Decidedly Obscure Human Complaints.

As I mentioned in my most recent post, I'm not able to update this as often as I really want to. I absolutely love blogging, but by the time I'm done with my graduate school tasks for the day, I become a collapsed puddle of human, incapable of uttering a single word. But I had to log on this once to share some incredibly exciting news. Earlier yesterday I learned that my insurance (through the marketplace) has preauthorized me FOR A HYSTERECTOMY IN EARLY AUGUST.  For over six years now I've been struggling through years of no insurance coverage as a student and then one trans-exclusive, discriminatory policy after another. Even as a federal employee. Yet finally, at long last, this is actually happening. It doesn't feel real yet, but I'm beyond ecstatic. I'm actually scheduled for surgery!  Whaaaa??? There are a gazillion risks reduced and benefits from having this done, one of which will be lowering my dose of testosterone post surgery, which is ...

I was so ecsactic when I heard that Laverne Cox would be the first transgender person to grace the cover of TIME Magazine earlier this month. The second I heard about this, I knew that I absolutely had to have a copy. Custom framed, preferably signed by Laverne Cox, prominently displayed on my wall. I imagine myself still having it in my elder years, explaining to youngins what this represented to me as a young transgender person in 2014. As Kat Hache put it: It is validation not only of Laverne Cox’s work, but the work of the entire transgender community.  It is a visible, tangible representation of our existence. It’s a really, really big deal. After not stumbling upon a copy by mid-June, a friend and I started really digging around for it. Baffled, we couldn’t find a single copy anywhere. After finally landing ourselves at a Barnes n Noble, an employee explained that their magazine stock was limited due to a major magazine distributor in the east coast shutting dow...

Dissident Voice published my response to Robert Jensen's article! http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/06/gender-and-sexual-diversity/

Update: A more concise version of this was published on Dissident Voice titled, " Gender and Sexual Diversity " on June 21, 2014.  The recent article by Robert Jensen, “ Some Basic Propositions about Sex, Gender, and Patriarchy ,” espouses concepts that both reflect and perpetuate cissexism and transphobia. Jensen correctly anticipates that readers will recognize much of his article as unabashedly transphobic. He reacts by preemptively dismissing any such observations as mere “tactics.” In the third to last paragraph he writes,  "Labeling a radical feminist position on these public policy issues as inherently “transphobic” or describing radical feminist arguments on the issues as “hate speech” are diversionary tactics that undermine productive intellectual and political discussion. A critique of an idea is not a personal attack on any individual who holds the idea." An online search for terms like “hate speech” and “diversionary tactic” leads one to any numb...

I had the opportunity to attend the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference for the first time this past weekend. It was incredible, to have the privilege to experience such an indescribable sense of connectedness among so many trans* and cisgender persons. I heard from the grapevine that 3,000+ people were in attendance, which is apparently up from around 2,000 last year. I was particularly impressed by the vast spectrum of activities offered. There was youth programming, all day programming with specific schedules (e.g. community space, spirituality space, native/first nations/indigenous gathering space), evening events, vendors galore, a gazillion different workshops, and so on. There was something for everyone! For instance, I attended the conference with two friends who wanted to learn more about how to become better cisgender allies. One chum is a pastor living in Kansas and the other is a researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While my researcher friend an...

In Arcade Fire's new music video, "We Exist" with Andrew Garfield. Makes me teary eyed every time.

Be forewarned: I am about to launch into a whiny spiel about how stressful it has been meeting with trans-unaware OB-GYNs while I'm insured in hopes that they won't a) refer to me as a "post-menopausal woman" and b) will, at the very least, listen to me about my preventative interest in an oophorectomy (removal of ovaries) and a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus). But before said spiel, a brief update is in order. As a reminder since it's been a minute, I am presently living in Maryland to complete my federal service "payback" as an NIH (National Institutes of Health) Undergraduate Scholarship post-baccalaureate (i.e. 4-year college graduate) research fellow. Throughout the duration of my payback I have been nervous about blogging after I signed a gazillion + 1 forms about not representing myself as the NIH or a federal employee. So, quick disclaimer before I proceed: I am not blogging on behalf of the NIH or as a federal employee. Alright, now w...

HRC: Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility

Why We Need More Than Two Genders While the array of gorgeous human skin colors and ethnicities and sexualities is increasingly embraced as a matter of human rights, we are slower to celebrate multiple genders.   I would like to make clear right at the start that breaking out of a male-female gender dichotomy isn't some 21st century liberal-progressive agenda, as it is sometimes painted.  Spending some time with this interactive map shows that fluidity in gender roles is and has been evident in societies around the world. A nonbinary perspective is neither new nor Euro-American. Read more  >

Wooo! Kapooie! Which means that I get to devour my most favorite food ever - sushi sushi sushi!

I can't wait to graduate and get back to blogging. My writing juice well gets sucked dry every semester. But, I just learned that I graduate on June 1st and as per the awesome scholarship I received from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), I fly out to Maryland for June 2nd. Then I officially begin my internship with them on June 3rd. A little bit ago I got to head out there for a couple of days to meet prospective mentors - all of whom were wonderful. A couple of weeks ago I learned what lab I'll be working in and I am beyond excited. That's an update in a ridiculously compressed nutshell, but now I need to run off to study for an exam. It's for a course titled "Behavioral Endocrinology", which is just intimidating scaryfancy speak for "How Hormones Influence Behavior". Which is right up my alley. In fact, we're required to watch a film called Sex Unknown prior to the exam, which I'm astounded that I'd never heard of or watched...

How cute! I received this little postcard in the mail today from The Self Made Men , and it's my 4 year (seriously??) tranniversary on the 11th!

Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day observed annually around the world to memorialize those who have been murdered as a result of transphobia - the hatred or fear of transgender and gender non-conforming people. It's a day of mixed feelings for me. Sadness that transphobia is so rampant that a startling number of beautiful lives are lost. It is estimated that transgender individuals in the U.S. today have a one-in-twelve chance of being murdered (Uniform Crimes Reports, 2000) . This is roughly 1500 times higher than the general population and amounts to approximately one murder every three days (National Center for Health Statistics, 2009) . Due to this, the day set aside as a “transgender holiday” is a day of memorializing a long list of murdered victims to raise much-needed awareness. But, this awareness is vital. Transphobia needs silence to survive , and I seriously can't wait for the day when we can have Transgender Pride — a celebration of our lives. ...

A few days ago I was asked by a sociology professor to be a panelist in her Gender and Sexuality class. Given that I'm committed to rambling on about my experiences to any poor sap who will listen, including a captive audience of hapless college students, I enthusiastically agreed. Most of this enthusiasm stems from knowing first-hand how unsettling transgender and gender-nonconformity can be for many - and how vital knowledge and interaction are for dismantling prejudice and discrimination. Openness is particularly vital given how corrosive assumptions about “normalcy" manifests in incredibly dangerous ways for anyone who strays from the fabricated norm. It's particularly exciting to have so many cisgender allies who are so supportive, and help to educate away the ignorance through whatever means are available to them. Speaking of, I stumbled across an interesting article just the other day regarding the controversy around the gender of Caster Semenya, the 18-yea...

Look what I found. Neat!

My dad’s Facebook comment about this article : “It’s funny how insecure people are about gender. There was never a question that she was absolutely gorgeous until she publicly announced she was transgender. Then, suddenly she is a freak and unattractive. Face the fact that you are attracted to a beautiful woman who used to be a man. Don’t worry. Your peepee won’t fall off or anything. You won’t be less of a man because she used to be a man. Grow up and get over it children. Trump was absolutely right (as rare as that may be) and this creep is just a nasty person who has issues with losing competitions. Big surprise - didn’t expect anything like that in a beauty pageant.”

Guess who got to see Yara Sofia over pride weekend? THIS GUY. For those who live in the tragic drag-less dark, Yara Sofia won the Miss Congeniality award on season three of RuPaul’s Drag Race . She was, by far, my favorite - due to being all super sweet, mega-talented, and overall adorable. Anyway, I blame school - but, I had no idea that she was coming to Salt Lake City until Saturday night. Prior to this knowledge, I had resolved to learn from experience and save up my finite supply of elder energy for the Sunday morning Pride Parade and all.day.long festivities. In years past, pride weekend has always been a blur of gaggle o’ faggle sleep deprivation that I end up paying for all day Monday. That was the plan - until Aaron texted me: “Yara Sofia will be at Metro tonight.” Well, he actually texted “Sofia Yara” - but, close enough. I got the gist. One part of me thought of the exhaustion, the overwhelming crowds of loud, drunken hot messes. But, the other part of me thought,...

Really amazing blog post from Ian Harvie regarding his journey to get enough money for his own surgery, and mention of the Sexy F2M Calendar fundraiser Aaron and I have been putting on to raise mula for his much-needed surgery. Ian also submitted a photo for the calendar contest, which, of course, made it into the final 12. Thank you, Ian!

Emerging from the depths of finals for a moment to share an article that a fellow trans student and I were interviewed for. It was published last week in our school’s paper. I was also interviewed last year for this student paper, but this time I dragged poor Mikki into the muck with me. Gender Boundaries: Room to Explore at Westminster >