A Trans Milestone in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Diana Zurco did not attend her high school graduation because she refused to receive a diploma with her birth name. At 17 and considered a boy by school officials, she grew her hair long and adopted the name Diana after the alien character on the show “V” about an extraterrestrial invasion.

Now 40, she recalled her youthful rebellion while sitting in a comfortable chair in the studio of Argentina’s public television station ahead of her debut as the country’s first transgender newscaster, a milestone for an excluded community that is often the target of violence and has a life expectancy roughly half that of the rest of the population."

Of course there is much more to her story and you can see it here.

More on Jenner

In response to a recent post here in Cyrsti's Condo concerning the influence over the years of Caitlyn Jenner on the over all transgender community, Connie submitted this comment:

"Jenner never impressed me, except as an athlete. Nevertheless, she provided me with the means for one of my best comeback lines, back when she was first coming out. While I was standing in line at the meat counter, I struck up a conversation with another woman. An older man in line ahead of us turned around to look at us, subsequently clocking me (probably from my voice). He interrupted our conversation by asking me, "Are you like that Bruce Jenner guy?" Without hesitation, I answered back, "Well, I don't really like to talk about my gold medal." I guess I could have said that I wasn't a Republican, but I think the gold medal line was my best choice. :-)"

What a great comeback! 

As most of you know, I have never been a big fan of Jenner either but supposedly she has now rejected her "love" affair with rump. I hope it is true. 

On another note, I discovered a post you may be interested in while checking in with one of the blogs I follow called "Mybookworld24". The post critiques five current transgender books. Go here to see it. 

Rubies

From the "Daily News" : "A father proved that necessity is indeed the mother of invention.A Toronto-based super dad who created a swimwear line for his transgender daughter now wants all trans girls to be confident and comfortable in their clothes.

Jamie Alexander, a serial entrepreneur and tech adviser, had to get creative to help his daughter Ruby feel as feminine and fun as all girls of her age.

“As a father of a transgender girl I want to make the world a safer place for every girl,” he said in a statement, when he launched his latest project, an online store called Rubies.

“We design form-fitting clothing for trans girls and their friends — so that they never stop being active and being girls, no matter where their day takes them. We believe that every girl should be able to enjoy the same level of comfort and confidence as her friends — whether it’s the beach, ballet, gym or swim,” Alexander added."

Follow the link above for more.

Transgender Protection in Death

As you Cyrsti's Condo's regulars know, I am not getting any younger and my future in an assisted care facility is one of my re-occurring unpleasant fantasies. But what if I pass on before I have to worry about it? I shouldn't have to worry because my two closest next of kin people are firmly in my corner of acceptance. But...

Depending upon what your final wishes for a funereal might be, once again you can face the danger of being denied being viewed as your true transgender self in death. Seemingly, the final lack of gender dignity would be the worst indignity of all.

Here is a rather lengthy video from You Tube on the subject  I thought may interest you:

Transgender Mexican Wins

Mexican contestant Valentina Fluchaire was crowned Miss International Queen in a beauty pageant for transgender women held in Pattaya, Thailand, on Saturday.

Valentina Fluchaire

The native of Colima state received the crown from the previous year’s winner, Jazell Barbie Royale, from the United States.

“I have no words. … I have worked so hard to get here. I don’t want to get sentimental, I don’t want to cry,” said Fluchaire, who added that she will wear the crown with “much respect and responsibility” and that she will work to benefit transgender people and other social causes.

Caitlyn Jenner's Transgender Influence?

To be certain, Ms. Jenner's polarizing influence on the trans community has been well documented. But, how has she fared outside of the LGBTQ world?

I found a fairly decent post on the subject to share with all of you. It's written by Patrick Miller, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas. Here is an excerpt:

"The Politics of Being 'Cait': Caitlyn Jenner, Transphobia, and Parasocial Contact Effects on Transgender-Related Political Attitudes" appears in the current issue of American Politics Research.

"The entire question of celebrities in politics is vastly understudied," Miller said.

"Politicians seek their endorsement. Brands obviously pay them a lot of money to endorse their products. We have the sense that they're important but—especially in political science—we have not appreciated enough just how important they can be."

That importance is reflected in the opinions of Americans who followed Jenner when she revealed her transgender identity in 2015. Examining how age, partisanship and transphobia impacted engagement with the Jenner story, Miller found it shaped attitudes toward transgender rights in unexpected ways.

Caitlyn Jenner

"What's interesting about the Jenner case is the people who she seemed to influence are the older, more conservative type—those who probably became vested in her back when she was Bruce Jenner competing in the Olympics and appearing on Wheaties boxes," said Miller, who co-authored the article with KU's Don Haider-Markel along with Andrew Flores, Daniel Lewis, Barry Tadlock and Jami Taylor.

Conducted in 2015 shortly after Jenner came out, Miller's survey reveals that among the respondents who followed her story, those who were both older and more transphobic were less likely to see it as reflecting negative social trends compared to younger people who were equally anti-transgender. And this same group was more likely to support pro-transgender policies if they interpreted Jenner's story less negatively.

"She didn't appear to have any effect on the younger people who might have been more attuned to "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." So, in that sense, her audience seemed rather durable, despite her rebranding over time," he said."

Find more on this post here.

From Russia With Love

Tatler has become Russia’s first magazine to feature a transgender woman on its cover, the society magazine announced as its April issue hit newsstands Wednesday.

The Kazakh-born, Paris- and Moscow-based socialite Natalia Maximova came out to her Instagram followers in December. In the interview with Tatler’s chief editor, Maximova said she “never had the need to come out” until she witnessed and intervened in a confrontational scene in Belgium.

“I understood then that I have no right not to defend others. I have no right to stay silent,” she said.

Tatler, a Condé Nast publication in Russian circulation since 2008, said it hoped Maximova’s interview “will give hope to those who need it.”

“I want to dedicate [the cover] to those who fight, to those who love and to those who made their choices or [are] on their way to [making] a decision,” Maximova wrote.

At least half a dozen major magazines around the world have featured transgender models on their covers.

For more, go here.

Nobody Made Me

I do quite a bit of skimming of my email feeds to try to seek out topics to write posts about. Naturally, sometimes I run into quite a bit of interesting material, then again on days like today, not so much.

The closest I could come was a post I read which referred to being "made" into a transgender person. The post referred to some sort of a deep dark trans force which seized us and made us the way we are. It is still difficult for many people in everyday society to understand we didn't have a choice the way our life has unfolded. Many people still don't know if we continue to live in the gender we were born in either leads to a life of misery as a best case scenario or suicide at it's worst. To be sure we did not "choose" such a life.

Years ago, after one of my all out Halloween "costume" attempts, two of my close cis women friends brought up the party and said "I made a good looking woman." For one of the few times of my life I was speechless.  Finally, I blurted out something like "a lot of good it did me."

What really happened was for a change I had aligned my inner self with how I projected my gender into society and it worked. Looking back on it years later, I wish I had thought of saying I wished I had a power to make someone.

It's also true though, I shouldn't have looked a gift horse in the mouth (or other places of it's anatomy) and just accepted the compliment. In all fairness, I still had decades of growth and learning in a feminine world to be able to know how to conduct myself. So, if I was "made" as a woman. So be it.

Unfortunately, the times I had to try to show my feminine side in public were limited to once a year at Halloween. Plus, when I started to experiment more and more in the feminine world, I was made as a man in a dress.

I do feel these days, the tide is slowly changing (even with the current administration in Washington) and transgender women and men are beginning to be viewed with some sense of normalcy.

Perhaps now people will understand we trans folks were born this way and didn't have a choice. More respect should follow.

Nikey Chawla

From India, this in an excerpt from an interview with transsexual star Nikey Chawla:

"first of all, I would like to educate others that the Trans community is vast. People in Western countries have different definitions of Transgender than people in India.

I have gone through proper medical treatment and support. All my documents have been changed and updated. I am a transsexual, a female soul who was trapped in a wrong body, but with hard work and medical help I got a SRS (Sex Reassignment Surgery) done. The Indian Government also supports this under Medical Term.

Nikey Chawla

I turned my weakness into my strength. People who said ‘No’ to me, who denied me work as they found me different and not acceptable by society, are now the ones who give me opportunities, love and respect. When I chose To Be ‘Me’ I got recognition. I believe be yourself with pride and the world will accept you. Yes I have many problems but someone had to take initiative. I took the initiative and became the voice and the face of transgirls openly. Now, I feel proud that in last 10 years a lot of new transgirls and transboys are showcasing their talents proudly and living the life they want. I feel proud."

For more of the interview go to the "We for News" site here.