Staying up Late

Last night's monthly dinner social with the transgender - cross dresser group we are part of came off as predicted...good food and over by nine. About that time, word started to spread about a Cincinnati Pride kick off party at a old restored theater. Since Liz had the day off Friday, we decided to go.

The crowd at the kick off party was predictable but fun. I am fairly sure I was one of the few transgender people in the venue. Most of the participants were gay men interspersed by lesbians and drag queens. In particular one drag king performer put on a sexy burlesque show which was dynamite.

To make a long story short, I drank too many beers and stayed out late but a good time was had by all.

Janet Mock

From Out Magazine:

After writing, producing, and directing for FX’s Pose as well as being signed on to direct an episode of Ryan Murphy’s upcoming series The Politician, Janet Mock has announced an overall deal with Netflix. The announcement makes history as she is the first trans person to establish an overall deal with a major studio.

“This deal is so bonkers,” she said in the announcement video, released today. “I, of course, will be writing and directing a few hush hush projects that I can’t really talk about, but one of them is a half-hour drama and another is a college series. So I’m really excited for that.” The latest episode of Pose, the ballroom drama, now set in the early 1990s, was titled “Worth It” and written by Mock. Mock’s directorial debut “Love Is the Message,” the sixth episode in Pose’s first season is also being considered for an Emmy.

“This is the first kind of deal of its kind for a trans person, no less a trans woman of color,” she continued in the announcement. You know 84% of Americans say that they don’t know and or work with a trans person, and so there’s potential now with Netflix’s worldwide audience to introduce millions, hundreds of millions of viewers to trans people and showing people who may not understand us that we can tell our own stories.”

Can't wait to hear more!

"Bee" in the Bonnet

Connie reacted to my relatively radical post about transgender women versus drag queens:

 ConnieJune 17, 2019 at 5:02 PM

"Oh my! How did that bee get in your bonnet? While you may get some argument on that statement from some people, you won't get one from me. I sometimes wonder if drag queens should be under the transgender umbrella, either.

There are transgender women who do drag, and there are even some cis women who admit to doing drag, as well. There is some entertainment value to both the drag-or and the drag-ee, I suppose, but -to me - it's all about flaunting a caricature of a woman. I would never want to be perceived as doing that, myself, but it is disconcerting to know that there are quite a few people who think that transgender women are drag queens.
When I perform on stage, my makeup and attire are certainly more edgy than what my ordinary look is. It's sometimes difficult for me to be happy with my stage appearance because I feel that I might be seen as a drag queen. I don't do a drag act, by any means, however.

Nowadays, I may even be pegged a drag queen if I read a story to a group of children - since the popularity of "Drag Queen Story Time," anyway. :-)"

I am glad you asked. What really got me going the other day was when I watched coverage promoting the upcoming Cincinnati Pride parade. Of course, I saw the usual cross dresser in a prom dress riding along on the first car followed by a garishly painted drag queen in the second. Fortunately, this must have been old stock footage the station used, because I know for a fact (counting this year) two out of the last three parade marshals have been real live transgender women. Not a caricature of a woman who doesn't represent me at all. 

While I realize not all drag queens aren't gay guys, I still don't want the average citizen watching the news to think it's true and miss the whole point of celebrating the transgender world as a whole.  

I guess transgender is a lifestyle while drag is entertainment.

Hunter Schafer

From Rachel Paige:

"You’ve probably heard the name Hunter Schafer before, and if you haven’t you should definitely learn it. She’s only 20 years old and already a star on the rise in the worlds of modeling, acting, and maybe most important especially in this day in age, LGBTQ rights.

Schafer is a trans woman who stars as Jules in HBO’s brand new series Euphoria where she’s also playing a trans teenager who’s just transferred to a new school. Much like everyone else on Euphoria, Jules gets into some rather difficult to watch scenes that are sure to have audiences talking — but maybe for the right reasons. Even in 2019, it’s rare to see trans characters on screen, and even rarer for them to actually be played by transgender actors (GLAAD's survey of 2017 and 2018 media found only 17 trans characters in all of television — a measly five percent)."

For more, follow the link above.

A VERY Important Distinction

Transgender women are NOT drag queens!!!

Busier Week

All sorts of things are happening this week.

Today I had my "Parent's Day" breakfast with my accepting daughter. It was very enjoyable, especially when the server finished up our meal with "You ladies have a nice day."

Tomorrow is my monthly visit to my therapist. One of these month's I am going to keep tract of who asked the most questions...her or me. Of course since I don't lead the most exciting life, sometimes there just isn't much to talk about except in the rare instances I am dealing with a lot of anxiety.

It's Pride week here in Cincinnati and Wednesday I have volunteered to help the transgender - cross dresser group I am in with an information table at the local VA hospital.  I went last year and it was a very nice event.

Thursday my partner Liz and I are going to the regular monthly dinner for the same group. Hopefully the server who called me "he" last time, get's my gender right this time. If she doesn't, she will hear about it.

Friday, I return to my hair stylist for a trim and shaping of my hair. I think I can go another appointment without having her color it again.

Friday night we have a another spiritual meetup celebrating the longest day of the year.

Finally, Saturday the main Cincinnati LGBTQ Pride parade and festival is taking place. We are all hoping for good weather this year! It's a very long day since we set up and promote our October Witches Ball Halloween Party. Normally though, a good time is had by all. 

Happy "Parent's Day"

Today is Father's Day, or Parent's Day as my daughter prefers to call it.

As far as my Dad was concerned, he seemed to follow a trend I saw this morning on the news. Current Fathers spend three times the amount of time with their kids as Dad's did back in 1965. I would have been approximately halfway through high school.

I respected my Dad but I can't say we were ever able to express any love between each other. Our roles seemed to be deeply predefined.  Plus we were deeply divided on what was going on in the country in the 60's.

He was a child of the Great Depression and a survivor of World War II. Very much the self made man.

He passed on years ago and to my knowledge never had any idea of my gender problems.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Transgender Racer

During our lives, most of us are busy trying to out run our own gender disorders. Charlie Martin is literally trying to do the same thing. From CNN:

"Standing amid the fevered atmosphere of the Le Mans 24 Hour race, Charlie Martin had an epiphany.

One day he wanted to race at the iconic French cathedral of motorsport -- home to the world's oldest endurance race that takes place again this weekend -- instead of watching rain-soaked from the sidelines.

But this dream was secondary to another, more urgent desire that beat inside his body like a pulse.

If he raced it would be as a woman.

Charlie Martin 

"Back then I wasn't even racing," Martin explained to CNN Sport. "But if you could have granted me any wish -- apart from changing my gender which was always the default answer -- it would have been to race at Le Mans.

"It is such a festival for petrol-heads and I came away spellbound; it was everything, the feat of endurance, what the cars go through, the scale of it in front of 300,000 fans."

For more, follow the links above.

Meeting the Enemy?

Today we sat up in a local park's farmer's market to try and sell fresh baked goods and other articles in an attempt to raise money for our Witches Ball Halloween Party coming up in October.

We didn't do too bad considering the day was overcast with occasional showers.

As we were beginning to close up for the day, two squeaky clean young white girls who were showing just a little too much attention to what we were doing stopped by...without offering to buy anything of course.

Finally it came out when they offered to exchange cards and yes they were Mormons. They didn't pay me much attention and I was getting too mad at the rude woman nearby smoking a cigarette. Which I can't stand.

At any rate, I turned my attention back to the Mormon girls who by this time were singing the praises of going to Utah. Quickly I realized I didn't really know much about how the Mormon faith approaches being transgender. I always assumed Mormons didn't accept us. So when I got home, naturally I Googled it.

Here is a small look at what I found from the "Human Rights Campaign" , as well as a few other issues which might relate:

"The LDS Church follows strict rules of sexual conduct, including commandments against pre-marital sex. The Church distinguishes between same-sex attraction and behavior. As stated on its website, "The experience of same-sex attraction is a complex reality for many people. The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is." The LDS Church previously taught that same-sex attraction is a curable condition, but now states that "individuals do not choose to have such attractions" and that therapy focusing on "a change in sexual orientation" is "unethical."

Those who do not act on their sexual identity, “enjoy full fellowship in the church, which includes holding the priesthood, carrying out callings, and attending the temple.” The Church considers Mormons who act on feelings of same-sex attraction to have disobeyed church teachings on morality and thus are subject to ecclesiastical discipline. They may be (1) placed on probation (for those desiring to change their behavior), (2) "disfellowshipped" (excluded from participating in the sacraments for a finite period of time while they correct their behavior), or (3) excommunicated.  Members who face a disciplinary council and refuse to repent—or insist that their feelings are integral to who they are—almost always are excommunicated. They lose their membership and cannot participate in any way other than attend meetings. They also lose the eternal ties that bind them to their families and their church.

The LDS Church has no official policy regarding transgender individuals."

Now I wonder since I acted on my gender issues and transitioned does it make it wrong in the eyes of the Mormon's?  Or, more precisely should I care? 

The easy answer is I don't really care and maybe I was wrong. The Mormon girls were just doing their thing and really didn't consider me an "enemy." Or better yet, I enjoyed passing privilege  and they never even knew.