mental "shingles." Also, this was occurring during a time when people in public would "slip up" and call me mam.

Essentially, I was throwing my own mental road block into my transgender transition path. Finally, I re programmed yet another part of my wiring to function better! I need all the wiring I can get!

Indiana Jones and the Legislation of Doom

Connie commented about Indiana:" Indiana, where it's OK to have a Basketball Jones, but not so much if I'm Basketball Joan. Basketball is the major religion for the state, is it not? I'm wondering, though, why it's still legal to run a man to man defense." Almost Connie. Basketball IS the religion in nearby Kentucky!

Then, this comment from Pat really got me going this morning:   It seems that this is a recent case of the left using a flawed premise to bash a Republican. The language of the new legislation is taken from the federal freedom of religion law signed by Bill Clinton. It is also in line with the legislation of about half the states including the legislation voted for by Obama when he was an Illinois legislator. 

As I understand the legislation it is a preclusion against government action against a person with clear and estanblished religious beliefs it is not a blanket right to discriminate as is being presented by those whose politics are not in line with the current governor or legislature in that state.
Pat

Number 1.- How dare you play politics with my life??? I don't give a rats behind less if this came from the left or the right?  I guess the bottom line is Pat, you can feel good about yourself that you are carrying the banner of knowledge when you dress as a woman and go out and then turn around and say denying human rights is OK?
Number 2.- I am certain you have read or heard by now, Indiana's law is NOT the same as the others.  (Read on below.)  
Number 3.- Pat, riddle me this...why does every challenge to me living my life as I please with the access to basic American freedoms come from the so called right?
Number 4.- Walk a mile in any LGBT person's shoes and then you will understand why there is a 41% suicide rate. And, don't be crazy and tell me this is an "apples and oranges" issue. 

A  Washington Post article largely mirrors the argument advanced by Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Appearing on ABC’s This Week, Pence claimed “Then state-Sen. Barack Obama voted for [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act]. The very same language.”

The same argument is parroted on Fox News and elsewhere.

It’s not true.

The Indiana law differs substantially from the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by President Clinton in 1993, and all other state RFRAs.
Go here for another look.
(Disclaimer, this is one of those evil leftist sites-kind of like the CBS Morning Show legal analyst Tuesday morning.) She very succinctly outlined the differences and then went on to say why big diverse companies can locate to states who have protections on the books for LGBT persons and not to states like Indiana and others who don't. 

Then again, Rush Limbaugh sent a letter to Liz's Dad yet asking for money and telling him Obama is going to run for president-for life.  He will be coming after me next!

Cyrsti's Condo "OOOPS?"

Unidentified.

Maybe the red-head on the left is thinking his buddy Jeff's idea to go in drag to the party wasn't such a good idea-when Jeff saw him? He just said what????

Going Commando?

Interesting title right? In many circles the phrase defines a person who is wearing no underwear. Sort of like more than a few of the generics you see in the summer and wonder exactly what are they wearing under that sun dress?  Now that I got your attention, this post has nothing to do with any of that.

Instead, after my Google+ friend Alana sent me this picture, I thought it was an incredible time to connect a couple Mtf gender transition thoughts. First of all, I commented to Alana how much I liked her pictures and how natural she looks!  From her own comments (and I paraphrase) the right hair style can do a lot to replace "FFS" (facial feminization surgery.) Yes! The more one does this transition thing, the more you do begin to get certain ideas through your thick skull. I am writing about me of course. I am around or live with three very out spoken generic critics, and for whatever reason, no one bothered to tell me "soft bangs" on my face might be the way to go. "Maybe" I would have asked them what they knew anyhow. Surely that can't be a reason for ideas? Nah!!!

Plus, about a month ago, when I needed a new foundation, I brought my partner Liz for guidance. I was looking for my shade as much as an actual brand (I do the best I can afford.) I knew you should try to match the foundation shade to the skin on the back of your wrist-but-I was literally geeking when Liz pulled out this small piece of clear heavy plastic which actually had all the shades on it. All I had to do was pull it out and matched shades until one literally disappeared. Really? It was that easy? And, guess what, I use less foundation and look better.

Alana is proof you don't have to go overboard (or commando) to be a feminine success. Another example is Mandy Sherman. Go to her blog  and check out the "Miss-Identified Again" post!

But....if you want to go commando under your sun dress this summer-think of it this way-make sure the wind is not blowing hard, forget what your Mom would say and you only live once!

It's A Dog's Life?

I have been a dog person all my life. My latest furry companion has been with me the last 12 years or so. I mean she is with me a lot!  She is a huge rider and is a constant companion in the back seat of my car. During my tough dark years of loss, I would always be amazed the dog would come over and set down next to me in my darkest times.

Having written all of that-she is a dog after all and as I understand it, know quite clearly when things happen, they just don't know why. Recently, I have decided to use the dog example to help answer one of my most asked questions: "When and how did you (me) know when you were trans?"  I have been answering  "I knew quite clearly I was trans but like a dog, I couldn't exactly say why.

If they are a dog person-they know exactly what I am saying. If not, I don't have to worry about any other questions-which is cool too!

Why Does Indiana Hate Me?

This afternoon, Liz and I started our Indiana boycott. She lives about 10 miles or so North of the Ohio River on the Eastern side of Cincinnati.  It was a sunny but chilly day but nice enough to see what the recent moderate flooding had done to the small towns along the river. We took the opportunity to choose going East towards Ripley or West into Indiana.  Guess which one we chose?

Unfortunately, now I have to deal on assumptions. I can assume many of the places in Ohio will be hospitable AND now I have to assume many of the Indiana places won't be. #BoycotIndiana-check the picture from GLAAD. Doesn't Eric Miller look like a throw back Hitler Nazi supporter?
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