People assume that if one of their friends or family was feeling so bad that they were considering suicide that they would see it and be able to get their friend or family member help. But too often people who are contemplating taking their own life don’t give those around them any clues. Sophie Marie was there at one time. Ready to check out and end it all. Read today’s blog to learn how she came back from the edge.
Dana Bevan has a friend who while supportive of the transgender community has trouble understanding what we know of why being transgender occurs to a segment of our population. Dana’s friend had a problem reading Dana’s writing on the subject because they were so detailed. So Dana decided to write about the transgender experience in a story. The story begins in the womb and follows the development of a child’s gender identity.
Welcome a new blogger to TGF! Char Edwards is a trans woman who spent decades suffering, turning to drug abuse and resorting to suicide attempts before she decided to make a positive change in her life. She joins us today to blog about the way she turned her life around in hopes that her story will help other struggling with their gender issues.
Star Trek was a big influence on many people who were growing up in the sixties when the original episodes aired. Then it influenced other generations with new adventures on the Enterprise and spin off shows like Deep Space Nine and Voyager, just to name two. Claire Hall was a Trek fan and in one of the episodes of Next Generation she found a character she identified with.
Our new Contributor is Sophie Marie White. In her first blog for TGForum Sophie writes about the stages she went through to finally arrive at acceptance of herself and her gender identity. She outlines five stages and says that they don’t stick to a specific order. They can show up at any point and cause problems.
When I came out to the world that I was now Chrissy, I posted the news on my old Facebook page. I said that I am transgender and had been going to a therapist for two years and had been on hormones for one, (at that time.) I said also that I would closing that […]
Christy Lewis came out to the people in her life and was happy she could finally go to work as herself, and do fun things as Christy. Then came March and the pandemic. The good thing about being homebound is she can wear whatever she likes. (No off the shoulder gowns for work meetings via Zoom.) The bad part is, like all of us, she would love to be moving around in the world being herself. Get more information on how staying inside as affected her in today’s blog.
Claire Hall writes today about her late big sister. Her name was Cathy and she passed away in 1993. Claire never had a chance to let her know that her younger brother was really her sister. Claire did tell her niece, Cathy’s daughter, about her gender. Claire wonders today what her life would have been like if she and Cathy had been sisters when they were young.
During the High Holy Days Jewish people recite a classic prayer that lays out the different ways people will die in the coming year. Today Rabbah Rona writes about the prayer, Unetane Tokef, and while it is a remnant from the early days she finds that it does offer a way to reduce the number of deaths through righteous deeds and repentance.
Julie Slowinski is our Contributor from Chicago. In a normal time she would be writing about all the fun she has in the Windy City expressing her femme side in various venues. From dining out to attending concerts, going to nightclubs and other activities that are the beat she covers for TGForum. In this time of Covid-19 she has been unable to get out and about very much. So this month Julie shares a tale she wrote several years ago. It’s a conversation between a butterfly and a chameleon.
Back in 2014, Dana Bevan made some estimates of transgender population numbers based on observed population frequencies. Looking back at them and thinking about they are recently changing, she feels that they can help us understand some of the medical and social issues for transgender people, particularly non-transitioning transgender people.
Welcome our new blogger Kandi Robbins. Kandi is a married crossdresser who has two grown daughters. Her wife is fully supportive. Under normal circumstances, she goes out usually three times a week, either to her church, as a volunteer or to do what women do! She hosts her own website blog called Kandi’s Land and she is nice enough to share her blog with TGForum readers.
Chrissy Gann continues her “No Smoking Gun” series on why we are the way we are. While there is no one thing that determines whether an individual will be transgender or not there is research going on all around the world looking in to the possible reasons. Chrissy takes a look at some of it for you.
Sophie Lynne joins us today with some musing over the question, are you working on your resume or your obituary? The question comes from a friend of Sophie’s who said “At this point in my life, I am working on my obituary, not my resume. I want to be thought of, and remembered for having the right priorities, few regrets, and helping others.” This prompted Sophie to do some heavy thinking and she shares her conclusion with you in today’s blog.
Our Correspondent in Columbia, Katherine Diaz, writes today – and provides a video – about the usefulness of smiling. in Spanish “La Sonrisa” is not only good for a person displaying the smile but those who see the smile are moved to return it with one of their own. Let a smile be your umbrella as the song lyrics say, but a smile can be much more. See what Katherine has to say in her blog/vlog.
How often when you were young did you run across something in comic books, a movie, or a TV show that thrilled you because a male character impersonated a woman, or was transformed into a woman? Even though it was fiction the thrill came from realizing that it might be inspired by reality. For Claire Hall that inspiration came in a Superboy comic book in a story that saw him transformed into Super-Sister!
People all over the United States have been “Crowing” joyously because of the selection, and now nomination, of Kamala Harris as the candidate for Vice President. As a transgender activist I could not join the celebration. Like many trans activists, I see her as a transphobic tool of the carceral prison-industrial complex. I know these […]
YouTube talks show host Joe Rogan has gone too far. Several times he has had quests on his show who present skewed, or just plain made up “facts” about transgender people. These guests clearly have an axe to grind when it comes to the very existence of trans people. Dana Bevan has had it with Rogan’s promotion of false information and she is calling him out. How will the duel be fought? With science of course.
Chrissy Gann devotes her The Butterfly Chronicles blog to exploring why we are who we are. She feels there is no “smoking gun” that we can point to and say ‘look here is proof that being transgender is not a choice or lifestyle”. In every study that has been done they have concluded that while the study in itself is not positive proof, still there is something going on we don’t understand.
Claire Hall is surviving the Covid-19 pandemic like many other folks. She is able to work from home most of the time and still attends many meetings everyday. What’s different about those meetings is that they now take place via the internet and the attendees are all on her computer screen as tiny people in stacked boxes. After many months of working this way Claire’s attention to her beauty routine had started to slip. After all, she’s wearing a mask much of the time. Who needs lipstick? Read on and find if she managed to get her groove back.
Our new contributor Christy is back this week with the story of how she slowly, very slowly, made a transition at work. Like many in the transgender community she used Halloween as a way to introduce herself as a feminine person in her workplace. She feels that by taking the introduction of Christy to coworkers and management she was more successful in fitting in with very little, if any, problems.
Today Rabba Rona, a disabled queer trans rabbi who served in the U.S. Navy writes that she was appalled and outraged when federal agents beat a Navy veteran on the street in Portland, Oregon when he did nothing wrong except ask them a question about what they were there to do. Whether you are conservative or liberal you should read Rona’s post and view the video of the vet being beaten. It should be a warning to all of us.
Sabrina Symington has been letting us publish pages of her horror/suspense graphic novel and it’s pretty darned scary. To counter that she sent along a new Bria cartoon that offers a light, positive message.
Today Dr. Dana Bevan explains why there is confusion over the difference between sex and gender. Conflating the two endangers the idea that transgender people exist. More attention needs to be paid to terminology and we demand that people define their terms and define them using objective criteria—things that can be observed, including behavior. We do not need vague notions about “identity” or “dysphoria”. Learn why sex and gender are not interchangeable terms and why they using the wrong terms creates confusion.
Today we dip into the TGForum Archives for an article from 1996 by a significant other. Julie Freeman wrote about the necessity for crossdresser spouses or significant others to talk with their significant others concerning their need to dress up. And, to set boundaries. If the couple happen to wear the same size then is borrowing allowed? If they’re not the same size then who gets to buy a new dress first? See what advice Ms. Freeman offered in 1996.
Today Lorraine Anderson writes about the importance of the proper fashion accessories. In this particular time in history that means masks and gloves. It’s hard to be glam when you’re no longer alive so wearing a mask and gloves helps to make sure you have years of livng it up as a lady ahead of you, and it protects others as well. And, masks and gloves don’t need to be plain and boring. Gloves especially come in all sorts of designs. Masks can be playful or mysterious, or even give you a space alien look that’s sure to take people by surprise. See what The Occasional Woman advises on stayin’ alive.
