I Laughed Until I Almost...

 A couple nights ago we ushered in the Holiday season formally around here by watching one of our favorite Christmas movie classics, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It stars "Chevy Chase." It was released in 1989 and everytime I watch it I laugh until I almost wet myself. Which I guess is one of the hallmarks of being an older feminine person anyway. It is so popular it is still showing in a few of the local theatres around here which are still open. 

As the holidays are here, I also had a powerful reminder of the season last night. When I went out the front door to do the decidedly unglamorous task of taking our recyclables out to the bin last night, immediately I was surprised by big fluffy snowflakes and a small coating of snow on the cars. The snow along with the amount of colorful Christmas lights on the street combined for a wonderful holiday scene in my mind. 

Once I returned to the warmth of the house, I began to think of the feelings I had during Christmas as I grew up and beyond. As I have written before here in Cyrsti's Condo, much of my early childhood memories of holiday gifts was similar to "Ralphie" in the movie A Christmas Story. 

In the movie, one of the central themes is how badly the oldest son "Ralphie" wanted a BB Gun. In my case, I wanted a doll and got a BB Gun instead. The gift was a direct reinforcement of my gender dysphoria as I was growing up. 

Of course too, there were the trips to my relatives for Christmas. I had two girl cousins who were roughly the same age as I was. They were always dressed in their holiday best dresses with white tights and black patent leather shoes. I remember how I desperately wanted to be them. But of course I was stuck in my usual boring boy clothes and a flat top hair cut. 

Little did I know how times would change for me. 

As I reached a point to be able to live full time as a transgender woman, I began to realize how my feminine Mtf gender transition had as much to do with Christmas as it did with Halloween. As I grew out of the idea of receiving dolls as gifts, I grew into receiving nice women's sweaters and skirts. More importantly, I was able to get out of the house and explore the world.

Between now and Christmas, I will be writing about them here in Cyrsti's Condo. 

Inspiration to Move Forward

 The Cyrsti's Condo Quote of the Day:

She Made it...Then Came Out

 Laura Jane Grace is known as the singer, guitarist, and songwriter for punk band Against Me!, which she founded in the late 1990s. In 2012, she came out as transgender, becoming a rock-music trailblazer in the process. In a 2012 Rolling Stone profile that served as her public coming out, she admitted she was nervous. "Even now, there's a part of me that's not convinced I know what the f**k I'm doing," she said, adding, "But there's another part of me that's completely, 100 percent sure." 

Ohio Inches Forward

 FINALLY the court case designed to allow transgender Ohioans (like me) to change the gender on their birth certificates has been approved in court. This is from "Equality Ohio"

"Until today, Ohio was one of only two states that had a blanket ban against transgender people changing the gender listed on their birth certificate. Today, a Federal District Court struck down that policy—transgender Ohioans will now be able to correct the gender marker on their birth certificate!

Accurate identity documents, including birth certificates, are crucial for trans people to fully participate in society. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey found that almost one-third of trans people who showed an identity document with a name or gender marker that conflicted with their perceived gender were harassed, denied benefits or services, discriminated against, or assaulted.

This is wonderful news for trans people who were born in Ohio and, until today, have not had the ability to update the gender marker on their birth certificate—even if all of their other documents were updated. 

The next step is for the Ohio Department of Health to update its procedures for correcting birth certificate gender markers. We’ll be in touch as soon as we have more news about this! In the meantime, please contact the Equality Ohio Legal Clinic through our virtual legal intake if you have other legal needs."

Of course Ohio does have sixty days to appeal this case but is not expected to do so.

Personally I am excited by the fact, I am one of those transgender persons who has gone as far as I could changing my legal gender markers. Even though I have never been asked to produce my birth certificate to establish my gender, it would be nice to have. 

Supposedly, it will take at least sixty days for the Department of Health to catch up to this much needed change. 

Now, if Ohio can pass the anti LGBT discrimination bill currently in the legislature, we may be able to move into the 2020's as a better place to live for transgender people. 

And the Answer Is...

 Transgender woman Kate Freeman sported a trans pride pin as she became the first out transgender woman to win on the "Jeopardy" television quiz show.

She is a financial analyst from Lake Orion, Michigan. Jeopardy has been on the air since 1964 with more than 8,000 episodes.  At least one other contestant has transitioned in the past after winning the game but Kate is the first out transgender person to do it.

Is it Time?

  The vaccine has arrived here in Cincinnati, Ohio and they are administering the first doses to front line health care workers and first responders. While I know it still is predicted to be well into the New Year of 2021 before any substantial changes to our lives will return, I can dream of being on the other side.

My dream includes having a few nights out next summer with my partner Liz. In fact, I stare longingly at my wardrobe. Imagining what I would/could wear on a night out. 

At this point in time, I am thinking of actually getting a pedicure for the first time in my life so I can wear sandals again. 

Also I am thinking of having my extremely long hair trimmed back by the time it is relatively safe to go out again.

In the meantime, we are really hunkered down until vaccines are deemed safe and available. I am sure at my age and my breathing issues, I would show up on some sort of a priority list. 

Just thinking about the future seems to help my thought processes.

It is not time yet but perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel is not the train.  

Monroe Bergdorf

 Munroe Bergdorf is an English model and activist. She has walked several catwalks for brands including Gypsy Sport at both London and NYC Fashion Weeks. Bergdorf was the first transgender model in the UK for L'Oréal, but was dropped within weeks after a racial row. Wikipedia

Check out her picture below:

A Step Forward?

 Recently, I have been reading about and even know a couple people who describe themselves as non binary humans. It's my guess most of them would also be known as gender fluid or even androgynous back in the day. 

Then again, I don't like to become mired in labels. Plus, as Connie has brought up in a few of her comments about how years ago, there were only two recognized genders. Then as the years progressed the transgender term became a reality. I remember the first times I became aware of the idea of a transgender person, the more it made sense to me.

All of the sudden, the impossibly feminine cross dressers I encountered at the very early transvestite mixers I attended made sense. They weren't cross dressers at all but rather, they were transgender. While we are on the topic of labels, a few of them even made the jump to transsexual and went all the way to sex change surgery. As it was known as then. 

Now, I personally have gone way past the idea of operating outside of the gender binary. I am firmly in the transgender camp and have no desire to vary my existence at all back to any aspect of my previous male life. 

On the other hand, I am fascinated by those who aren't and are able to be gender fluid or non binary. Hopefully, all of it represents a step forward for humans everywhere.  

In the meantime, here is the transgender flag. (I think) Because these days, everything changes so quickly in the world of gender.

 

Andrea Razali

 After medically transitioning at 23, Singapore’s Andrea Razali competed in Miss International Queen 2020, has modelled for inclusive brands and advocates for more LGBTQ+ awareness in the country. “Equality is a far cry for now, but every cloud has its silver lining,” she told Time Out Singapore.