Ball Memorial Response to Transphobic treatment

On August 4, 2010, In Diversity, Media, Sexism, news, pathologization, By Antonia D'orsay

BMH Responds To Transgender Conversation

8/4/2010

Muncie – As has been widely reported in various media, regarding a transgender woman involving her recent experience while seeking services at Ball Memorial Hospital, the patient’s account of what transpired during her visit concerns us deeply and gave us pause.

It prompted us to take action!  Ball Memorial Hospital (BMH) is engaging with Indiana Equality & Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance to assist with review of BMH care policies, employee benefits, and diversity training.  BMH is collaborating with both groups to develop a curriculum for employee LGBT awareness training to improve sexual orientation and gender identity awareness in BMH anti-discrimination training.  This will include sensitivity to the sometimes special health care needs of people who are transgender.

Discussions also included Ball Memorial Hospital’s 2010 strategic plan to implement a Diversity Council that will include local community member participation that reflects the varied and diverse community served by our hospital.  The Council will be charged with the development of an inclusive diversity initiative that results in ensuring a culture of respect, trust and engagement.

Ball Memorial Hospital is committed to providing preeminent health care services for all our patients, and to continue its tradition of treating all patients and families with dignity and respect.

To all who have posted on our Facebook page, we thank you for your feedback!

Mike Haley
President & CEO
Ball Memorial Hospital

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The Unbearable, Invisible, Prisons Of Our Being

On July 27, 2010, In Diversity, Empowerment, Transsexual, pathologization, By Radha

“We build ourselves prisons and live there, sometimes all of our lives.

We think we will be safe in them, but we just cut ourselves off from everyone else.”

Larissa

It’s my great good fortune to be employed in an environment which allows me to see and speak with some of the most remarkable human beings I imagine live on Planet Earth. They are nondescript, often poor and many times uneducated in the ways of suburban American lives.

Sometimes they are loud, often they see things I do not and can describe them in detail. Often their thoughts do not resonate with my experience, but the offering of them resonates within the speaker, sometimes to such a degree that no one else can speak to the thoughts presented.

The people I am fortunate enough to work among have that thing about them that most Americans fear, more so, I think, than most of us fear death. They have diagnoses. They have mental illness diagnoses.

Yes, the things we fear greatly: schizophrenia (often of the paranoid type,) schizoaffective disorder, severe bi-polar disorders, dysthymic disorders, acute glossalaliac mania, and depressive disorder. Many also have the lesser Axis II diagnoses that add a tremendous handicap to both themselves and the practitioners who work with them, the families who once (and occasionally still do) loved them (and sometimes contorted them into beings as brittle and delicate as funnel cakes,) and for those who live near them, interact with them and wish that they would just go away: borderline personality disorder, complex PTSD, anti-social personality disorder and the frightening to others dissociative identity disorder.

Some of those I work among are persistently at risk for self-harm, up to and including suicide. Very few and very rarely do they express a desire to harm others (no more so, anyhow, than the 10-million-times-a-day-said-by-most-children-and-many-adults-and-generally-not-considered-acutely-threatening “I wish you (him, her or they) would die” or a so-usual-as-to-be-not-noticed-in-the-suburbs “I’m gonna kill you (her, him or them.)”

Odd, no, how the addition of a diagnosis that scares the hell out of layman and professional alike (some if not all of those listed above) can make the mundane startlingly emergent, leading to calls for crisis clinicians and police officers, ambulances, psych-wards and state-owned psychiatric hospitals.

Ask politicians if scaring the bejesus out of the population isn’t an effective way to govern unhampered a supposed democratic republic. Better yet, ask yourself how many freedoms and tolerances are you willing to forego for the constitutional right to live forever regardless the fact of your own mortality.

“Larissa” (not, of course, even close to her real name) is one of those folks I am privileged to work among and with. She has one of those dreaded diagnoses so many of us perceive as nightmares on nights when we’ve over indulged in peanut-butter, dill pickle and bleu cheese with Alfredo sauce pumpernickel crust pizza chased by a 6-pack of PBRs.

Yeah, truly exquisite and torturous nightmares engulf us when we consider the possibility of a D-I-A-G-N-O-S-I-S. Frightening stuff, gimme a flaming pit in the deepest Puritan hell instead.

Yet, when one finds herself 21 years down the road working with such folks in one capacity or another, she finds that in most respects, hell, all respects on most days, she feels more safe and blessed to be among them than she feels herself to be among her suburban neighbors and acquaintances. There is no creature alive, I am certain, more liable to erratic, unhinged behavior than a suburbanite on a highway or road with an SUV or sedan.

No creature can be as unpredictably dangerous as the remnants of the disappeared white middle-class who profoundly believe that the ubiquitous relegation of a Puritan-based “Sinners in the hands of an” Angry God to fireside tales designed to frighten children has somehow managed to denigrate their supposed democracy to a plaything of “socialists and those people” who wish to enchain them in a subservience they grew up thinking was reserved to those of browner hue.

They decry their stolen wealth that they declare was taken by those who struggle to eat three meals a day and buy Pampers for their babies and in not admitting that they have been hoodwinked, bamboozled, relegated, stolen from, and demeaned by the very iconic paragons of America’s “wealth equates to righteousness and we do God’s work” financiers, corporate heads and minions, corporatist-Neolibs, Libertarians and -Neocons who they fervently dream will raise them to the level they believed they were born to. Those people are dangerous and frightening.

However, the fever dreams of the disappeared American middle-class and the cynical dictatorships of the wealthy and their minions in modern America aren’t the focus of the canvas I’m trying to paint in this essay.

The words attributed above in the epigraph to “Larissa” are the focus of that canvas. But, I know that her words bear as well on the “American problems” delineated above. We who make prisons for our selves live in the realm of our severe and persistent nightmares. We alienate ourselves from others and find our only friendships are among those who fear the same things as we fear: relationship, compassion, social consciousness and conscience. Afterall, the trope goes for the past three hundred years: God’s blessings are evidenced by the wealth and power he grants us, not by the good and decent works we do nor by finding that love and care are inexplicably among the few slivers of human existence that are both plentiful and free-of-charge.

“I dance in your words. Appreciating your vulnerability. Surprisingly comfortable with my own. Your work is beautiful. Your journey is felt with passion and respect. Rest comfortably in yourself for you inspire me.”

Words from the Netz, graciously posted in comments here. I give her a curtsy in return and offer my hand, how else respond to such a gift?

In her words I dance, knowing full well what it costs to open just a tiny crack in a prison wall that’s built on years of torment and harm received. The common wisdom wraps us, as smooth and constricting as swaddling, or wrappings on the feet of classical Chinese women. It whispers through our limbs and alights while we sleep in our dreamscapes, you must be strong and alone to survive, else the demons will come again and ensnare you, begin the torture again.

Yet, what we know is true is that our dreams possess us even in daylight. Voices from the past flitter or shout through the bones we use to dance. Fear ripples through the muscle that moves the bones we dance with. Still, we maintain our notions of prisons, the safety that inheres inside the walls, closed away in dark cells where, if we are fortunate, the fears cannot find us.

Alas, no one is that fortunate for fear holds the keys to the prison and to the doors of every cell inside the thick, stone walls. He visits us when he cares to and we are helpless under his gaze and in his keeping.

The only avenue out is the avenue we most usually refuse to walk along. Avenue V that bears the initial of the keys to our unbearable, invisible prisons: vulnerability.

The truth is paradox. My hiding and fear never managed to release me from the prison of my being. The recognition and embrace of my vulnerability released me. Your recognition will release you as well. For, what are we if not inherently vulnerable? Who among us is unbreakable, immortal, needing have never a care for death, sorrow or pain?

Would all the secrets of a heart keep that heart from pain or sorrow, keep the brain that holds that fear from moving through the doorway into death? Thus, what is left, but to try the door that one fears most, but that one never tries at all?

In vulnerability lies the sacred  space we imagine lies beyond our deaths. In vulnerability and its acceptance for one’s self lies the fact of one’s inherent freedom: the freedom to be, to be one’s very self and take joy in that.

I know without a shade of doubt that the thought of others knowing I am a trans-woman, or knowing that I experienced a brutal rape once upon a time may lead to their removal from my life … out of fear. The fear that grips us in the places we feel most vulnerable: our sexuality, our acceptance and regard from others.

So it goes … and so it goes. On and on human being leads us into useless and groundless fears. We cower before differences in skin color, differences in our beliefs about deity or its non-existence (very like a religion itself, except that it refers to itself with a trope seldom used by the traditionally religious. Whisper now, rationality).

We hide the facts of our rapes, of our brutality toward others or their brutality toward ourselves. We hide, quiveringly, our transsexuality, our homosexuality, our compassion, our empathy, our love, our desire, our skin-color sometimes, our parents and siblings, our girlfriends or boyfriends, our intelligence, our joy. All of our virtue, we often feel, must remain hidden away and unreachable by those who would hurt us, by those we might love, or meet in friendship.

Is it wondrous, then, that the human world abounds with suffering, or that many think of life as “a vale of tears?”

How so? We hide away the best of ourselves, imagining that is the only way we can live long and without pain. Yet, death seeks us out, pain seeks us out, even in our hidden fortresses where fear holds the keys to the cells in which we immure ourselves.

Life hurts us. It’s a precondition of living. To be mortal and made of vulnerable material is to be inherently subject to pain. No amount of dissembling or whistling past graveyards changes that fact.

Fear holds the keys, and the keys are our various vulnerabilities. It’s only in reveling in vulnerability, risking pain and living in freedom from our unbearable, invisible prison walls, that we thrive. Only through acceptance of our vulnerability and through exultation in that vulnerability can we finally live in freedom, knowing others, loving them and laughing with them, crying together and holding one another in spite of ever-possible sorrow, ever-possible joy.

This post originally appeared at Life Journeys To A T

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Americans for Truth about Homosexuality: Warming up the next big scare?

On July 26, 2010, In Empowerment, Politics, pathologization, By Emelye Waldherr

UPDATE: The date and time of the protest mentioned below has changed. From Andy Thayer at Pam’s House Blend,
The August 4th banquet that was to have led off AFTAH’s anti-gay “academy” has apparently been canceled. Therefore, our protest that was scheduled for that night has been moved to the following night at the site of the “academy”:

7:30 PM Sharp
Thursday, August 5th
In front of “Christian Liberty Academy”
502 W. Euclid Avenue, Arlington Heights, IL

For those traveling from Chicago, please meet in front of the Ogilvie Transportation Center Metra Station, 500 W. Madison Street, Chicago at 6 PM Sharp — just look for the Pride flag!

For more info, email or call the Gay Liberation Network at LGBTliberation@aol.com or 773.209.1187 (which is also day-of cell phone contact).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems the United States may slowly be turning around in its attitudes about gay and lesbian acceptance. Polls and popular media are all shifting to a more Gay/Lesbian friendly attitude, one that has the “religious” right wing homo haters rushing towards their fainting couches. Of course, the rhetoric from that group of propagandists has become more and more strident as their mendacious veneer of respectability wears thin and their obvious animosity becomes more and more apparent. They are getting more and more desperate, it seems, as their cash cow begins to run dry.

Some weeks ago, Peter Labarbera, from the “Americans for Truth about Homosexuality” hit upon a new scheme to separate his followers from their cash. He introduced an “Americans For Truth Academy” that, for a fee of course, would teach adults and kids as young as 14 how to engage in his brand of bigotry.

“Adults: $149 for 3-day conference; Single day rate: $50/day; Married couples discount: $199 for full conference; Youth: $99 (scholarships available to attendees ages 14-25)”

Two of the scheduled seminars in this laff fest are:

- Matt Barber, Liberty Counsel; Board Member, AFTAH: “Masculine Christianity: a non-defensive approach to the Culture War over homosexuality”

- Arthur Goldberg, JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality: “The gender confusion agenda: ‘transgender rights’”

First of all, I have to question how and where “masculine Christianity” is defined in the Bible, as opposed to “feminine Christianity.” Isn’t pretty much all of the Bible written by, for and generally about men? Calling his brand of Christianity “masculine” smacks of overcompensation and misogyny, two things that we are all too familiar with as motivations for hate crimes. In addition, what could “non-defensive” mean except “offensive?” The dog whistles are too loud in this workshop advertisement to ignore. I hope and pray the effect of its teaching doesn’t manifest itself into violence.  If, God forbid, violence is perpetrated by someone who has attended this seminar, I certainly hope accountability will be applied to the fullest.

After lunch on the second day, (“Light lunch provided” – for $50 per day they damn well better feed their “students.” I wonder what they will spike the Koolaid with this time?) we have Arthur Goldberg talking about,“The gender confusion agenda: ‘transgender rights.’” I was unfamiliar with Mr. Goldberg and his qualifications regarding his knowledge of trans people. AFTAH doesn’t have any biographical information on him, or any of the other presenters, other than the groups they are part of so I went a’searchin’.

It seems that Mr. Goldberg has little apparent knowledge, education or experience with trans people and their life experiences. The AFTAH website mentions that he’s the founder of JONAH, (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality) a Jewish ex-gay ministry. It turns out he started this organization in 1999, after finishing his probation. What was he convicted of? Karen Ocamb tells us,

An investigation by Truth Wins Out, an antigay-watching site headed by longtime Religious Right watcher Wayne Besen and the South Florida Gay News revealed that Arthur Goldberg, co-foundeder of Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) and president of Positive Alternatives to Homosexuality (PATH), is also “Abba Dabba Do,” who the investigators say was “the Wall Street criminal mastermind who was convicted in 1987 and went to prison for ”fraud of spectacular scope” that included “bilking poor communities with complicated bond schemes.”

Wayne Besen, at Truth Wins Out tells us a bit more,

Upon completing his parole, Goldberg dropped his conspicuous middle name, Abba, and co-founded Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) in 1999. He is currently the president of Positive Alternatives to Homosexuality (PATH), an umbrella group for “ex-gay” referrals and the Executive Secretary of the notorious National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). He is also the President of Congregation Mount Sinai, a temple in Jersey City and a Principal for the International Center for Gender Affirming Processes (CGAP). Goldberg is a key ex-gay industry insider and viewed as an architect of its strategy and message machine.

So it seems this guy is qualified to talk about trans people – as long as honesty and real knowledge aren’t required. Was J. Michael Bailey unavailable? At least he can claim to have done some research about trans people, even if it is just on a few that went to the same bars he did. Hmm, must be nice work if ya kin getit!

Peter Labarbera, calls the trans community, “the crazy cousin of the ‘gay’ movement.” I guess he figures we’re so incapacitated we won’t be able to recognize and call him on the brand of crap he’s peddling. A protest is being planned to take place outside the location of this farce on August 4th. We need a sizable part of that protest come from the trans community. More info can be found at this facebook page. I wish I could be there in body as well as in spirit.

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Jessie Andrews is a Fraud

On July 11, 2010, In Sexism, pathologization, By Antonia D'orsay

A “chat” conversation that took place on FaceBook just a few minutes ago with someone calling themselves “Jessie Andrews”, who has made a point of befriending several trans folk.

10:02pm Jessie
hello sweety

10:05pm Jessie
u r lookin ugly
as hell

10:07pm Me
arches eyebrow Have you had this personality disorder long?

10:07pm Jessie
wat hthe fuck?

10:09pm Me
Requires a great deal of familiarity with someone to greet them with an insult and get away with it.

10:09pm Jessie
sweety
u r profile pic is ugly
change it

10:09pm Me
On what basis?

10:10pm Jessie
ur teeth is disgustng

10:11pm Me
Um, you can’t see my teeth in my profile pic

10:12pm Jessie
hunny u r manly
u r a transwoman
most of trans are beautiful
expect u

10:12pm Me
No, I am not a transwoman, I am a trans woman

10:13pm Jessie
hunny
u r lookin manly
alter ur face

10:13pm Me
So, let me get this straight. You imagine that you can see teeth in my profile pic, and you want me to change my profile pic because you, personally, think that I look masculine — that about cover it?

10:14pm Jessie
yup
u got beard too

10:15pm Me
snort So, um, anything else you want to imagine that I have?
Just so that I have all the bases covered, you see.
Need to have a full work up.

10:16pm Jessie
hunny u have got to put make up
u have to look sexy

10:16pm Me
I do?
There a rule that I need to look sexy?

10:17pmJessie
hunny u have to pose sexy for pic
just expose ur body slightly

10:18pm Me
Tell me more of this, please.
I’m dying to know about these thngs — why do I need to do those things?
Will it help me get a man?
Or a woman?

10:20pm Jessie
hunny u r already my girl

10:20pm Me
really?

10:20pm Jessie
u expose more of ur cleavage
yah u r mine

10:20pm Me
When did this happen?

10:22pm Jessie
by seein u on first sight

10:23pm Me
Hmm. There’s a problem with that.

10:24pm Jessie
why?
wat prob?

10:25pm Me
Well, you aren’t my type when it comes to women. I tend to prefer them darker.

10:25pm Jessie
hunny
iam
Jessie
hunny
iam
am like ur husband
i will fuck u with strapon

Me
That’s definitely not my type.

10:27pm Jessie
then wat is ur type?

10:28pm Me
Well, when it comes to women, I tend to prefer women of color, and I prefer a less penis based interaction.

10:29pm Jessie
awww
there u go
u got a cock?
i will chop it

10:30pm Me
No, that’s already been taken care of.

10:35pm Jessie
hunny u have pussy

10:36pm Me
Is that a question or a statement? Punctuation is usually useful in written discourse to enable ease of communication.

10:37pm Jessie
awww
r u a virgin?

10:39pm Me
LOL No, I am not. As I mentioned last time You tried this, I already have a boyfriend, and, had you actually bothered to even look at my profile you’d have known this.

10:39pmJessie
has he fucked u?

10:40pmMe
Yes.

10:41pmJessie
deep into ur pussy?
tell about ur experience

10:41pmMe
I just did — the rest is a more private matter twixt he and I.

10:43pmJessie
were u dominatin him
??

10:43pmMe
I’m not interested in BDSM variety stuff.

10:44pmJessie
aww k
hoe did u seduce him?

10:45pmMe
Nope. I generally don’t engage in seduction, either.

10:46pmJessie
then how did u have sex?
just like that

10:47pmMe
Well, we were both horny, had had a good evening, and, well, yeah, pretty much just like that.

10:48pmJessie
did he suck ur boobies?
how did u feel?

10:48pmMe
that’s a little too personal for me to be sharing with someone I don’t know. Hell, that’s rather personal info to be sharing with someone I do know.

10:48pmJessie
hunny its not

10:49pmMe
For you, perhaps, but I’m a rather prudish sort.

10:49pmJessie
hunny tell me pls

10:49pm Me
No. That’s none of your business.

10:50pm Jessie
hunny comeobn
did u cum over his face
??
did u squirt?

10:50pm Me
ewww. That’s gross.

10:50pm Jessie
hunny i have doubt
will transwoman squirt?

10:51pm Me
No clue — it’s not something I’ve gone around asking them.

10:51pmJessie
did u squirt over his bloody ‘s face

10:52pmMe
Again: ewww, that’s gross.

10:53pm Jessie
hunny is ur boy a gay?

10:55pm Jessie
hunny u r a slut
ur bf is a tranny too

10:55pm Me
Explain what you mean by “slut”, please
ANd my bf is most definitely not an automotive part.

11:00pm Jessie
hunny slut means a prostitute
ur bf is a slut too

11:01pm Me
Ah, well, in that case, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I am not a prostitute.
ANd he’s certainly not, lol

11:03pm Jessie
hunny how many men have fucked u
and how many women u have fucked?

11:03pm Me
None of your business.
None of anyone’s business, more accurately.
However, come to think about it, almost certainly fewer than you have.

11:04pm Jessie
aawww k tranny
u r a prostitute

11:05pm Me
Really? Why do you think that?
What makes you think that I trade seual favors for money?

11:05pm Jessie
bcoz u r a bitch

11:06pm Me
Oh! Well, shit, fuckwit — I’d have told ya I was bitch. Hell, ask anyone who’s actually ever bothered to learn anything about me — they’d have told you that.
But being a bitch doesn’t make me a whore or even a slut.

11:06pm Jessie
hunny u r
hunny u r a motherfucker tranny bitch

11:07pm Me
It does make me the sort of gal someone like you probably shouldn’t fuck with, because I’m not merely a bitch, I am an educated one

11:07pm Jessie
u r an educated motherfucker

11:08pm Me
Well, I can’t argue with that one — the mother of my kids is absolutely someone I fucked on more than a few occasions.
Kinda how they came about ya know.

11:09pm Jessie
hunny do u have kids?

11:09pm Me
yes, I do.

11:10pm Jessie
hunny did u give birth to those

11:10pm Me
Nope. Not for a lack of will, though.

At this point things became a rather unpleasant series of exchanges, so I’m going to place a warning here: this gets pretty nasty.

11:11pmJessie
awww ur wife gave them birth?

11:12pmMe
When she was my wife, yes.

11:12pmJessie
awww sweeety u r the best slut
u have fucke dur wife
and ur husband has fucked u
u r a real whore now

11:12pm Me
Your point being?
And, that still doesn’t make me a slut.

11:12pm Jessie
yah
u fuck u r slutty wife
ur motherfucking bf fucks u

11:14pm Me
Well, I haven’t had sex with my wife in, oh, several years, and she was anything but slutty.
So let’s talk about the people you’ve cut out of that false photo you use on your profile, shall we?
How many of them did you fuck?

11:14pm Jessie
awww u motherfucker
crazy bitch

11:15pm Me
Did you cut them out because, well, you didn’t want to be known as the one that blew the whole football team?
Was it hot under thebleachers there, trying to earn your way through school?

11:15pm Jessie
were u born to a motherfucker?

11:15pm Me
Were those rug burns on your ass or your shoulders?
No, just a mother.

11:16pmJessie
so u r dad was a tranny fucker
u tranny bitch
u r a tranny whore
did u grow up eatin ur mother’s shit

11:17pmMe
None of the above — do you often have this much trouble with simple concepts?
I mean, I can understand, being so obsessed with sex that you lose the ability for rational thought, so it’s not really a bad thing

11:17pm Jessie
yah with some motherfuckers like u

11:17pm Me
But you really should practice being wise.

11:17pm Jessie
k asshole bitch

11:18pm Me
Nope, just a bitch

11:18pm Jessie
hunny did u suck a cock instead of suckin boobs while being a baby

11:18pm Me
But it doesn’t surprise me that you’d turn to that.
I mean, with the desperation dripping from you, It’s likely all you have.
Me, I focused on boobs. I wasn’t nursed on jizz like you were.

11:20pm Jessie
u bloody fucker
hunny did u see porn wen u were young
??

11:21pm Me
No, sorry — I missed your starring roles, I know, I’ll ask a friend if he can get you better placement, though.

11:23pm Jessie
fuck u otherfucker
u r a sut
ur bf is a fuckin dickhead

11:23pmMe
Damn, you just don’t give up, do you?

11:23pmJessie
ur mother s a slut

11:23pmMe
I’ve utterly outclassed you, all you have is “bitch” and “slut”

11:23pmJessie
ur father is a tranny fucker
all over ur family is a motherfucking family
bye u slut

11:24pmMe
Now you fling tranny around like its some sort of insult oblivious to the fact that being a tranny makes someone ten times better than you could be in your wldest dreams.

11:24pmJessie
fuck u motherfucker
u r the disgustin person i have ever met

11:24pmMe
That’s just it — I wouldn’t fuck you if the human species depended on it

11:25pmJessie
awww motherfucker
fuck u

11:25pmMe
Haven’t looked int he mirror lately, have you, asswipe?

11:25pmJessie
u nasty smellin slut

11:25pmMe
Oh, now you can imagine you can smell me?

11:25pmJessie
u motherfather fucker
u cum on ur bf’s dick

11:25pmMe
LOL you are such a wuss

11:25pmJessie
he is an asshole

11:25pmMe
You only wish you could have a boyfriend

11:25pmJessie
u r a piggy motherfather fucker
nope
bcoz am a man

At this point, that was all I needed.

Those who know me will realize I was toying with them, while they were, of course, toying with me, and I figure it became fairly obvious early on to both of us that “she” was a fraud.

This individual has several trans “friends”. I suspect that they treat them with about as much courtesy.

Now, I don’t mind that people are interested in sex with trans folk and stuff. I have no doubt that there are trans folk who enjoy such, and that’s fine — my personal preference is, of course, that they not approach me, as I have a rather refined sense of attack and destroy.

I left the timestamps in place so that people an see the delays. Long delays like htat are fairly common is situations where someone is either masturbating, or they are conversing with others on a particular direction to take when playing a joke.

As the conversation turned to rather personally sickening stuff, I switched from a group perspective to one of one ugly chaser sitting in a dark room late at night jacking off to yet another one of their self hating fantasies.

Now, I did all of this so that people can begin to understand some of the crap that trans folk face here. There is an assumption that all trans folk are into this sort of thing, and many of us are not. I don’t have a problem with people who are into it — I’m not, however, and would prefer that people like htis one have little to nothing to do with me.

When they do, though, especially the ones like this, I will continue to do what I’ve done all along and reveal them for the jerks they are.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001243300370&v=info is the person I’m referring to. Uses the name “Jessie Andrews”, has a picture of a girl, and is presenting a false face in order to get closer to the objects of their affection. If you know anyone who has them as a friend that dislikes such people, please do them the favor of letting them know this is a man, not a woman, and not trans.

Sometimes, the unvarnished truth needs to be let loose.

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Trans Medical Care: Health reform’s failure

On July 5, 2010, In Empowerment, Erasure, Politics, WPATH, pathologization, By Antonia D'orsay

There’s something special about the concept of independence for me, personally.

Probably because I’m in a situation of great dependence right now, I suppose.

Yesterday, as those who follow events in the US may have been aware, was Independence Day.  A few days ago I wrote a little bit about the stuff behind it, but today I’m going to write about how my day went, and then I’m going to talk about some stuff that may surprise a lot of folks.

Because I’m a pretty complicated gal — and one with “political ambitions”, no less.

And Independence Day means a lot of things to me.

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If I’m not sick then why does it hurt so much?

On May 31, 2010, In Transsexual, Uncategorized, pathologization, By Emelye Waldherr

When I examine the rhetoric that surrounds the Trans community and how it’s used to identify and justify people’s existence I see a lot of work being done to remove the stigma of being trans. One of the ways that we do this is by denying the stigma, denying that we are sick, perverted, deviant and disordered but I really think we aren’t pushing back against those concepts so much as pushing back at the negative cultural connotations that they carry.

I read people who say that since being trans is not a disease, they aren’t really seeking a cure when they transition. That the medical model of transsexualism is off the mark, if not downright oppressive. My reaction to that is, OK, but then why does being trans hurt so much? (more…)

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Cures

On May 27, 2010, In Diversity, WPATH, pathologization, By Antonia D'orsay

I’m a weird one, I suppose.

I say that because other people tell me such.  I say that I’m a demon because other people demonize me, that I’m evil because people say that I have some dark thoughts, that I am the nightmare of other people because they speak about me in terms and with language that is filled with fear and fascination.

I am, as one friend has said, a “baby” in the world of activism.  Most of the activists who have positions of authority and influence in the community have been at this a lot longer than I have. I don’t take sides — an example of this being I am not “anti-Mara” or “against the NCTE”, nor am I “pro-Mara” or “pro NCTE”.  I don’t give a damn because I don’t have that interpersonal history.  I’ve met her, talked with her.  I’ve also met and talked with people that dislike her, and I’m aware of the stuff that said about her in the community both pro and con.

I’m not a journalist, I’m an observer, and I watch and I read and I say what I think, based on what I know.  And I think about what I know and I try to test what I know, and I do not play the game by the rules that the powers that be want it to be played.  I do not divulge confidences, I do not identify sources unless they don’t care, I don’t even usually talk about the rumors and the things I hear because to what end?  I’m not interested in a lot of things like that.

What I am interested in, however, is how we think of ourselves.  I’ve “attacked” the ideas of “passing” and of “disclosure” and now I’m going to tackle one that a lot of people won’t like and I don’t really give a shit about that either, but it could be interesting to see them step around this one.

Curing Transsexualism. (more…)

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