Going beyond transition

Tag Archives: US Politics

Hatred: Sometimes it is just blatant.

Posted on by Posted in hate crimes, LGBTQ .

I got this via twitter and it seems rather relevant given this month’s poll. It is horrifying and revolting to see this kind of blatant discrimination, hatred and rudeness to be exhibited by people who should know better (aka ADULTS). I mean, come on. Since when did “take the head off the big motha fuckin faggot” mean professionalism? Even if you are working in an hourly position doesn’t mean that you should be rude to a person because they are different. It’s really not your place or anyone else’s to comment on that in the business world.

When you read this stuff it makes me wonder what kind of professionals are out there? Or are there any? I do know that I’ve been fairly lucky thus far to not have to deal with this but NO ONE should ever have to face this kind of discrimination and rudeness. Heck, let’s forget about even work professionalism; how about average, everyday common courtesy to treat people we don’t know with respect and politeness? Is it too much to ask??

Sigh.

I’ll update on this as more info comes. But do spread this. As a group that has long been in the back of others it is time for us to stand up united and face this head on as a group of our own.

March 31: International Transgender Day of Visibility

Posted on by Posted in Politics, trans activism, transgender, transition .

So now I have even more of a reason to celebrate on the 31st. Facebook has always been one of those places that grassroots events take off (Twitter, I think, will also be the other at this point). But it was on Facebook that I ran across the group to promote International Transgender Day of Visibility. I think it’s a great idea. We have been remembering those who have passed before us but now it’s time to stand up as we are, alive and whole, today. One of the challenges is that many trans individuals go stealth once they full pass in the gender they were meant to be. And many choose not to be identified as trans. This is fine but for many being trans is a very visible thing. We transition with the whole world watching us, waiting to see what new thing has physical, emotional or otherwise has changed.

And while transitioning is, for the most part, a selfish thing it is also a societal thing. Our belief that gender is what we’re born with physically isn’t accurate. Like many things in life there are factors that make up all of this: brain chemistry, societal impact, parental influence or lack thereof, friend relationships, etc. There is nothing to blame either; it is what it is (as the saying goes). Perhaps this will lead to a full separation from the LGB. LGB (B is only supported if it’s women; men, not so much) is widely becoming more and more accepted. Case in point: New Hampshire has recently approved of a bill to go to Senate for same-sex unions but at the same time, denied equality rights for transgender individuals (the “Washroom Bill”).

I see more and more stories about transgender/transsexual politics and it is heartening, even if they are not positive. At the least, people are being made aware more and more as to who we are. We’re not freaks or weirdos or <insert epithet here>; we’re average citizens who want the right to exist as we are. In world where so many pressure everyone to be the same (e.g., you must be <insert religion>; you must <insert thought>; you must support <insert political regime>), we stand out at challenging a lot of that. We aren’t the “musts”; we are “what we should be”.

We should be supportive of each other.

We should be respectful of each other’s choices/needs/wants.

We should recognize the vast wonderful differences that each of us has.

We should appreciate the various paths and experiences that make us all so unique.

And if you’ve ever wondered what a trans person looks like.. here it is:

Me (9 months on T)

Me (9 months on T)

Ah, yes, the washroom dilemma

Posted on by Posted in hate crimes, LGBTQ, Politics, trans activism, transgender, transition .

This remains one of my biggest challenges to overcome. Ya, it’s a nagging fear and I just need to push forward but I think I’m getting there. I just wish that society didn’t put so much into it. I mean, really. When you think about it. At home, do you have male and female washrooms? In public we’re all there to do two things: use the washroom and then wash our hands afterwards. Do we have to make a big deal out of it? For Gainesville, FL., it was a big deal. Enough to have a vote over it. The result of the vote was to keep the law, which protects trans individuals to use the washroom that reflects their gender, was 58% to keep while 42% to repeal it.

Quite honestly, it’s someone like me, a trans person who is in that in-between stage of transition, that benefits the most from the law. Those who have transitioned years ago and are read 100% of the time in the true gender don’t have to worry too much about this but it’s those that have just started or are limited by funds from fully transitioning that this protects. The idea that it opens the door for a rapist to use this as a defense is laughable. I mean, seriously, how often does rape actually happen in a washroom? I have to ask because I did a search and found the following: most rapes will occur by a person you know in a place you know (apt, home, work). Now, this isn’t to say it isn’t possible but I do think that the funds spent on trying to repeal this law could have been used for better education and support of rape victims in general.

Why not offer self-defense classes and empower women to be able to stand up against aggressors?

Why not put up public service announcements to teach adults and children alike to be aware of danger signs?

Why not make children aware of “bad touch” but know that “good touch” is ok as well?

Why not…

The expectations of young people today are very different from 30 years ago. People don’t like big dormitories and communal washrooms. They want more privacy and that is what we are trying to offer them. — Duncan Simpson

Because it’s often easier to be reactive than proactive. Rather than spend the time to be aware, to re-create trust in our society with each other, get to know each other, be there for each other, we’d rather admonish others and continue a cycle of fear. I think society is exhausted of fear, uncertainty and doubt. I think society is tired of living in “uncertain times” and wants life to be simplier. Perhaps this cycle of downturn will benefit us in that it will teach us to appreciate each other more, appreciate more of what we have and respect others of what they have. Maybe it will even teach us to be supportive of each other in these harsh times and less reactive.

Maybe.

It’s interesting that the main focus of this is over whether “men” go into women’s washroom but not vice versa. I’ve actually been told that there is less of a threat for me to go into a men’s washroom than if a transwoman goes into a woman’s washroom. The more I see comments like that the more convinced that general society views trans women from a societal view of giving up on privilege (male privilege) and trans men going for privilege (both of these ideas are the farthest thing from the truth for 99% of the trans people I know). There always is a threat for a trans person, regardless of whether it’s a trans man or a trans woman. It’s the fact that a person is trans that’s often viewed as a threat. Perhaps it’s an overblown threat, particularly in larger cities but it still rests in the back of my mind and is probably the thing that holds me back some. I’ve gotten more brave as I pass and am read more and more as male. I know I haven’t run into any trans male who has said they were assaulted or attacked for using the men’s washroom (trans women really do get verbally and physically assaulted in both and that’s a horrible, harsh reality) but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Male rape does exist as well.

I think it’s time to stop feeding into the reactive and be proactive on my own as well. It’s always another step moving forward toward complete and total self-satisfaction and happiness.

Fun, eh?

New Poll for February: All about Healthcare

Posted on by Posted in Polls .

So it was interesting to see the results of last month’s poll. Apparently most of us are going to pay off debt (6 votes) and/or get more spiritual (6 votes). This was followed by losing weight (5 votes) and finishing transition (5 votes). When I look at these, it strikes me that this year is a year of change. As Arwen has mentioned to me previous, great change can mean great growth. We’re in a time of great change with a weak economy. But the human spirit tends to still move forward and find new paths. I suspect that the items voted for — debt reduction, spirituality, weight loss and finishing transition — all intertwine into the concept of self-reflection and improvement. It was interesting that “new job” was only 4 votes; although a new job could result in the other items moving forward.

On the other end of things, only one person had no idea what to resolve and another didn’t believe in resolutions. I did expect a bit more of each of these but it will be interesting to see what happens this year. Perhaps everyone wants to grasp on to some hope in an age that feels scary and shaky. This month will actually have two polls and they are kind of tied together. For many trans individuals, as well as members of the LGBTQII, this year feels like a year of growth, hope and moving forward. One of the biggest issues is health care. Many have no coverage at all and even those that do still run a risk of ending up bankrupt from health costs that aren’t covered. One of the weaker areas is SRS coverage. The AMA declared medical benefit coverage a necessity but few, if any, benefits programs are stepping up to the plate to cover these things — even on a partial level.

So that leads to our two questions:

1. Should their be universal basic health care? (by this I mean coverage of basic visits to doctors, clinics, emergency care, etc. — elective or cosmetic surgery not related to a medical issue not covered).

2. Should SRS be covered (whether partially or fully)?

Betty White on Craig Ferguson (calls Palin a “crazy bitch”)

Posted on by Posted in Politics .

Seriously, I love Betty White. She just cracks me up. I first really got introduced to her during the Mary Tyler Moore show but I remember her more from the Golden Girls. She comes across as the innocence, slightly lost grandmother — in fact, she reminds me of my own, who sometimes is like this. Needless to say, this tongue-in-cheek conversation is great. Enjoy.

Uh.. Hello? Anybody home in Casa de Palin?

Posted on by Posted in Politics .

I know that many of you prefer to hear my tales of transitioning but I couldn’t ignore this. I did the fatal mistake of checking out CNN and got the shock of my life. If you thought that McCain was bad, he’s nothing compared to Palin and the many Republican supporters that seem to blindly believe in anything that they can blame on someone else. This nation is built on the belief of someone else is always at fault and we must always blame someone else. While I still need to read the details, ideally from multiple sources, as the factual nature of the departure of the Puritans from England I wonder how much of it wasn’t because they were chased out but rather because no one agreed with them and thus, they left England.

Eventually, they found a land where people were willing to give what they had with no question and with true honesty but rather than accept and be part of it, they used their religion to justify to attempt to control and slaughter them (genocide). As Zinn references in his book A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.), the Puritans, based on the comments by John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, took the belief that while the local aboriginals had a “natural right” to the land, they did not have a “legal right”. I have no doubts that “legal right” meant only white males. So thus began the nation of the “free” based on Psalms 2:8 (“Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” — King James version, which was likely the version used at the time) and Romans 13:2 (“Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” — King James version).

No where does it say “Go forth and commit genocide”.

No where does it say “Only the whiteth of men are of value to Me”.

This belief that only the rich, white have rights and no one else does is appalling. And the fact that it continues to this day is even worse. What I’m finding most problematic about Palin is that continues to fan FUD while totally ignoring the issues that matter. She continues to harp on a misbelief that Obama “pals” around with terrorist (apparently those that have done bad things in the past can never have redemption and learn from their mistakes). When McCain tried to get members of his own party to stop booing whenever he mentioned his opponent and be respectful, they booed him. I was amazed at this. I will credit McCain for trying to take the high road but Palin needs to be seriously admonished for continuing to push the low road.

Her recent “stump” in Philadelphia continues this with a rant about abortion and how Obama is an “extremist” when it comes to abortion views. Really? Because he supports the idea of a woman having the right to chose and to have healthy, medically supervised alternatives he’s an extremist? Weird. I’m quite sure he wasn’t the first and he’s certainly not the most extreme in their view (remember the doctor shootings in the 1990s?). I think her glass house is full of broken windows. You know, I had thought that McCain was a maverick and a right-wing nut until the real Palin began to show through. I do wonder, however, something that I saw elsewhere and I would love to ask her: If you knew the child that you were going to give birth would be gay, would you feel the same way about abortion? I wonder what she’d say if the child was transsexual and gay?

Is it as bad as they say? (Quick Post)

Posted on by Posted in Daily life, Gratitude, Politics .

I now remember why I don’t like reading/watching the news — it just feeds the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) we have about our lives, particularly since most of “we” are average people who don’t make oodles of money. And as I listened to them talk about the “Fed” cut the internet level by half a percentage point, thus apparently enough to encourage the likes of me to spend, it occured to me: you want me to spend, cut my credit card interest rate; give me a bailout. Basically, by-pass the banks and go directly to those that spend — US. We’re the ones who keep the market moving. We’re the ones who decide whether to starve for the week so we can pay rent and other bills. We’re the ones who are told to live to some high standard but not given the means to live up to that.

I can see why so many people don’t want to be adults. It’s scary out there.

So in times like this we need to be gratiful for what we have and I am very grateful for what I have. I have a job that pays well and a love who stands by me. I have lots of good friends. I’m in relatively good health and have my mental faculties still. I get to enjoy life.

It really isn’t so bad. 😉

Quick morning political post

Posted on by Posted in Politics .

It’s interesting to watch CNN in the morning when I’m on the road. Sometimes, I get a “huh” factor at some of the stuff but it really does amuse me in many ways. The lead story, besides the economy, is whether Republican actors will get work if they are open about their politican choices. While I may not like their choice of politics, I certainly don’t think that will stop them from getting work. As one person put it “great actors will always be great actors and will get work” (I’m paraphrasing). There is only a few exceptions to this and for me, those that support Scientology and/or the likes of Mel Gibson (racist, extreme far right and ultra-Christian) are the two kinds that I wouldn’t go and see. Consider it a breaking point, so to speak.

Last night I had a bit of an epiphany. I remember being in Toronto and constantly seeing ads for McCain and Obama (long before either had their parties nomination). Today, living in NYC and visiting various cities that I do I rarely see ads. This is a stark contrast to Canadian politics where ads are regularly run throughout the campaign. Granted the campaign is shorter, it is more intense and often more focused on facts and platforms.

Oh, and speaking of facts, I’ve noticed more and more the use of “fact checking” by various outlets (most notably CNN and NY Times). What I find interesting is that McCain’s campaign is more often cited for have false, misleading or blatantly lying about their claims about Obama compared to Obama’s claims about McCain. Most politicians “stretch” the truth to get as much buy-in as possible. It’s a sad acceptance that many of us have come to but that doesn’t mean we should have come to that.

Anyways, gotta run. More on this later.

SNL’s Biden vs. Palin

Posted on by Posted in Politics .

I had to put this in. I have to say that Tina Fey does an amazing job of mimiking Palin. Good for a laugh in an election that is just weird to me. Today (or was that from yesterday’s stumping?) Palin commented that Obama “is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country” (CNN). Apparently, fact checking isn’t a requirement for someone running for VP. Heck, even CNN was able to find out the details easily. Harping over and over on a falsehood shows poor form and leads to the potential issue similar to what Bush did: jump first and then look for sharp objects (Iraq, Al Qaeda and WMD).

Pondering the life of transitioning and politics

Posted on by Posted in Daily life, LGBTQ, Life, Politics, transgender, Traveling/Work .

So lots of things rattling around in my head this week. To start off with, I distinctly overheard some of my students comment on my “beard” (it’s barely a goatee but definitely visible and I’m still not fully passing). It was unnerving. But I do think they figured out quickly that I know my shit so beard or not they learned lots. This is a concern of mine. I kinda wished the company could keep me on online stuff for a while since that would make it easier to transition but I’ll have quite a few jaunts over to our NYC facility and at some point, will have to address it with them as the physical changes become more and more prominent. In fact, K commented recently about how much facial hair (mostly under my chin and below) is growing. It almost feels like it appeared overnight.

This is one of the bigger challenges to transitioning while on the job, particularly one that has a work visa hanging over. It introduces whole new challenges into the mix. I’d rather wait until I have my green card to change my name but I think I may have to do it in the new year as the changes are coming far faster than I had anticipated. It must be a gene thing that all the guys in my family, particularly on my mom’s side, be hairy everywhere but on top (male-patterned baldness is very evident but it’s ironic how hairy we are everywhere else — go figure, eh?). It isn’t going to stop me from being open about my choices but sometimes you have to know when to wage the battle. This past week was the first time that I felt I was in a hugely conservative room. It was rather surprising but it has to do with the environment I was in (major, major Fortune 500 company that has huge inter-office politics and maintains an “old boys network” it seems).

Anyways, I am glad the week is over and I get a chance to relax some. I’ve been working on a few blogs, writing more to get myself used to writing lots (I want to participate in the “Write a Novel in a Month” contest/writing thingy — it’s good practise and since writing is something I enjoy, it’ll be fun). I’ve been reading and watching the US political system and it’s still an interesting thing. Last night was the debate and I nearly laughed my ass off when I read the following from the NY Times:

But Mr. McCain’s talk of experience too often made him sound like a tinny echo of the 20th century. At one point, he talked about how Ronald Reagan’s “S.D.I.” helped end the cold war.

Bullshit. The Cold War, as someone who lived through it, was ended because communism, specifically USSR communism, ended. It wasn’t fear of SDI but economic woes and a changing climate. Let’s face it: they knew the economy that they had created wasn’t helping, there were more calls by citizens for free votes and they wanted to do what 99% of all people want to do: just live life, raise their family and enjoy it. Is it that hard to imagine? The US does many great things but it isn’t nor has it been the saviour of the rest of the world. If anything, it’s almost like that over-helpful relative that doesn’t know when to stop. Yes, it’s nice to receive that help but sometimes ya gotta let the rest of us do our own thing. I find it rather ironic that the US Republicans discourage big government at home and it’s involvement in day-to-day life of the average citizen but have no qualms of sticking it’s governmental nose into the activities of the day-to-day lives elsewhere.

Kettle meet pot.

Pot meet kettle.

Exciting, no?

They baffle me at times. I just want to shake them and go, “Uh.. hello?? Anyone home?” In my web searching this morning, I bounced around a variety of sites and hit upon “Lipstick of a Wing Nut” from The Nation. They have posted an op-ed piece about 10 questions they’d want to ask Palin. The last one is one I’ve always wanted to ask those that are on the far right. But I have to say, the 10 questions are certainly ones I’d love to hear answers to. Not the fluffy answers that the handlers will have her say but honest, concrete with substance answers. Novel concept I know. I leave you with the questions to ponder. Maybe God will show up and offer His insight one day. Now that’d be neat.

§ Suppose your 14-year-old daughter Willow is brutally raped in her bedroom by an intruder. She becomes pregnant and wants an abortion. Could you tell the parents of America why you think your child and their children should be forced by law to have their rapists’ babies?

§ You say you don’t believe global warming is man-made. Could you tell us what scientists you’ve spoken with or read who have led you to that conclusion? What do you think the 2,500 scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are getting wrong?

§ If you didn’t try to fire Wasilla librarian Mary Ellen Baker over her refusal to consider censoring books, why did you try to fire her?

§ What is the European Union, and how does it function?

§ Forty-seven million Americans lack health insurance. John Goodman, who has advised McCain on healthcare, has proposed redefining them as covered because, he says, anyone can get care at an ER. Do you agree with him?

§ What is the function of the Federal Reserve?

§ Cindy and John McCain say you have experience in foreign affairs because Alaska is next to Russia. When did you last speak with Prime Minister Putin, and what did you talk about?

§ Approximately how old is the earth? Five thousand years? 10,000? 5 billion?

§ You are a big fan of President Bush, so why didn’t you mention him even once in your convention speech?

§ McCain says cutting earmarks and waste will make up for revenues lost by making the tax cuts permanent. Experts say that won’t wash. Balancing the Bush tax cuts plus new ones proposed by McCain would most likely mean cutting Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Which would you cut?

§ You’re suing the federal government to have polar bears removed from the endangered species list, even as Alaska’s northern coastal ice is melting and falling into the sea. Can you explain the science behind your decision?

§ You’ve suggested that God approves of the Iraq War and the Alaska pipeline. How do you know?