The
Queens Throne by Marisa Richmond
marisaval@aol.com
Tennessee Vals Newsletter
March 2000
Upcoming Group Meetings
In This Issue:
The
Queens Throne by Marisa Richmond
marisaval@aol.com
Greetings from a Super Bowl city!!! Now that all the local hype and hysteria is over (and the story in the Tennessean providing a cutaway analysis of the ball was definitely overkill...), I would like to start with a little bit of housekeeping. As most of you know by now, our Membership Coordinator, Susan Grant, resigned for personal reasons. But hugs, kisses and a pinch on the tush (and what a cute tush it is!) to Kelly Lynn for stepping in and taking over that responsibility. Since we are at the beginning of a new year, and renewals were coming in, that means there has been some confusion in processing information. We do the best we can, but as an all-volunteer organization, things sometimes get mislaid. We hope nobody who has paid has missed a newsletter because of this, but if so, let us know. And remember, our board elections are next month. If you think you can do better--RUN!!! Furthermore, if anyone who reads the website has attempted to contact us through Susan's e-mail addresses, please try again using any of the other e-mail addresses listed for board members or columnists. Of course, you could always call or even sit down and write an old-fashioned letter. It may take a little longer, but I guarantee we will answer it. After all, the mailbox is still in my name.
Those of us in Tennessee have our Presidential primaries this month. Obviously, this only applies to the Democratic and Republican parties, although the Democratic race is fairly one-sided here. As of this writing, I don't know if Vermin Supreme ("Mandatory toothbrushings") is still in the race after he failed to win the New Hampshire primary, but Lyndon LaRouche ("There is Nothing Wrong With Being a Nazi") is. If you belong to the Green, Libertarian or Independence/Reform parties, your party delegates will be selected at a later time through other formats. But if you are a Democrat or Republican, it is up to you to participate in the process this month. Many people like to complain about how the political system does not work. I will conceed that the selection process in the U.S. may not be perfect, but it does work. If you think it does not, I suggest you probably never bothered to study and understand it. So rather than sit around and complain, get involved.
One who has gotten involved due to tragic circumstances is Nashville's own Calpernia Addams, who spoke at our February meeting. Calpernia has acquitted herself quite well despite the trauma over Barry Winchell's murder and the accompanying media attention, on top of all of the other family and religious issues many transgendered people must face. I, for one, greatly appreciate Calpernia's willingness to share with us and admire her strength and articulateness.
Recently, I was invited by a friend to attend the Old Timers Baseball Association annual banquet at the Regal Maxwell House. The keynote speaker was Buck O'Neil, former first baseman (1938-52) and manager (1948-55) of the Kansas City Monarchs. He talked about his life growing up in Sarasota, Florida, where he was denied entry into the new public high school just because of his pretty tan. While he had no regrets playing all those years in the Negro American League--he played with and against some the greatest players ever, played in four All Star Games, and on six pennant winning clubs, including the 1942 "World" Champions--he said he had always wondered "what might have been." He harbored no bitterness and expressed only love for all humanity. O'Neil was not transgendered, but the experience of all those who have ever been denied equal opportunity solely because the rest of society perceived them as inferior due to some superficial difference should remind all in the gender community why we must never give up the fight for equality ourselves. That comes through activism and education. We must never accept the limitations placed upon us by others.
During my winter vacation--right before the end of the world--I took a day to drive over to Knoxville to see the new Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. It was great seeing a celebration of strong, athletic women, including Nera White and Joan Crawford, who were mainstays on the Nashville Business College teams that won eleven national championships in the 50s and 60s and helped lead the USA to the world championship in 1953 and 1957. In their day, athleticism for women was denigrated rather than celebrated as it should be. Unfortunately, many M2Fs still buy the old stereotype that athleticism and femininity are mutually exclusive. Try telling that to the women enshrined in that Hall, the thousands of women and men who have visited it since it opened last summer, or the young girls who see those athletes are role models. They do not believe in accepting limitations either.
Among the many lists that were done for the end of the millennium (a year early....) were at least three which reviewed the top athletes of the century. Women probably did better in Tennessee than in any other state. USA Todayhad Wilma Rudolph (Clarksville, Tennessee State University) at number three behind only Reggie White (Chattanooga, UT-Knoxville) and Oscar Robertson (Dickson County). The listing on ESPN put Rudolph number two in the state behind only Robertson. The most interesting list was in Sports Illustrated (the issue with the John Rocker interview done by former Tennessean reporter Jeff Pearlman--who managed to alienate virtually everyone here before he skipped town one step ahead of the lynch mobs...) which put FOUR women in the state's top seven athletes: #1--Rudolph; #2--Pat Summitt (Cheatham County, UT- Martin, UT-Knoxville); #4--Tracy Caulkins (Nashville, Nashville Aquatics Club); and #7--Nera White (Macon County, NBC basketball). I should note that SI put Robertson in Indiana behind John Wooden and Larry Bird. Still, these lists and the success of the WBHF should remind everyone of the adage, Nike is a Goddess.
There has been a controversy in Britain that is
not unlike that which we have seen in this country. It involves midfielder
David Beckham of Manchester United. During the recent FIFA World Club
Championships in Rio, he kicked defender Jose Milian of Necaxa. What makes
this relevant is that just two days earlier, Beckham's wife, Victoria (a.k.a.
Posh Spice) revealed that he enjoyed wearing her panties. Now the British
media is claiming that his appreciation for lingerie and his penchant for
kicking players (he did the same thing during World Cup '98, also earning
a red card) are connected. While some crossdressers do engage in violent
behavior to overcompensate for their feelings of femininity, it is inaccurate
to assume that One Thing Leads to Another. There is no evidence that this
is true for either Beckham or Dennis Rodman. Personally, I can relate to
any desire Beckham has for wanting to dress like a Spice Girl. Like Rodman,
he just needs to remember not to use his feet on other people, but only on
the ball instead.
Shame on all of you who skipped the annual Mid-Winter's Party. This fundraiser for The Center saw seven of us get together for dinner, and I managed to cook without once setting off the smoke alarm, and then head over to Cheekwood for the rest of the evening's festivities. It was great seeing Stephanie Wilson back from St. Louis briefly. Kelly Lynn also deserves special mention for locking her keys in her car trunk. What group of transies would be complete without the requisite dumb blonde?
I will be on the road again later this month. This time I will be at the IFGE Convention in Arlington, Virginia. I have attended two previous IFGE Conventions (Long Beach, 1997; Louisville, 1999). I will have a trip report in my May column.
Before I go to Arlington, I will be at the men's Southeast Regional at Gaylord Entertainment Center. Plus, if Vanderbilt qualifies as a host on the women's side, which is looking pretty remote as I write this, I'll be at Memorial Gym, too. I have, however, learned one important lesson from previous tournaments--I am staying away from betting pools this year. Otherwise, it should be Totally Awesome Baby with a Capital A!!!
Left of Center
by Pamela DeGroff
I was privileged to meet Michael Gray during my first Soulforce experience in Lynchburg, Virginia back in October. We kept in touch via e-mail and were able to renew our friendship during the time at Grand Island, Nebraska. He is a scholar and Ph.D. candidate who travels extensively researching and teaching Transgender Studies. He is also the co-founder of a gender discussion, support, and community action group in Charlottsville, Virginia.
Born female in 1955 in Washington DC, he went on to do all the "right, normal" things such as getting married and having three children. After coming to terms with bisexual leanings in 1987, a divorce followed, and a committed relationship with a same gender partner was begun in 1988. During this time, Michael began to flourish in college, beginning the work he is continuing today.
In 1995, things changed radically, though. "I was diagnosed with Lupus and medically prescribed the masculinizing hormone, testosterone," Michael explains. "The side affects of the medication masculinized me. I accept this, and now live relatively free of Lupus symptoms, but, as a woman whose gendered appearance has been medically changed. I am Transgender in that I no longer look like a woman." Personally, Michael does not refer to himself as a "transman", but rather as a "masculinized female." His experiences and his desire for knowledge will carry him far within the gender community, and the world at large. The following interview was conducted electronically, involving a lot of time in front of a computer screen.
(Editor's Note: Michael Gray is accustomed to using non- pecific gender pronouns in his writing. These, as well as other terms, are taken from the work of Leslie Fienberg. Since we do not know how many of our readers would be familiar with such terms, we have chosen not to use them. This is the decision of the author and editor.)
Part 2 of 2
PAMELA: Besides your activities in Soulforce and the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition, what other activities have you been involved in?
MICHAEL: Whoa. I directed and produced Transcabaret,
a film that stand alone as a documentary of female trans- expression. I
choreographed and performed the first "masculine bodied woman" modern dance
interpretation of transition. Put together two AIDS drag teddy bear balls
for AIDS charity; worked a GLBT hotline; was a rape survivor's advocate who
accompanied women to hospitals, police stations, and court; wrote this areas
first community wide HIV/HPV policy; taught safer sex and co-ordinated domestic
violence awareness month for a domestic violence shelter.
Co-coordinated the South Eastern Women's Studies Association conference; Sued in federal court the U of Ala. For sexual harassment and for not having a sex harassment policy. Fought and won a lesbian custody battle. I've been the President for two years of Women's Studies Association of SC, sat on the boards of TG conferences, developed TG-Central and co-facilitate it. I've been an 11 year member of MCC, member of the National Women's Studies Association, NOW, marched in 40 GLBT marches, and am a presenter of Transgender Studies across the country. I have also lobbied in DC for transgender rights.
What are your thoughts on the FTM International's protest of the Village Voice, in NYC, over their "Suddenly Not Susan" cover?
Frankly, I didn't see much difference at all between the FTM images that are flaunted by the transmen themselves.
I do not understand the exhibitionist need to place oneself in the media eye, and to submit oneself to researchers either, considering that we do know for damned sure how the media and the medicalizers will use our narratives and twist them for spin and exaggerated impact. I view transpeople who engage in that kind of proselytizing as unfortunate victims of need for public approval and fame. If they don't like the results, then wise up and don't proselytize. It is not creating the kind of visibility that is empowering.
This is a very personal question, but if you didn't have Lupus, and never would have had to go on steroid treatments, would you have transitioned?
Never. I would have had no need. I was a manly-hearted woman, and content with that all of my life. I am just as content now. Life is good, in all it's forms.
Where do you want to be in five years? In 10 years?
Working in my field.
What would you say to a young woman, by this I mean a teenager, who is starting to express transgendered desires and feelings?
Express yourself! Embrace all of the rich and amazing diversified ways you can feel about yourself. Love yourself, your spirit, the spirit of life, your neighbors, and do not take to any margins. Hold fast and proud to being the center of your own life and the world. Then, don't let the bigots get you down. Find practical and useful ways to channel anger. And refuse to be ashamed.
What is your overall view of the place of transmen in the greater Gender community? What needs to be done yet? What needs to be changed? How can the rest of us help?
Transmen define themselves invariably and necessarily as men, female-bodied men, or if they don't they are surely silent while transmen leaders write for and about them saying that "most" and "all" of them do.
I view the transmen who are the most socio-culturally visible in this culture alone, and the ones that I have had personal and social encounters with as fairly well focused on power and domination as is typical of the male role model. They seem to be extraordinarily angry and most especially with born males. Their issues seem to focus primarily on having male privileges. From what I know of them, they seem to relentlessly view themselves as "better men", the new, improved social role model. I don't view them as any better or any worse, or any different than men.
What to do for them? Acknowledge them as men, if that's what they go as. Give them power so they finally have what they so desperately need. Remember and respect that from the data we have to date, that too many transmen and too many ftms were mercilessly abused in their childhoods. Speaking to a group of MTFs and transwomen...share, lead the way, since the MTFs have historically been the ones with the money, the social power, and the bulk of the data about you. Share with them what you have gained from your own privileged lives as males in this culture, and show them how being the displaced kinds of natal males, you are not their oppressors. There is far too much hatred and antagonism between mtfs and ftms and I see that mainly coming out of the ftm directly, loaded and aimed at MTFs previous "male privilege", which they envy.
There needs to be some tables of reconciliations within the TG community called together to build bridges so that we can finally get to the business of making a solid coalition.
When you ask me what to do for the transmen-respond, and know that you are dealing with a very wounded people. People who will try every means to deny that. It's not the manly thing to do, you know, to admit that you've been wounded.
I'd prefer it if for all of our sakes, everyone would stop trying to clump everyone in boxes, with handles and labels, and stacked in tidy rows for order and measure-ment. My deepest desire is that everyone would stop already with the labels that are gendered.
I believe that there is one culture season why people come to view themselves as sexes and genders. The hatred of the feminine, and the purity of the male. I don't see any difference at all between ftms and MTFs in this basic truth. It's just that feminine gendered people and masculine gendered people are going to go different directions with turning that around within themselves.
The MTF will embrace the feminine and eradicate the male. The FTM will eradicate the female and embrace the masculine, but it's the very one and very same underlying movement.
(Author's note: As I said at the beginning of this interview with Michael Gray, I had attended a seminar on the health issues of Transmen during the last SCC convention in Atlanta. I did this to enhance my own knowledge of others in the gender com-munity, and also because it was a good story and I had a deadline for a magazine article. However, I have become intrigued with the perspective of others during their own personal process of coming to grips with being transgendered. Michael sent me the following message in an e- mail, and it's with his permission that I share it with you. It's a unique look at what someone else goes through.
"The testosterone, vitamin T, has kicked in again, and I'm gong through another growth spurt of hair, muscle, and body aches that it does produce. It's weird, like becoming a werewolf with all this hair. It's starting to go down my hands. It's such a funky thing to wake up one morning and there it is, another change, magically, overnight, that wasn't there when I went to bed. Never know what I'll look like in another six months or so. A woolly bear, I ‘spose. You know, when I am interacting with everyone, I'm feeling feminine as ever and forget that I look like a guy. If I didn't collect broken mirrors and put them all over the house, I would have completely forgot I look masculine. I really cannot imagine, still, four years later, since I had breast surgery and started my transition.
Gosh, Michael is four years old. Amazing...")
Whoops, what happened there? I think the Y2K glitch must have got into my January and February 2000 columns. It was no millennium bug however. I simply had a really busy last few months, and nothing struck my writing fancy. You better watch out, though… I think we're really screwed in the year 3000.
I want to thank the Vals for the wonderful gift I received at the holiday banquet, and congratulate Toni Lynn for doing a nice job on banquet coordination. I will still say that the greatest gifts you can get from a group like the Vals is support, comfort and friendship, and you will get out of what you put into it I still receive this newsletter in Atlanta, and thanks to the Vals' generosity, will receive it for the Year 2000. I've been extremely impressed with our latest editor who has done a bang-up job with this publication. I served as newsletter editor over 3 years and it is a thankless job at times. Thanks, Julie for taking up this job and really running with it.
Yes, things are tranquil down here in Atlanta, except for the black hole known as John Rocker. I really don't like to police what people think or say, but I think he should have had enough brain cells to know that offending an entire city with racist, homophobic remarks was a bad idea. What-ever happens to him will be what he deserves. I want the Braves to can him just because he's a lousy pitcher. Besides Rocker, the Braves also feature Manager Bobby "Gonna Beat My Wife, Gonna Smack My Wife" Cox and Chipper (Larry) "She Can't Prove It's my Child" Jones. How can Chipper continue to get product endorsements after he sired an illegitimate child? With heroes like these, who needs villains? Why doesn't Ted Turner have enough money to get Ken Griffey Jr.? It's going to be a long baseball season.
While I'm on the subject of sports, I must send kudos to the Titans for their efforts in Superbowl XXXIV. I hope Nashville is as pleased with the team as I am. Who would have thought that the ridiculed Oilers who couldn't give away tickets two years ago would be contenders for the Lombardi trophy? This is the first time I've lived in a town that hosted the Superbowl. This year, Atlanta continued the tradition of embarassing itself in front on an international audience. For those of you with short memories: in recent years, Atlanta has botched two World Series (1991 and 1999), one Superbowl (1999) and bombed the Olympic Games (1996). When an ice storm crippled the power system here for days before the big game, I had visions of an empty Georgia Dome, inaccessible in the ice and two teams playing the Superbowl by flashlight. Even without John Rocker, Atlanta seems to find ways to trip itself up.
Has anyone noticed how gay the world is these days? Maybe it's Y-2-Gay instead of Y2K. On the way home for the holidays, my wife and and I made a pit stop in Dalton, Georgia at a travel plaza. There was a little guy in line in front of us with a few Christmas bows on his shirt. Cindy said "Are you someone's Christmas present? You'll make some girl really happy!" and he replied "Who said it was a girl?" I knew the world is getting gay-er when last fall, I was hit on by a guy at a gas station in Bucksnort, Tennessee. (Yes, there is a Bucksnort, Tennessee – look it up on a map!) If you pass through there and are looking for a date, stop by. There's only one gas station near the Interstate. Also, I got a new dentist after I moved to Atlanta and he's apparently quite queer and has strapping male dental hygenists. My "gay-magnet" apparently is always on.
Until next month, lets keep the power on.
A Blonde, Brunette AND Redhead by Julie Phillips FabulBabe@aol.com
Julie's Obsession with Regis
Continues; Philbin Considers Reinstating Restraining Order
Something wonderful has been quietly happening on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire: contestants with same-gender partners are being treated the same as mixed gender couples.
I couldn't quite believe my ears the first time I heard the Reegemeister introduce a male contestant's "partner" in the audience. Could I be hallucinating? Since I had no visions of Jerry Garcia and the vodka bottle was safely in the fridge, I must have heard correctly. Reege even asked the partner what he was going to do with their money.
A few weeks later, a contestant made off with $500,000 and the guy's partner ran on stage, as is customary with the big bucks winners. I've read that the producer was nervous that there would be some big wet sloppy open-mouth kiss right there in front of Aunt Mavis and her Tuesday night meeting of the "Busy-bodies Just Waiting to Write Nasty Letters to the Networks Club", formerly known as "Bring Back Matlock, Now!" But alas, all they did was hug.
This is important because its happening on prime time television on a series that consistently takes four of the top ten slots in the weekly ratings. That all people are treated fairly and with equal respect is wonderful--and that it's done matter-of-factly is commendable. (This is further proof that Regis is the Coolest Man on the Planet! Oops--I forgot. I must refrain from gushing about Regis or he'll reinstate that restraining order against me. Honest, I'm not a stalker--I just LOVE The Reege! "Yes" is my final answer; all you have to do is pop the question.)
So I'm waiting for the night when a male contestant makes it through the Fast Finger Question, sits in the big Captain Kirk ergonomic chair and Regis introduces the guy's transgendered partner in the audience.
You know it's got to happen; it's just a question of when. What's great is that when it does, the TG partner will be treated just as any other partner has been. That single prime-time moment could do more for our public acceptance than a month of RuPaul co-anchoring CBS News with Dan Rather would. (I'll pause for a moment while we both envision what that bizarre event would look like. While I've never actually seen someone's wig flip, I think that might do it. Rather's wig, of course. Now back to the column.)
Don't ask me why, but I have a strong feeling in my gut (No, the Vodka's still in the fridge) that at some point in the proceedings on that magical night, the phrase "You Go Girl!" will be shouted. And I'm willing to wager a month's supply of Dermablend (setting power included) that when it does, it'll be Regis that says it.
If it turns out that you are the TG spouse/partner in the audience, remember that the camera adds ten pounds.
Is that your final dessert?
Julie visits the ER OR Mirror, Mirror on the wall----Ooops-CRASH---Aeiiieahhh!
I knew that one day the all-knowing, all-seeing creature that lives on the other side of every mirror--the often cruel being known as Vanity--would exact it's revenge on me.
With as much time as I've spent staring into the mirror, I was sure she was just plain tired of looking at my pressed- powered mug. But I thought the worst she would do is give me a really bad hairdo just before a big party. It turns out Vanity must be really sick of looking at me, because she sent me to the hospital.
It was a Sunday morning and I was still fabulous from the night before. The beauty experts lie: you can sleep in your makeup--just don't expect much in the morning. A touchup is in order since things tend to move around and get a little smeared. At some point during the night, the ghost of Pablo Picasso comes into your room and repaints your face. That's the only way I can explain the eyelash in my ear.
I grabbed a mirror to take a look at the back of my hair and poof out the flat spots. Being the butterfingers that I am, especially with long nails, I dropped the mirror--on my leg. I had no idea how sharp those babies could be when gravity gets a hold of them. Let me put it this way: you can start a new Thanksgiving tradition by throwing out the carving knife and dropping a mirror on your bird.
(I'll pause for just one line while you write your own joke here.)
If you drop one from high enough--try a step ladder-- you could turn old Tom Turkey into a plate full of gibblets. (Gibblets.. .aren't they the brothers in the Bee Gees?)
I couldn't stop the bleeding with a styptic pencil, or mascara pencil for that matter, so I knew the ER was in my future. It's at that moment that I noticed I was wearing only my undies and Saturday night's formerly-glamourous-now-smeared-face. A one-eylashed crossdressed girl with the start of a 5 o'clock shadow and her leg gushing more than Sally Field at the Oscars was a bit much, I thought, for a Sunday morning drive through the city.
I hung my leg in the bathtub and started slathering on the cold cream. Glancing down at the tub, I noticed some blood going down the drain; I recall actually saying outloud, "I'm just like Janet Leigh in Psycho."
It was a slow day at the ER so every nurse, Gurney pusher and whatchama-ologist paid a visit to the room. One nurse asked if I had been trying to make myself pretty with the mirror. "I always try to be pretty," I told her. Another came in, gazed at my obviously two-days-ago shaved legs and told me they were gorgeous. Delighted with the compliment, I chirped back, "Why, thank you very much!" The nurse who gave me a tetanus shot said nothing about the make-up that we both simultaneously noticed on my chest, or the brown eye shadow that highlighted the contours of my previous night's breasts.
Finally, I wobbled out to the car like I was wearing six-inch spiked heels. Actually, I was wearing four new stitches. That's when that cursed Vanity came back to check on me, no doubt to admire her handiwork. Eeeek!
In the rear-view mirror it was obvious that Miss Janet Leigh, who earlier was in a cold-cream slathering panic, had failed to use any eye makeup remover.
On the up side, at least the doctor didn't still have to remove an eyelash from my ear.
Can You Wear White to a Boycott in the Winter
The G/L/B/T communities often seem in dissension, whining and complaining about the lack of respect one has for the other. Often, we resemble the Costanzas on Seinfeld more than teammates. Thankfully, there are some issues that unite us--subjects where we meet in agreement and empower one another with our enthusiasm.
While we may disagree on how best to acquire our full civil rights or the necessity of same-gender marriage, I have never met a gay boy or a crossdresser who didn't absolutely love a boycott! It's one of our communities' hallowed and time-honored practices, enjoyed and loved by more of us than the half-off sale at Penney's on December 26th.
So girls--and boys--put on your platform shoes and, to paraphrase the wrestling announcer, "Let's Get Ready to Boyyyyycottttt!" I've found a new cause for us.
Police in Osaka, Japan have declared platform shoes to be a menace to society. According to press reports, platform shoes are very popular among young Japanese women, who also sport very short skirts, glittery eye makeup and bleached blonde hair. (Wait a minute... I think that's the same outfit I wore last Saturday to The Connection. Or I danced with a guy wearing the same thing, except for the skirt part.)
The police claim automobile accidents are being caused by Pee Wee Herman "Big Shoe Dance" footwear Supposedly, they slow down the braking time of the girls wearing them. Pish, Posh I say! (And if it didn't sound so stupid, I'd say it again.)
Therefore, furthermore, henceforth and other important sounding words, the G/L/B/T communities must band together and boycott Osaka, Japan. It will mean canceling that two-week Osaka dream vacation you've been planning for all your life, but remember, you're doing it for fashion! While Provincetown, South Beach or New Orleans may seem like drab substitutes for the party town of Osaka, sisters and brothers, we must make the sacrifice for Big Shoes!
With as many guys wearing platforms these days as us girls, rallying support should be easy. And easy is the key to a fun and successful boycott because you don't have to do anything at all to stick with it. Who wants to boycott something they really love? Ewwwww--that's too much work.
How can Osaka police blame really cool looking Big Shoes when simple bad driving is the obvious culprit? Has Dolly Parton ever sideswiped a Buick? Has Tony Orlando ever run a red light? Has RuPaul ever rear-ended a hapless motorist? Of course not, because they're good drivers who also happen to wear Big Shoes. I rest my case, your honor.
And I'd like to rest my butt in this chair for a minute—these pumps are KILLING me!!
Holly d. Storm stormdp1@aol.com
Ring.........Ring.........Ring
(Me in semi-light and fluffy voice) Hellooo.
(In my evil-twin brother's voice) Oh, hi Mom. Yeah, I'm doing fine mom.
(In a testosterone overdosed voice) Yeah, How 'bout those Titans!!! Did Dad watch the game too? One yard short! But hey, there's always next year.
(In semi-worried voice) Oh, um you plan on visiting Nashville. That's nice?
(Thinking to myself) Think fast girl, so they don't suspect anything's up.
(In my clueless voice) You should have a good time here, there are a bazillion things to do.
(DOH! That was definitely a wrong answer and now in a slightly anxious voice) Oh, I mean, let me check my calender. I may have some time next, October? Yeah, October....Oh, no Mom, I would never not ask you down. It's just that I'm busy, really, really busy, that's the ticket.
(A bit more anxious)- No, of course not! I'm not hiding anything! Why would you think that?
My place is way to small, you and Dad wouldn't be comfortable. You said that you'd like to stay downtown anyway? (Whew!) That would probably be the best for you and Dad.. You'll be in the middle of everything. I'll come and meet you downtown and I can show you around.
(In very anxious voice) Oh, you wanna check out my place? Umm, yeah, uh maybe...I have to spray for, well, I mean.
(In a defeated and somber voice) Sure. That would be swell. In two weeks, sure, no problem.
Bye Mom, Luv ya.
....Click
What now? Should I jump into my truck and drive around town hoping for some freak industrial accident to occur, or do I face them like a man, I mean, woman. Aughhhh! OK, what should I start with? Should I buy a bunch of locks for my closet, bathroom drawers, cabinets, dresser drawers and linen closet? No, Mom might suspect something then, she's pretty sharp. Dad on the other hand, let's just say he would be more concerned that I don't have cable and he couldn't watch ESPN. Keeping my stuff hidden from Mom is key.
OK, gotta call, ummm, call Julie. Maybe she would let me bring a couple truck loads of stuff over. No wait, she has a white Persian cat. I'd be picking white cat fur out of my black dresses for weeks. Wait, Chrysis doesn't have a fluffy white cat! She'll let me store my stuff over there for a week or two. I wonder how much it is to rent a big ole U-haul. Well, I need to start packing.
After several trips up and down the stairs, my neighbor asks if I'm moving. "Na", I say. "That girl who lives with me needs to stay at a friend's house for a while". I told my neighbor that I wasn't ready to introduce her to my parents yet. "They wouldn't approve of me being with such a high maintenance person, anyway she's a Republican", yeah, that's the ticket.
That's it! All of my fabulous stuff is out. Emery boards have been picked from between the sofa cushions, my Peggy Lee CD collection is packed away, and my walk-in closet is more than half empty. Geez, this apartment too barren. I wonder if the emptiness of my apartment will tip-off Mom. I'm not ready to come-clean to my parents about my glamorous lifestyle. But for now, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Though, I think Moms have some sixth sense at detecting things that their kids are hiding. After my last visit home and a long hard look at my finely groomed eyebrows, my Mom gave me "the look", and said "ummhumm". So I'm wonder if this whole ordeal is futile?
...ding dong
Oh, hi Mom and Dad!
NEWS TRANS-missions
news, media mentions, etc...
His & Hers Towels Remain a Great Gift
A married couple (in Hungary) are receiving hormone treatments ahead of a planned sex change surgery that will allow them to switch genders.
The man and the woman are now receiving regular hormone treatments to alter the balance of male and female hormones in their bodies, the daily Blikk reported Sunday.
The operation is scheduled for August, said a doctor at Saint George's Hospital in Szekesfehervar, 50 miles southwest of Budapest.
Medical preparations were temporarily suspended last September as doctors wrangled over who would be part of the operating team, the report said. The dispute has been resolved, doctors said.
The woman was identified as a 26-year-old named Andrea. Her husband was not identified.
source: Yahoo! news 01/23/00
TG Protection Should Pass in Atlanta
Transgendered employees of the city of Atlanta may soon be protected from job discrimination on the basis of their gender identity, if legislation introduced Tuesday in the Atlanta City Council passes into law.
The ordinance, introduced by Council member Michael Bond, would amend the bill of rights in the city's charter to include gender identity, age, color and disability in non-discrimination provisions. It was co-sponsored by all the other council members except Jim Maddox, who was not present at Tuesday's meeting.
Amending the charter to include age, color and disability is necessary, the ordinance states, because the categories are included in other non-discrimination measures in the city's Code of Ordinances, and "it is in the city's interest that the provisions of the City Charter and the Code of Ordinances" be consistent.
Gender identity will be the only entirely new category of non-discrimination for the city. According to the ordinance, the addition is needed because "gender identity, meaning self-perception as male or female, is different from sexual orientation, and "it is in the best interests of the City of Atlanta to treat all individuals fairly and equitably regardless of gender identity."
Bond said he introduced the measure, which was initiated by Mayor Bill Campbell's administration, because "it is just the right thing to do."
"I hate to say it because it sounds so cliched, but I grew up in the civil rights movement and groups like the NAACP, and I believe in equal treatment for all people and being fair," he said. "This is just a natural extension of the way I've lived my life."
Currently, only one state (Minnesota) three counties and 20 cities in the United States ban job discrimination on the basis of gender identity for private employers, according to the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.
Atlanta's proposed measure will apply only to city employees, but it can still have a broad impact, advocates said.
In addition to protecting individual transgendered city workers, passing the ordinance "will send the message that Atlanta is a very fair and non-discriminating city, that the leadership of Atlanta is supportive of all aspects of society, crossing all boundaries of human life," said Karen Collins, president of Trans=Action, the statewide transgender rights advocacy group.
The gender identity ordinance follows in the footsteps of Atlanta's other progressive policies, including banning job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and providing domestic partner benefits for city employees, according to Harry Knox, executive director of the Georgia Equality Project, the gay political group that includes transgender rights in its mission statement.
"The city has modeled good behavior on the part of an employer in offering domestic partner benefits and fighting for them, and now they are leading the way in full employment inclusion for those who are transgendered," Knox said...
But advocates for the measure said that while they believe the city of Atlanta's public school system is governed by its own regulations and would not be affected, the measure is expected to mean that, not only will the city of Atlanta not discriminate against transgendered people, it also will not award city contracts to private businesses that do.
Mayor Campbell issued an administrative order in 1996 stating that the City of Atlanta will not do business with companies that do not abide by its non-discrimination policies, which include sexual orientation in addition to federally mandated categories like race, religion and gender.
Adding "gender identity" to the non-discrimination policy would likely have the affect of adding it to the order, supporters said.
While Atlanta has succeeded in implementing many progressive employment policies, they haven't always come easily or quickly. The effort to approve domestic partner benefits, for example, touched off a lengthy battle: Activists protested at City Hall and at then-Mayor Maynard Jackson's home after he vetoed the original ordinance, which then passed the City Council again and was signed into law in 1993.
The DP ordinance was challenged all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court twice before finally winning approval in 1997, and it took a ruling from Fulton Superior Court Judge Wendy Shoob this fall to overturn a ban by Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and allow the benefits to finally be offered.
Efforts to ban job discrimination against transgendered people have proved controversial at the federal level. Leaders of the fight to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a measure to ban sexual orientation discrimination, have refused to add "gender identity" to the original language of the bill...
But Atlanta, in contrast, has had a policy banning dis- rimination on the basis of sexual orientation firmly in place for more than a decade. In 1986, the City Council voted to amend the city charter's bill of rights and the code of ordi- ances to add sexual orientation. The non- discrimination measure survived a court challenge and was upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court in 1995.
Now, leaders of both Trans=Action and GEP said their members are prepared to lobby the City Council in favor of the gender identity ordinance, but Collins said supporters are expecting "smooth sailing" at this point.
The measure originated in the administration of Mayor Bill Campbell and has the support of all City Council members--a level of council support that is "pleasing but not surprising," according to Council member Cathy Woolard, the only openly gay member, because "this council has been supportive of all kinds of civil rights legislation."
Still, procedural rules in the City Council mean the ordinance to change the city's charter will still take several weeks to pass. After Tuesday's first reading, the bill was referred to the council's finance/executive committee, where it must receive a hearing. It then must be read in the full Council two additional times, meaning the earliest it could receive a vote is at the City Council meeting on Feb. 28.
According to Trans=Action's Collins, the effort to add gender identity to Atlanta's non-discrimination policies began with a simple question: "I guess it was initiated about a year ago, with me asking the mayor about adding transgendered protections to the city charter, and he said he would support it and gave me the names of people I needed to work with," Collins said....
Such an ordinance would require companies that want city contracts to provide "equal benefits" to gay and straight employees-meaning if they offer health insurance and other benefits to married employees' spouses, they must also offer them to domestic partners.
Because such a measure is likely to be complicated and possibly controversial, Knox said GEP believes it makes sense to fight for the two smaller efforts first.
"Voters in the city of Atlanta also vote in Fulton County, and we want to be certain that we are not mixing our messages," Knox said. "In pushing for the Fulton County, we are concerned that the more aggressive stance of the San Francisco-style ordinance might play into the hands of our detractors in Fulton County if we try to do both at the same time."
As far as Atlanta's gender identity ordinance, "it's not the same issues," Knox said. "The same people who may be concerned about fighting [the gender identity ordinance and the equal benefits ordinance] may be the same, but the issues are very much different."
source: Laura Brown, Southern Voice, Atlanta 01/25/00
Hasty Pudding Honors
Billy Crystal & Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis led a parade through Harvard Square Februay 10, flanked by male students in drag. It's part of the honor of being named Woman of the Year by the Hasty Pudding Theatricals at Harvard University. Billy Crystal was named Man of the Year and in his ceremony February 17, per tradition, Crystal donned a bra while being awarded the title. Hasty Pudding Theatricals is the nations's oldest theatrical company.
source: USA Today 02/02/2000
Trial of AZ M 4 Killing SO 2 B w/ TS GF, OK?
Maricopa County Superior Court officials have postponed the retrial date for a former death row inmate convicted of killing his wife to collect insurance and be with his transsexual girlfriend.
Daniel Willoughby, 60, now will face a jury in midsummer in a new trial in the death of his wife, Patricia, in their rental house in Puerto Penasco, Sonora.
Willoughby was convicted of murder in 1992. But in November, Judge Joseph Howe threw out the conviction, ruling that Willoughby's attorney, David Ochoa, provided an inadequate defense.
Prosecutors say Willoughby conspired for months with his lover, Yeseria Gonzalez Pitino, to kill his wife while his family vacationed in Mexico.
He killed his wife while she slept, prosecutors say, and sought to cover it up by stealing his wife's jewelry and cash to make it look like a robbery.
Pitino, who was born a man but had a sex change in 1982, was convicted in Mexico and is serving a 35-year sentence.
The new trial date is July 5.
source: The Arizona Republic 02/02/00
Alert Pee Wee Herman: No "Big Shoe Dance" Allowed in Tokoyo
Police in Japan are taking aim at a new menace to road safety: platform shoes.
The offending footwear, a must-have item for thousands of young Japanese girls, has been blamed for contributing to car accidents by slowing the time it takes for drivers to hit the brakes in an emergency.
Police in Japan's second city of Osaka said on Friday they will ban drivers from wearing platforms if tests prove this to be true.
The move comes after a passenger died in a car crash last November when a young woman's heels prevented her from braking properly. Authorities elsewhere in Japan have already issued directives instructing drivers not to wear shoes ``which would prevent safe driving.''
Initial tests have backed up the theory, showing that drivers wearing platform shoes take a crucial fraction of a second longer to apply the brakes than drivers wearing normal shoes.
The outlandish shoes are a common sight in Japanese cities, usually on the feet of artificially tanned teenagers who also sport dyed blonde hair, skimpy skirts and glittering eye make-up.
But with the soles of some shoes reaching as high as 12 inches, health experts have warned they could cause painful injuries to ankles, feet and backs.
source: Reuters 02/07/00
Why, Why, Why? Enough with the Questions Already..Just Read the Article
Why? Why? Why? That's the question we keep asking ourselves." That muted cry from a handsome businessman across the luncheon table from me wasn't some offhand expression of frustration. The speaker was an example of a singularity in our society - a transvestite or cross-dresser, as these persons prefer to call themselves.
He and men and women like him yearn to dress in the clothing of the opposite sex. In fear for their jobs or relations with their families, usually they do so at home in private or at club gatherings. Some men may wear women's underclothing even to work. Many are heterosexual, not gay or lesbian, and married. That puts these cross-dressers in an anomalous position not just with the heterosexual world but also with gays and lesbians and transsexuals (those surgically changing their gender).
But recently, in Pittsburgh at least, the groups have begun coordinating their efforts, realizing how much in common they have in combating prejudice.
In extensive conversations with members of transgender groups, one learns how long and painful the process has been for recognizing their particular uniqueness, accepting it or doing something about it. For most, the answer to the "why? why? why?" question facing them, relatives and a skeptical public is "biology" or "genetics."
That is, for some reason, destiny has put into the body of a man the characteristics of a female and vice versa for a woman. There comes a realization that their situation is a given, just as color is for African Americans.
One has only to listen to the life stories of transgendered people and realize the pain and questioning, the hatred and prejudice they have gone through to accept this outburst from one: "Why would anyone go through this hell just on a whim?" Attempted suicides, shunning by their families,divorces, firings, verbal and even physical assaults are the woes that come pouring out.
That brings us to transsexuals. These are the men and women going through a long process, including costly surgery, to change their sex. Again, there are stories of years of anguish, starting in childhood when a boy might be told he was heading for "eternity in hellfire" for wanting to wear dresses. One male-to-female told of serving in the armed forces, engaging in sports, marrying - "all of the things you do to prove you are masculine. It just didn't work."
Choosing to go transsexual is not something one does lightly. First, there must be at least three months of therapy in which the therapist intensely probes the reasons for the choice to make sure they are for real. Locally, that therapy can be obtained at the Persad Center in Bloomfield.
If that approval is obtained, the candidate must undertake a "real life test" of at least one year. That means that a man must begin dressing and living the life of a woman - at work, with family.
He may be fired, face divorce or rebuffs from parents ("What did we do wrong?") and public prejudice. A legal change of name also is involved. Persad has services available to work with employers in such situations. If top management agrees, things usually can go smoothly - that is, other employees will go along if the company policy is clear.
What about going to the restroom? "That always comes up," one male-to-female said. "Most of us avoid a restroom like a plague because we are afraid of the reaction of others, even though with stalls there should be no difficulty. But you don't want to face someone becoming hysterical about it."
During all this period, male-to-female people are taking hormone treatments to accentuate feminine characteristics and electrolysis treatments to eliminate body hair. "Let me tell you that you have to be serious about it to go through the pain of 200 hours of that treatment in your bodily pores," said one. Women changing to men undergo hormone treatments to suppress their breasts and to grow beards. Hormonal treatments, starting at $100 a month, must be continued for life. At any point, the gatekeeper therapists can halt the process. After the year-long "real life test," if the therapist agrees, the candidate can go for surgery by a plastic surgeon. It can be done locally, but many prefer to go elsewhere, with Montreal especially popular.
I got estimates as high as $11,000 for surgery and $15,000 for electrolysis, meaning $50,000 for the entire male-to-female process. The female-to-male process generally costs less, closer to $30,000.
Clearly, no one spends that much money lightly. Why? why? why?
Peace of mind, say people in these categories - becoming the gender that their urgings, their pain all along told them was their destiny. Divorce frequently follows, but it's not always the case. And in many instances, good relations continue with ex-spouses.
The cross-dresser with whom I had lunch said that many wives of cross-dressers report that acquiescing to a husband's penchants releases tensions in his life and in the home. Relations with some relatives can be more difficult. On the brighter side here, Transpitt was organized in 1983 for transvestites/cross-dressers, male-to-females and female-to-males, with about 70 members (of an estimated 500 in Allegheny County). Moreover, the transsexuals have also formed their own much smaller group.
Pittsburgh's 1990 city ordinance outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual preference has been expanded to cover transgendered people. "But you aren't protected if you go outside the city limits of Pittsburgh," one transsexual lamented. Pittsburgh police and EMS personnel are praised for sympathetic care in two recent affairs involving cross-dressers - one the treatment of a vehicle accident victim; the other a carload of out-of-towners unwittingly driving on the East Busway.
And in the past two years all the groups, including gays and lesbians, have begun coordinating endeavors, such as launching a diversity project to promote education and justice efforts. For each group, this has meant overcoming elements of prejudice toward the others. Example: Two years ago the Gay & Lesbian Community Club began accepting transgendered people as members.
I suggest that the larger community and particularly religious leaders need to enlarge their anti-discrimination focus.
Beyond the anger expressed in many of my interviews, I recall especially the poignancy of my cross-dresser luncheon companion, whose eyes misted as he said: "I served for years in a war [Vietnam] with which I didn't necessarily agree, but I wanted to do my duty for my country. And now I find that the Constitution doesn't protect my rights."
source:Clarke Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette senior editor
Ex TV Prositute Cleared of Murder Charges---
After Serving 25 Years!
After 25 years in prison, John Duval finally feels exonerated.
The former transvestite prostitute was acquitted of murder Wednesday after being put on trial for the second time for the bludgeoning and strangling of a Philadelphia businessman in 1973.
Duval dropped his head and sobbed when the jury delivered its verdict after a week of testimony and two days of deliberations. Relatives in the gallery erupted in cheers and shouts of "hallelujah!"
"I feel overwhelmed," Duval said later, still dabbing his eyes. "I always maintained my faith."
Duval, 47, had been freed last spring on the basis of new evidence. If he had been convicted again of second-degree murder, he would have been returned to prison and remained there until he died or was granted parole.
Timothy Haworth, 52, a consultant from Philadelphia to Eastman Kodak Co., left his hotel the night of May 24, 1973, apparently in search of a prostitute. He was found dead in an alley the next morning.
Duval and fellow prostitute Betty Tyson were convicted on the basis of confessions they insist were beaten out of them by a rogue detective, and on the testimony of two teen-age runaways. They were sentenced in February 1974 to 25 years to life in prison.
One of the teen witnesses, Wayne Wright, recanted his testimony in 1997, saying he had lied about seeing Duval and Tyson with the victim.
Prosecutors then came upon a buried synopsis of a police interview with the other teen, Jon Jackson, in which he denied seeing Duval or Tyson with the victim - contrary to what the teens had testified in 1973.
Ruling that evidence was wrongfully suppressed, a judge freed Tyson in May 1998 and Duval last April. While prosecutors decided not to retry Tyson - the city gave her $1.2 million in compensation - they went after Duval
again. While Tyson had steadfastly maintained her innocence, Duval had twice admitted his guilt before a parole board.
His lawyer, Gilda Sherrod-Ali, said in closing arguments that Duval lied to the parole board in 1995 and in 1997 because "he believed that was the only way he could get out."
source: Gain report 02/03/00
Forget Jerry Lewis— the French Love
Their TV Hookers Even More
For the Inhabitants of Paris's most sought after district, the winter gales will be remembered not so much for broken windows or tiles as for the arrival of 400 transvestite prostitutes from Latin America.
With cars banned from the nearby Bois de Boulogne for risk of falling trees, the transvestites who walk the woods at night have been deprived of their kerb-crawling clientele. To the fury of residents, they have taken instead to patrolling the chic boulevards of the 16th arrondissement.
"One can't sleep any more. It's atrocious," said Marie Capucine Fauvet. 63, who lives In an elegant block on Boulevard Anatole-France. "Every night there are dozens of them standing outside the door; add the voyeurs, the pimps, the dealers and the clients, and the noise becomes infernal."
For years one of the capital's leading attractions, the transvestites - known in French as "hermaphrodites in high heels" - are so popular a draw that Saturday night traffic jams can stretch almost a mile.
Mainly from Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia, the transvestites and transsexuals enter France legally on tourist visas. They work from minibuses parked in the 810 hectares (2,000 acres) of woodlands.
The arrival of the circus has so exasperated the arrondissement's mayor, Jean-Pierre Fourcade, that he has written to the justice minister. "The exhibition of hundreds of transvestites driven from their habitual hunting grounds Is posing numerous problems," he said. "Please do something." But a police spokesman said the problem should resolve itself in weeks, as the storm damage had almost been cleared up.
"Things will soon be back to normal," he said.
source: The Guardian, via Gain 01/25/00
Here's a New Twist: Change Your Sex and Keep Your Job!!!
Say goodbye to the stereotype of the tragic transsexual who hides her past and starts her career all over again as a different gender.
In the high-tech industry, most companies would rather see a talented engineer go through a sex transition than a job transition. Although changing your sex on the job has its pitfalls and problems, the process has become much easier -- and far more common -- than you might think.
Karen (not her real name), who was a principal software engineer at a San Francisco company when she began living as a woman, said that her divisional VP was less concerned about Karen's new gender identity than her job loyalty. "When I gave her my spiel that I'd rehearsed about living as a woman and being transsexual, she started to relax because I think she thought I'd asked to see her in private because I was resigning," Karen laughed.
Transsexuals in the Bay Area geek community report that people have changed sex on the job at many large companies, including Sun, Intel, Seagate, Oracle, Apple, and HP. Back East, Lucent won praise from transsexuals for including "gender identity" in their equal opportunity policy statement. Furthermore, transsexuals on the job in high tech are nothing new: ten years ago, gender pioneer James Green, former president of FTM (female-to-male) International, went from life as a woman to life as a man while working at Sun.
Although transsexuals are still a small minority, many people in high-tech firms have at least one colleague who is "transitioning," the preferred term what happens when a transsexual moves from one gender to the other.
Before getting sex reassignment surgery, a transsexual must undergo therapy and live as his or her preferred gender for at least a year before surgically changing his or her sex. While this wait period makes the sex change process more gradual, there is nevertheless one abrupt transitional day when a formerly female colleague will show up at work as a man, or vice versa.
That's when things get sticky. How do you announce to your colleagues that you've thought about it for a long time, and you'll be needing to change your sex starting next week? Eve (not her real name), a staff software engineer who transitioned at Sybase in 1993, talked to her VP first.
He immediately told the HR department, which is typically how an on-the-job transition begins. "I told HR that we should send an e-mail about it to the whole building," recalled Eve. "But they wanted to meet with just the people I worked closely with and not tell anybody else. I said that was impossible, since I'm a staff engineer and I work with lots of people in the building. They kept saying it was better to be quiet about it, but I couldn't imagine how I'd do that when I walked into the building wearing a dress."
Eventually Eve convinced HR to inform the whole building by e-mail a month before her transition. Luckily, she had the support of the company gay and lesbian group, and minutes after sending out her e-mail, she was getting warm congratulations back from people all over the company.
Karen reported a similarly good transition experience. "I worked out an e-mail with the HR person, sent it out Friday, and came back Monday as Karen," she remembered. "Responses were overwhelmingly positive -- I even had a bouquet of flowers waiting for me on my desk."
Transitioning on the job can be such a delicate issue that it has spawned its own consulting industry. The Center For Gender Sanity in Los Angeles has done work with high-tech businesses in the Bay Area where management needs advice on how to handle employees' sex transitions.
Janis Walworth, a consultant with the center, stresses that people working with a transsexual need to have a strong understanding of what transsexualism is and how to respond appropriately. Walworth and her business partner Michele Kammerer have written a brochure and two books for companies dealing with a transitioning employee, and have done everything from conducting sensitivity seminars to meeting with CEOs of companies where a transsexual has just come out.
Walworth notes that there are good and bad parts about high-tech work for transsexuals. "A person in high tech is valued for their abilities and not as often for their sex, unlike in other occupations," she said. But, "I also think that in a high-tech company, lots of workers are not seen by the general public, which makes things easier for the company. They don't have to worry about what clients will think."
For transsexuals in more visible positions in the industry, this issue can mean their job will become so uncomfortable that they'd rather leave than fight it out. Kate Dean, executive director of transsexual advocacy group It's Time California, notes that she decided to quit her job as product manager at Seagate precisely because she didn't think it would be easy to transition in her high-profile position as a manager.
"I knew from offhand comments made by my immediate management that they would not be able to deal with it," she said, adding that this was not a reflection of Seagate as a whole. Dean recollected: "So when I was going to quit, I said, here's my official reason, which was that I want to leave for personal reasons, and here's my unofficial reason. And then I handed a picture of myself as a woman over to the HR person. They couldn't figure out what it meant until I told them the picture was of me."
Because she had stock options, Dean was lucky enough to be able to take some time off for her transition. Now she's a consultant in the high-tech industry, and adds that she often works for people who have no idea she's transsexual.
For most transsexual geeks, however, the on-the-job transition process is fairly painless. They simply inform their managers, and work with the HR department to come up with an appropriate e-mail to send out to colleagues. Usually, it happens with minimal fuss.
"Some engineers don't know that there are two genders," Karen joked.
"The men have long hair, the women have short hair, and everybody wears T-shirts and jeans. Unlike in blue-collar occupations, there's a lot of blending between genders. If you're a competent engineer, that's what really matters." Added Eve, "Being in high tech helped me transition because there's a lot of support for transsexuals on the Internet, and I could always e-mail my TS friends who were also in the industry. Plus, high tech is full of freaks, so there's lots of support no matter what kind of freak you are."
Of course, every transition has its downside. One of the oft-cited thorny problems is the bathroom issue. Colleagues may be uncomfortable when a transsexual starts using the bathroom appropriate to her or his new gender. Generally, an arrangement will be made where the transitioning employee designates which bathroom he or she will be using, and colleagues can choose whether or not to use it too. But sometimes a company will use this issue in a discriminatory way. "Transsexuals have been forced to use substandard bathroom facilities that are broken or dirty," asserted Dean.
And male-to-female transsexuals find themselves confronting the glass ceiling, just like other women. Karen eventually moved from an engineering job to one in technical writing, a more female-dominated occupation.
"My competency hasn't changed, but the perception of it has," she explained. "As an engineer, I enjoy plotting and planning and working out problems with other engineers, who are mostly male. [After my transition] it was disappointing to be ignored by them -- instead of working with me, they would go off and do it by themselves."
Eve reported that after her transition, she couldn't get a word in edgewise at company meetings where once she had been vocal and respected.
"My opinions were passed over as if I hadn't said anything. Sometimes I had the answer and was ignored until a man came up with the idea too."
But generally transsexuals agree that having a chance to live as their chosen gender outweighs the difficulties they face. Speaking like a true techie, Kate reported glowingly, "Medical technology is just getting to the point where a sex change can be complete. I'm totally functional." Then, giggling a bit, she cut to the chase: "I've been with partners who had no idea I had a sex change."
Annalee Newitz is a writer in San Francisco and will admit openly that she's one of those geeks who keeps forgetting that there are two genders.
source:Annalee Newitz, San Francisco Gate 01/28/00
Priest in NY Small Town Transitions
When Father Dennis Brennan, the longtime pastor of St. Margaret of Cortona Roman Catholic Church, goes on his weekly trip to the grocery store, he looks, well, unusual. The 5-foot 8-inch, balding, Irish-born priest wears a dark, full-length dress, an ill-fitting ladies' white wig, and a silver necklace. He also sports a lady's shoulder bag.
Obviously, Brennan -- an Albany Diocese priest for 33 years, 16 of which had been spent as pastor of St. Margaret's -- isn't quite what he used to be.
In fact, Brennan, 65, is in the process of making history as the first priest in America to undergo a sex-change operation. He's already listed as "Denise J. Brennan" on a newly issued New York State driver's license.
Parishioners in this tattered old railroad settlement five miles west of Schenectady are not exactly pleased -- nor is the bishop of Albany.
That's putting it mildly.
At a time when the Catholic Church is reeling from stories of priests who are gay, have AIDS or are involved in improper relations with young men, the incredible story of Father Brennan is one that the Albany Diocese could certainly have done without.
Parishioners here first learned of the dramatic change in their pastor's attitude just a few weeks ago, when Brennan -- long seen as a straight-laced traditionalist -- sent a remarkably candid and moving letter to several longtime parishioners.
In it, he announced the start of what he called his "personal journey." He then disclosed that he had been tormented by sexual conflicts for most of his life.
And he said that he had only recently been diagnosed with an extreme condition of sexual ambivalence known as "gender dysphoria." "It was determined that this condition began before birth," Brennan wrote the faithful. "It was never a matter of choice. I had always been conscious of my inner female gender, although I had managed to hide or bury it."
Brennan then bluntly disclosed, "I began, on this past Oct. 4, a period of one year of living, continuously, 24 hours a day, in and out of home, as a female. "This time of transition is required before undergoing sexual-reassignment surgery."
Michael Mastroianni, a St. Margaret's parishioner, longtime Brennan friend, and a recipient of Brennan's letter, is among many local churchgoers who say they feel betrayed. "I've known this man for 20 years and we've been friends for many years," said Mastroianni, a Rotterdam Junction resident and prominent local businessman. "He's been my parish priest, he baptized my son, he baptized my daughter, he's performed marriages for dozens of people in the village. "Dennis Brennan has been an asset to the Catholic Church all these years, [but] what he is doing now is against all our beliefs. "Very few people know about what is going on. I think they're going to be falling off their seats once they do."
A prominent Albany priest who learned of Brennan's decision from The Post had to take a seat before he could openly discuss his reaction. "I'm just stunned," said the priest, who has known Brennan for more than two decades.
"Dennis Brennan was a very conservative guy who I always considered to be very much from the world of the ‘tight concept' of what the priesthood was about."
A woman parishioner, who has known Brennan for more than a decade, said he's "been an impostor and a disgrace in the church all these years." "He had loads of money, his family owns a major insurance company in Dublin, and I know he owns three houses here by himself."
Another parishioner said Brennan often described his family as "prominent" in Ireland, and that the pastor claimed his father was once a senator, three of his brothers were priests and two of his sisters were nuns. "He was a very cultured man and a fine pianist," said the parishioner, who has also known Brennan for years.
Others in the diocese, including many other priests who have served alongside Brennan, were also shocked by his decision.
It has also been officially condemned by the diocese's top spiritual leader, Bishop Howard Hubbard. "Bishop Hubbard has strongly opposed Father Brennan in his desire to be transformed into a woman, and he has made that opposition very clear," said the Rev. Kenneth Doyle, Hubbard's spokesman.
Doyle said Brennan left the "active ministry" in September. "He has applied for laicization with the Vatican, which is a return to the lay state, and that is currently under way," Doyle said.
Brennan's case was first described earlier this month in a small conservative weekly Catholic publication called The Wanderer, published in St. Paul, Minn.
The Wanderer story suggested that Hubbard supported Brennan's decision to become a woman, and hinted that Albany's Catholic leadership, which has long been known for its theologically liberal orientation, was predisposed to approve Brennan's unconventional decision.
Doyle insisted the suggestions were false.
He said the church is not paying for the sex change or related hormone treatments -- even though Brennan continues to be covered by the diocese's health-care plan...
Although it hasn't helped them come to terms with Brennan's surprise decision, in retrospect, Mastroianni and others said there were signs that all was not well with their priest over the last five years. "He got very sick with emotional problems at that time. That's when I first realized something was going on," Mastroianni said. "It was then that he told me that he wasn't happy with his life. That he had these problems."
Others close to the diocese said Brennan had been tormented for several years with what one called "his feminine feelings." "Everyone wanted to help Father Brennan if they could, and arrangements were made to have him receive counseling, to receive therapy, to get him some help," said a source familiar with the situation. But finally, he came forward on Sept. 1 and communicated to Bishop Hubbard his desire to become a woman. It was then that the bishop insisted that he resign."
Brennan's poignant "Dear Friend" letter, sent to at least two dozen parishioners, provided a remarkably detailed account of his efforts to come to grips with a condition that, he said, had given him a lifetime of torment.
Brennan wrote that he began seeking "professional help" for his condition in August 1997 and later agreed to enter a "therapy program" designed for professionals, with the approval of Hubbard.
But after two months of therapy, Brennan said, "It was determined that I had been dealing, since infancy, with a problem of gender identity."
As a result, he said, he was referred to a specialty clinic in Hartford, Conn. "It was never a matter of choice. I had always been conscious of my inner female gender, although I had managed to hide or bury it," continued Brennan, who noted that he had first unsuccessfully sought help for his condition "during college years and before entering the seminary."
Brennan said he eventually became aware of "one doctor in New York City" who he thought might be able to help. "It is fortunate that I took definite steps, two years ago, to get the medical and professional help that I needed," he wrote in his letter. "Moreover, it is of very great significance that I have benefited from the understanding and guidance of Bishop Hubbard, who sat down with me and a key doctor after having consulted, by telephone, with other therapists. "The bishop has also ensured that I have received the very best spiritual direction ... "My legal name has been changed to Denise, and a new Social Security and Medicare cards and driver's license have been issued in that name, along with the gender designation, female."
Brennan said he had no regrets about the many years he had spent as a man -- and his three decades spent as a priest. "I can never, adequately, express my profound gratitude for the privilege of sharing, through ordination, in our Lord's priestly ministry," he wrote. "During 33 years of serving as a priest in the parishes of Albany, I have been lavished with our Father's love, through the kindness and generosity of countless faithful disciples of His Son."
Finally, Brennan said he wanted to thank those former parishioners who had publicly and privately conveyed their support for his decision. "It is gratifying to have received strength from the love and support of my family and a great number of friends," he wrote. "The inner tranquillity and overall peace that have enveloped me since this transition began is cause for continual thanksgiving ... "Thank you for the opportunity to share this time with you. May God bless you."
The letter is signed, "Denise J. Brennan."
source by Fredrick U. Dicker New York Post Online Edition
Say Uncle
Among the assorted porn stars, fetishists, erotic artists and misfits who've floated through the strange circle of Dr. Susan Block, sex therapist, and her husband, filmmaker Max Lobkowicz, there was, in the summer of 1996, a slim, effeminate young man who liked to tell people he was Steven Spielberg's nephew.
Jonathan Taylor Spielberg, né Anoushirvan Fakhran, was already going by the name that he would legally switch to a year later -- a name that has gotten him arrested three times in the past month in Fairfax City, Va. Authorities there allege that the Iranian-born man was just pretending to be related to the famous director.
According to the Washington Post, which broke the story February 7, Fakhran is 27 and changed his name in 1997. He has claimed to be as young as 16. In any case, being Spielberg's "nephew" is what got him admitted to Paul VI, a small, tony Catholic prep school in Fairfax City. The Post reported that the school's principal believed Fakhran's story (he claimed to be researching a film role) and graciously waived tuition. The young man was even allowed to park his blue BMW with the vanity plate "SPLBERG" in the principal's assigned spot. Fakhran, who's free on bail, faces charges that he defrauded Paul VI.
Lobkowicz also believed Fakhran's story when the darkly handsome young man approached him three years ago with an unusual request.
"We had our studios and offices in the Century Wilshire Hotel at the time," says Lobkowicz, who produces his wife's cable/Internet show and helps run her Institute for the Erotic Arts and Sciences in downtown L.A. "And Jonathan was staying there with his mother. One night during the show he came to introduce himself. He said he was Steven Spielberg's nephew, and he wanted to do a movie. He said, 'I have this idea. I want to play a transvestite. Will you film it?' So I said, 'Sure.' That's how these tapes came about."
(The Century Wilshire Hotel's management confirmed that Block's show was at one time shot there. It could not, however, verify whether "Jonathan Taylor Spielberg" ever resided at the hotel with his mother.)
Lobkowicz now has over six hours of Fakhran on video. Some of it shows him being interviewed by Block and another woman on Block's trademark bed (the setting of her weekly TV shows, from which she interviews authors and celebrities and takes viewer calls while dressed in lingerie). Most of the footage, however, shows Fakhran, dressed in black pumps, sheer stockings and a miniskirt, playing a transvestite attempting to pass as a woman in a lesbian bar.
"There's no dialogue," explains Lobkowicz, who bears a slight resemblance to actor Peter Boyle, before cueing the tape. "We were planning to have a voice-over. What happens is that he comes into a bar and meets these lesbian women. Ultimately they discover him."...
The art-house porn film, entitled The Story of V, shows the man who would be Spielberg's nephew entering a bar scene in drag. At first he's ignored by the half-dozen women sitting in the room sipping red wine (among whom is Block). But soon they discover the lady in the see- through leopard-print blouse and black bra, and they begin to caress, kiss and lick him.
"Jonathan loves girls," interjects Lobkowicz. "And they love him. He's really not a transvestite. It's just a role he wanted to play."
And Fakhran plays it to the hilt. Two of the lesbians drag him off to the bathroom where they give him an impromptu "inspection." Then the party really gets rolling.
"Nice stuff, eh?" says Lobkowicz, sipping coffee... "Jonathan wrote the story and directed the whole thing. We were only the crew, really."
Later in the tape Fakhran plays the voyeur as a luscious blond rips off the pants of a male bartender who has apparently followed them into the restroom. Block gets back into the action by lifting Fakhran's skirt to give his hairy bum a playful series of smacks with a leather belt. She then takes off his shoes and moves him into the shower. With mascara running down his face, Fakhran stands under the water, making a gesture of victory and mouthing the word "Yes!"
"I got to know him very well," says Lobkowicz while changing tapes. "He was a very gentle, very sweet man. I never thought he was lying. He said that the Spielbergs didn't want anything to do with him because he's Iranian and there's that whole Jewish thing going on. It made sense to me."
The next tape shows Fakhran as a guest on Block's show in an episode that ran a few weeks ago. Lobkowicz says they ran the show sort of as a prelude to editing The Story of V for inclusion in Block's Encyclopedia of Sex and Fetishes, a video compendium of everything erotic under the sun. According to Lobkowicz, The Story of V represents the fantasy many men have of wanting to be a lesbian. Lobkowicz also plans to show some clips of the raw footage on Block's Web site.
During his appearance on Block's TV
show, Fakhran is sandwiched between Block and the blond bomb- shell from
the video. Block is wearing a large white hat, black bra and matching panties.
Fakhran is dressed in jeans and, ironically, a white Planet Hollywood sweatshirt.
While playing with Block's pet snake, they discuss Fakhran's desire to be
an actor, his virginity and the members of the famous family he claims as
his own.
"I loved your last movie," Block jokes. She then asks him about his "Uncle Steven."
"He's on vacation right now," says Fakhran.
"Why don't you say hello to him?" prompts Block.
"Hello Steven," Fakhran says, waving to the camera.
Fakhran then brags a bit about his credits, which he says include some modeling and extra work playing a female model in Robert Altman's 1994 film Ready to Wear.
Lobkowicz says he and his wife have stayed in touch with Fakhran, and that the young man calls them every six months or so. He never mentioned going to the Catholic prep school but did tell them he was striving to make his family happy by going to college, with the goal of becoming
a doctor. Lobkowicz says they have a number for Fakhran, and that they tried calling him when they read of his recent legal troubles. There was no answer.
However, Fakhran did leave behind a black-and-white 8-by-5 glossy head shot with the name "Jonathan Taylor Spielberg" printed underneath. Lobkowicz also kept other photos Fakhran left behind, snapshots of himself and his well-heeled, attractive mom. And there's a card inscribed "With love to mom and dad," which seems to have accompanied some flowers he gave them. (Lobkowicz says Fakhran often affectionately referred to him and Block as "Mom and Dad.")
"When we met him and his mother at the hotel, he said they were staying there because they were remodeling their condominium," says Lobkowicz. "He was preparing to go off to be a doctor. But he also wanted to be an actor. That's always what he talked about. After a couple of months he left. He said his family wanted him to be an M.D."
Lobkowicz describes Fakhran as a "collector of experi- ences" and suggests that he may have been "practicing" for a future career as a con man or an actor. The line between the two is often rather thin.
"I think he wanted to see if he could pull it off in real life," says Lobkowicz. "A lot of actors do that kind of thing. It's not that unusual. In any case, I can't see this man doing anything really bad."
Lobkowicz also believes there's more to this story than meets the eye and wonders why Fakhran is being harassed by the police in Virginia. After all, no one has yet suggested that Fakhran swindled anyone out of cash.
"Money was the least of his problems," says Lobkowicz. "He and his family had a lot of money, and he was always dressed well. He never talked about money. It was like, 'I'm a Spielberg, don't worry about it.'"
But according to a recent Washington Post story, Fairfax City police detectives testified in court that Fakhran admitted to them that he has no relative named Spielberg and that his father was in jail in Iran.
"Whatever he is, he did a wonderful piece," says Lobkowicz. "It's one of the best things in my video library, and I've got tons of stuff. I don't care who he is. He's a great filmmaker."
source: Stephen Lemons, copyright Salon online magazine 02/16/00 photo from Salon
MOVIES/Awards Watch/And the Nominees Are...
The nominees for the 72nd Annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards, aka The Oscars, were announced February 15th. Of note, Hillary Swank's career-making performance as Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry earned her a best actress nomination, and co- star Chloe Sevingny as Brandon's girlfriend received a best supporting actress nod.
Quite a few films about and by members of the GLBT community. Among catagories and nomineees of interest to our communities:
BEST PICTURE: American Beauty (gay subject matter); The Cider House Rules; The Green Mile; The Insider; The Sixth Sense
BEST ACTOR: Russell Crowe; Richard Farnsworth; Sean Penn; Kevin Spacey-American Beauty (gay subject matter); Denzel Washington
BEST ACTRESS: Annette Bening- American
Beauty (gay subject matter); Janet McTeer; Julianne Moore; Meryl Streep;
Hilary Swank- Boys Don't Cry (TG subject matter)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Michael Caine; Tom Cruise; Michael Clarke Duncan; Jude Law- The Talented Mr. Ripley (gay subject matter); Haley Joel Osment
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Toni Collette; Angelina
Jolie (bi actress); Catherine Keener; Samantha Morton; Chloë
Sevigny-Boys Don't Cry (TG subject matter)
BEST FOREIGN FILM: All About My Mother-dir. Pedro Aldomovar (TG subject matter, gay director); Caravan; East-West; Solomon and Gaenor; Under the Sun
BEST DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes, American Beauty (gay subject matter); Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich (TG subject matter); Lasse Hallström, The Cider House Rules; Michael Mann, The Insider; M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense
SCREENPLAY/ ADAPTATION: John Irving, The Cider House Rules; Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Election; Frank Darabont, The Green Mile; Eric Roth and Michael Mann, The Insider; Anthony Minghella, The Talented Mr. Ripley (gay subject matter)
SCREENPLAY ORIGINAL: Alan Ball, American Beauty-(gay subject matter); Charlie Kaufman, Being John Malkovich (TG subject matter); P.T. Anderson, Magnolia; M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense; Mike Leigh, Topsy-Turvy
Brandon Teena Saga Continues
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Wednesday announced that it will litigate the Nebraska appeal of a meagertrial court award against a county whose sheriff failed to protect Brandon Teena from a brutal 1993 murder.
This year's popular film, Boys Don't Cry and documentary, The Brandon Teena Story, chronicle Brandon's life and tragic death. Born female and named Teena Brandon, he was living as a man in Falls City, Nebraska, when he was murdered at age 21...
Joann Brandon, the victim's mother and representative of the estate, sued Richardson County Sheriff Charles B. Laux because he negligently failed to protect Brandon between the time of the rape and the murder and was abusive in interviewing him about the rape. The trial court's opinion yielded mixed results, including a finding of negligence but with just $23,520 in damages.
"In a sickening catch-22, when Brandon reported that he'd been brutally raped, he faced hostility rather than compassion and protection from the sheriff," said Lambda Staff Attorney David Buckel, who is working on the case with Staff Attorney Doni Gewirtzman. Buckel added, "The sheriff actually notified the attackers of Brandon's report and then failed to ensure his safety."
Said Beatrice Dohrn, Lambda's legal director, "We hope to expose and help end the senseless epidemic of hate violence against members of our communities. No one, regardless of labels like gay or transgendered, should be attacked or mistreated because they are perceived to be different. One way to ensure protection is to put a price tag on law enforcement's disregard for people who are victimized simply for who they are."...
The suit, Joann Brandon v. County of Richardson, Nebraska, will contend that the trial court made several significant legal errors that led to an unacceptablysmall recovery.
The appeal will argue, among other things, that the trial court made a legal error on the apportionment of damages where a duty to protect was violated. Specifically, the trial court was mistaken in allowing the sheriff's employer to escape paying damages by apportioning responsibility to the murderers. Lambda and co-counsel also will argue that the sheriff's department should have anticipated the grave danger of further violence when it alerted the murderers that the rape had been reported without arresting them or protecting Brandon.
source: www.lambdalegal.org 02/02/2000
Miss Manners Takes on Women and Masculine Titles
Dear Miss Manners: Over the years, I've noticed a growing trend in the media in which female performers in the action world are now referred to as "actors" rather than "actresses." ...Also I've noticed that women are now "hosts" rather than "hostesses" at events , and in the world of comedy are referred to as "comedians" rather than "comediennes." When did these changes become correct, if, indeed, the are correct?
Gentle Reader: Miss Manners has noticed these changes, too, and while they are neither incorrect nor mandatory, she doesn't quite like them.
It seems to her that they achieve the opposite purpose of that which is intended...
Why has it been considered dignified to call women actresses and hostesses, but belittling to call them poetesses or lady-doctors? Miss Manners can't tell you, but she knows these to be true.
Stodgy as she is, she is not for changing just for the sake of uniformity. But if there as to be change, she would rather it be in the direction of establishing more female titles, rather than making the male ones universal.
Miss Manners' intent here would be the same as those going in the opposite direction--to make the point that ladies are just as legitamately members of the profession as gentlemen. But it strikes her that using only masculine titles says symbolically that these are jobs for gentlemen, although they may now be filled by ladies, while using both puts the factor of gender with the job-holder, rather than the job itself, which should be gender-neutral.
source: Miss Manners (Judith Martin) syndicated columnist 01/14/00
MOVIES: Boys Don't Cry Coming to Nashville
The critically acclaimed Boys Don't Cry is
actually coming to Nashville, showing at Vanderbilt's Sarratt Cinema, in
the Sarratt Student Center, along with the documentary on the actual people
involved. Below are listed times and dates. For complete details go to the
Vandy website, click on Sarratt and get the complete semester's line-up and
directions. Website: www.vanderbilt.edu
Boys Don't Cry Thursday - Saturday March 16-18, @ 7 and 9:15 p.m.; Sunday matinee March 19 @ 3 p.m.
(1999) Dir. Kimberly Peirce. Hilary Swank, Chloe Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard. The disturbing, true story of Teena Brendan, a transgendered person whose search for life in rural Nebraska explodes into a torrent of violence when she befriends two intolerant town residents. 114 min.
The Brandon Teena Story Friday, Saturday March 17, 18 @ Midnight
(1998) Dirs. Susan Muska, Greta Olafsdottir, an engrossing documentary about Brandon Teena (aka Teena Brandon) who was murdered along with two others in 1993 in rural Nebraska. The story is told through interviews, recorded interrogation, trail transcripts and file film footage. 89 min.
ADMISSION $4 GENERAL ADMISSION $3 VANDERBILT STUDENTS
Ticket sales begin 30 minutes prior to screening time. Titles, dates and times are subject to change. For more information, call (615) 322-2425 or the Sarratt Cinema Hotline, 343-6666.
QUICK HITS: Media Mentions
Various Wire Reports / February 5, 2000
The newly crowned Miss USA is 21-year-old Lynnette Cole, Miss Tennessee. MissCole entertained the crowd by answering dumb reporter's questions with a Deadpan straight face.
"...Asked why male beauty pageants are not popular, she answered:''Because they don't look good in dresses.''Asked where she was going to store her crown: ''On my head.''...
People Magazine / February 21, 2000
In Terry Kelleher's review of NBC's Feburary 20th made-for- televison film Little Richard, Kelleher laments the sanitizing of Richard's non-traditional career and life:
"I was left wondering about the true depth of his religious commitment and wishing (heaven help me) for more than a couple of peeks at his cross-dressing and voyeurism. What's the story on those quirks? As one of the executive producers, Litttle Richard seems to have chosen titillation over revelation."
WWDB-FM Radio, Philadelphia, PA / February 16, 2000
Jay Thomas, host of Fox's ratings winner Who Wants to Marry A Multi-Millionaire, told WWDB's morning host Gil Gross that one "man" was able to make it into the top 100 finalists after producers screened some three thousand women. Thomas said the contestant was a crossdresser, not a transexual and said if the contestant had made it on the air and been chosen, it would have made for excellent television.
Wigged
Out by Jennileigh Love