The Transgender Thread

[Dra508]

One of my favorite radio shows, State of The Re:Union that I unfortunately miss listening to a lot, had an episode a couple months ago called
trans families
http://stateofthereunion.com/trans-families/
]

Finally got an hour to listen. I love how it was a Boston family profiled. Awwwww, hometown make me proud.

[Dra508]

hometown make me proud.

Boston continues impress me.

IYM

http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2015/03...fluid-identity

Clearly, I am just a empathetic learner here. I do really appreciate the time taken in this article to even articulate other views, very respectfully I must say.

[theruiner]

This is awesome.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/0...nder.html?rh=1

[kel]

This is awesome.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/0...nder.html?rh=1

YES!

finally something positive from here.

[theruiner]

The lord giveth and the lord taketh away.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/staffo...a10528634.html

[sick among the pure]

Oh, the fun of chest congestion when you wear a chest binder...
#transguyproblems

[theruiner]

That sounds awful.

Other than that, how is transition going?!

[theruiner]

On the one hand, this is kind of awesome. The amount of visibility here is great and I'm hoping it will help more people understand and accept trans people. On the other hand, reality shows. Ick. So there's that.

Still, seven new shows about trans people is kind of amazing. No FTM representation (seriously, WTF) but I guess it's a start.

http://www.autostraddle.com/7-tv-sho...our-tv-284608/


And speaking of positive trans news, there's also this, which is pretty great.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...r-model-787269

[Dra508]

http://www.themavenofmayhem.com/2015...-daughter.html

Speaking of visibility.

[theruiner]

Morons try to make it so transgender people can't use the correct restroom in California.

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/0...nder-bathroom/

Respecting transgender identities in any government-run facility would become illegal, and citizens would be encouraged to hunt down transgender people trying to pee in peace for a cash reward.

Yup. That's a thing.

[Dra508]

@theruiner listens to NPR so this won't be news for you.

http://www.npr.org/2015/04/19/400826...-model-contest

[theruiner]

^^And to add to that...

Vogue's interview with Andreja Pejic is also their first ever profile of a transgender model:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_7109362.html


All this visibility is awesome. I am a little nervous about what's going to happen after Bruce Jenner's interview tonight but hopefully positive things will come of it. More exposure means more education which hopefully means more people being supportive.

[allegro]

I taped the interview, watching it now. I just LOVE Bruce Jenner, I have loved Bruce since the 76 Olympics, I was rooting for Bruce when he moved into the Malibu house, and split from Kris and finally started getting independent and I'll be first in line to be Bruce's best girlfriend.

[theruiner]

Man, so many thoughts about that interview.

First of all, I thought it was awesome. I feel that they handled the interview respectfully and they gave out a lot of very useful and important information and statistics about trans people in general. I think that someone going into that special without knowing anything about this topic would walk away with a pretty good understanding. I genuinely hope this does some real good and opens up some eyes and clears up some confusion for a lot of people.

As for Bruce himself (he specifically said he still prefers male pronouns for now; I completely understand that since I'm approaching my transition the same way) I didn't know much about him going in but man do I have an enormous amount of respect for him now. I was in tears in the opening two minutes watching his hesitation, his nervousness as he prepared to come out to the entire world. I could feel it in my bones- there's no turning back now. There's no putting this cat back in the bag. I'm going to tell the entire world that I'm a woman in just a few seconds. I can relate so much to that (on a smaller scale, of course) and it's something I have struggled with myself as I have thought about coming out to the remaining people in my life that don't know. You're not only opening yourself up to ridicule and cruelty but you're also going to permanently change how people perceive you. There's no going back on that. And you're also talking about maybe the most personal thing imaginable. For your entire life this was your secret, this was your struggle alone and now you're letting other people into that private world.

Ok, I'm projecting a bit but that is what I feel and I would imagine he has some similar fears. Or maybe not. But I felt for him because I could see the fear and the hesitation and I know those feels.)

I also love that he said he's not a spokesperson for the whole community, that he's speaking only for himself (I think I actually shouted at my TV, something like "THANK YOU!" I also had a few "amens" during the special, too.

Also, Jenny Boylan!!! That was awesome.

So, yeah. Those are my thoughts. Quite a few tears, a lot of gratitude and appreciation that he did this and is trying to do his part to make things better for the rest of us. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. I hope it helps.

[Dra508]

^^ I dvr'd the interview, but don't have time to watch until tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

And for those of you who don't watch regular TV. I thought this was an interesting profile. Never mind the elite private schools in the story, they actually are more diverse and accepting, in a lot ways then your local schools.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/quiet...d-transgender/

[Sarah K]

Oh my god I just watched the interview... I've spent the last two hours crying. Goodness.

While I love the Kardashians, I'm so glad that the focus remained on him telling HIS story instead of two hours of asking Kim what she thought about Bruce's story. They are obviously an important piece to his life, and I thought it was balanced.

I really thought that everything was handled very well.

[Jinsai]

the bit where he brought up his political leanings and naively implied that he expected (or at least hoped) politicians on the right side of the American political spectrum to be in any way allies to his identity was tragic.

[Dra508]

Bruce Jenner's mom.

[allegro]

the bit where he brought up his political leanings and naively implied that he expected (or at least hoped) politicians on the right side of the American political spectrum to be in any way allies to his identity was tragic.

Actually, never say never.

Also, The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is legislation proposed in the United States Congress that would prohibit discrimination in hiring and employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity by employers with at least 15 employees. In 2013, 10 Republican Senators voted in favor of ENDA which is actually quite a bit of progress:

How many Republicans voted for the bill?: 10. Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.).

According to this "OMG THE SKY IS FALLING SODOM AND GOMORRAH" web site:

Its protections for “transgender” workers would allow a biological male who self-identifies as a female to use the company's women's restroom or locker room. It would also allow employees to sue if they believed they had faced “discrimination” on the job, experienced a hostile work environment, or had not received a job because of their sexual preference or cross-dressing habits.

I'm actually surprised that people are surprised that Bruce is "politically conservative." Duh.

[theruiner]

This is a wonderful, absolutely spot-on and informative article disputing all the arguments people make against transgender children.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meliss...b_7147966.html

[Sarah K]

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/p...nsgender-today

The NYT is running an editorial series on trans lives.

[theruiner]

So, I know it's a reality show and a lot of it (though not all of it) feels fake but I have to say I'm hooked on this show "New Girls on the Block" on the Discovery Life channel. I've been buying the episodes on Amazon and am trying to pace myself so I don't burn through it too fast.

It basically follows this group of trans women who all happen to be friends. I really appreciate that they are really trying to show that they are all just normal people living pretty ordinary lives. It's kind of nice to see normal, everyday people who just happen to be trans on a show like this. I'm still kind of blown away by how much media the trans community is getting right now.

[sick among the pure]

Reading up on my insurance plan options right now, but where I work, the insurance plans all cover SRS surgery... I think I'll actually have chest surgery before summer. I'll finally be able to walk around without a 3-layer binder under my shirt slowly causing me to over-heat and die.

[theruiner]

Yup. This is what it's like.

http://manicpixienightmaregirls.com/may-22-2015/

[orestes]

Saw a trailer for this before Mad Max tonight and damn if it didn't make me tear up a bit.

[theruiner]

So, today makes one year on hormones. One year. Kind of crazy. And what's weird is just how normal it's become. It doesn't feel weird or novel anymore, which I guess is good.

The downside is that I still haven't figured out what I want to do or if I want to transition. Which sounds kind of insane a year into hormones. But I can't bring myself to go off them. I suspect I will end up transitioning but I'm still having such mixed feelings on it that I also think there's a possibility I won't. I don't know.

Anyway, so, yeah. I guess I just wanted to mark the anniversary somehow. I wish I was in more of a celebratory mood about it but I'm not. But it's something, I guess.

[allegro]

I guess if you're going to out your 65-yr-old female self in public, photos by Annie Leibovitz on the cover of Vanity Fair is the ultimate way to do it. (She looks like Jessica Lange.)

[Conan The Barbarian]

Wow, I was expecting a train wreck, but she looks really good. Good for her.

[Dra508]

Wow........

[marodi]

She's gorgeous! She looks better than I do and I'm almost 20 younger.

Way to go girl!