Decidedly Obscure Human Complaints.

Good news in the financial aid department ... thus far. Yesterday I met with Student Account Services and showed them a pile of statements from them with a slew of really confusing messages. One saying that I owe $4,654 and my account is on HOLD. Then another saying that I owe $2,000 and have the option to arrange a 5-month payment plan. And another saying that I've paid $2,600 in excess which will be refunded to me promptly. The recipient of my confusion was also confused as she typed on her computer, then her calculator, then the computer, and the calculator again. She said, "Um, we're not seeing your McNair scholarship on here.", and then, "Oh wait, there it is." And then something about signing a 10-month plan and two loans never kicked in. About twenty minutes and no solid answers later, I told her that I'd just go have my meeting with financial aid the next morning (this morning) and relay the results to her. Forward to this morning, where my...

Back in the day I wrote about how, when I was hired to work on campus, a tool they use called  E-Verify flagged my social security number due to my name/gender not matching . I'd had it all legally changed in all other ways (birth certificate, I.D., etc.) but not federally yet (I can't legally change it, rendering my local gender 'male' and my federal gender 'female'). This didn't just end up impacting my campus job, but also my financial aid. I received a notice from my school that I had to go through a re-verification process, giving them my new social security card, filling out paperwork again, tracking down my 2009 W-2 and giving it to them again, and so on. In addition to this whole fiasco, when I initially received my financial aid package at the beginning of this semester I worked out a 10-month payment plan with Student Account Services for the remainder that loans and scholarships didn't cover. Yet, due to this whole E-Verify flagged mismatch...

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which happens every year to pay tribute to individuals who have died due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Related to this, a recent U.S. transgender discrimination survey found that 41 percent of trans people in the United States have attempted suicide, which is more than 25 times the national average. Sadness! And definitely a very clear illustration of one of the many consequences that stem from misunderstanding, ignorance, and discrimination. Just released yesterday on MSNBC: Transgender Americans face high suicide risk November 19, 2010 - A staggering 41 percent of transgender people in the United States have attempted to commit suicide, according to a new survey. About 19 percent of transgender people report being refused medical care because of their gender-nonconforming status, and a shocking 2 percent have been violently assaulted in a doctor's office. Read More > On a more uplifting note, things are -much- better ...

TransAction's 2nd Annual Gender Conference took place this past weekend. It started at 9am on a Saturday morning and, being the sleeping-in schlub that I am, I didn't get there until about noon. My wonderful dad went with me. And he joined me on a "Trans Family" panel! And we both went to various other workshops. While my dad went to a workshop on trans in mythology, I went to one about state violence.  The speaker primarily spoke about trans incarceration and police brutality against trans people. It reminded me of this documentary along similar lines called " Cruel and Unusual " where the filmmakers spent three years with several trans women who were placed in cisgender men's facilities. This presentation (and the film) basically brought up how prisons don't have mechanisms in place for trans women. As illustrated in the stories of the women in the film, for example, it didn't matter for any of the women how long they'd been transi...

In the spirit of Transgender Awareness Month, an article about trans dudes - myself included - in IN Magazine by the most goygeous of them all, Princess Kennedy: Princess Kennedy talks "Original Plumbing" with Amos Mac in IN Magazine I invited a good friend of mine, Dexter Thomas -- you might remember Dexter from my last months Zombie tutorial -- to fill me in on what he was going through on this mental and emotional journey. Thomas started taking hormones about two years ago, technically beginning the transition. Standing about 6' tall, blonde and incredibly handsome, I see him out and think "who's the hot new guy?!" With my exceptionally large and male-dominated family, I'm no stranger to the effects of puberty, so it was fascinating to see and hear what he was going through.. Read more > The blonde thing confused me seeing as, ya know, I'm not blonde. Then it dawned on me that when Kennedy and I initially met, I was doing the blonde...

Judicial elections don't usually gain a lot of notice, but one such race in California has drawn national attention as it prepares to place the country's first openly transgender judge on the bench. Victoria Kolakowski nearly did not become a lawyer after the Louisiana State Bar Association rejected her application. " I was initially denied because they said I was not of a sound mind, " she said. The association made the claim because she listed herself as a transsexual . She ultimately had to appeal the decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court before she was allowed to even take the bar exam. After passing she moved to California to practice law and has been a private lawyer, as well as a corporate attorney. OAKLAND, Calif. — A 49-year-old California patent lawyer has been elected as the nation's first openly transgender trial judge. Alameda County elections officials say Victoria Kolakowski beat prosecutor John Creighton 51 to 48 percent – a margin o...

Even before I learned the term "gender binary" and understood that it referred to the arbitrary (and thoroughly unscientific) notion that there are only two genders and we must all be one or the other, I knew I didn't fit in. It took years for me to figure out that my not fitting in had less to do with the shape of my body, the pace at which I developed, or my dreams, than it had to do with these ridged and unrealistic ideas of who gets to wear what, and which bathroom door it's okay to walk through. Once I figured that out, things became clearer, but no easier. Ignorance may not be bliss, but knowledge is also no ticket to happiness. And so, as I do at least once or twice a month, I found myself staring at a magazine cover, shaking my head, and trying to reconcile the world I'm reading about with the one I'm living in. One thing I can say for being aware of your own and others experience and living in this world. It's a hell of a lot more interesting than...

I received an e-mail recently from the editor of Westminster College's college newspaper from an student requesting to interview me about being trans. Seeing as November is Transgender Awareness Month, his timing couldn't have been better. Additionally, this Saturday a local trans-advocacy group called TransAction is hosting their 2nd Annual Gender Conference themed "Engendering Community". When it comes to an interview, I wrack my brain over what to say and, most importantly, what not to say. I worry that I don't really know how to relay my experience and perspectives in a nutshell that won't just come out as completely foreign blabber. But, somehow, someway, this poor journalist student somehow deciphered my ranting and raving wrote about it. The print version has a huge red Ken and Barbie doll backdrop and also an advertisement for this Saturday's conference. A complex equation: Transgendered student speaks out X. XY. Sex and gender is as simp...

I just learned about a war hero named Casimir Pulaski  who led troops into battle against Russian occupying forces in his native Poland. He later fought here in the United States during the American Revolution, where he commanded four cavalry regiments in Washington's armies. Apparently he was so exceptional that he was singled out by George Washington and the Continental Congress and was credited as the Father of the American Cavalry. There's even Casimir Pulaski Day , which is a holiday observed in Illinois on the first Monday of every March in his memory. This holiday is also observed in Wisconsin public schools. Back in the day his remains were dug up and for ten years the findings were kept a secret, due to a required pledge to the Pulaski Identification Committee in Savannah. The conclusions were finally released in 2007, stating: "the collected evidence is consistent in remarkable detail with the physical appearance, life history, and cavalry lifestyle of Casi...

From The Huffington Post : Throughout November, public television's "In The Life" program shows the incredible challenges faced when a person who transitioned to live in the opposite gender, and who lost the support of family in the process, is confronted with a terminal illness. The November program presents excerpts from the new documentary, "Gen Silent." "Gen Silent" sheds light on a serious issue facing many LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) seniors: homophobia, transphobia and insensitivity in the health care system. Of the four stories told in the documentary, I think that of KrysAnne Hembrough, a transgender woman, is the most profound, and is the one "In the Life" chose to feature. Read more >

Almost 2 Years on Testosterone Cypionate (0.7 mL every 2 weeks) (Click on images for larger so-detailed-it-hurts versions) Stomach (hair growth + fat redistribution): Gettin' fuzzy! Fuzzy progress indeed! Facial Hair/Acne/Facial Masculinizing: I grew my sparse whiskers out as much as I could muster before cracking to shave 10 minutes later. Side profile shot of whisker action. Whisker Action Take 2. Whisker Action Take 3. Shaving time at long last! Arm (upper body development): Haven't done one of these in a minute. Hugging Snapshots! Better-late-than-never birthday lunch with Brit. Farm pup my fam and I took in temporarily during the Herriman Fires. He was so cute n' good! Very Essential Dog Shots 2 Boot Gany's one-night-car-hat. Fancy car hat blowing in the wind. ~ FIN ~

One year ago Halloween day I had promised my good friend Ralph that I would be the Batman to his Robin. And not just any Batman. 1960s Adam West Batman. Looks simple enough. One year to muster up a grey leotard of some sort, little shiny blue undies, some gloves, boots, and whip a fancy matching cowl together. Assuming the simplest, I procrastinated. Not too much, though. About 6 months ago I started actually looking for a pre-made costume - or at least something resembling it enough that I could work with it. I found a lot of Dark Knight crap. A lot of padded muscle suits. Crap, crap, and more crap. So then I turned to eBay. Here are some examples of what I found: Men's Batman Costume Uh, no, no, and ... no . I then concluded that I probably couldn't successfully modify a pre-made suit and, even though sewing is probably #3 in What-I'm-Worst-At ranking, I should enlist the aid of a sew-talented friend and figure out how to make this thing from ...

I had a pap smear on October 22nd, which I refer to as a "paptastic appointment of sedative-laden doom". The  first one I had was in January of 2009. I procrastinated the inevitable as long as I could muster, but the worry of not knowing what's up with my innards caught up with me and overrode the aversion. So I cracked, and decided 'fine, I'm uninsured, but I need to get my hormone levels checked and I need a pap smear. So just, go in, do it, and figure out the cost part of it later. My hormone levels are higher than they should be, so my doctor reduced my bi-weekly dose from 0.7 mL to 0.5 mL. Then in pap-ville, my doctor slotted our appointment as her first of the day. Learning from the last time I had this done, she injected me with a massive amount of pregnant lady sedative first thing (I scribbled the name of it down after my appointment, but have no idea where these scribbles are).