He Said What?

Variation on a theme.  Instead of just a cartoon, I was remembering an event from a couple of years ago.  My oldest kid (16 or so) was in the throes of a "teenage angst" day, when everything was wrong, the universe hated him, etc, because we were making him go somewhere he did not wish to go.  My wife and his younger brother were with him.

He had too much to do, the weather (beautiful day) sucked, his clothes were uncomfortable....  You parents of teenagers (or if you've ever been one yourself) know what I mean.

I decided that, since we were early, we should take a walk.  I knew a little path that led to a little hidden park.  I thought he'd enjoy the diversion and we'd enjoy the diversion from him.

He complained about the dirt path, about the overgrown bushes on either side, about logs fallen across the path and roots making for an uneven walk.  Then he noticed the name of the park: "What kind of name is that for a park?  Longfellow-Haycock park?  [the schools and streets on either end of the stretch of green]  The name's too long.  They should call it 'Hayfellow' or 'Long...'..."  He stopped we all laughed and the mood was broken.

OK, gotta have a Sunday funny after all.  If you thought "Peanuts" reruns are old, here's an old Mutt and Jeff.  Click to make it readable:

Following the Shoe Theme...

Take the poll; it's only going to be up through the weekend.  It's funny....  Twenty shoes sounds like a lot, until you're looking for the Perfect Pair.  And then it sounds like a lot again when you figure 20 x {average cost of a pair} = whoops.

Anyway, if you're gonna walk on your toes, wear the dam shoes.  It's a lot easier to walk, you can still tip-toe and you'll be heard.  Am I the only one who's self-conscious walking the a quiet store with my shoes tap-tap-tapping all the way?  I've walked on carpet sometimes, to quite my steps.  But then I forget about it and I'm fine again.

Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!

Sharon pointed me to an article in yesterday's Washington Post.  It was about organising closets, but the thing that caught her eye was the By The Numbers bit at the end of the article.  It said that 25% of American women own more than 50 pairs of shoes.

I don't know how I fit into that demographic, not being a real honest human woman.  But I took the shoe survey anyway.  I fudged it a bit, because I don't go out much.  For instance I read "once a week" or "once a day" as "every seven or so times I dress" or "every time I dress."

I probably have close to 40 pair, but I got rid of several at the last clothing swap.  That was one of the good things that my housesitting adventure wrought ~ I had time to wear many of my shoes for at least an hour standing so I could judge whether to keep them or not.  A couple didn't make it past the five minute mark!  Fortunately, most of my shoes are fairly inexpensive.

As to the survey ~ I earned the Carrie Bradshaw Prize.  And I have five pair of shoes I wear when drab, but four of them are women's shoes.  Nothing's easy for us, even counting shoes!

And if you feel like counting....  There's a quick little poll to the right.

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It's Wednesday, 11:30pm now.  All of the food has been eaten, all of the guests have gone to bed.  But it's too late to write, so you girls chat among yourselves.

I do want to thank you all again, this time for the sweet comments and personal e-mails about yesterday's post.  You're each precious to me.

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Today

I'm off the air today.  No e-mail, no chatting, no net at all.  I can get back on around 7:30 tonight, but I'll have a dozen or so friends over (not Meg aware people, alas) and probably not be able to post until Friday.

It's the Jewish season of forgiveness, but, being me, I have been trying to change that.  Asking and granting forgiveness, to me, is a negative act.  I want people to use this time to thank others who need thanking, those who've helped you during the past year, people who just plain help.  I've thanked people for doing "thankless jobs," and yes, I phrase it that way, and yes, I'll keep on doing it.

And I want to thank you all.  Thank you for ensuring I'm not just writing to an empty room.  Thank you for your e-mail and feedback.  Thank you for your kind words while I've been hurting over the past few months.

Thank you for being my friends.

Love,

Meg

Mom Quiz

(for the record, the new Blogger interface stinks)

It's really a pop quiz, but I considered the content and renamed it.

Quick: don't look down ~ hold your hand up to eye level and look at your fingernails.



I'll wait.

Did you look at the back of your hand with your fingers extended, nails pointing to the sky, or palm toward you, with your fingers folded over, nails pointed down?

Many of you know what I'm looking for here ~ men fold their fingers down, women point their fingers up.  I don't know what I do, because I never get caught by surprise like I maybe did with you.  I *think* I point them down, but I'm not sure.

Two other gender-specific postures:

when you get out of the shower, do you wrap the towel around your waist, or under your arms?  No fair if you do one deliberately.  What do you do if you're not thinking?  I put mine under my arms.  It just feels funny to wrap it around my waist.  So that's one "femme point" for me.

Now stand up and put your hands on your hips (English note: many do not know this is called "arms akimbo," which I think would be a great name for a hotel).  Look at your hands.  Do you see your fingers (fingers forward is what women do) or thumbs?  I do thumbs, but I'm trying consciously to change that.  So minus one "femme point."  But I'm pretty much there.  The last time I noticed I had my hands on hips, it was fingers forward, and reversing it felt funny.

I'd love to look at my nails without thinking and have someone say "AHA!  That's how girls look at their nails!" but what are the odds?



Just an observation ~ I don't know if it's a general behavioural difference ~ but I noticed women swing their free arm more than men do.  I say "free arm" because one is usually occupied by a purse, of course.  I swing my arm pretty vigourously.

On a related topic, it is possible to direct dreams.  You can dream, know you're dreaming, and change the action.  You can tell yourself what to dream and dream it.  It's not easy, and it takes perseverance.  I have had limited success because I don't follow through enough.  I want to try again and make it a habit, so I can do this little trick regularly.

The third step is to tell yourself what to dream just as you're falling asleep.  But the first step is to tell yourself to look at your hands in your dream.  When you can do that, you can try step two (look at your feet ~ this is different because your hands are your hands.  Your feet are generally covered and the covering can be important to your dream).  Some people say step three is to say your name; others say that comes later, when you want to direct your dreams from within.

Why is this a related topic?  I have gotten to the look-at-my-hands state each time I've tried this experiment (sometimes, I've gone further).  But I know, whenever I look at my hands in a dream, my fingers are pointing up.  It's ALWAYS in the feminine fashion.

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Perfect Dressing Opportunity

Blondie will be at the State Theatre in Falls Church (right around the corner from my house) on October 1.  I can see me dressed in '80s party girl drag, enjoying the show.  Alas, I can't see me getting out that night.

It never occurred to me to look at the local music venues as a place to go out dressed.  I think someone like Blondie or the Go-Go's (if they're still touring) would be perfect for dressing up and not looking out of place.  I'll start looking, going forward.

I love overdressing, but don't like to be the best dressed in the place.  I wear a dress to the mall, standing out in a sea of jeans and shorts, but if I was told "you can dress, but no skirts" I'd probably pass.  Someday, I'll get to the point where I can wear the women's clothing I wear as a guy, with Meg's padding, makeup, and wig but not yet.  Maybe if I got out more regularly....

But not yet.

What Sort of Gnome?

I'm pretty sure I had a Get Fuzzy or two before.  Much of the humour results from the cat (just plain mean ~ I would've dropped him in the lake long ago) and the dog (not very smart) not having a complete grasp of the English language.

I did enjoy last week's sequence, repeated here.  and I wonder if Darby Conley (the artist) ever regretting drawing Rob and the cat's hair like that.  Snoopy: curved head, ball nose, black oval ear, done.  Rob: hair hair hair hair hair hair hair.....

Best in the Bunch

Fantasy vs Reality

At least for me.

At least for me.  I wish and dream but I know the reality.  *sigh*

Me in My Fantasy

But It's More Like This in Reality

It's Different For Girls

There are perceived differences between men and women, starting with "boys are better at math."  Many studies have shown that the perceived differences don't really exist.

But there ARE some actual differences between men and women.  Girls, for instance, see more colours than boys (which is why girl toys are often in pastels and boy toys in primary colours).  Anecdotally, I can tell you that boys and girls create differently ~ when I taught video game creation the boys would make predictable games; the girls were always imaginative and surprising.

And yes, girls do throw like girls.

So guys, if you want to improve your femulation, learn to throw the girl way!  It's learnable.  Just read the article backwards and practice.  It's just another of the hundred other mannerisms we need to get right if we don't want to stand out.

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Thought Exercise

I was wondering how we would cope if there were fundamental differences between men and women that couldn't be disguised.

Suppose men were always two feet taller than women.  Or women had feet no larger than, say, size 5 and men had feet no smaller than size 9.  Or men and women had different dentition, or if women's pinky was only an inch long or if men had no fingernails or if women had no eyelashes.

How far would we go in (f)emulating?  Foot surgery and padded shoes when in drab?  Remove eyelashes and wear false eyelashes all the time?  Dental surgery and hope nobody notices, or no dental surgery and hope nobody notices?  And so on.

I guess we're lucky that topless is not the norm for western society.  Well, at least as crossdressers, we're lucky.  I suppose crossdressing doesn't exist in some aboriginal tribes ~ those featured in National Geographic when I was a child.

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Ongoing Soap Opera Note

I'm looking for an apartment right now.  This is not how I expected to start my New Year.

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I Don't Care, I Care, I'm Careful

I have a favourite pink shirt.  It's a men's shirt (alas), a palish pink button-down shirt and initially I always wore it with a cotton ribbed (women's) tank underneath and pink socks.  I usually try to match my socks with my shirt and rarely get comments (other than from my wife).  I figured, pink socks would be the thing most likely to get a mention but....

As time went on, and I moved more towards the "I don't care" side of life, I started wearing more feminine camisoles instead of tanks under all of my shirts, if they'd support that.  With each wash, they support it less.

The other day, I put on a nylon stretchy lacy pink cami.  It has thin adjustable straps and I love the feel against my skin.  I looked at my reflection and saw that the lace and straps showed through Just A Bit and decided that would be OK for work.  No-one would notice (probably).

After breakfast, I took another look.  I guess as I wore the shirt the weave loosened a bit and the lace and straps were clearly visible.

CLEARLY visible.

I went to my closet where I have too many camisoles and the like.  I pulled out three pink cotton tanks.  One was the ribbed one that looked like an undershirt.  One was smoother cotton with the same silhouette.  The third had a deep neck and thin straps.  I decided to try that one.

You can see the tank through the shirt ~ the too-thin straps and the too-low, too-wide neck are visible without straining your eyes.  Would a guy wear an "undershirt" like that?  Maybe, probably not.  Could it pass as a new style?  Maybe, as much as my charm bracelet does.

I wore it and didn't worry about it.

I now know there's a stop at "careful" along the line from "care" to "don't care."  I'll keep that in mind in the future.

(Who note: my favourite non-t-ish line from the show Saturday: The Doctor is about to step across a line.  A companion points out the "Keep Out" sign.  The Doctor says "I've always considered signs like that to be suggestions, not orders.  Like 'Dry Clean Only'."  Actually, the dialogue lately has been pretty punchy.)

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Who?

I admit it ~ I'm a Dr Who fan.  If I missed any episodes going back to 1963 and the boringly preachy William Hartnell, it wasn't intentional.  Fortunately, I wasn't introduced to the first doctor first, or I might have just shut it down and never returned.  I think I first found Who during the Tom Baker years.

Anyway...

Saturday night, I sat down and watched the only show that I like to sit down and enjoy at the first possible moment.  Other shows, I tape (yes, I still tape).  And there are not many.  I'm no longer much of a television fan.  My involvement with tv (or cd for that matter) has to do with entertainment, but not what civilians would think.

I mentioned Who once before, when they uttered a t-kinda line.  Here's another from the latest episode.

The setup:The Doctor and his companions are in an old west town.  The Doctor wants to scoot out of the town to get his TARDIS and a cyborg gunfighter is preventing all from leaving.  The Doctor decides to ride out.  The dialogue is close but not perfect.

Doctor: I need to borrow this horse.  It's official marshal business
Minister: his name is Joshua.  It's from the bible.  It means 'deliverer'
Doctor: no it's not
Minister: (looks puzzled)
Doctor: I speak horse.  his name is Susan and he'd like you to respect his life choices.

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Real Life Adventures

(שנה טובה [Shana Tovah] to all.  For anyone saying "huh?" just enjoy some apple dipped in honey)

I just enjoy this strip.  I don't know how many papers or websites it's on, but it deserves to be in more.  Any captions are mine and definitely not as funny as the strip itself.  But I kill me (see cartoon #9).

Guilty as charged

AND fit into a size 10 and look GOOD

If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you

Yup, that's me too.  Black thumb.

Final Jeopardy

Mmmm.  Beeeeer.

Someone has to laugh at my jokes.  Might as well be me

Wouldn't You Like to Be A Feline Too?

Grimm's pretty accepting, actually. Stupid, but accepting.

Final Lip Note

My company takes over the local amusement park for a picnic day once a year.  I gave away most of my tickets, but I had offered to help out so I had to go anyway.  I'm not a roller coaster fan, but I figured I'd take advantage of the food and drink and maybe run into a few people I know (I did).

Before I got to the park, I put on my lipstick and clear gloss.  I put both in my pocket and went to the entrance.

They took your ticket then had you walk through a metal detector.  I do not set off metal detectors.  I can have a pocket full of change, my necklace, my bracelet, my car keys, and so on ~ it doesn't go off.  It didn't go off.  (Well, that waist cinch at the airport did it.)

But they wanded everyone anyway.

He got to my pocket and I said "car fob" and pulled out the fob.  He checked again and beeeeeeep.  I said "I think that's it."  I thought, lip gloss is plastic.  But then I remembered lipstick is in a metal tube!  I was about to pull out the tube and he said "could it be the rivets in your jeans?"  I was wearing jeans shorts (again, my wife would pronounce them "too short", and they were shorter than most guy's shorts, longer than most women's shorts) and I took the out, as long as he was offering.  I said "I guess" instead of "I guess it's my lipstick" and he waved me in.

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More On Lips

This is not a thorough research project, but I've noted some advantages of the different lip coverings I've been playing with:

nothing: easy, but not very femme nor protective of your lips, especially if it's the air is dry, or it's excessively sunny outside
balm alone: easy, you can put it on anywhere (as long as you don't use a brush, I guess) but not very femme
clear/your colour gloss alone: in my experience, it kind of seeps into your lips and isn't as shiny as it could be.  But your lips feel nice and silky.  The amount of gloss varies widely ~ you'll have to give yourself a critical look (if you're in the "care" zone)
your colour gloss over balm: shinier, probably more protection, ranks higher on the femme-o-meter
clear gloss over balm: even shinier than your colour, generally
lipstick: looks good.  It smooths out your lips but it has no real shine by itself
gloss over lipstick: it's shiny, it looks good.  The femme-o-meter pegs at a 10, but it can be very noticeable.  If that bothers you, avoid!

I'm writing this during a work break.  Someone from IT just came by and said they'd have to do a "makeup day" to set up a new laptop for me.  I said "I don't usually wear makeup, but that's fine."  She called out to her assistant "he needs a makeup day but he says he doesn't wear makeup" and she turned back to me and said "how about a reschedule day?"  I said "I'll go with the makeup if it'll get me a computer."  She laughed.

I was wearing apricot gloss over lip balm at the time.

Well, of course, there are disadvantages too:
your lip colour gloss: may come off on glasses, napkins.  Some do, some don't
high gloss: noticeable.  Both of these might not be disadvantages; how much do you care?
lipstick: you need to be careful putting it on.  Gloss can go "outside the lines" and you can wipe away a bit with a finger or fingernail.  Lipstick won't wipe as easily and if it is your lip colour it is NOT your face colour.  I often put on my gloss in the men's room.  If someone comes in, I'm done.  I put it away and rub my lips together to spread the gloss, if needed.  If I mess up my lipstick and someone comes in, I have to clean up, maybe blot, and that's kind of obvious.  So where are you on the care/don't care scale?  Lipstick will ALWAYS come off on a glass rim, or a napkin, or a straw, or a boy or girlfriend,  or whatever else touches your lips.  Again, do you care?

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Drab Lips

When I'm in drab now, I have something on my lips.  I've mentioned some of this in different posts before.

It used to be a lip balm that was a bit shiny (such as Nivea "A Kiss of Shimmer").  These are just a tiny bit shiny, really.  I wonder if it will shine more over lipstick, but I haven't tried that experiment.  Does lip balm go over or under lipstick?

A few months ago, I decided I would switch to a clear lip gloss.  I tried a variety, and got a variety of levels of shine.

For the next stup, I upped the ante a bit and bought some gloss in my lip colour.  That's not hard to do; glosses are mostly translucent bordering on transparent ~ the idea is for your lipstick to shine through, after all ~ and they added shine without adding noticeable colour.  That is, until you sip out of a glass or white cup.  Then you get that familiar lipstick mark on the rim.

I'm never satisfied, I guess.  I've been using lip balm under lip gloss in my colour at work.  I get a noticeable shine, softer lips, and the enjoyment of wearing one more girl item on a regular basis.  This is now my normal work wear.  I have coffee during my drive to work.  If I finish in the car, I park and put on my balm and gloss.  If not, I go up to the men's room which is hopefully empty enough that I can put them on there.  I renew after I eat or drink during the day,  And now....

I've added lipstick.  During work, I keep the same combination as above.  But when I leave work to run errands or see after-work clients, I take off my gloss and put on a lipstick in what I think is close to my natural colour.  Even though it mostly seems not-noticeable, it smooths out the imperfections in my lips and makes them look nicer.  And all this time, I thought the only idea was to add colour.

But wait!  There's more!

Lipstick does add something to your lips, but not shine.  I now put a light layer of clear gloss over the lipstick.  I had noticed that my lipgloss is glossier when it's put over my lip balm.  I wondered if it's glossier over lipstick ~ and it definitely is.  I will emphasise "light layer."  Either be careful or blot off the excess or your lips may end up glossier than you'd like.  Depending on where I'm going, I change the amount of gloss.  Warning: this combination is noticeable ~ I've caught (invariably) women look at my lips and smile and look away.  No-one has said anything.  That doesn't mean people don't notice.  In the several years now that I've worn my charm bracelet, I've only had a handful of comments.  I'm sure people notice.

And you know what... if it bothers anyone, I don't care.  If it inspires some men to do the same, or some women to try that look on their guys, well, that I do care about.  Excelsior!

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Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 20 is on a Tuesday this year.  The official TDOR website has nothing about this year's upcoming events.  I'll keep an eye on it and let y'all know when something is up.  I'll also keep an eye on their facebook page.

I plan to attend a service or event as Meg this year, for the first time.

Next year, I hope and pray we don't need one.  This year, we do.

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Sometimes, "Dr" Is Just a Title

I get up early, usually around 515 or 530.  I often turn on Primer Impacto because the women who do the news wear some of the best dresses on television.  I've seen some trans-stories on the show, but, alal, I don't understand a word of it.  (Sometimes, someone says "OK".  I understand that.)

At 530 I switch to CNN if I have nothing else to watch and I catch a little news until 6, when I switch to the headline news show.  I don't know why.  They have 30 minutes to give all the top news and they mostly have fluff ("this family came home to find a deer in their swimming pool!").

If I do have something to watch, I skip CNN and turn to headline news so when my show is over I'll be catching what passes for cable news.  Last Friday, I had the previous night's Daily Show and Colbert ready so I changed channels and saw Dr Drew talking with someone who made my t-dar alarm go off.

Nina Arsenault

It turns out her name was Nina Arsenault (google her ~ there's a lot of stuff on the internet).  She's a post-op wearer-of-many-hats: writer, actress, and more.  The Story Of The Year: a convicted murderer in Massachusetts was allowed by a judge to get gender reassignment surgery at taxpayer expense.  CNN put up a few minutes of the half-hour show, along with a couple of paragraphs.  They don't do this train wreck of a show justice.  Ms Arsenault was literate, calm, and persuasive.  Pamela Geller, who they listed as a "conservative commentator" was an embarrassment ~ no matter what side of the debate you're on.  She speaks with the certainty of the ignorant and goes off on tangents that have nothing to with with this case, and a lot to do with transphobia.

The text and host are worse: they give the woman's name as "Michelle" ~ yes, they put quotes around it.  At one point Dr Drew says "he, she...  I get confused about these things."  And the headline refers to the "sex change surgery."

Dr Drew ~ if you "get confused by these things" then don't tackle them.  You're setting back out cause twenty years.

And I hope this is the last derivative piece I have for a while.  But it is a good sign that we're out there in the media.

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Same Joke, Different Day

Yes, they're the same joke.  Why is one funnier than the other?

Good Until The Last Drop

Which is different from "good to the last drop."

(Speaking of drops....  hey, Marian!   Drop me a note.  I'd love to chat.  And that goes for the rest of you, too!)

If only they were from "Extreme Makeover" or "He's A Lady."  Ah well.  I've noticed many of the "cd-ish" cartoons are fantasy starters anyway.  And after my one foray into fiction here was roundly booed, I'll keep the fantasies to myself.

You're welcome.

EVERYONE in this strip wears glasses!

One More Via Huff

(apology first ~ yesterday's post got saved as a draft and not published until I noticed, after Paula went to bed. :) )

A good news article.  Study Finds Increasing Support for Transgender Rights in the U.S.  It opens:

Until recently, the struggles that transgender individuals face in both public and private institutions have been discussed primarily in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, but not by the wider public. Thankfully, a November [2011] study conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) has found that the majority of Americans support strong rights and legal protections for transgender individuals. This positive change in public opinion proves that civil rights movements have finally caught on with the general public. Whatever the case, it appears that the attitude of the majority of American toward transgender individuals is changing for the better. 

As much as I welcome news like this, I'm a bit skeptical.  When I read things like "a majority of Americans support strong rights and legal protections for transgender individuals," I wonder.  I mean, a majority of Americans believe the world was created in six days.  The article suggests strong support among Evangelicals and Republicans (also suggesting that support among other Christians and Democrats is a given).

And it says "The study also discovered that approximately 75 percent of Americans polled had a solid understanding of what the term "transgender" means. About 11 percent of those polled reported that they had a close friend or family member who identifies as transgender." Both of those numbers seem high.  Among civilians I've come out to, there has been confusion as to what transgender means.  My wife and my therapist were unsure.

But we can hope, no?

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What Would YOU Do?

This seems to be "stuff reported elsewhere" week.  I've had some of these links queued up for a long time and I'm trying to downsize.  Since I was saving them to share, well....

Today's article came out of the HuffPost and the headline reads:

Steve Crecelius Goes To Hospital For Kidney Stone, Discovers Female Sex Traits

He's now transitioning, although how far isn't clear from the article.  An follow-up article from KDVR has some more details.  And, of course, having an unusual name means the googles will burp out all sorts of additional articles, pictures, videos.  (Funny thing: when I put his name in, I got several pictures in the "images for..." box ~ the last one was Steve Jobs.  Imagine his surprise.)

I'd go the "validating what I felt" route and take it as a sign that Meg should be Meg.  How about you?

I may have mentioned this before ~ I'm happy being Meg when I can, I wouldn't go the 24x7 route (too much work, methinks) but if the gummint knocked on my door and said "new law: you have to choose.  Male or female clothing, but none of this back-and-forth stuff," all of my pants and men's shirts would be in the Goodwill bin within the hour.

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Dysphoria, From Dysphoros, Hard to Bear

It's progress, I guess.

Following an American Psychiatric Association report on transgender health, the APA has issued an "official position statements on the care and civil rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals."

Some good news: they acknowledge that we're not "disordered."  Gender Identity Disorder is a thing of the past.

We're now have (suffer from?) "gender dysphoria," which means we're "unhappy with our birth gender."  I can agree with that.

Zack Ford summarised the statement for the HuffPost:

'The APA explained the importance of standing up for the trans community, citing the “significant discrimination, prejudice, and the potential for victimization from violent hate crimes, as well as denial of many basic civil rights, protections, and access to health care, to the severe detriment of their mental health.'

The entire article is here.  I've communicated with Mr Ford (and mentioned him before) a couple of times about issues I raised yesterday, about us being added on to the LGB ship as ballast, much as social conservatives are ballast for the Republican Party ~ not needed, except to add to the weight of the ship so it sails better (or the number of the cause so they can increase their strength).  I don't know if I made a difference, but Mr Ford's been much more attentive to T issues, and I salute him.

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Stana's Here? No Thank You

Stana, my personal heroine, does outreach regularly at different colleges.  I'd love to start doing that, but I wouldn't even know how to begin.

But if she's looking for new venues to visit, she should steer clear of the Top 10 Trans-Friendly Colleges and Universities, as outlined in this Advocate article (which relates back to the Campus Pride Index).

It's wonderful to see gay-oriented publications highlighting trans issues.  Mostly, I feel we're the "poor stepchild" in the LGBT quad.  Three sexual orientation + one gender identity.  Want to water us down more?  Try LGBTQ.  Now we're one-fifth of the equation.

But the article starts with an acknowledgment of this:

Transgender people within higher education continue to be an invisible, often forgotten community. Only about 10% of colleges and universities have trans-inclusive nondiscrimination statements. Research suggests that trans people face higher rates of harassment when compared to cisgender lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and are three times more likely to fear for their physical safety on campus.  In the last decade, however, a number of campuses have become stalwart leaders in creating trans-friendly policies, programs, and practices.

I am pleased and impressed and even if you're not going to college you might find a nearby campus to stroll amidst people educated in our issues.  Or something to keep bookmarked for when your children are looking for a school.

Or low-hanging fruit to avoid, if you have the honour of doing outreach.

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I'm Sure There Are Many More

but the interesting thing is, they're getting more help young, and more people are hearing about it.  As I wrote in May about a five year old transgendered child, exposure is good.

This article is about two years old, and it's interesting in that it's from Arizona and it's sympathetic to the subject of the story.

It's titled Meet Josie, 9: No secret she's transgender and you can follow that link to read the whole story.  But as impressed as I was with Josie, I love that her mother said:

"Josie is very proud of who she is," Venessia says. "Why go through life with a secret? Where's the health in that? There should be no shame."

Go Venessia!

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Nyuk Nyuk

Bill Hinds (Cleats, as featured yesterday) is at his best when he's doing physical humour.  Cartooning is a tough medium for physical humour, where timing is incredibly important but he carries it off, as you can see in these two examples (and see easier if you click to enlarge).

So What?

Cleats is a strip about kids' sports.  I suspect kids enjoy the strip, since the heroes are the young, (mostly) soccer players and the foils are the refs, coaches, and parents.

So come on, Mr Hinds!  Give the kids a little diversity, a little food for thought, a little outside-the-box thinking instead of a little punch line.
I will say, this was much better (from last year):

And yes, I'm going to throw the lip gloss in the trash.

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