Ship Ahoy!

Do you want to take a cruise to some exotic port? But were concerned about being the only trans-person on the ship? Well now there is a cruise for you.

Report: Royal Caribbean and Transgender Vacations to Host Transgender Cruise
Travel Agent Central
August 12, 2014

Transgender Vacations and Royal Caribbean have partnered to host a cruise in December aimed at transgender travelers, Out Traveler reports.

The seven-night cruise onboard Navigator of the Seas, which Transgender Vacations says is the first such cruise tailored to transgender travelers, will sail out of Galveston, Texas, on December 14 and visit Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico.

Hmm, I wonder how the locals will like a boat load of trans-people unloading in their country?

Often we are lumped together with gays and lesbians but we are very different when it comes to traveling. What might be safe for gays and lesbians might not be safe for gender non-conforming persons and I include gays and lesbians who do not pass as straight.

In LGBT scheme, transgender travelers often overlooked
By Kenneth Kiesnoski
Traveler Weekly

NEW YORK -- The "T" in LGBT travel stands for "transgender," though it's generally the part of the acronym that travel and tourism forgot.

Overshadowed by their more numerous gay, lesbian and bisexual counterparts in LGBT circles, Americans who have switched genders are largely left to their own devices and dilemmas when planning travel based on their unique needs, interests and concerns.

Detailed information about the segment is hard to come by. Organizations tracking LGBT travel trends, such as the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association in Fort Lauderdale and the San Francisco-based research firm Community Marketing, focus mainly, by default, on gay male and lesbian travelers.

Back in 2012 Carnival lines sent out this letter for a “drag cruise” saying “Guests are not allowed to dress in drag for the performances or in public areas at any time during the cruise.” And this is from a “LGBT friendly” cruise line; I wonder how they would handle a “trans-cruise?”

There is a trans-cruise on the Elbe River in April of next year by Viking River Cruises, “April 16, 2015 Elegant Elbe Berlin to Prague - 10 Days / 8 Guided Tours / 2 Countries” by Transgender Vacation,

Discover the natural beauty of former East Germany’s dramatic landscape on a 10-day Elbe River cruise. Tour the opulent palaces of Saxon monarchs and stroll through beautifully landscaped gardens; sail between the dramatic sandstone cliffs of Germany’s “Saxon Switzerland.” Marvel at the baroque splendor of Dresden and see how Meissenware porcelain is produced. Walk in the footsteps of Martin Luther in historic Wittenberg and learn about the Protestant Reformation. Your journey is bookended by one night in multicultural Berlin and one night in graceful Prague. An elegant experience indeed.

What are your thoughts? Would you be leery of going to a Central American country on a “Gay” tour? What about Europe on a “Gay” tour? Would you go on a “transgender” tour like the Elbe River tour?

survey services

The Invisible Disease

Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien – but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who needed it most – from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets. The Obama family offers our condolences to Robin’s family, his friends, and everyone who found their voice and their verse thanks to Robin Williams.
President Obama

We are biased toward visible disease, how many times have you seen someone park a car in a handicap parking space and thought “why are they parking there” as they walked off. We tend to think of disabilities as people in a wheelchair. We tend to think of a disability as something we can see.

Drug dependency and mental disorders are just as debilitating as a physical disability and many times they go untreated because we can hide our internal demons a lot better than physical disability. Many times they are visible to others but are hidden from ourselves.

I have a friend that denies to this day that she is an alcoholic; she got a DUI conviction because everyone is biased against trans-people. She stumbled down the stairs because of a loose step. Even with treatment it is hard to kick the bottle. Before I retired one of my technicians we sent to rehab every fall and in the spring he would go golfing with his buddies and they would stop at the 19^th hole.

Many times insurance coverage for mental illness just covers the bare minimums or they push antidepressants with their slew of side effects. I remember when I was in grad school for my MSW and the class on psychotropic drugs and many times the professor said, “we think they work this way,” it seemed to me that they found a chemical compound that worked to do what they wanted but they had no idea of how it did it. The lists of side effects for the different drugs were endless.

There is also the stigma with alcoholism and mental illness, we understand physical disabilities, but we still see alcoholism and mental illness as a weakness of character. In reality we know that alcoholism and mental illness has its roots in biological components, some people are predisposed toward alcoholism and mental illnesses. They have fought them all their lives and many have lost their lives to the battle.

Robin Williams has done so many great movies that it hard to pick just one movie, “Moscow on the Hudson” I like because one of my favorite bosses was an immigrant from Romania. He used to tell stories of his coming to America and it paralleled Vladimir Ivanoff journey.



Then another of his movies that was close to my heart was “The World According to Garp”



Terribly Sad

Not All Feminists Are TERF

I hate it when people paint with a broad brush, not all feminists are against trans-people, in the Advocate there was an op-ed by Gloria Steinem in the article about a year ago in which she says,

So now I want to be unequivocal in my words: I believe that transgender people, including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Those lives should be celebrated, not questioned. Their health care decisions should be theirs and theirs alone to make. And what I wrote decades ago does not reflect what we know today as we move away from only the binary boxes of “masculine” or “feminine” and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.

Obviously, there is much similarity among the challenges of transgender people and all women — from health care to harassment to discrimination in the workplace. And there is always the basic patriarchal bias against any sexual expression that can’t end in conception, which is why kids on campus are sometimes mystified by the fact that the same groups oppose both, say, contraception and lesbians. I also think we have a lot to learn from original cultures that often didn’t even have “he” and “she” in their languages, taught girls how to control their own fertility, and routinely accepted and had special roles for the “twin-spirited.” These facts may remind us that patriarchy, racism, and nationalism have been dominant for less than 5% of human history. Maybe they are an experiment that failed.

I work with many lesbians and feminist and I have never had a problem with any of them, don’t let a radical vocal few taint the whole movement. There are many caring and supportive feminist who realize that their battle is our battle, that we all just want to live our lives and achieve our greatest potential.

It’s In The Water

When another trans-person from one particular town in Connecticut came to the support group we used to joke that it must be because of the water and not to “drink the water” but there is something to that. The town in question had a chemical plant in the town they polluted the group water and the river next to them.

As more male bass switch sex, a strange fish story expands
By Darryl Fears
Washington Post
August 3, 2014
At first she was surprised. Then she was disturbed. Now she’s a little alarmed. Each time a different batch of male fish with eggs in their testes shows up in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Vicki Blazer’s eyebrows arch a bit higher.

In the latest study, smallmouth bass and white sucker fish captured at 16 sites in the Delaware, Ohio and Susquehanna rivers in Pennsylvania had crossed over into a category called intersex, an organism with two genders.
[…]
Those endocrine-disrupting chemicals throw off functions that regulate hormones and the reproductive system. In the newest findings, at one polluted site in the Susquehanna near Hershey, Pa., 100 percent of male smallmouth bass that were sampled had eggs, Blazer said.

With the mutant bass, she said, “we keep seeing . . . a correlation with the percent of agriculture in the watershed where we conduct a study.”

Many communities get their water from rivers that flow through agriculture areas and the water treatment plants were never designed to filter out those chemicals and we are drinking the same water that make fish intersex.

Runoff from farms that give animals growth hormones and people who flushing down the toilet estrogen products (I put my estrogen patches in the trash where they get incinerated) are all contributing that the problem.

When chemical use reporting was proposed to track chemical usage, the bill was amended and weaken because of objection from agi-businesses.

Say Anything To Win…

…And to stir up the hate vote. Some candidates really don’t care if what they say is true as long as it gets them elected.

Schools dispute Assembly candidate's transgender-law argument
By Martin Wisckol / Staff Writer
Oranges County Register
Published: Aug. 9, 2014

California Assembly candidate Young Kim hopes to win votes in one of the state’s tightest races by attacking a new law requiring schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms of their choice and participate in sports by their gender identity rather than their anatomical gender.

“That doesn't represent the values of this community,” the Fullerton Republican said. She also expressed concerns about practical repercussions. “This bill adds a giant additional burden to our schools.”

Wong!

The school district refutes her claims,

But school districts contacted by the Register said they’ve experienced no increased costs or drain on resources. They said the impact of the law, which took effect Jan. 1, has been minimal and what changes it has brought have been positive.

Her opponent knows what she is trying to do…

Assembly District 65 incumbent Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton, said Kim is preying on misunderstanding and fear for political gain.

“I understand, in the way it’s being described, why parents would be afraid,” said Quirk-Silva, who backed the law in a largely party-line vote. “They’re trying to present is as a divisive, fearful issue.”

The conservatives tried to get a recall on the ballot by creating fear but failed and now this Republican is trying to get elected by trying to fan the fires if bigotry.

I Just Want To Work!

I hear that all the time, trans-people looking for work or being harassed at work. We just want to do our job and not make waves. The Washington Blade has an article about a book on trans-employment, “The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out is Good Business” written by John Browne.

Terri Schlichenmeyer writes in the Blade,

Starting as a young man in 1969, Browne rose through the ranks at oil-giant BP until 2007, when he resigned as chief executive. He might’ve still been there, if not for an unfortunately splashy scandal that seems tame today: Browne is gay. When “a tangled skein of allegations” pulled him out of the closet, he resigned from his job, fearing his life was over.

Obviously, it was not, but he discovered that his experiences aren’t unusual.

Even though there have been strides made, and though nearly all Fortune 500 companies have in place policies to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, more than 40 percent of American LGBT workers remain closeted on the job. According to a survey, 90 percent of transgender employees report problems at work.

“Years of progress have reduced the risk of harassment,” says Browne, “but they have not completely eradicated it.” Coming out is still risky, as evidenced by the interviews he completed with people who mostly asked that their last names not be used. 

Employment discrimination is very different between gays and lesbians then trans-people. It is as different as night and day, you cannot tell gays and lesbians from straight people, while trans-people are very noticeable.

When a gay man comes out at work, you do not have to tell your vendors or customers but you do with trans-people. When a vendor asks for their inside sale’s contact and Jane Doe answers instead of John Doe it is fairly obvious to the vendor.

When we go looking for a job, all our references are for John Doe and if you are not lucky enough to have gone to a college that will change their records then your degree is still under John Doe.

When I advise people who want to transition before they get a job I tell if at all possible don’t transition until you get one performance review under your belt, it will make it a lot harder for them to fire you if you have a work record at the company. It you do not have a performance review and you transition all they have to say, is sorry you haven’t met our expectations… goodbye and it will be so much harder to prove discrimination.

And it you are trans* and you are looking for a job, good luck. It is infinitely harder to find a job. I usually advise someone if they are running out of options in finding a job to look at a temp agency, I know of a few trans-people who had luck getting a job that way. You have a foot in the door by working for a company for a couple of months.

Getting a job as a gay man or a lesbian woman is a lot different than a trans-woman.

What Do You Think It Taught The Other Residents?

Department of Children and Families (DCF) was back in the news this week, in an article in the Hartford Courant about how DCF is handling the Jane Doe case and its Pueblo Unit center a locked treatment program for troubled girls in Middletown CT.

The fight was reported in a press release by DCF and it mentioned only Jane Doe attacking the staff and it didn’t mention that other girls were involved and they were put into isolation rooms within the Pueblo Unit but Jane Doe was transferred to the boy’s detention facility.

The article was critical of the way DCF is running the Pueblo Unit; they criticize the high number of restraints used on the residents and number of injuries to the staff. But what caught my attention was this,

Katz's position is that the "Pueblo unit was highly stable before Jane Doe arrived and has been stable since she was transferred out."

Does this sound like it was highly stable when there were,

A high injury rate among and excessive work hours for the staff at Pueblo: At one point recently, six out of eight first-shift youth service officers were out on workers' compensation for restraint- and assault-related injuries. On second shift, at least three of the six youth officers were also out on injury leave at the same time. On third shift, the four youth officers on a few occasions were ordered to work 20-hour shifts. Supervisory staff at CJTS and Pueblo have had to fill in as direct-care workers to make up for the absences of the injured youth officers.

Assaults at Pueblo: DCF said there have been 25 staff "interventions," also known as restraints, at Pueblo since the unit opened in March. Each intervention was the result of some level of assaultive behavior. The actions were comprised of 11 restraints "that went to the floor" – the highest level of restraint. The other 14 were "standing" restraints, which include a staff member placing a hand on the shoulder of a girl to escort her to another location.

To me it sounds like it is highly unstable.

We don’t know what caused the fight or what lead up to the fight but I have to wonder how much the fact that Jane Doe is transgender had to do with the fight.

So what did her transfer teach the other residents? Do you think that the lesson that they learned was if you don’t like someone beat the crap out of them and they go away?

Bigot.

I don’t know how else to describe the person but then again she is on Fox, so I don’t expect much out of them…

Laura Ingraham says hormone therapy for transgender kids is “child abuse”
The conservative gabber worries that "tomboys" like herself might be "pigeonholed" as transgender 
By Elias Isquith
Salon
August 6, 2014

Speaking on her radio show Wednesday, conservative talk show star and potential future politician Laura Ingraham displayed her vast and comprehensive understanding of transgender issues by implying parents whose daughters are “tomboys” may be “pigeonholed” as transgender and made to undergo hormone therapy, a procedure she called a form of “child abuse.”

“I was a big tomboy,” Ingraham said. “I hated wearing dresses, I liked to wear pants … I was the quintessential tomboy.” Apparently worried that her audience may misinterpret the meaning of these biographical details, Ingraham next sheepishly noted, “I don’t happen to be transgender or anything.”

“I’m just me,” she added. “I’m a heterosexual person.” (Ingraham evidently does not know that being transgender and being heterosexual are not mutually exclusive.)

You know if you really wanted to understand what you are talking about all you have to do is ask a trans-person. Call NCTE. Call a local chapter of PFLAG.

But then again she and her guest Margaret Wente don’t really want to learn because they have their ideology to push and she wouldn’t on Fox if she did learn.

When Transgender = Prostitution?

It is when you get into a car and it turns out to be an undercover police officer. In Arizona a trans-woman,

Phoenix transgender activist appeals prostitution-related conviction
By Megan Cassidy
Arizona Central
August 6, 2014

Monica Jones, a Phoenix transgender woman found guilty in April for manifesting prostitution, is challenging her conviction and the constitutionality of the ordinance that brought her to court.
[…]
Jones is an LGBT activist and full-time student at Arizona State University. She was arrested last year during a prostitution sting operation in Phoenix after she got into the car of an undercover officer.

To violate Phoenix's manifestation-of-prostitution ordinance, a person must have attempted to engage a passer-by in conversation or stop cars by waving at them, inquired whether someone is a police officer or requested that someone touch his or her genitals.

She got into the car because the undercover office offered to give her a ride to another bar. According to Courthouse News,

Monica Jones, a student at Arizona State University and an "internationally recognized advocate for the rights of transgendered people," was arrested in May 2013 after accepting a ride to a bar from an undercover Phoenix police officer.

Why did the officer single her out?

     During Jones' trial, the arresting officer testified that Jones' neighborhood was known for prostitution, and that she was wearing a "black, tight-fitting dress," which indicated to him that she was about to engage in prostitution.

      The officer repeatedly referred to Jones as a man.

So wearing a tight –fitting means you are a prostitute, that would make most women prostitutes since at one time or another a woman has worn a tight-fitting dress.

     Jones claims the trial court improperly allowed the state to introduce evidence of her prior conviction for prostitution, and denied her a jury trial to which she was entitled.

     The state presented "no facts other than the bare fact of conviction and that the prior conviction 'related to an oral sex allegation.'" It also failed to explain how the prior conviction could be used to show any intent by Jones, according to the appeal.

Do you remember the trial of CeCe McDonald? Where the judge didn’t allow the defense to show that the man that she killed in self-defense had prior convictions for assault? Well it seems like judges only allow it when it helps the prosecutor.

In Case You Haven’t Heard…

The AMA (American Medical Association) has issued a resolution for us to be able to change our birth certificates without surgery. Psychiatric News reported last month that…

The AMA House of Delegates approved a report by its Board of Trustees that supports the right of transgender individuals to change the designation of their sex on their birth certificate without requiring sex-reassignment surgery.

The vote by the delegates at the AMA’s annual policymaking meeting in Chicago last month attracted publicity in lay publications. Many states require sex-reassignment surgery in order to change the designation on a birth certificate.

Some delegates opposed to the report argued that birth certificates were a matter for state regulation and that sex designations should be reserved for epidemiologic purposes. But the report was approved easily, with many physicians testifying that current best medical practice does not require sex-reassignment surgery for transgender patients and that appropriate gender identification can be achieved via psychological and hormonal treatment alone—a decision that is made between the patient and physician. It was further noted that a birth certificate is rarely, if ever, used for the determination of medical treatment for patients.

They realized that for many reasons many trans-people cannot have surgery and that some do not need it to live successful lives.

The only real use of birth certificates is to establish citizenship and no one checks between your legs to verify your identity. Surgery is no longer required to change your gender on passports or for Social Security and in many states your driver license, so why should it be required on your birth certificate?

There are already five states that you can change your birth certificate without surgery, California, Indiana (by court order), New York, Oregon, and Washington and the District of Columbia.

Sometimes We Forget

What it is like being trans* in other countries around the world; especially in conservative religious countries.

Iranian transgender refugee struggles for acceptance
Eight months ago transgender woman Tannaz Mehraban came to Canada to start a new life
By Gavin Fisher
CBC News
Posted: Aug 03, 2014

Tannaz Mehraban woke in the middle of the night to find her brother standing next to her. He told her they had to leave the house — immediately. Her family was going to kill her the next day.

Mehraban, who was only 13 at the time, had recently been kicked out of school for being someone who looked like a boy but dressed as a girl.

“Because this was a great tragedy for my family — I had destroyed my family’s reputation in the community — my family wanted to kill me,” Mehraban said, speaking in Farsi through an interpreter.

This was just one of many hardships that Mehraban had to face as a transgender woman in Iran. After being persecuted her whole life Mehraban, now 38, arrived in Canada as a refugee eight months ago. She currently resides in Burnaby.

In countries like Iran, Kuwait, and Indonesia it can be fatal for being trans*. In Kuwait roving bands police routinely arrest trans-people and in Indonesia trans-people daily worry about being attacked by roving bands of religious zealots or arrested by the police.

And it is not just confined to the Middle East in Greece last year there were reports about trans-people being rounded up as “undesirables” and held in detention centers.

Let’s Not Be Like Them

I think that the conservatives are losing the battle and are getting desperate, one group invaded a church and another group harassed a councilwomen in San Francisco.

Late last month a group of “Christians” invaded a Unitarian church service,

Abortion Protesters Interrupt Church Service, Tell Pro-Choice Worshippers To ‘Repent’
By Tara Culp-Ressler
Thonkprogress
Posted July 23, 2014

As the Uptown Messenger reports, anti-abortion activists interrupted worship at the church — specifically, disrupting a moment of silence for a church member who recently passed away — to declare that this particular church isn’t a “true faith” and tell the service attendees to “repent.” Operation Save America’s opinion about the First Unitarian Universalist Church is made clear on its website, which refers to the “church” and its “pastor” in scare quotes and calls it a “synagogue of Satan.”

They also held signs up in the windows for the children in the church nursery to see and they later bragged about raiding the church sanctuary and terrorizing the children.

In California the protesters have invaded city hall to protest a lesbian councilwomen.

Richmond councilwoman perseveres through hate speech
By Carolyn Jones
SF Gate
August 5, 2014

Mark Wassberg took to the podium, wagged his finger at the Richmond City Council and said:

"I'm going to keep coming up here and tell you how gays have no morality. ... You're filth. You're dirt. Because I have the constitutional right to say it."

The comments during a July meeting of the council were directed at Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles, the city's first openly lesbian councilwoman. She sighed and listened impassively. After all, she'd heard it all before. For four years.

Since she was elected in 2010, Beckles, 51, has endured taunts, rants and ridicule about her sexual orientation and race - she's from Panama and identifies herself as a black Latina - during City Council meetings.

Sometimes it comes from the public, and sometimes it comes from fellow council members.

They think their cause is just, they think they are on a mission from god and they think that the ends justifies the means which makes for a deadly combination.

They think it is their “Religious Freedom” and it is being taken away, what they are really doing is using their religion to hide their bigotry behind. That their religious beliefs trump all other peoples religious beliefs.

I Hope That They Do Appeal…

And that they have to pay the court costs when they lose.

Legal battle expected after Houston declares HERO repeal petition invalid
By Drew Karedes,
KHOU 11 News
August 4, 2014

HOUSTON -- Opponents of Houston's equal rights ordinance are vowing to keep fighting after the city denied their petition. City officials announced Monday that thousands of pages a petition to take down the HERO ordinance are invalid.

According to the city, many of the pages were circulated by people who don't live in Houston. Opponents gathered almost 52,000 signatures and only needed about 17,000. The city says only 15,249 signatures are valid.

It is going to cost the city a lot of taxpayer’s dollars to defend the case in court. The right wings conservatives just can’t admit defeat, cannot admit that the majority of people do not feel the way that they do anymore. And it is going to probably cost the city over hundred thousand dollars in legal fees to prove it that they are right in denying the petition in court. The Houston Area Pastor Council should be held accountable for the court cost

The Houston charter list the requirement for a petition and according the City Council Houston Area Pastor Council  did not those requirements. KTRK had this to say about the HERO petition,

"The charter requirements are in place to ensure a fair and credible process absent of fraud," Houston City Attorney Dave Feldman said. "In this instance ... this petition filed to repeal the HERO ordinance, there are simply too many documents with irregularities and problems to overlook. The petition is simply invalid, there is no other conclusion."

Feldman says a successful petition must contain at least 10 percent of the total number of votes cast during the last mayoral election. For this specific petition, a total of 17,269 signatures were needed. Feldman says the number of valid signatures submitted came to only 15,247.

And the opposition claims,

"All we are asking is for the public to have their say," said Pastor Dave Welch, head of the Houston Area Pastors Council and a driving force behind the petitions. "Unfortunately, this administration has once again excluded people. Complete lack of integrity. Which we're not surprised either, so we're going to pursue legal remedies and we'll see what form that takes." Welch and his supporters are expected to file a lawsuit. The exact date is unclear, though it could come as early as end of the week.

Legal experts say that their only option is to take it to federal court to appeal the requirements of city charter,

"To ask the federal courts to rule the city's requirements that circulators be registered voters unconstitutional," Jones [Mark Jones, with Rice University's Political Science department] said.

My Answers…

The Providence Journal published an AP article about intrusive questions; I thought that I would give my answers to those questions. The first question was…

“Have you had surgery?”
I think Joy Ladin’s answer was on target; would you ask a stranger at a party, “So, did you have your gallbladder taken out?” There is a time and place for every question. If I was doing outreach, I would maybe answer but I definitely add that it is not important to have “The Surgery” because we are so much more than what is between our legs.

“You pass really well.”
After an hour talk about trans-etiquette a woman came up and said “I never would have known you were a man.” I just wanted to bop her on the head and say “were you listening for the last hour?” Landin’s answer was,

Yeah, I’ve felt different ways about that. Early in transition I was pretty happy about that. I took that as a compliment. I think if it were phrased, “You really look like a woman,” that would be a little more problematic.

At this point I feel like I’m just living as myself, so I’m not trying to pass as anything, so it takes me aback a little.

That is how I feel now also, those who are just coming out it seems the big thing is “passing” or like how I say it “integrating” but over time it becomes a minor point, I just want to go on and live my life.

“What was your name before?”
I usually brush off that question even when I am doing outreach, it is just not important to learning about trans-issues. It only satisfies a curiosity, Janet Mock said

“I don’t know why that’s relevant to our interaction with one another? Why is that important for you to know?”

“When did you transition?”
I answer the same was that Ms. Mock answered. I usually say the date that I legally transitioned, but then I go into the story about the debate on the House floor during the vote on the non-discrimination bill. The Republicans wanted to suspend a teacher from teaching while they transitioned and we all were giggling up in the visitor’s gallery because we knew there was no definition os “transition” for some things it is a lifelong process and for other things it happens in less than a day.

“Is it hard for you to date?”
I would answer that question in general during an outreach, but not anywhere else… it is not any of their business. I think in an outreach that is an important question to help them understand what we are going through but not about me in particular.

“What does your family think about this?”
Same answer as above, it is important for outreach but not at a cocktail party… Let’s not talk about my transness… let’s talk about other things.

There is a time and place for every question, many questions that I get asked at an outreach are like the questions above and I think they are very good questions but they don’t really need to know about my personal details but more how they apply to the trans-community in general.

I have slightly shifted away from doing outreach to doing more cultural competency training where I do a presentation. I add personal anecdotes, but it is not about “me” it is about the community.

Falcon Ridge…

I went to a concert Saturday with a friend; we met at a Park & Ride in Farmington and I drove up to Hillsdale NY where the concert was being held. Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is a three day event but I want to check it out before I went the three days.

It was only an hour and a half ride and we got there around 11 and found a place in the shade to sit, stage left from the main stage. Before the first act began I wandered around to look for my friends who were up there for the whole event and to buy some funny money and get lunch.

Funny money you say…

They have script that you use to buy food at the festival; my friend said it was to make sure the festival got their cut of the proceeds from the vendors. Besides food they also have a number of vendors selling stuff like clothes, hat, and leather goods. They also have a tent where the bands sell their CDs and sign autographs. I went off my low carb diet at lunch, I figured I’ll splurge on a potato pancake and what a pancake it was, it was the size of the 10 inch plate and about three-eighths thick… mega carbs!

When the band started to warm up, I went back to the main stage and set-up my camera and settled down. Beside the main stage they also have a workshop stage, a dance stage, and a family stage and my friend went over to the workshop stage.

As the sun worked its way around the sky I found myself in the sun and slowly cooking. a little bit about the main stage viewing area. It is on the side of small hill and they allow blankets and beach chairs in the center section but nothing tall enough to block the view of the people behind you and then father up the hill they allow tents and cabanas, on the sides you can have regular lawn chairs. Only one side has shade for the most of the day and that was where I sat.

The weather was beautiful, high in the upper 70s to low 80s, low humidity and a light wind with some clouds that prevented the sun from baking me.

During the first band a friend dropped by who works for the festival and we chatted briefly and she left off some frozen bottles of water which carries me through the day… Thanks J.

So what bands did I see… here is a short video of the pictures that I took during the concert.

So what didn’t I like, well the list is short, the iceman must go down as the most… I don’t know what. But he drove around saying in a deep voice Iiiiiiice drawing out the “I.” The other thing I didn’t like was during Ronny Cox, one of the bands that I wanted to hear, a group of teenagers (college age) sat down in front of me drinking beer, talking about college and guys. One of them was one the phone!
One thing that wasn’t on the list was the porta-potties, they were amazingly clean! That was one thing that I dreaded was using the porta-potties, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The next time that I go I'll bring a beach chair so I can sit in the center section and get a better view of the stage, a cooler with a lot of water, a hat and suntan lotion. And there will be a next time, it was a nice afternoon, I don't think that I'll go up for the festival because my tent sleeping days are over. Now if someone want to rent a RV, I might consider going the whole weekend.

I videoed a number of the songs but I don’t want to post them here, so here are the YouTube versions of the songs that I liked (minus the chatty teenagers in the background).

Isolation.

Jane Doe is in isolation at the boy’s juvenile detention facility in Middletown, meanwhile out in Arizona a trans-woman was raped in the men’s immigration and detention center.

Activists say transgender woman raped at Arizona immigrant center
Reuters
By David Schwartz
Jul 31, 2014

(Reuters) - Rights activists called on Thursday for the immediate release of a transgender women allegedly raped by her cellmate at an Arizona immigrant detention center, accusing authorities of refusing to provide for her safety.

The activists say immigration and detention center officials have shown they are incapable of protecting the 23-year-old woman following the alleged July 20 sexual assault at the Eloy Detention Center, southeast of Phoenix.

The woman, Marichuy, whose legal name is Jesus Leal Gamino, has been detained for more than a year at the 1,437-detainee center, which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America under a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

It seems to me that because it is a private organization that they should be held libel for allowing her to be raped. It sounds like they did not live up to the terms of their contract; I imagine that somewhere in the contract that they signed said that they would provide a safe facility for the detainees.

Is the only way to protect trans-people here in America is by locking us up in solitary confinement which is ordinarily used for only harden prisoners as punishment. Having no contact with the outside world, and confined in a cell for 23 hours a day and only one hour of exercise out of the cell. Is this punishment for being jailed while trans?

Is There Such Thing As A Hate Crime

Many time people will say that all murders or assaults are the same whatever the motivation or that hate crimes give special rights to the victim.

But motive makes a difference, in murders was have a number of different levels depending upon the motive. If it was accidental or premeditative are seen as to different type of murder. A hate crime is different from a simple assault or murder because of motive and the effect it has on the target community. Take a look at the stabbing in Washington DC,  a 15 year old youth was stabbed on the Metro…

Transgender teen stabbed in possible hate crime on Metro train
Washington Post
By Paul Duggan and Julie Zauzmer
July 30, 2014

A 15-year-old Metro passenger suffered a minor stab wound on a Green Line train Wednesday afternoon, and the alleged assailant was arrested shortly afterward in the Fort Totten station in Northeast Washington, a transit authority spokeswoman said.

Metro Transit Police said the assailant may face stiffer penalties for a bias-motivated attack, since the victim is transgender and the attacker reportedly made comments about her gender identity immediately prior to the stabbing.

Hate crimes are hard to prove because you have to show that motive behind the crime, in this case the assailant made it easy by his comments, but most times it is hard to prove,

Another facet of a hate crime is what it does to the target community. An article in The Guardian addresses the fear that can swept a community,

“It’s scary trusting anyone,” said LaSia Wade, 27. “That bus driver, he could be the killer; that taxi man, he could be looking at me and thinking: ‘That’s a transgender woman, I’m going to knock her off.’”

Jean Rollings said she was shocked when the news broke of the Henderson murder. “I thought, damn! Someone is targeting transgenders. I’m 48 years old, I don’t want to be a headline in the newspapers.”

The reverberations are more keenly felt because for many the fear of violence is already present in their daily lives. Studies suggest that throughout the country trans women bear the brunt of anti-LGBT violence – African American trans women in particular.

Hate crime make you fear going out, it makes you always looking over your shoulder, it terrorizes a community. That is what there are hate crime laws because it is far different from a mugging or a murder, it not only effect those around the victim but also a community.

Saturday 9: My Life

Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: My Life
(recommended by A Day in the Life on the Farm)


If you're not familiar with today's song, you can hear it here.

1) This song begins with the story of a man who moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a comic. What comedian always makes you laugh?
Comedians who use “Observational comedy” and the type I do not like is “Insult Comedy” or “Cringe comedy”

2) The lyrics say, "You don't need to worry about me 'cause I'm alright." Tell us about a time when you had to reassure your family or friends.
When I transitioned

3) This song was the original theme of the Tom Hanks sitcom Bosom Buddies. Tom Hanks is a direct descendant of Nancy Hanks, Abraham Lincoln's mother. Is there anyone noteworthy, celebrated or infamous in your family tree?
Yes, Benedict Arnold

4) Before going solo, Billy Joel was in bands called The Echoes, The Emeralds, The Hassles and Attila. What do you think would be a good name for a band?
I have no idea; how about “Can’t Carry a tune” band?

5) Billy Joel wrote one of his most famous songs, "Just the Way You Are," for his first wife, Elizabeth. Even though they divorced more than 30 years ago, fans still demand he perform the song in concert. Do you go out of your way to listen to songs that remind you of a long-ago lost love? Or do you avoid them?
I’ve gotten over it a long time ago.

6) In 2008 Billy Joel had to return a $3,000,000 advance for his memoirs because he didn't finish them. Have you ever read a celebrity tell-all?
Yup, Annie Leibovitz she was the photographer for the Rolling Stone magazine and Vogue. I also have read other biographies of not so famous people.

7) Billy Joel was in a motorcycle accident and did irreparable damage to his left thumb. Are you comfortable on a motorcycle?
Nope. I want 2000 lbs of steel around me and seven air bags.

8) In addition to riding cycles, Billy enjoys sailing in Oyster Bay. Do your summer plans include time on a boat?
Yes, I have a cottage and loads of boats, also last week I took the ferry over to Long Island and also Fire Island.

9) Billy Joel is a popular college commencement speaker. If you were asked advice from the Class of 2014, what would you say?
Save! Because no one else is going to save for your retirement.

I mentioned that last weekend I was over on Long Island and you can see the picture from the trip here.
Tomorrow I’m going to the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival for the day (Hence doing Saturday 9 tonight).

I Just Want To Know How.

It is that time again, when politicians promise rose gardens. Here in Connecticut it is primary season and the candidates are running their ads… the feel good and apple pie ads.

You know the ones where they are walking with their family or their spouse say how wonderful they are with their kids standing around them. Or their friends saying how magnificent they are and how they helped them through tough times.

The one I like best is the one promising to cut taxes and balance the budget. There is one candidate promising to do away with the income tax for middle income voters and balance the budget.

I just want to know one thing, HOW? How are you going to do it? What are you going to cut? Aid to city and towns so my town tax increases? Are you going to cut funding to education? Social services? What?

I don’t care if your friends can say that you walk on water, I want to know the nuts and bolts. I want to know what you are going to cut, I want to know how you plan on doing it so I can compare you to other candidates.

An Amazing Mother

Debi shares the story of her daughter, who transitioned from male to female when she was four years old. She challenges the ignorant comments she hears about having a transgender child.

The Huffington Post had this to say about the video...

"My daughter is six years old. She transitioned, which means she changed her outward appearance from male to female and started living full time as her true gender, when she was four. Until that point she was quite a rough and tumble little boy with a buzz cut and a shark tooth necklace."

And so begins the absolutely beautiful speech Debi Jackson gave earlier this year about her transgender daughter, AJ, at the Unity Temple on the Plaza in Kansas City. As Jackson continues, she outlines how her family came to realize that AJ is transgender, what happened the first day she went to school "in girl clothes" and the bigotry her family faced.

The part that I like is when she gets to number six, we hear constant comments about how we are sinners and are damn to hell and her answer is excellent!