I am not a monster. I am not a creature of tooth or claw, scales or deformity – I am not any sort of monster that is an evil antagonist bent on chaos and destruction. My transgender peers and I don’t prey on women and children in public restrooms or classrooms as some imagine. My…
Those who’ve seen the film Milk may remember the scenes in the film showing Harvey Milk working with labor leaders to further civil rights for his primary identity community. And when he ran for San Francisco supervisor multiple times, and eventually won his district’s seat, he achieved office, in part, by not only working on…
I recently listened to a trans activist talk around a table about the work of his trans-specific service organization. The organization provided antidiscrimination training that complied with a particular government mandated sexual orientation and gender identity training requirement for a particular service sector. There were no broader LGBT organizations in the immediate area providing that…
Here’s the gist of a parable told by the Transgender Law Center Executive Director Masen Davis, May 22 to a group of trans people, their significant others, friends, families and allies (SOFFAs) set to participate at 2012 Transgender Lobby Day in Sacramento, Calif.: “There was a man standing by a river. While looking across the…
Here in the United States, the Department of State recently implemented a relatively new regulation for changing one’s gender marker/one’s recognized sex for one’s passport. The new regulation for changing one’s gender marker/one’s recognized sex, as identified in 7 FAM 1300 – Appendix M: Gender Change, states the following: “b. Medical Certification Accepted for Gender…
Famed transsexual, Christine Jorgensen embraced the term transgender in an attempt to distance herself from the sexualization of her life. From Oct. 16, 1979 issue of the Winnipeg Free Press’ article Christine Recalls Life As Boy From The Bronx: “If you understand trans-genders,” she says, (the word she prefers to transsexuals), “then you understand that…
I was wonderfully surprised at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles Saturday, April 20. I was working the red carpet with my still camera draped around my neck and a small YouTube quality camera in my purse, and one of the actors I was introduced to by who I assume was her publicist was…
If you live in the U.S. and you’re not of trans history, chances are extremely high that the federal government considers you either male or female. By that I mean that every federal agency – every executive branch department – you have dealings with will gender you as male or female, and that gender identification…
Monday, March 5, 2012, I went to the Veterans Affairs (VA) San Diego Medical Center to change my gender marker from male to female. The previous Friday, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) informed trans veterans that the VA had clarified their policy, and were now using the U.S. State Department’s standard, developed for…
A few years ago, I came to the realization that trans people are considered ‘super-gays’ by the religious right. For example, Dr. Sander Breiner, in his National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) article entitled TranssexualityExplained stated the following: “There are a significant number of male homosexuals who would like to be a…
