How trans is trans? Is it necessary to “go all the way” and have hormone therapy, surgery, and legal name change to be transsexual? Kimberly Hirschel considers herself a non-operative transsexual. Some might say she is just fearful of going all the way, but Kimberly presents her case for maintaining her current status quo.
Saturday day was just another night for Sophie Lynne. A dinner of hamburger helper and relaxing after a long day at work. But for other transgender people there either was no Saturday night or they had to tolerate another night of mistreatment by bigoted people who use “difference” as a focus for their hate. Today Sophie reflects on her Saturday night and how other people with trans identities were treated.
Katherine Diaz, our correspondent from Bogota, Columbia is getting into drag performance. She is rehearsing a song to lip sync and working on her moves. When her act is ready Katherine promises she will write about her performing experience. As always Senorita Diaz presents her report from Bogota en Español. You can copy and paste her words into Google Translate to read it in other languages. And she has another video!
You’ve heard the song Bad Day? It got a lot of radio play a few years back. Well the title of the song only begins to touch on the kind of bad week that our Amanda Steele had to endure. Things started off well and it looked as if a plan to move out of her crazy rooming house was going to work out. She and her cat would be free from the landlady’s immense collection of stray felines and all the confusion. Just a couple of things needed done and soon Amanda would be free. But the best laid plans. . . .
While our TWIT column scans the news for anything about members of the trans community, Dina Amberle scans the news for items she can view and comment on from the perspective of a crossdresser. This leads to some tasty confections that are as nourishing as anything. Sometime amusing but always informative. Today she mixes plastic surgery for survival with the plight of the black trans woman community, Wonder Woman’s costume, and the Afropunk trend and some spices to produce a wonderful menu for your enjoyment.
CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL LEADERS VICIOUSLY ATTACK THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY Since my last column post, God Made Us This Way, the volume of bigotry has been turned up by Christian conservative, evangelical leaders. The so-called “Nashville Statement,” released on August 29th by 150 evangelical leaders from across the United States, viciously attacks the LGBTQ+ community as immoral. […]
A teacher reads to her class from the Jazz Jennings’ book I Am Jazz and parents are outraged. A male student is allowed to wear dresses at school and the parents of another student remove their child from the school. If everything doesn’t comply with how people think it should be then they explode. Meanwhile the things that should create outrage are quietly ignored or swept under the rug. The Artist D! has a few words this month about the oppression of kids that comes from their parent’s expectations. And then there’s the outrage over those different colored crayons. . . .
A gender clinic in Canada was diagnosing children as transgender and then subjecting them to “reparative” therapy. The clinic claimed that their therapy was effective in getting eighty percent of the children to stop acting out trans behavior. There was only one major flaw in their data (along with several small flaws). The majority of the children were not transgender. Dr. Dana Bevan looks at the studies based on data from the now-closed clinic and shows why it was wrong and how it has been used to dismiss the accepted fact that being trans is something you are born with.
Cate O’Malley, with a hurricane looming on her doorstep, took the time to send us a blog for today’s New Content. In it she talks about the heroes of the trans community who have put themselves out there and advocated for change in an effort to make all trans people’s lives better. She also talks about the new trans activists who are making their voices heard. She believes that now is the time to fight harder to hold on to the gains we have made in recent years. The political climate has grown colder for trans people and we are under constant attack from right wing religious organizations that want us to disappear from the face of the Earth. See what Cate recommends that you can do to make things a bit better.
Sophie Lynne has gotten a raw deal. She is separated from her family. She works a low paying retail job that barely lets her cover the rent. She is college educated, intelligent, and capable. But she’s also a trans woman. Conservatives attack trans people with allegations that they are mentally ill or just acting out to cause trouble. That’s not true. Being trans is not a choice. Sophie only had one choice; she could either live as a trans woman in a low paying job with all the problems that go along with that, or she could end it all. She shouldn’t have to consider that choice because she didn’t ask for any of this.
Fall is a time of year that holds special meaning for TGF contributor Amanda F. Steele. Much of her life has seen the arrival of big changes along with the cooler weather. Today Amanda reminisces on all the things that changed throughout her life when the summer season slid into fall.
Today our correspondent in Columbia blogs about the wonder and joy of the transformation brought about by the artful use of cosmetics. The power of eye makeup to enhance the feminine and the use of foundation to hide masculine beard shadow, while taken for granted by girls who have been using it for years, can be amazing to those who first step into the world of feminine presentation. Remember that first look in the mirror when you saw “her”? Katherine Diaz takes you back. In español, of course.
Today M is happy to let everyone know that she/he/they has a job. Their first real job, working as a cashier in a casual dining spot. And being aware of her differences M wonders what the many customers she interacts with during a shift think about her. She can only tell if they have made a judgement about her gender by what they say. Since M is gender fluid they can be presenting anywhere on the binary or in-between. See how M feels about “passing”with co-workers and customers in today’s blog post.
Today we introduce a new contributor to TGForum. Tommie Smith will blog for us on matters of a spiritual and religious nature as they relate to members of the trans community. She begins her blog with us by sharing her views on organized religion and how it affects our culture and what that in turn does to those who are viewed as outsiders. Many of our Christian sects, despite no specific language in the Bible, condemn LGBT people as immoral or mentally ill. Tommie shares her point of view on how to avoid feeling that you are “not right” when they judge.
When “scientific studies” present conclusions about the nature or occurrence of transgenderism our resident scientist Dr. Dana J. Bevan digs into the data and takes a closer look at the numbers. Recently conservatives have based their opposition to treating trans children by giving them hormone blockers and letting them express their true gender by saying that there is no evidence that trans children won’t “grow out of it.” They base this assertion on “clinical data” from psychiatric gender clinics. Dr. Bevan examines that clinical data and comes to a different conclusion.
We catch up with Amanda on day two of her road trip to meet up in the middle of the country with her mom and younger brother. Rolling down the highway gives a person a lot of time to think about where they are on the road of life. Amanda’s trip is not exception. Amanda and her family haven’t been together for several years and now they will be together for several days as they visit places they saw on a trip in 1982. How will things go? Read on and see what happens on Amanda’s road reunion.
In 1968 Cate O’Malley enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. While she was not “out” as a trans woman she volunteered to join the military and serve our country. Now she finds herself decades later being told that she and her trans brothers and sisters are not wanted in the United State armed forces. She has some words for our Commander-in-Chief in her blog post today.
Kimberly is living in both worlds. She spends time expressing a male identity and time spent expressing her female identity. While she is not comfortable being seen as male she has not fully accepted the idea of permanent transition. Today she pause in her adventure and ponders what path to choose. Give up being a part time woman or continue as she has been, shifting gender to suit circumstances.
On Saturday, August 5, 2017 Sophie was asked to speak at a rally against hate toward trans people. Today she shares the text of the speech she delivered that day. We at TGForum say, well done Sophie.
Katherine Diaz writes to us from Bogota, Columbia. Being trans there is much the same as it is everywhere. Today her video contains some of her friends from around the world and in her blog she gives some tips on how to be successful as a woman.
(Philadelphia, PA) “Transgender people want to be treated “normally” just like other people – the key word is respect,” says transgender surgery pioneer, Dr. Sherman Leis. As people head back to school and work from summer activities, Dr. Leis, founder of The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, offers some valuable tips on enhancing a work […]
Our voice therapist blogs today on more techniques for voice modification from male to female with emphasis on how to sound like your true gender on the telephone. Without the visual clues to let people know you are female you have to take extra care when using your voice over the phone. Marc Mitnick writes about how to overcome your own misgivings about how you sound and gives pointers for improving your femme telephone voice.
Last TGF added a new contributor who brings a youthful voice. Seventeen year old M is gender queer, trending to the feminine and preferring pronouns such as “she” and “her.” She introduced herself in her first post and discussed her gender identity. Today she talks about her romantic relationship with three other young women. They are all part of a polyamorus relationship. As M points out, that is nothing like the polygamists you see on television reality shows. Read her post and see what it’s really like.
Could The Artist D be a reincarnated female unicorn from the planet Zoltar? Anything is possible. An example? In Oregon and the District of Columbia you can get a driver’s license with no gender designation. You can be a neutral person. Today The Artist D discusses that from a few different angles. She asks questions ranging from why does the government need to put what’s between your legs on your driver’s license, to does a neutral sex designation make any sense? See what you conclude after reading The Artist D’s post.
Here at TGForum we have always used the word “transgender” as a term that covers all “trans” activity from fetishistic crossdressers enjoying lingerie in the privacy of their own homes to trans women, fully transitioned and making their mark on the world. Between those two extremes is a broad spectrum of behaviors, identities, and gender expression. To help sort things out and provide some definitions to terms that have come into use over the years Dr. Dana Bevan has written an informative post on Transgender Definitions.
After hiding her female identity through grade school Brielle met a boy in high school who liked her for herself. She could be a girl with him and they could go on dates and do the things that a boy and a girl are inclined to do. But being open about her gender also made her the target of school bullies who never need much of a trigger to attack. Seeing a fellow student they recognized as male wearing makeup and feminine clothing was more than enough to attract their bad intentions. Once again depression took hold of Brielle. And perhaps the treatment was worse than the condition.
