Corey Maison

Slightly lost in the reemergence of Jazz Jennings has been Fourteen-year-old trans youth Corey Maison who created a brilliant anti-bullying video which has racked up some serious shares/views on social media. Through the use of cue cards and facial expression, it’s quite the emotional request for sanity from our larger society — many of whom are simply uneducated. And for other trans kids being bullied, affirmation that they’re not alone and hope for changes exists.

Corey previously attracted media attention when her mother posted a photo of Corey online during North Carolina’s bathroom bill controversy.

However, after Corey was taken out of school because she was being bullied, they came across a video of Jazz Jennings, a transgender YouTube star who Corey immediately identified with. 

After watching one of Jazz’s clips,Corey started dressing like a girl in public, and although she faced a great deal of harassment from strangers, her mother encouraged her to be confident by advising her to 'strike a pose' every time a stranger tried to take her picture.

After researching therapists who work with transgender children, Erica was sent five hours away from their home to the gender clinic at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. 

Corey was soon given a $21,000 puberty-suppressing implant that was fully covered by insurance.

Go here for more.

It's Graduation Time

Yesterday, Liz's son graduated from a very rural Indiana high school. In some ways I still felt the old trepidation about going, but in other ways felt honored. 

It turned out, I didn't get much of a second glance and I wasn't pulled out and burned at a stake, so life went on.

As I watched though, I began to try to respond to Liz's questions to my graduation colors etc. The problem is next year is my 50th reunion and I don't remember many of the details, except not really wanting to be there at all.

Also, next year will be the big 5-0 reunion which I think I have discussed attending (or not) here at JJ's. 

My answer was and is-no I am not going for a couple of reasons.

The first is, I didn't know many people from the school when I went there and made no so called "life time" friends. If I did make those friends I would see them anyhow.

The second is, I don't want to be the entertainment and I don't need to make a statement for transgender women everywhere with an appearance.

The third is, ten years ago when I ran the most popular restaurant in town, they couldn't seem to find me then, so they don't need to find me now.

Good enough? 

J.J.'s Sunday Edition

Ker Plunk! Another Sunday edition is hitting your virtual front porch!
First the weather. It's a dreary gray day here in Southwestern Ohio but after it clears up, we are on the way to some beautiful weather next week. As always, I wish the best to those who aren't so fortunate. Lets grab a cup o' joe or tea and get started!
Page One: The Week that Was - or Wasn't: Once again last week, the stupid counter productive waste of time "restroom wars" battled on. Amidst it all came this fabulous video from "Kinky Boots" which went viral:

 

Page Two: In My Town You Do: A couple years back I wasn't too surprised to learn my backwards, negative hometown (which I was moving from) put out a social media page called "Not in my town you don't." Well, as it is turning out, they were wrong. The town is Springfield, Ohio and is basically between Dayton and Columbus and not so far from Cincinnati.

Due in part to problems shaking it's "Rust Belt" heritage, a few powerful preachers and politicians have been able to keep the city of approx 65,000 in the LGBTQ dark ages. Which in turn is a powerful deterrent these days attracting liberal white collar jobs.

Slowly but surely though, a small group founded an Equality Group, managed to raise enough money for billboards and this year-a bigger and better "Pride" event.
Then I saw this:

 SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (ABC NEWS/WRIC) — Katie Flesch spoke with ABC News to share the story behind her seven-year-old transgender daughter Elizabeth, who she described as a “typical little girl.”

She said that Elizabeth enjoys bowling, animals and likes to pick flowers for her family.

Photo Credit : ABC News.com

“She is one of the most amazing people that I know and that’s including children and adults,” Flesch said about her daughter. “She is so empathetic and just compassionate towards everybody. I am truly honored and blessed and lucky that she is mine.”

For more, follow the link.

Page Three: The Back Page: As always, thanks for stopping by JJ's! Luv ya all!!

Heart and Soul

This recent comment from Connie just happened to work in with a chapter I am writing for my second book , so I thought I would share it: "My new job, watering the hanging flower baskets in downtown Seattle, has given me an opportunity to do a lot of people-watching. Women definitely come in all shapes and sizes! Of course, I was already aware of that, but being on the sidewalk from 6:00 AM to 1:00 PM allows me to see all kinds of women: from the homeless early in the morning, the working women a couple hours later (and again at lunchtime), to the tourists who are on their way to Seattle's "famous" Pike Place Market. No matter what the women are doing, there are still all shapes and sizes within each group. And there I am, blending right in with all of them (despite the ugly orange safety vest my boss told me to start wearing today). I may not be as sleek and chic as the business workers, but I don't have to wake up on the sidewalk, either. The one thing I know, though, is that, if I asked any one of the thousand women I see every day, they would tell me that there is something about their bodies they don't like. It was good enough for me when a woman stopped to say, "It's so nice to see a female doing the watering for a change." To possibly be but average on the feminine body scale does not mean I can't be intensely feminine in my heart and soul, just as with most of the multitude of women I observe every day."

The chapter is called "What is a Woman" and fits in with the war transgender people everywhere are fighting with "gender bigots" who can't get it through their "pea" brains that trans women are men in drag invading women's rest rooms to pee.

Thanks as always Connie for a thought provoking comment!

From Change.Org:

"My name is Blair Durkee and I'm a South Carolinian trans woman, born and raised in Greenville, earning my graduate degree in Computer Science from Clemson University. I am one of many transgender Americans who is harmfully targeted by anti-LGBT legislation like the discriminatory S. 1203.

S. 1203 sought to prevent schools and municipalities from allowing trans people like me from using sex-designated bathrooms. While the bill, thankfully, was defeated, the anti-trans animus behind it is still very much alive. This is true of one of my state's elected officials, state Senator Lee Bright, who sponsored and supported S. 1203, and for the many like him across the country who have supported the more than one hundred discriminatory anti-LGBT bills that have been introduced this year, alone."

Follow the link to sign. Thanks to Liz for passing this along. With young up and coming transgender women entering the world, like Blair Durkee the trans future will be bright!

BIG Changes Coming?

According to Time Magazine:" The Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly proposed lifting a ban on sex reassignment surgery that has been in place since the early 1990s, in what would be a major shift in its coverage of medical treatment for transgender veterans.

The V.A.’s proposed rule would follow in the footsteps of a similar change Medicare made in 2014, and would align the V.A. with the latest research on treatment options for transgender people, which has evolved since the V.A.’s ban was instituted more than two decades ago.

“At that time some of these surgical procedures were not as well developed as they are now,” says Jillian Shipherd, a co-director of the V.A.’s LGBT health care program. “The science about what the international standards of care are was very different from where we are today.”

However, as discussed here, a "proposed change" rarely moves quickly within the Veteran's Administration, and the actual approval within the VA could take up to 22 months.

From Pockets to Purses

As I transitioned, I transitioned of course from pockets to  purses. 

Sounds easy, right? So much more room, so many more possibilities. Then reality set in. As with anything, the grass is not always greener.

First of all, you have to find the right purse. If you are like me, I'm going in circles, running errands and trying to catch my tail-no time for a designer bag. Over the shoulder is good for me too. That way, I always know where my purse is.

Which is important. My billfold and you could say my life as I know it has found it's way into one of the most endearing forms of femininity. 

I have found, purses are great conversation starters too. My latest Target purchase was a fringed bag which I see are becoming more and more popular - for now. I just love your bag!

The nice thing too about purses is they come in all sizes (so you can carry your dog, except mine, 91 pounds) or just a few essentials. I have learned to not get too fancy with mine because I am so scatter brained and I just hate it when Liz just asks "are you bringing a purse?"

Sometimes I don't. She bought me a nice large billfold/wallet to carry all my essential cards and very little cash in. So sometimes I am lazy and don't, but on days I know I am going to be "out and about" all day I carry my "fringe" bag because of the extra room it offers.

I rarely wear skirts so I struggle with those pesky pockets a lot. My women's jeans have them and my first move in a cashiers line is to put my keys and change in them.

I suppose there is no right or wrong way. As you transition (unless you already have) you will find your way and for the most part, the world of purses is a pleasant one.

Trans Vet Fighting Again!

 From CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -

Charlotte resident Janice Allison refuses to abide by the bathroom principles laid out in North Carolina's House Bill 2. A military veteran and transgender woman herself, she made her stance on the law clear at last week’s Charlotte City Council meeting.

For more, go here.

If I Had to Do It Again

Yet another round of Doctor's visits today at the VA, this time with my endocrinologist (all fluids checked out OK) But today the visit was different in that I had two residents in the room, eager for a training look at a true transgender woman.

So for a half hour or so, I was subjected to medical questions plus the usual breast exam by the Doc who always points out the difference between my hormone induced girls and a cis girls.

As I was leaving, I couldn't help but notice each of the training docs were at the least my size and attractive. On my way down in the elevator, I couldn't help but remember what Jazz Jennings Mother had detailed if Jazz had not had hormone blockers. How would I have turned out?

First of all, it is such a mute point, it is almost fun to think about. How about, turning Connie loose on this one: "If life Gives you Lemons, you make Lemonade." Go ahead and substitute balls at your leisure.

Second of all, the blockers are expensive to the tune of one thousand dollars a month.

Finally, I don't see all my time as a guy as a waste, specifically when I consider my daughter and grand kids- by far my most precious possessions.

On the other hand, just the idea of having a body as intensely feminine as the two residents today was intoxicating.

Of course I will never know, and most of the time think I am playing with house money at the age of 66.

But I will take it. I just heard yesterday, a younger person I had worked closely with years ago suddenly passed away.

So, just reshuffle the deck and call me a survivor, and that works too.