About a week ago, my sister phone me a few times and then hung up right when I picked up the phone. I did finally reach her and I asked her what’s up and then she decided to call me by that old male name. Anyone in this situation knows what happened next - click. My sister broke the first rule of respecting trans people and that is not to use the old name of the person, no matter where they are in transition. Seriously, this is not permissible in any situation and any transwoman or transman that tolerates this is being a lot more gracious and wonderful to you than I would be. And from many of the reactions I’ve gotten and agreements about this, I would have to say that I am not alone in this position, that a lot of transwomen are in agreement with me about this. Continue reading ‘The First Rule of Respecting Trans People: Don’t Use the Old Name’
Tag Archive for 'identity'
Well, I think that my protests had an effect which is now quite bittersweet. My blog experienced quite a bit of traffic during the DNC but it’s starting to level off with the news posts starting to fall into the archives. I hear all sorts of things about myself, one of which is that like the Democratic Party, I am having an identity crisis. And you know what? Sometimes, they are absolutely right. I am having an identity crisis, but not of the kind people think. I have an identity crisis of being a transwoman in a largely male-oriented world. I am giving up the white male privilege that society affords people who don’t necessarily fall into a minority for a queer label and a community. I don’t really think of it as a privilege but considering that since I’ve transitioned, it’s been harder and harder to get a job with a fairly decent rate of pay, I can’t deny the fact that white straight male people have it much, much easier than females, someone in the LGBT community, someone in the communities of colour and other communities. But let’s talk about the identity crisis I am facing, eh? Continue reading ‘An Identity Crisis, eh?’
Well, I had to go deposit my small (1 day of pay) cheque from Telefund into my Wells Fargo chequing account. And no, I could not deposit the cheque because of the type of account I have (Opportunity Chequing Account, because of the fact that I had my identity stolen in the past). And I decided that just for a lark, I would attempt to change my name with the Verified Petition for Name Change that I have. So, I walk into the downtown Wells Fargo branch and then decide to bring the people at the customer service counter my name change petition, in hopes that they would change it. One of them called me ’sir’ and while that did make me sigh, I did tell them that I did not want to be called that nor addressed by male pronouns. So, I waited at the Customer Service counter and they said that it could not be done. Very well, it was worth a try, eh? I was about to put the envelope in my backpack and head to the teller’s window to deposit my meager pay cheque when they proceeded to call me sir. And this is where it begins. Continue reading ‘Transphobia at Wells Fargo’