Why Do You Want To Be Someone Else?

I have (as have friends of mine) been asked this question tirelessly over the years.  What is most surprising however, is that more times than not it comes from the gay community. 

O'Reilly Again Shows his Ignorance

Fear is what it is, but sometimes becomes what you make it, which Bill O'Reilly demonstrated when he recently blasted the show GLEE for introducing a transgender character. I often wonder why people have opinions first, and then look for ways to support that, rather than doing their homework first, and then forming their opinion. 

Where Would We Be Without Sensationalism?

Kim Petras, transsexual pop star

 Sensationalized stories provides a positive impact to the transgender struggle.

In the article "Transgender Activists Not Cheering Jenna Talackova's Miss U Breakthrough," Miss Starlight has nothing good to say about sensationalism.  And while I understand her perspective, I have to strongly disagree. Here is why. 

Relections on Coming Out

There was a liberating sensation that being unchained produced;  the air was sweeter, my sensations more vivid. Is this is what non-gender-conflicted people feel everyday? It was overwhelming, delicious, and I dare say addictive; I was basking in the warm sunshine of life.    

Changing Perceptions

The former post sort of starts in the middle, so as a starting point for this on-going journal, I should back track a bit to lay out what has happened thus far.

After coming out in 2000 to explore and figure out my crossdressing compulsion, and to CURE myself of it, that detour became a life.

By paying close attention to how I interacted with people and they with me (in my many variations of gender presentation) I began to glean insights to a transgender condition that I had never been able to comprehend.

Balancing Law and Public Opinion

In the continuation in the escalating transgender battles being fought in court, does it help or hurt the cause in the mainstream? The transgender college community has been quite vocal and quick to bring every wrong to light: The Gay People's Chronicle reported on a student that recently sued Miami (of Ohio) because he was given a resident advisory assignment to a dorm with female students.

Certainly many of these cases bring public awareness to issues that they likely never knew anything about, and all [but the extremists on the right] have to feel a pull at their heart strings when they see things like the beating of the transgirl at McDonalds.

Even Bill O'Reilly -- yes Bill O'Reilly, very out of character sided with Jenna Talackova in the recent Miss Universe scandal.

 Is there a limit to the amount of transgender cases that the general public can absorb before they became immune to our struggles and unfair treatment?Will continued legal complaints for anything and everything unjust propel a momentum to get to equal rights sooner?  Or will it create a backlash of people in the mainstream saying "enough!"

Fighting Guilt

There are some transsexuals that know they are in the wrong body at a very young age, and many stand firm on that until parents give in and support their transition path. So by the time their hormones are starting to rage they are already into transition, and therefore never really experienced life in their birth gender.

For late-blooming transgender girls (and transsexuals) however, they were raised in their birth gender, hiding their inner gender, and therefore have a different set of experiences. In my case I grew into a very masculine, athletic guy.

I've been back and forth with transition. Lately I had begun it again, but this time around find myself wrestling with the guilt associated with so freely willing to give up what nature provided me with. I see people everyday that are handicapped, and it strikes me how lucky I have been, despite the gender disphoria I battle with.

 Does anyone else have thoughts like these?

Unthinkable

We've all read about the violence against transgender girls, but more than not most skip past it unable to relate to it. Crossdressers that only go out on an occasional Saturday night disassociate during the week; it doesn't really resonate with you, right? Take a look at this video -- all the way through and then let me know what you think. It should resonate; not on a transgender level, but a human one.

Is Jenna Pushing Too Far?

In the highly visible case of Jenn Talackova --  the transsexual beauty contestant in the Canadian Miss Universe pageant that was first booted from the competition, and then after a public outcry has since been told she could compete --, should she be just focused on competing, as Donald Trump suggests, or take this opportunity to press for a change in the pageant rules -- rather than simply accepting a stand-alone acceptance for her case?