When going to Rainbow Alley, I first heard the concept of gender-neutral pronouns. While I have to say that I do not care for them to be used to refer to me, I can’t help but wonder how many people would take these as an alternative. So, I did a little bit of research and saw that there are quite a few combinations of gender neutral pronouns. I genuinely worry about whether or not I am seriously offending the people that I write about by using gender neutral pronouns. I have never written about anyone who has made any objections, even when seeing the posts, but I’d like to be a little more sensitive about other people’s gender identities and to respect them. Especially because I of all people am aware of the fact that there are not just two genders, there are many genders and even many combinations of sexes. So, I would like to recommend the research of gender neutral pronouns. While I know there are many guides about this on the Internet, and many are of very high quality, I would highly recommend this guide on gender neutral pronouns. Continue reading ‘Gender Neutral Pronouns’
Tag Archive for 'gender identity'
About a week ago, after coming home from work, I had to stop in at the Boulder Transit Centre and who did I see but my old acquaintance, Brody! She just came back from Boulder Pride with her friends (I am ever so jealous) and now, she was beginning to head back to Denver. We only got to talk a little before the incident that really started to make my head spin begun. She went to use the ladies room and the RTD security guard got up, waddled over to the ladies’ room door and waited for her to come out. I was thinking “what the hell is he standing there for?” and was preparing to help resolve a confrontation between the long arm of the RTD Wackenoff, er I meant Wackenhut security guys and her. But then I saw what really was going down, as he started asking her why she went into the ladies room, thinking that she was a he. Of course, Brody corrected the man and he lingered around for a while, looking at her and walked away. I was all thinking “what the fuck?!?” Of course, when I had to go back to the Boulder bus the next day, I let the RTD Wackenoff security guard know and he said he’d look into it. But this does raise a bigger concern - what is the importance of passing and how can we in this society pass for who we really are? And what is the concern with passing at all? Continue reading ‘Passing for Something’
NOTE: This post has some really intimate details, I’d highly recommend that if you are a prude or under the age of consent, you stay away from this post. In fact, if you are a prude, why are you reading this blog at all?!? Let me know!
If you want me to be honest, I can’t honestly say that I am exclusively a lesbian. I am a pansexual, meaning that I am attracted to the person, regardless of gender. I just happen to lean more towards the lesbian side. But what if I fell in love with a man, a man that I knew from my previous life? If my fantasies were getting married to him and making love to him and being the perfect suzy homemaker, does that make me any less truthful about my sexual desires? Well, no, not really. I write here in the moment (or I try to at least) and I believe that my sexuality is quite fluid. I am a pansexual who is largely attracted to other women. But to deny the fact that I don’t have desires about men that I have known in my life is a complete and blatant lie and I am too honest to deprive my readers of anything but the truth. So, yes, I profess sexual fluidity - but is that really such a bad thing? Continue reading ‘Sexual Fluidity’
I doubt that many people completely and totally grasp the concept of transsexuality. Especially if someone is a lesbian transwoman or a gay transman. I keep getting the question “why can’t you just stay a dude?” or something to that effect. Sometimes, I get tired of answering this question over and over again but to sum it up, here’s the brass tacks: sexual orientation is different from gender identity. I could explain my situation, but if you really want to understand the general idea that sexual orientation is different than gender identity, then I would highly recommend reading a page that the Centre for Gender Sanity created on it called the Diagram of Sex and Gender. But some people might not get the idea from this page so I am going to explain it all in a different manner down here. Continue reading ‘Why I Just Can’t “Stay a Dude”’
In about one month, I will have successfully saved up enough money to send Dr. Pichet in Thailand my deposit so I can secure my price and date for vaginoplasty (more commonly known as sex change surgery). This job is a full-time job at $11 per hour and with that, I think I can send a pretty sizable amount to Dr. Pichet in Thailand, get my date set, get an official letter declaring the date of surgery (a projected date for the purposes of getting a new passport) and secure the surgery in a reasonable amount of time. This would mean so much to me, including an increase in quality of life with the change of important and vital records such as Social Security records and my birth certificate. And of course, the issues that are more comfort of life oriented. But the surgery will not change a lot in regards to passing or being accepted as a woman. No, I expect that I will need FFS and possibly a move to get fully accepted as a woman in society (but considering that I plan to be out, maybe just FFS). Continue reading ‘Obtaining the Deposit for the Surgery’
There is a threat in this world that threatens the very people that support it. Ex-gay camps, or as they really are, gay concentration camps, make money off of the gullible people that are willing to send their kids on one of these retreats. These people scoop the personality and critical thinking skills (or what is left of them) out of a person’s head and collect your money. This is not a tin foil hat conspiracy theory, it is actually happening right here and right now! Sometimes, people are able to break free from the programming that goes on at these camps (thus creating ex-ex-gays, who speak out against the institution). However, given this very real threat, we should all be aware of it and do everything we can to stop it. Continue reading ‘Ex-Gay Quackery and Why You Should Care’
Why Are Some People So Unkind to Transvestites?
Now, while I myself am not a transvestite (I say this from a solely technical definition, since just being full time isn’t doing it for me, although not being full time would be worse), I have to say that sometimes, some people’s attitudes and ideas about transvestites worries and concerns me. What brings this up? Well, I was reading Becky’s T-Blog (a weblog of a TV girl in the United Kingdom) and she had a very hurtful comment on one of her posts that was very transphobic. I know that there are a few transsexuals who thank their lucky stars that they are not transvestites. I would have to ask though, what gives transsexuals superiority over transvestites? Why can’t we all just respect one another as people who transgress the concept of gender? Are we afraid that if we are lumped in with the transvestites, will we lose respect in the hearts and minds of others? I want to address these concerns, as well as our reasons for having such concerns. Continue reading ‘Why Are Some People So Unkind to Transvestites?’