Between Nov. 11 and Nov. 25 this year are many days that leave me between feeling sorrowful and thankful. Owning it all is a difficult thing, but owning it all is important. Nov. 11 this year, as it is every year, was Veterans Day. I’m very well known these days as a transgender military veteran…
I’ve become painfully aware that I don’t always live up to my own standards. Two recent incidents serve as perfect examples of my higher mind giving into the primal instinct of anger and to the age-old desire for revenge. Indeed, I have failed to live up to my own standards. The particular standard I failed…
A few columns ago I wrote that I believe the HRC, when it comes to transgender community issues, is an anvil and not a hammer; a thermometer and not a thermostat. I stated this in relation to a Martin Luther King Jr. quote from Strength To Love: “Longfellow said, ‘In this world a man must…
I own two cats. OK, it’s more like there are two cats that live in my apartment that let me pretend I own them. Sometimes, life is just about the two cats. My cats’ names are Kitty Bon-Bon and Maggie. Kitty Bon-Bon was named after a cat in a children’s book from the early 1960s…
Quite a few columns ago I wrote a piece outlining what I understand to be the six priorities of trans-community activism. In the column, Transgender activism goals, these priorities, in no particular order, were listed as: • Employment • Housing • Public accommodation • Full access to education • Full access to healthcare services •…
Lesbians, gays and bisexuals with same-sex partners can jurisdiction shop in order to marry legally. A California same-sex couple can travel to New York, D.C. or one of the other states with marriage equality to tie the knot. Of course, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Proposition 8 mean that a Californian same-sex couple…
If you’ve ever wondered about the mechanics of “treating” transgenderism, as it were, there are specific guidelines called the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care. A newly-revised edition of the Standards of Care was released Sept. 25, at the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) conference in Atlanta. There are significant changes to the psychiatric…
Sept. 20, the first day gay, lesbian and bisexual servicemembers could legally serve openly, I wasn’t in San Diego for the event at The Center. Instead, I was at Harvard University as the keynote speaker for the Ivy League university’s official event celebrating that historic day. I was humbled and honored to be invited, and…
In the Sept. 2 article, SignOn, U-T, moving to real-name comments, the Union-Tribune announced it was ending anonymous comments. They outlined why they were implementing their new, Sept. 12 onward policy: “But the veil of anonymity also enabled people to publish some dreadful, hate-filled and heartless comments on our pages and those of every other…
Living in a town that’s often called a Navy town, the LGBT community will have much to celebrate on Sept. 20. That’s the day when lesbian, gay and bisexual servicemembers will officially be able to be out and proud while serving in the United States military. I know I’ll be celebrating this community victory for…
