Another Trans Reset Complete

Just when you think (or thought) your legal male past has been erased, my old male name appeared quite unexpectedly on my new bank documents.

As I have written here in Cyrsti's Condo, I absolutely recoiled in disgust when I saw the name on my new bank cards and checks.

Well, yesterday, my new checks came with my correct name. Which matched my new bank cards. I need to point out too, it was over two years ago when I completed all possible MtF gender marker changes. Ohio is still one of the states who is resisting changing gender on birth certificates. So, as of now, that option is still unavailable to me until it changes.

I don't know if I mentioned too, I have met a transgender woman whose hormones are so screwed up, she registers as pregnant on her blood tests. She plans on using it to her advantage and is going to be petitioning the state for a gender change on her birth certificate.

As far as I go, I know I have a couple other pieces of documentation I have to get changed,  and yes I am a procrastinator! One is my term life insurance policy and the other is a college fund for one of my grand-kids. All just a matter of a phone call or two.

In some ways, I view the whole process as a just another needed problem to solve and other times, what a pain in the rear! 

Welcome Emily!

I would like to take this moment to welcome Emily's Virtual Rocket Blog to Cyrsti's Condo! Her link will appear in our "Wanna Hook Up" Blog roll on the right side of the page.

Here is an introduction for you:

Emily ShoretteJanuary 26, 2018 at 5:17 PM

Please take a moment to review "Emily's Virtual Rocket". (emilysvirtualrocket.blogspot.com) This has reviews of transgender life, plus a critical view of Donald Trump. Here’s what I cover:

1- Donald Trump
2- international (random)
3- civil rights
4- states (random)
5- feature

Sincerely,

Emily Shorette

Thanks Emily! (Especially for your view on Donny t-Rumpt.)

The Younger the Better!

Well, the semi formal banquet has come and gone. As is usually true, Liz was right about my outfit and I even got a couple compliments on my top. Along the way, I was happy I didn't trash myself or anyone else at the table with my food. I tried eating slower and more femininely but ended up being the last one eating. So I don't know if it worked or not.

The biggest surprise though was seeing a young transgender girl (approx 10 or 11) having the time of her life playing with other girls. She was wearing a nice dress, black tights and flats. She also had her ears pierced.

Just to see her energy and know a little how she felt did my heart good!

Plus it took my selfish emphasis on myself, off...in a hurry.

As it turned out, very few people paid me any attention anyhow. So much for my trans ego.

Buy "Pure Romance"

If you are not familiar, "Pure Romance" features a line of feminine "romantic" products which are mainly sold at home parties and on line.

The company just happens to be headquartered here in Cincinnati, and the CEO's daughter is transgender. Cincinnati also has a ground breaking program within it's Children's Hospital for trans kids.

It turns out the CEO is stepping up to help other transgender families. From Cincinnati.Com:

"Chris and Jessica Cicchinelli never thought they'd find themselves at the transgender clinic at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

It was scary, but they found it a place that was safe and helpful as they accepted their child was a girl.

So the CEO of Pure Romance and his wife are putting their personal money, love and his business savvy into a new endeavor to make sure every family like them has the help they need.

This weekend the Cicchinellis are launching Living with Change: The LC Foundation, a foundation that will train teachers and other educators and provide financial support to the Adolescent and Transition Medicine Clinic at Children's".

"As a family we've gone through it," Chris Cicchinelli said. "We didn't have a lot of information. We needed answers, and there was no book. Now we can give people a guide."

Isn't that great! For more on Pure Romance, follow the link above.

Putting on the Bling

Tonight is the semi formal banquet I am going to with Liz.

As always, dressing up will be fun, but my underlying shyness takes the luster off the event. I won't know anyone there and I am thinking I don't share much in common with most anyone either.

I am wearing a long patterned flowing skirt with black hose and my black flats, topped off with a sleeveless sparkly red top. I am not overwhelmed with the choice, but Liz approved it. So, I trust her judgement.

At any rate, I hope the food is good and I can find some other folks to interact with. So I won't appear to be a stand offish snob.

Definitely not a good look for any transgender woman looking for acceptance.

Laverne Cox

From the LGBTQ Nation:

"Laverne Cox is making magazine cover history yet again.

Cox, who appeared on the cover of Time in 2014, is the first transgender woman to appear on the cover of Cosmopolitan.

The trans actress and activist graces the cover of Cosmopolitan South Africa, which has been given an LGBTQ makeover for a special “Say Yes To Love” issue.

Inside the covers of the magazine, readers will find a handwritten note from Cox."

Now, how about an issue from the U.S?

Reportively, understanding and support from the state side population has declined for the LGBT community, and we need the most positive feedback we can get from transgender women such as Laverne Cox.

I have to say, with the current attacks on us by the administration in Washington, a decline in support is no surprise. Yet, I still see trans acquaintances I know still support t-Rump. Sad. 

Bye Bye

No, I am not going anywhere today. Yesterday though, at my transgender veteran LGBT support group, there was a bisexual woman in her 50's. Struggling to come out.

The nice thing was, she asked plenty of questions of the rest of us. Concerning how it was for us to come out. She even asked about how it was to use the rest room.

Then she said how she had been attracted to other women her whole life, so I wondered (to myself) if she was really more lesbian than bisexual. By this time, our therapist/moderator had put up on the white board the sexuality contiuum. Which has totally heterosexual humans on one end and totally homosexuals on the other. I pointed out, as I have read, no matter what most people (mostly men) say, there are very few totally heterosexual guys.

She went on to say, she was looking diligently for groups in the area which were made up of bi-sexual people, and couldn't find any.

I told her, I thought it would be difficult. Out of the main LGBT grouping, now the "B's" (or bisexual) group are now the most silent of the group. Replacing the "T's" or transgender.

So, the session was interesting from a number of different ways. Mainly, I had never met a self avowed bisexual person!

More "Support" Mail

I received quite a bit of mail on several topics here in Cyrsti's Condo, including "transgender support groups", or just women's support groups:

First from Paula Goodwin:

1. Paula GoodwinJanuary 22, 2018 at 7:15 PM

   "My own group, which I often describe as a "support group" offers "Mutual social Support", we meet in a local family pub, so basically it's a chance to share a few drinks with some friends."
2. Paula, the group I go to the most has most of it's get together s in restaurants and/or bars. I don't go for any number of reasons. Including not feeling real chummy with most of them, all the way to having real bad experiences with groups of drinking cross dressers who have embarrassed me totally. Some of the pictures I have seen, lead me to believe, this bunch does have the potential to be the same.
3.  Plus I just cant drink much anymore and risk driving. Thanks for the comment! :) 
4. And, from Connie:
5. 
   
6. FABULOUSCONNIEDEEJanuary 22, 2018 at 7:16 PM

   
   As has been discussed here in your Cyrsti's Condo many times, trans women of our age are possibly considered to be dinosaurs by the younger crowd. We may receive some admiration for all of the crap we had to go through in "the olden days," but much of that is irrelevant to younger people's issues today. I think it's funny that, since the first time I went out in public, I had never hesitated to use a ladies room until doing so became politicized. 
7. "I, like you, pretty much navigated my way through finding myself without the support of others. These days, I may belong in a support hose group with a bunch of old ladies, but not necessarily transgender ones. I'm just hoping for a few more years of not needing the support of a cane or walker. :-)
8. The few support group meetings I have attended included some discussion about restrooms, however. One young (19 y/o) trans woman, who had already undergone GRS, was homeless, spending most of her daytime hours in the public library. She had been banned from using the ladies room at the library, though, and was forced to go across the street to a fast food spot with a unisex restroom. She went on and on about how this was such an interference to her transition, until she then switched to how men were rejecting her sexually. I think she said that she identified as gender queer, but I could only sit there thinking that, if she made the effort to be more feminine in appearance, neither of those problems would be so serious. 
9. I did not express my thoughts, though, as I'm sure that they would have done more harm than good. She definitely needed professional help, and much more than a support group could provide. In fact, I mostly just sat there looking pretty - which wasn't hard to do considering the appearance of the dozen or so others in the room. I was the only one who could not declare the amount of time I had been on HRT, yet I felt like I had transitioned far beyond this group. I really did feel out of place, more like a mother who had accompanied one of the young trans kids. I could empathize, but I found it difficult to relate on their level.
10. 
    I don't know if my presence helped anyone in that group, but I never returned to find out."
11. Thanks Connie, our moderator in the one group goes to great lengths to tell really troubled individuals the group is not for trained counseling. The VA group though, has a trained licensed therapisr in charge.

A Softer Voice

This past weekend, Liz and I rented a cargo van. It was under my name, so I had to do most of the talking in yet another male dominated atmosphere.

I did have some trepidation on what would happen. As I transitioned, there were certain things I didn't look forward to doing as a transgender woman, and this was one of them.

As it turned out, my fear was premature. As Liz and I went to the counter, the rental guy's voice softened as he said my name. From then on, I knew I was OK.

Sometimes I wonder if I will suffer from what I call transgender PTSD for the rest of my life.

I'm lucky. Many times I have the company of a cis woman. Many persons just see a couple, not just one person who happens to be trans.

I would suppose the only better method would be to have a cis man accompany you around the world. I am more than satisfied though, to be where I am!