I’ve done what???

“So you transitioned on the job?”  That was the question I was asked by one of the transgender panelists after the meeting the other night.
I wrote about this about three years ago.  I have a rather narrow definition of transition as it applies to transgender people.  It is a definition, really, of transsexual transition – [...]

Perhaps the needle has moved a bit

So I went to panel discussion I mentioned in my last post.  It went pretty much as I expected: two transition stories and a discussion of the hosting firm’s policies.  There was talk of ‘transition teams’ and the all important ‘bathroom concerns’.  (Yes, using a bathroom is important – but I have never seen the [...]

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…

plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
There is a panel discussion coming up on gender identity and expression in the workplace.  It is being hosted by a large investment bank and should be interesting.  I was asked if I had any suggestions for the panel and offered to tell my tale it they thought [...]

The Cost of Doing Business

n.b.: I first wrote this in October of 2008 and it’s been kicking around my drive since then. Six months later, things are only marginally different. The anxiety I felt then is still there – I am simply learning to live with it.
It was never my plan – this thing I do at [...]

Just Another Day

Here it comes, another lonely day, playing the game. I’ll sail away on a voyage of no return to see if eternal life is meant to be and if I find the key to the eternal dream…
I could find hundreds of lyrics and quotes to express my feelings and still it would only scratch the [...]

Wanting what I have

My wife and I don’t talk. Not that we’re silent around one another, but we don’t talk about important things – things which when left unsaid only serve to widen the gap between us. We don’t talk about sex – who’s satisfied, who’s not. We don’t talk about my transness – at [...]

No beach to walk on

There are many things about which I do not allow myself the luxury of contemplation. I keep these things tucked away in the back of my thoughts, covered with whatever I can find in the hopes that they will remain forever hidden from me. I do this because to consider these things – to [...]

Miss White Pickett Fence

This is from about a year ago, posted to the mHB boards. I have recently been thinking about this and thought it relevant to share.

Conductor Confusion

I have posted about my adventures Riding the Long Island Railroad – wherein each month I get to see what gender the conductor thinks I am. So far this year, my ticket has been punched as female every month except July: it’s ok, it happens.

Pronoun Ping-Pong

The other day at lunch time, I went to the mall near my office – to a jewelry store I frequent. I’ve been going there for about five years or so, and the same salesperson – a woman in her fifties – usually takes care of me. She knows I’m married (as I’ve bought enough [...]

Would they listen to me?

Over at the Women’s Space/The Margins blog, there has been a discussion going on – the primary focus of which is transpeople. While the comments are related mostly to transwomen, the overall tone seems to be one of distain for transpeople in general.

Why Gender is a Sphere

Over in her blog, Helen comments on the idea that gender has Shapes, Not Lines. The following was originally posted on Sphere, a website and listserv for genderqueer identified persons.
Why Gender is a Sphere
The following explanation is excerpted from an article in the Summer 1998 issue of Anything That Moves, The Magazine for Anything Bisexual. [...]

So, who’s that ‘guy’ over there?

Nothing triggers dysphoric anxiety quite like the idea of having do the suit and tie thing for some ‘formal’ event…

Grief, Loss and Change

I think that as transpeople, we often fail to recognize or acknowledge how our change – coming out, transition, whatever – effects those closest in our lives. We downplay the idea that the others in our life feel a real sense of loss – profound loss – and that there is grief associated with [...]

David and Goliath

I’ve been feeling a bit ‘vulnerable’ as of late with respect to my ‘needs’ with all of this trans stuff. Perhaps what I need most is to be recognized by (or recognizable to) other people. People see a me, make their assumptions (mostly incorrect in all likelihood) and I’m dropped in a box.

Willie McBride

Four years ago, we declared ‘victory’ in the Iraq war. Four years later, we’re still there and Americans are still dieing – and today our President did the veto thing to a bill that would have set a timetable for our troops to pull out of Iraq.

Jane Magazine features Raci Ignacio

Raci Ignacio of TransGeneration is featured in the May 2007 issue of Jane Magazine as one of their 30 Inspirational Women under 30.
Raci’s quote:

“I became more confident about my identity after TransGeneration. It enlarged my support group, including family members who rarely spoke to me when I first started transitioning. Now I go to universities [...]

Is he or isn’t she?

The other day, while waiting on the platform for the PATH train, a young Chinese woman approached me and asked for directions. I helped out and as we were both going in the same direction, I told her I’d let her know which stop was the one she wanted. We got on the [...]

The Impossible Human

This is sort of an adjunct to the previous post on respect: similar theme, slightly different take.

Respect?

Coming out as trans practically guarantees one a loss of status as a viable person and therefore a loss of respect as a person. We become something ‘unreal’ or ‘impossible’ – we have every aspect of our being called into question – we become ‘incompetent’, no longer able to do tasks or make decisions we [...]