Transgender History

One never knows when simply being older than everyone else could be a positive.

One of the questions at last night's transgender - cross dresser support group meeting was what was your earliest remembrances of obtaining any information at all concerning your gender differences.

Being the oldest in the group, I was the only one to remember Virginia Prince , her  Transvestia Magazine and The Society for the Second Self... for male heterosexual cross dressers. The last issue was in 1979.

Over the years,  Virginia finally has began to receive the credit she deserved for being one of the pioneers of the cross dressing movement all the way to the beginnings of understanding the transgender movement. She came from a socially prominent family in Los Angeles and like so many of us struggled (and lost) a marriage because of her cross dressing. She began cross dressing when she went to a church Halloween party dressed as a woman and no one knew. So, again, many of us followed the same path as her.

I know I first obtained a copy of one her books "The Transvestite and His Wife" (1967) and immediately read it approximately three times. I also subscribed to "Transvestia" for awhile. Plus, my first dealings with other transvestites came from a Virginia Prince connected group in Cleveland, Ohio. So I owe a lot to her as a pioneer.

Virginia Prince

Virginia passed away in May of 2009. Follow the link above for more.

Change is Coming?

Every once in awhile change seems to be upon us in the transgender world, even amidst all the horrible trans murders. It seems the "Craft" movie remake is attempting to become more inclusive and add a transgender Latina actress.

If you are qualified, check out the ad below. And if you are not qualified like I am, you can check it out too!

Andreja Pejic

Talented, gorgeous Andreja Pejic is still breaking down barriers. The Australian born model is now taking on the silver screen. More from the "Them" site:

"Andreja Pejić has walked runways for the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, and Jeremy Scott. She’s been a cover girl for international editions of GQ, Elle, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar — the list goes on. But tomorrow, the 27-year-old model will make her acting debut on the big screen.

“It’s been a crazy whirlwind. I can’t believe I’m in a blockbuster Hollywood film,” Pejić tells me with an elated sigh. “What is life!” It’s two days after the New York premiere of The Girl in the Spider’s Web when we hop on the phone, and Pejić is still processing the fact that she stars in an adaptation of the book series she grew up reading as a teen.

In Sony’s latest reboot of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo franchise, Pejić plays Sylvia, an Eastern European goth girl and Lisbeth Salander’s lover. In director Fede Álvarez’s film, adapted from the fourth novel in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series written by David Lagercrantz, The Crown’s Claire Foy steps into the role of Salander, the leather-clad hacker vigilante."

Can't wait to see it! To my knowledge, it is streaming on certain services such as Amazon Prime. It was actually released November of last year.

Revenge?

Last night was our regular monthly social with the transgender - cross dresser group my partner Liz and I are part of. All of the usual suspects were there, including the Mike Pence (yes the fascist vice president) loving cross dresser.

I was enjoying myself. I thought I looked as good as possible with my loose fitting sleeveless top, along with my black leggings and black flats. The outfit gives me an inkling of how the hormones I have been on are finally shaping me a feminine body without the benefit of any shapers what so ever. The weather was not overwhelming hot and the air conditioner works well in the almost new car we just bought. Life was good.

I was even ignoring my less than fave cross dresser until Liz started a conversation with his daughter about why my brother and I don't speak anymore. The basic reason is he (my brother) won't accept me over the feelings of his Southern Baptist in laws. All of the sudden I sensed my opening was coming.

To set it up, a couple weeks ago over dinner, I was trying to get Mr. CD to bring up his buddy Pence (they are both from Indiana) and he did by calling him a "man from a good Christian family." Last night, his daughter wanted to know why my brother didn't accept me. I couldn't resist and looked her and Dad right in the eye and said because of a good Christian family.

All of a sudden, the dinner conversation was over. I felt I had arrived finally. Everyone was wondering why I was so quiet...no more. However, I warned them.

Speaking, or writing on religion, Connie did write in this comment to add in because it's never "enough said.":

"Well, I wasn't going to comment on this, since you ended your post with "enough said," but since others have spoken up...

The book of Deuteronomy is, basically, a list of rules that pertained to the society and culture of that time. It doesn't explain the reasons, really, and much is left to interpretation. I've read that 2:25 may have been in reference to men attempting to avoid military service, as well as women who wanted to fight. Of course, it could have been put on the list by a homophobic authority figure who found himself attracted to a trans woman. Your anonymous "commenter" appears to be of that ilk, especially considering the other Bible verse attached. 

Connie

After years of hiding myself from anyone, literally and otherwise, I had what was, at least, an epiphany - but I do believe that God spoke to me directly. As I sat alone, locked in a room, I heard a voice saying, simply, "It's OK; you are OK." For me, that overrides any Bible quotes anybody else tries to throw at me. 

Now, if I could just get one of those Bible Thumpers to explain why God created a man with nipples before He created a woman, I'd be a happy woman! :-)"

Enough said? This time?

All that Jazz

This quote from new Harvard student Jazz Jennings reportively  about a year removed from her genital realignment surgery has a lot to say:

 "I just know in my heart that the world is getting better and better and that change is being created. So stay hopeful, stay strong, and just continue being yourself, because one day, everyone will allow you to be your true self.” :trans:

We Got Mail

We received two great responses from our religious post yesterday here in Cyrsti's Condo:

1. KeithJune 5, 2019 at 10:44 AM

   "Genesis 1:27: "God created man(kind) in his image...…….male AND female he created them". It is not the exclusionary connector, OR, but the inclusive connector AND. We all have varying PROPORTIONS OF BOTH, according to the first book of the bible, the introduction to our connectedness to God. As ond deepens in their spiritual awareness one tends to understand the scriptures at a deeper level, as originally intended. Thanks for your post."

   
   
2. 
   GracieJune 5, 2019 at 9:49 PM

   "I have a hard time getting too excited about Deuteronome 22:5 after a little scholarly research. Although not completely understood, there is some speculation that it may have had to do with admonition of some pagan rituals that were performed crossdressed. Or in a society where men and women socialized separate from each other, it was a way to get together with the opposite sex for illicit purposes. If taken too literally, one could suppose that the majority of contemporary western women will be going to hell for wearing pants, and St. Joan of Arc is also burning in hell."
3. Thanks to both of you for responding!

It Finally Happened

After all these years writing an almost daily blog, it happened.

Someone, under a pseudonym of course, quoted a bible verse  or two saying Ava Glasscott was going to hell for wearing women's clothes.

Here is the verse, which I guess pertains to me too:

Deuteronomy 22:5

“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”

1 John 2:16

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Without becoming too religious, the Bible to me has always been a wonderful history book full of contradictions. Search close enough and you can find a phrase or two to contradict other verses. 

And, what about following the simple all forgiving work of Jesus which a few of today's so called Christians have seemingly forgotten. 

Enough said.

More Visability

Perhaps you have heard (or have seen) Boston has named a transgender model Ava Glasscott as a co-parade Marshall for this year's Pride Parade. Here is more background on Ava:

 "Ava represented the State of Massachusetts in the Miss Trans USA Pageant 2018. She is the first post-op transgender contestant from New England to represent her Community in a National Pageant. The story of Ava’s journey as a trans model has been featured by NBC Boston and the WCVB-TV show “Chronicle.”  Ava made a cameo in Amy Schumer’s 2018 movie “I Feel Pretty,” which was filmed in Boston. She also appeared in the documentary film “All Stars: The Changing Face of Drag (2016)”, which she promoted at RuPaul’s DragCon in Los Angeles."

What a great  choice for a huge event.

Girls Day Out

It turns out, our yard sale was a very relaxing experience.  I was there with my partner Liz and two other women part of the day Saturday and the whole day Sunday. The weather turned out to be excellent.

Being in the company of women has always felt more comfortable to me, so it was no real surprise this would be any different.

As you can see in the picture, that is me lounging out to the far right.

Even the red neck village was sort of well behaved. I only saw three Confederate flags on the back of pick up trucks and motorcycles.

My only personal challenge was leaving with Liz for a bit on Sunday. We went down the street to a convenience store for snacks and a rest room break. As it turned out, the place was nearly empty and we got in and out with out even a glance from the cashier.

As the day went on, I did have a chance to sit back and reflect on my past. I wondered to myself the differences in hanging out with women rather than men. To me, for the most part women are more laid back when dealing with each other and change when men come around. An example was when a man was waited on versus a woman. The man always received more attention. I guess that is human nature but it's interesting to see when you have walked both sides of the gender frontier.

The weekend turned out to be fun.