Stream Of Consciousness II

I have been remiss in writing my blogs lately primarily because I have been busy with getting myself settled in my new career of teaching which, by the way, is going pretty well. That has not however stopped my mind from accumulating thoughts and ideas to write about. So many thoughts have come to me over the last few weeks I decided to revisit an idea I did about two years ago when I wrote a blog entitled Stream of Consciousness. This blog was a bunch of mini blogs all in one on many different subjects, most of which are not even connected. So here goes……stream of consciousness two…….

I have never understood the opposition to legalized gambling on religious grounds or moral reasons and I have always supported such endeavors. I don’t care if Ohio only gets $25,000 in new revenue from all this (they will however, get a whole lot more!) it’s $25,000 more than they would have had if they did not have it. If it creates only 500 new jobs (and it will create far more) then so bit – it’s five hundred more than we had. From a pure financial and economic perspective it makes sense. The opposition on these grounds was weak at best and mostly just a belief Ohio should have done it differently or gotten a better deal (and maybe they should have) but the real opposition in this matter was on moral and religious grounds as it always is in these cases. I am having difficulty remembering where it is in the New Testament of Bible that gambling was held up to be a great evil! Yes if one gets out of control with anything such as drinking or gambling issues can arise but for the most people it is just another form of entertainment like dining out, going to baseball game or the movies or a Broadway performance. That is all I have ever viewed it as in society. If someone is opposed to doing it on some religious grounds then don’t do it. No one is holding a gun to your head to go or not go to the casinos. It’s part of free choice in society which I am a big believer in by the way. Like my father use to say, if you don’t like what is on T.V. change the channel- no one is making you watch that station.

Same- sex marriages and same sex unions are again in the news as Maine becomes the 31^st state (OUT of 31!) to reject it. Lead by our “morally justified” friends from Salt Lake Utah who have spent millions in California and Maine and most likely soon other places like Iowa to defeat the unions of two people who love each other in a committed relationship on the basis that both happen to have the same genitalia, the religious right (which by the way is NEITHER!) prances triumphantly in defense of its worn out religious dogma! The only references (and they are obscure at best on the subject comes from the Old Testament and the New Testament (upon which the entire premise of Christianity was founded in the first place!) make no mention of it. My thinking is simple this – if Jesus, as the founder of Christianity, thought that this was such a big moral issue I am sure he would have mentioned it in at least ONE of his teachings- YET he did not do so. And yet- it is these very Christians who oppose the loving union of two people who are of the same gender. The irony of this does not escape me and I know many Christians who do not feel this way but as long as the Baptists and Mormons and Catholics keep spouting their hate rhetoric on this issue change cannot take place. The fact of the matter is this; our society is not ready for same gender unions not matter how we label them. Before we can prevail on this issue more education and enlightenment needs to place in this country. One can start by seeing if they can get it through the right wing’s thick skulls that being gay, or lesbian or bi or transgendered is NOT a “choice” or a “lifestyle” it is simply who we are as people and have been since our early time on this planet. As a closing thought I sincerely belief this issue is one which will be ultimately won in federal courts and not the ballot box. Issues such as full faith and credit, equal protection and a judge like the one in California which says “OK opponents show me the evidence that demonstrates that same sex unions somehow destroy the validity and sanctity of your heterosexual union”…..plain and simple- it cannot be demonstrated and those in the right wing know this!

I will find it quite interesting in my life if I am somehow able to live long enough to witness the election of a President of this country from the Generation Y. We have seen the Presidents of the Great Society and skipped those of the Silent Generation because many perceived them as not being leaders like those of the Great generation. My generation (the Baby Boomers) is one that produced many great leaders in society and several Presidents. Today we have in office a member of Generation X holding down the Presidency. So I guess it is plausible someday I will see a member Generation Y (around 1982-1999) become President and it will be interesting indeed. Having been involved with teaching mostly those of this generation for a few months now I wonder how any of them can stay focused on anything for more than thirty minutes. They say it is because of the technology and gadgets they have to use and have experienced since they were small that their attention span is much more limited (and people of my time thought it was bad we watched the Idiot Box). These short attention spans will be entertaining indeed to observe as in the Presidency. I just hope state department meetings and negotiations with high level diplomats can be limited to less than 20-30 minutes …..Better yet let’s see if we can arrange a texting session with the leader of hostile third world nations. I just hope the leader is fluent in “Texting” so as to not lead to great misunderstandings!

While I poke some fun at those of the Gen-Y generation, I am happy to be teaching them. I really enjoy teaching. My reviews have been good and I like interacting with the young people. Teaching really is just that – interacting and exchanging thoughts and ideas. This process has given me great joy and a second or is it third career. I guess they liked my work as my course load more than doubled for the winter quarter and that is fine with me. One of the new classes I will be teaching is Ethics and there is a whole Chapter in the course devoted to LGBT issues (Guest Speaker anyone?). Hmmmm…how ironic is this….a teacher who is both L and T and good friends with many G and B’s, and in a same sex union herself discussing the ethical dilemmas and issues pertaining to LGBT including same sex unions. Ought to be some good discussion and questions in this one…..so long as I keep them to less than 20-30 minutes I suppose!!

The Empires Against the LGBT Struggle

Now I know I have written in the past about religion and religious issues and their enormous impact on transgendered rights and issues but I honestly feel I skirted around the where the real meat of this important issue lies. Furthermore, it is not my intention to attack individual members of the religions I am about to discuss here and there are many good, open- minded and accepting members of these groups on an individual basis! However, if anyone tasks offense to this blog I do apologize for the fact upfront and it clearly NOT an attack on individual members. My discussion of what may be one of the most significant stumbling blocks in the drive of my sisters and brothers of our transgendered community for the rights and dignity that all humans deserve is solely focused on the organizational entities themselves and not specifically on the individual members beyond their leadership. And with that preface …..I begin…..
The single most significant factor in the struggle for our rights as transgendered people in the enactment of The Hate Crimes Bill, ENDA and legislation ending discrimination in health care programs and coverage benefits of our community is the enormous opposition to these important pieces of legislation for the LGBT community. This opposition is, has been and will be launched by organized religion and in particular the “big three bullies” as I refer to them …… the Mormons , the Southern Baptists and the biggest offender of them of all- the Roman Catholic Empire!
The Mormons have shown their propensity to throw large sums of money to support Prop 8 in California and similar legislation elsewhere. Yes, according to the church that not only bans alcohol but coffee, tea and soft drinks containing caffeine and who brought us their cult like philosophy of polygamy where it is ok for MEN to have to have many wives, we simply cannot have two people of the same gender who care about each other marrying each other for God’s sake! How awful is this …people who love each other cannot marry each other because it is two men or two woman or even a transgendered person but Mormons thought it was OK for MEN to marry multitudes of women …what a bunch of horse shit hypocrisy!
Southern Baptists are the leftover decedents of the Puritans I wrote about a few years ago in a blog entitled The Pursuit of Happiness and the Puritans. The Puritans were so repressive and rigid in their control and thinking of their members especially when it came to pleasure and in particular and again..God forbid sexual pleasure! The Southern Baptists are the group that reminds me of Adam Ant’s 1980’s big hit Goody Two Shoes (don’t drink don’t smoke what do you do? ). The fire and brimstone bible thumpers forbid drinking, gambling, dancing, premarital sex, and just about any form of fun beyond getting screamed at by some angry and fiery preacher condemning those who do slip into fun and even more so condemning those of us in the LGBT community as sinners who are condemned to an afterlife of hell and God’s wrath! These Southern Baptists are the same bunch who hold woman to subservient positions (hmmm seems to be a theme going here similar to that of the Mormons) and have had their Convention enact resolutions that announce that woman are subservient to their men who happen to be their owners..errr..excuse me …husbands. These same people will however be loaded for bear as they say to oppose every piece of legislation put forth by the LGBT community including the Hate Crimes Bill because what is a good old fashioned revival without some bashing ( errrrr.. “preaching”) of the so called abominations of the LGBT community. Look for the scare tactics to be thrown at us by this group when it comes time for discussion of the important pieces of legislation such as ENDA. (I can almost hear the southern drawl now ….. “Enactment of this bill will let them deviant sinners into our schools to molest our children in the bathrooms”)
Despite how bad these other two groups are as forces to be dealt with on our struggle for dignity and rights they lack the money, size, power, influence and history of the Great Roman Catholic Empire!!! This organization has been around quite a while and claims to be the direct lineal leader of Christianity as established by Jesus Christ himself. They have amassed a fortune in resources and Rome has done everything in its power to conceal secrets of the early days of “the church” allegedly created by the founder of Christianity. Catholics don’t have all the hang-ups about gambling and drinking that other groups mentioned above seem to have and that is fine. However, bring up sex or sexuality issues with the Catholic Empire and they react like you have just mentioned the Holy Grail! Catholics are nervous Nellie’s when the subject of sexuality, homosexuality, divorce and transgendered people is brought up around them.

Why is this and what holds their faith together – the answer is simple…. GUILT! Riddled by the guilt and teachings of the leaders of their group they have more hang-ups on these issues than a transitioning TG has hormones! The Roman Catholic Empire (RCE) is lead by men for men and works its damnedest to see, and has done so for many years, that woman have little if any role in their organization. Women cannot become priests and if a woman begins to have some influence in the group like Mary Magdalene and all of the sudden she is vilified to shreds so she has no respect in the faith. Women are treated as second class citizens in this all male society of the RCE. Priests are forbidden to marry for some crazy theory that has never been properly explained although in the early history of the Church the priests were married and some of the disciples of Christ were also married. Single men running a group which subsequently begins attracting those so pent up with frustrations they begin a long history of sexual abuse of children for which the Church has paid out millions but tried to cover up because it again it something it cannot talk about openly. The RCE is currently led by a pope who is a former Hitler Nazi youth which of course explains his dogmatic approach to turning the clock back on the miniscule progress made over the years. He recently condemned the LGBT community by asserting we were the destruction of civilization, blurring the lines of gender distinction and threatening the fundamental institution of marriage (which was created during a time when woman were mere chattel!) He concluded that we were as much threat to civilization as the destruction of the rain forest was to the world! I can almost hear the goose –stepping brown shirts now marching around at his command to round up these “threats” to civilization. Catholic groups have recentl yprotested transgendered groups having transgendered awareness days on campuses.
Yes my brothers and sisters in the LGBT community -these organizations are the vast and powerful enemies that the LGBT community will face head on lead by their force of history, tradition, money and hatred in an all out battle to defeat each and every piece of legislation we bring forth to seek dignity and rights that all of us and all humans deserve! The Mormons, southern Baptists and it’s fundamental hard core spin-offs like Free Methodists as well the RCE will use every resource and scare and fear tactic known to people on their pulpits to preach that we are this threat and that any legislation that protects us or grants us rights others in society have must be defeated as the work of “Satan”. With these groups preaching the dogma and spreading lies and hate and backed by powerful amounts of money how can we stand a chance to win this battle for dignity we ALL deserve? Furthermore, and I am curious to ask, “why would someone who is part of our community want to stay a member of such groups knowing how these very groups feel about them? I admire you for trying to stay I do. I surely didn’t as I bolted the RCE when I was 13 years old sick of their tired old dogma and treatment of woman. I knew also that I was different and that the difference would not be tolerated by them. I only go where I am fully welcomed, loved and accepted for who I am when it comes to joining any religious groups.
The battle for dignity and rights for the LGBT community will be fought for sure. The gain would mean so much for many of us and for humanity as a whole! But make no mistake about it folks- the enemies who oppose us will be a daunting challenge. They will be richer, filled with more tradition and history and prominence in society and oh by the way…they have God on their side ….don’t believe me – just ask them! The empires of the Mormon , Baptist and Catholic religions and their allies like the Muslins who treat woman like third class property will be a fierce force to take on to win the rights and dignity we all should have enjoyed in this world as humans. They will work diligently, with God by their side, to keep it OK for society to hate us, perfectly acceptable for it to deny us medical treatment and the healthcare coverage to pay for it and equally acceptable to withhold housing and employment to us simply because who we sleep with at the end of the day or the physical shell we were born with even though it did not fit our soul and essence. Such an accomplishment from a large group of organizations which were supposedly founded on love and helping others. My, my …...won’t God be impressed by their efforts??

The time is now for our community!

The world is made up of many different people with many different cultures and backgrounds and here in the good old US of A we have always referred to our heritage of bringing people together in our country in a “melting pot”.
We have watched groups struggle as they came here at first until another group came and took there place on the bottom of the chain. The Irish, the Italians, the Japanese, the Eastern Europeans African –Americans although clearly not by choice- they all came and after some struggles integrated into our society. Black people, particularly by virtue of the fact they were brought here by a vile institution known as human slavery, suffered through great hardship and struggles for human rights through the civil rights periods of protests, marches and legislation finally achieved many of the goals of equality. Recently, this country elected a black man as President – something most of the people of my father’s generation swore would never happen- but it did! The victory has given hope to many formally shut out or disadvantaged people that dreams can be achieved and success found despite the color of one’s skin or the makeup of his or her ancestors. Woman suffered as second class citizens based on a patriarchal society that rewarded men and held woman down. Woman fought for the right to vote and then hold office and more and more women enter careers everyday that were once held exclusively by men. Two women have been nominated for Vice- President of the country although the wage differential is still there, legislation such as Title VII and others have helped woman success and rightfully so! Legislation existing today protects someone based on sex, race, national origin, age, color, or disability. There remains only a few groups in this country that seem to be at a distinct disadvantage and one of them my friends is people like me – transgendered people. Now I am not looking for the “poor little me” response I am merely stating a fact.
Now is the time for our community, as small and “hidden” sometimes as it is, to forge ahead in our struggles for our rights and protections. I do not seek special help and I doubt most if any of my brothers and sisters in this community do either- just the right to be who we are and not be denied employment or housing or a continuation of either merely because we are transgendered people. We seek the same rights as others in society. We seek to find housing and services and to work a career we enjoy which also helps pay the bills and such and to do all of this without harassment or discrimination Now I have always said you cannot legislate prejudice for that is something learned but you can legislate against that prejudice being used as a basis for discrimination against transgendered people. We have much to accomplish but I believe our time is coming in the next five to six years and it will take all of our efforts to make this happen. I am excited to be a part of this change which can occur in the eventual enactment of the ENDA and Hate Crimes bill legislation which now has a greater chance of passing in the increasingly Democratic Congress and the election of Barak Obama. It will not come easy my friends and it will take the efforts of many of us to make this a reality and a forging of a relationship with others in the LGBT community. Herein lies our problem!
Most of our community is underground in one form or another and the numbers we have to work with and achieve our goals like others have in the past two hundred years of American society is quite small. The problem is we only have the “middle” and the other sides of that middle are many times either cloaked or in stealth mode. Those that are not out of the closet yet operate in a cloaked mode in which they are out limitedly if at all and so they are not willing to risk exposure to be involved in our efforts to achieve these important goals. Most of our community lies in this so called cloaked group. I remember I use to be there although after time it became more of protection for my children than for me. That all came to a screeching halt when I tore down the cloak of secrecy and came out to the entire world! It was a great feeling and it has brought me peace and happiness I did not know could exist! There is the group in the middle like me who are undergoing transition in which w are living life fulltime in our desired gender and undergoing all sorts of procedures like electrolysis, hormones, surgeries and the like. We generally take very active roles in the community. We are not afraid to be out and about and known as transgendered people. We have not reached that point where “stealth” is even under possible consideration. A substantial amount of activism in our community comes from this so called middle group. The third part of our community is those who are post transitional and who operate in a world of stealth. Having fully transitioned and looking the part and carrying all the right documentation they go about lives as woman and act like they never even had the organs or hormones of the other gender. They seek to seamlessly blend into the world of their true gender and let no one be the wiser. This works real well if you are able to move jobs and to another part of the country. However, stealth also means severing one’s self from the transgendered community and thus they are not likely to be an active supporter of our community and its needs and goals for equality. Although there are some fully transitional members of our community like my friends Debbie, Chloe and Barbie or of course our national leaders like Mara and others at the NCTE, I also know of some in the so called middle group who attempt to operate in stealth mode even before fully transitioning. This leaves us with only a handful of people to fight our struggle for dignity and equality. Why is stealth even a consideration for those in our community? As Donna Rose stated in her wonderful speech at SCC this year, can one truly ever reach “stealth”. As she so eloquently pointed out “the internet has changed one’s ability to go stealth as some simple searches can reveal most everyone’s past” so don’t fool yourself into thinking you can hide from anyone “who wants to take the time to find out your past- ever!” Therefore, true stealth is not really obtainable in our modern world. Accordingly, post transitional members of community should be in the forefront our leadership and activism for our rights and dignity as people. Now I am not advocating that post transitional people should not try to lead a normal life in the proper gender following transition. I will try to do so I know and I don’t advocate running around in t-shirts that say “Hi – I am a transgendered person” all the time and I know I will not be doing so. However, abandoning our community for me after full transition is NOT an option for me. I know that I am spiritually and emotionally a woman and that it is my true essence of who I am as a human being. I will live my life as a woman and enjoy the fact that my outward appearance and body will finally reflect who I truly and have always been in this world- a woman. However, I was born genetically a male and thus I am, by nature, a transgendered person and will always be such regardless of how much I spend on surgeries or how my hormone levels read. Nothing will ever change that and I am fine with that indeed! I am not ashamed to be a part of this community. I also believe that if others find out I am transgendered- so be it. I will use that as an opportunity to show others in society that I am just a human being and that transgendered people are just people too. Use these opportunities to educate people not excuses to run and hide! Never be ashamed of who you are as a person because you are transgendered. The community is my transgendered family and I feel compelled to be involved in it and be active in it and work with my sisters and brothers in achieving the goals we can achieve as our turn in history comes into fold in our fight for our dignity and rights as human beings -just as others have in other communities throughout our history.
There is much work to do such as lobbying members of Congress and writing letters and attending events and activities which serves to promote our community and its efforts to achieve our goals. Money can be contributed to the NCTE and your time can be volunteered to assist in these efforts. Now is the time for our community to get behind these efforts and work for the rights and dignity of all members of our community so that those who come behind us may find an easier path and one filled with more dignity and understanding. I can only hope that many who are cloaked will find courage to come out and those who do will chose a course of being involved and active in our community and when the time comes, that they remain active in our community and not chose to lead life in stealth but one with the courage and pride of being a wonderful human being who just happens to be transgendered. Remember some of the ten affirmations for LGBT spirituality:
1. We celebrate the unity we create in the midst of our diversity.
2. We affirm the inherent beauty, worth and dignity of every LGBT and straight person.
4. The choice is not whether to be LGBT or straight but whether or not to lead an authentic life.
5. Coming out is a courageous and spiritual act.
And most importantly………10. No one is free when others are oppressed!

Being flushed down the Proverbial Toilet(Fall 07)

You know when I was young I had a friend who like all of us would covet things in his life and he would sometimes want things so bad he would say “I would sell my mother into slavery for that” or” I would sell my soul to the devil for that” to which we would all laugh. Now I really doubt he would have done either of those things just to get the new item he sought so desperately I mean gees his mother did bring him into the world and give him love and food and protection and many things in his life and I have heard that the place south of here can get a bit toasty shall we say. However, it appears that our ‘friends” in the gay, lesbian and bisexual community as well as our supposed leadership at the Human Rights Commission has done both of the things my friend would never have actually done do pass an ENDA bill that EXCLUDES any protection for transgendered people while affording it for “sexual orientation” Ok great – now you can’t get fired if you like shoving your c…. up your coworker’s ass as long as he consents but don’t show up at work in a dress and heels and makeup to reflect who you are as a person inside as a genetic male because that will get you fired my friends. If some gays take that as an insult let me tell you right now – it was intended as one. I am mad as hell and for good reason as a transgendered person I have been betrayed by a gay man who heads the HRC and a gay representative in Congress (Barney Frank) who sold their soul to the devil and their mothers in to slavery in order to get a bill passed that protects them and leaves me and any other transgendered person flushed down the proverbial toilet.


ENDA was suppose to protect the rights of the last bastion of those without them in this country- gays, lesbians, bisexuals AND transgendered persons. (You remember the old acronym GBLT. Well it appears the GB and the L has cast off the T so they can have rights now held for woman, elderly, people of color and various national origins as well as disabilities and religious preferences. All of these groups deserve the equal protection and opportunities that every citizen should have in this country. People should not be denied rights and freedoms and opportunities for income or housing because of the color of their skin or the religion they practice or don’t practice or simply because they have an impairment of their body and neither should they be denied such rights simply because their sexual orientation. But just the same -neither should I or any transgendered person (M to F or F to M) be denied these same basic rights and opportunities simply because I am transgendered. What really hacks me off is the blatant lies perpetrated by the President of HRC who spoke to me and 891 other brothers and sisters of the transgendered community at a luncheon just two weeks ago – stating that the HRC would never support legislation that excluded transgendered people and that the bill must protect all and that gays and lesbians and transgendered people will stand together to fight for an inclusive bill and not an exclusive one. Hell- I almost bought this load of crap as I sat there in my chair after that luncheon. I could see his lips move BUT I just was not buying what he was saying any more than when George Bush Sr. said “Read my lips – no new taxes” or Bill Clinton stating that “I did not have sex with that woman” Seems to me my taxes were raised the year after Bush uttered his words and we all know Bill left his deposits on some clothing worn by the young lady he did not have sexual relations with. So I guess I should not be surprised the leader of an organization that supposedly protects the rights of human beings (HRC- although I am now referring to them as the IRC- Inhuman Relations Commission) blatantly lies through his teeth to the entire transgendered community and now in cahoots with another gay legislator supports a bill that gives protection to his wing of the GBLT while sacrificing the entire transgendered community to do it. I hope your mothers enjoy their shackles and both of you stock pile up on the water because you are going to need it. Is there anyone out there naïve enough to believe that if transgendered people, as the only unprotected group left in this country as far as rights is concerned, we are somehow going to see a bill passed to protect the rights of transgendered people standing by itself. NO way in hell my friends …at least not in my lifetime. I guess what always bugs me the most is that people who have faced discrimination like Mr. Frank and Salmonese would understand better than most people that you don’t end discrimination by discriminating yourself. As one who supports the rights of all people to work and live and enjoy freedoms I have always stood up for the rights of gays and lesbians and I believe they should be allowed to even marry if they so desire and now how has myself and my sisters and brothers in the transgendered community been rewarded for our open-mindedness and support of the GBL part of the GBLT community?-by being flushed down the toilet the proverbial toilet by people I thought were our friends. I hope they enjoy their new found protected status assuming they can override the veto of a President who listens to only the 26% percent of the entire population who actually thinks he is doing a good job. Brothers and sisters of the transgendered community we have been abandoned and we are alone (Addressed to those who are G, B or L) Give us our “T” and go rescue your mothers and your souls!!