In June of 2011 the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) changed its policies for transgender veterans who access veterans’ services, especially the Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) portion of the VA system. When the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) announced the policy change, they stated that transgender veterans would be allowed to change their genders…
As election season heats up, two questions seem to be getting an increasing amount of attention in the San Diego LGBT community: “Could the Victory Fund endorse Councilman Carl DeMaio for mayor?” and “Should they?” The first question is not as absurd as one might think. In the crowded world of interest groups, The Gay…
I’m in town for about a week, and then I’m off on another trip to Washington, D.C. While I was gone I heard almost $6,000 was raised for Being Alive at this past Sunday’s pool party. “Conversations with Nicole” going live on the Internet! Yes you read right. I am working with some producers to…
In competitive debate, the second team gets extra time to lay out their case and respond to points made by the opening team. Such is President Obama’s task as he accepts the Democratic nomination for a second term tonight. He won’t actually get more network coverage than the Republicans, but he can choose not to…
I surrendered use of my name given at birth, Stephen Mark Sandeen, in 2003 because that name no longer fit me. At age 44 I finally embraced what I first knew about my sex and gender at age fourteen – yet at 14 I was not able to fully accept that personal truth, in large…
Well I’m off to the airport for another speaking engagement … this time in Alaska! Don’t forget the “Diving for Being Alive” benefit this Sunday, Sept. 2. “The Carl DeMaio I know:” yes or no? Many media outlets, mostly straight and some gay have asked me for months to write or be interviewed about my…
The Republican National Convention concludes tonight with former Gov. Mitt Romney’s speech officially accepting the Republican nomination for president of the United States. As the convention approached, most pundits agreed he and his surrogates had two missions: reintroduce Romney and get back to the “real issues.” Reintroducing Romney was never going to be a problem…
Congratulations to Big Mike Philips, who this past weekend marked his 24th anniversary of moving to San Diego from Texas … their loss; our gain. Carl DeMaio and Johnathan Hale = Ronald and Nancy Reagan The entire GLBT community laughed its head off when Carl DeMaio told the San Diego media that his lover, Johnathan…
From the Republican outcry against U.S. Congressman and Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin’s use of the phrase “legitimate rape,” you might think he’s said something outside the conservative mainstream. You’d be wrong. Akin has plenty of company, with the proof available in the Library of Congress. Just 15 days after being sworn into the…
Brian Eichenberg, M.D. is a board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in female-to-male (FTM) chest contouring surgeries – commonly referred to in the FTM community as “top” surgeries. He completes approximately fifty of these surgeries each year, and that works out to about a tenth of his surgical practice. Essentially, “top” surgery is the removal of breasts…
