My Kennedy

Last night I posted a link from Lori's Revival to a new blog created by the mother of a transgender child.  In "My Kennedy's Story," Candice recounts how her love as a parent triumphed over a difficult decision to allow her child to be who they are. 

Her first post is introductory and she has the followers widget in place.   She welcomes comments and plans to continue blogging to share her and Kennedy's story.  You can visit by going to her page HERE. 

New Headlining Content Coming to T-Central?

I wanted to submit an idea to the readers of the continually growing T-Central site.   Recently I've been thinking how we can keep content fresh and relevant in this top section in addition to the all-too infrequent review of people's blogs.  What I'm considering is posting relevant T-related news or opinion and could call upon a few friends who also provide news feeds pertaining to trans-related issues to post or cross-post some of the big happenings of the day. 

It's just an early thought, but it could make coming back to T-Central a little more exciting.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. 

A Life Reborn? Rebecca Begins a Blog

I recently met someone online who is just beginning her path to self acceptance though she, like so many, have struggled for years to internalize her true self.   In "A Life Reborn," Rebecca explains how she's recently seen a gender therapist who has had extensive experience dealing with gender identity issues.   The question Rebecca raises concerns her therapist's recommendation (after one visit) that she's ready to begin a hormone replacement therapy program.  

How soon is too soon?  And when SHOULD a therapist prescribe HRT?   How rigid should the WPATH Standards of Care be followed?   Being that this is Rebecca's new blog and first post, I'm hoping you'd be willing to head over there and chime in.   Her "Followers" feature is up so you can follow along with her too!

Fresh face

I'm a terrible T-Central contributor. I'm not very good at searching out new blogs, but sometimes I get lucky and they come to me. That's what happened when Sophie commented on a blog entry I just wrote, which led me to Mental Boonies, her new blog started only this month. She writes with intelligence and wit, a dash of irreverence, and a spiritual angle that many will find appealing. That's not usually me, but her Note to God entry really moved me. And I have to admit, she cited a good quote from C. S. Lewis. Say hi to the new girl on the block!

Common Teri's Commentary

Ever since I began my first steps to transition, my friend Teri had a blog on Yahoo 360 where she would write her unadulterated thoughts about transition, life, and the new challenges of living as a woman.  She left the blog world for a few months recently but has returned with a new blog and new input.  Her most recent posts already prove she's back in true form sharing her heart and chronicling her life in a real and sensitive way.  

Please head over to her site and become a follower.  It's definitely worth it!

http://commontericommentary.blogspot.com/

Cammie's Song: Out of Love For Her Child

I don't think that any personal story I've recently read has moved me more than that of Cameron's Song, a blog written by the mother who, out of love and understanding, is allowing her daughter ( born male ) the freedom to transition. I initially began to reminisce of my own painful gender dysphoria from around age five, and I wondered how different my life would have been had I been allowed to transition at an early age. I've learned to accept my past and have come to appreciate the many wonderful things in my life because of it, including having children.

The author of Cameron's Song (also known as Cammie's Song) is intelligent, knowledgeable, and most of all, she articulates her compassionate heart for her daughter as they take on all the issues revolving around a transgender child. I will be following this story closely, I hope you do too.

TransAfrica

Checking the blogs on this list, or anywhere on the web, one might get the impression that most trans people are Caucasian Westerners, with a smattering of Southeast Asians. But trans people are found everywhere, as I have seen from the chart that Google Analytics shows me for my blog.

Lindsay's Life is a blog by a young Kenyan trans woman on the cusp of her transition. Her official transition, that is. It's clear from reading her blog that she has been a girl all along. She now wants to make it official and truly live her life as the woman she is inside.

If we think it's difficult to transition in our society, imagine how it must be in a country like Kenya, which is hardly backward but whose cultures are much more traditional than ours. Lindsay is not her real name. As she writes, she hates to hide, but she wants to live. She is aware of how many if not most Kenyans feel about people who are different. Her courage is inspiring.

At the same time, she writes like the young woman she is, in the English of a young woman with a smattering of local patois. It will be interesting to follow her journey. I hope that she can keep writing.

Blog, Sweet Blog

I started corresponding with Anna on YouTube, stemming from a mutual interest in art and punk rock. She writes a terrific, no nonsense prose on her blog, so check it out. She's a pretty awesome person. She has recently finished most of the hard parts of transition, which she talks about here:

Stillettos and Sneakers: Alexandra Billings

Alexandra Billings is a phenomenal and beautiful actress, singer, and writer. She will be playing an important role in the trans-related short film "Stealth" (view the PR HERE).

In her personal blog at Live Journal (read it HERE) Alexandra frequently shares some of the more intense moments of her life. Many of her real life stories will have you at times laughing and crying almost at the same time. Her main website is HERE.

Sex, Gender, Body

I am currently looking at a promising new site that welcomes you with "I define my sex, gender, body. You define yours." Here is the introduction you will find when you visit the top page of this website of the same name:

These words summarize the intention of this site. There are no experts to tell us how to claim or identify our own sex, gender, body (sgb).

sexgenderbody.com is a community, collaborative blog, built in the same functional model of dailykos.com and mydd.com. The site is open-invitation, meaning that anyone can register and post diaries. This site has been built to serve as a public meeting place for honest and respectful conversations about the entire width and breadth of sex, gender, body. Topics will range from the intimate to the mundane, falling in love, looking in the mirror, workplace, health, advocacy, friendship, sex, identity, change, finances and the list goes on.

Every person on the planet has a unique and rich life of experience and expression. We all define ourselves as individuals in all aspects of our lives, including sex, gender & body. These three areas are intertwined with many other aspects of our identity.

The Girl Can Run!

I stumbled onto an interesting blog this evening. Jennifer McCreath is a transsexual marathon runner, and apparently she's been chronicling her runs in a blog for some time now. According to her blog's byline:

I am a 35 yr old transwoman marathon runner from Newfoundland, Canada. I use running as a way to raise societal education and awareness about the issues of transsexualism. This blog focuses on my running and on my life in general as a transsexual.

Pretty cool stuff if you ask me. Give her site a look! http://jennifermccreath.blogspot.com/

Transitioning out loud

So you have a blog, and it's out there for all the world to see. I do too. Chances are, you publish it somewhat anonymously. I do that as well. Yes, we're pretty brave to write about our transition in public. Well, semi-public.

How would you feel if your transition were really public? As in, published on the web site of a major newspaper? That's what Jillian Page has done. Her transition blog, Patent Pending, appears on the web site of the newspaper for which she works, The Gazette, the leading English-language newspaper in Montreal. The very first post, written about a year ago, even made it into the print edition. Now that's public.

Despite this high-profile outlet, Jillian is quite candid with her thoughts about her transition and about gender-related issues. She recently covered the Trans Pride Conference in Montreal, an important gathering of trans people and trans health care providers.

I'm not crazy about the blog's navigation, or lack thereof, but it's worth scrolling through to get a flavour of the kinds of things Jillian writes about, from whimsical to profound. I have added the blog link below as well for the most recent stories.

A Daydreamer Among Us

Over on Wordpress, I stumbled upon Adrienne Morgan Leigh's blog (READ IT HERE or navigate to http://daydreamer37.wordpress.com/ ). Adrienne seems ready to continue the chronicles of her transition, and I appreciate anyone willing to share another simple yet incredibly personal journey with the rest of the world.

Head on over the Adrienne's blog and decide for yourself. She's also been added to the T-Central list below in case you miss a blog or two!

Tiana's "Being My True Self"

I have a dear friend who just recently transitioned on the job. From what I hear things went exceptionally well and she is finally settling into her role as her true self.

Speaking of true selves, Tiana no longer posts over on Yahoo 360 and has begun her own blog here on Blogger. It's titled "Being My True Self," and I think the world of Tiana. Following her over the last two years, our lives seemed to eerily parallel each other, and even now I wonder what kind of exciting future holds for my friend.

That's her on the right, taken at last year's IFGE conference in Tucson. She and friend Marie A were doing some sort of cotton-eye-joe or something like that. I was busy with camera in hand. So head on over to her new blog, follow her by clicking on the Followers box, and say hi. I'm sure that friendly Texan will be glad you did. Yee-haw! And be sure to tell her not to kill me for posting this photo!

Kathryn's First Day

My friend Kathryn over at Kathryn's Journey, A Story of Transition, is having a momentous occasion tomorrow: it's her first day at work presenting as her true self. I can't imagine the anticipation she must have felt as she took a hiatus over the last week, having taken her kids on a vacation while having to count the days until her return to work.

So drop by and drop some love as she steps into this big day tomorrow!

Some interesting thoughts on "passing"

Okay. Lori gave me this pulpit. Might as well use it.

Zelda is a very dear friend of mine. She's the moderator of the Southern Comfort Conference's mailing list, and if you've ever been to SCC, you've probably at least seen her wandering around. She's from the crossdressing range of the T spectrum, but I think her thoughts on "passing" are applicable to anyone who presents a gender variant face to the public. I'm sure she'd love to hear from other people on the matter, so why not have a look and a conversation.

Fresh Blood

Sorry, the title isn't indicative of a new vampire flick coming to a screen near you. Rather, I wanted to introduce you to two awesome bloggers in their own right who will be posting their own blog reviews here on T-Central.

Veronique has been faithfully posting to Trans-Canada since mid-2007, and it's this blogger's opinion that the running message of hope and perseverance throughout her blog is a must read for any person beginning to or in the process of transitioning. Veronique is a representative of what can go right with transition.

Christianne Benedict of Scheherezade's Sister is a long time friend of mine whose own transition I've been following since the old "decrepit 360" blogs in days of yore. The only thing I enjoy more than reading her blog is talking to her on the phone, which we seem to do with a bit of regularity. Her other movie blog Krell Laboratories is amazingly extensive and provides some really great insight in current and classic film. You may be seeing posts in this space coming from them in the near future. Don't worry, and don't adjust your TG Set...

Oh, and these aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along. Move along.

Amber Begins the RLE!

Wow. Amber begins her true real life experience. Only NOW are we made aware of this! Tsk tsk tsk, Amber! You should have told us sooner! LOL! Kidding, kidding, of course.

Anyway, I've known Amber for as long as I've been transitioning, and she has steadily moved forward proving and reassuring me in a way that your transition is your own, and no one should push you into doing anything you don't want to. It's your life, your timing, your choice.

Thanks for reminding me of that, Amber. And rock on.

Now go read her cool blog. READ IT HERE.

Stephanie Just Stephanie Just Turned Five Five

Go on over and show this girl Stephanie some love! She's hit the five five! Party on girlfriend!

TLDR

Nicky wrote a nice blog today. Too bad I managed to derail it right away by bringing up the mechanics of blog-writing.

But I think there's some value in discussing how we write blogs, why we write them that way, and what it means to our audiences.

Do you write with yourself in mind first, and assume your love and passion for whatever your topic is will come through and attract the right people, like moths to a flame?

Or do you consider your audience first and bend your prose to the limitations that imposes, like a sonnet must be bent to a certain structure?

Or do you not care about an audience at all, writing solely for yourself?

Personally, I see my blog as a relationship between myself and the people who read it. I want to entertain, inform, provoke, or inspire thought. Mostly, though, I want them to read what I have to say, and to that end, I try to make it as easy as possible for them.

Pretty much everyone here has a blog...that was the point of T-Central, to gather us all into one place. And every single one of us is an audience member for someone else, which means you have an opinion. So let's talk!

And in the meantime, check out Nicky's blog, because there was a lot more to get out of that one paragraph than what I led with in the comments section.

(Oh, and bonus points to the first person to tell us what the title of this blog means)

Love the Skin You're In

Over on TransCanada, Veronique writes what I think is the best summation of how a great majority of trans friends I know, including myself, feel about being T. If only my blogs were as succinct and well written! Head on over by clicking HERE.

Are you "Another Whiney T-Girl?"

Jamie has a blog. Jamie speaks her mind. Jamie doesn't care if you agree or disagree with her. She is who she is. Heck, some of the things she writes might even infuriate you. Inversely, you may think she gets it right most of the time.

Whatever opinion you may have about her blogs, you just GOTTA read this one. That is, if you are willing to put aside the fact that her blog is called "Not Another Whiney T-girl Blog". If you're perfectly alright with that, then read her latest. It was certainly worth the PRICE OF ADMISSION. (click HERE). Don't say I didn't warn you, though. (For the record, I may not agree with everything she says, but I can't resist reading anyway! Her professional photographs are freaking awesome to boot!)

Good luck at work there, Jamie!

Video Bloggers of Bloggerville Unite!

So another jumps into the waters of video weblogging, huh? This time it's our own temptress from down under (and I ain't talking about Australia!) Shinigami Liz. Then again, she's only HALF-demonness according to her ;)

But I'll let you go check out here blog (click HERE) and watch for yourself! Not bad not bad girlie, keep em coming!

So what the heckage does Shinigami mean anyhow?

Jaye's Trans Blog and the Subject of Detransitioning

Over on Wednesday, February 25th's post at Jaye's Trans Blog, Jaye highlights two links, the first a story in USA Today about L.A. Times Sportswriter Mike Penner. Mike's story became famous when he transitioned to become Christine Daniels in 2007 but detransitioned back to Mike late last year. The second article discusses a British tycoon who also transitioned to female, then detransitioned back to male while arguing that living as a woman was a negative experience.

The topic and publicity of detransitioning seems to also catch the news media's attention, and keywords like "detransition" and "Christine Daniels" frequently pop up in my own listing in Google Analytics.

Jaye is a relatively new blogger, but she's been consistently writing about her thoughts as she processes her own feelings. Check out her blog, follow her along, and let her know what you think! (READ IT HERE).

Calie's Chronicles

I don't often get to follow some blogs as closely as I'd like, but find myself making more of a concerted effort to follow Calie of Calie's Chronicles (READ HER BLOG HERE). (Plus, she's a friend of Rebecca's ;) )
Her many experiences and thoughts were so similar to my own, and she expresses her emotions very clearly. Her latest blog "Letting the Shields Down" hits the mark when she explains

I guess what I am trying to say is that I can feel like the real "me" just by being with someone who accepts me and understands me which allows me to release the shields that are almost always up.

Have you ever felt like that? When I first began making friends with accepting attitudes towards my T-ness, I quickly felt the need for makeup and dress much less significant. Nowadays I'm quite comfortable wearing a blouse and jeans, but there was a time when even that just wasn't quite enough.

Until someone friendly enough came along allowing me to let my shields down.

From Lori Anne to LoriAnne's World

Okay, that's not a photo of my twin and me, but I bet it made you look!

I did, however, just finish reading about the "week of incomparable lows and stratospheric highs" that my friend of same name and similar life LoriAnne experienced. LoriAnne continues to write about life in transition, this time as she is about to step into the corporate world as her true self. Her writing style is another that I eagerly covet, her ability to accurately express the ranging emotions of the highs and lows in our transtion rollercoaster ride.

Follow along and give her your best wishes as she takes yet another major hurdle within the next two weeks! You can read her blog (HERE).

Aren't We All Out of Our Minds?

I don't always stick to Blogger to find interesting writers who have a story to tell. A lot of good writers can be found on Wordpress and LiveJournal, and I still have a few friends who never abandoned the nearly abandoned Yahoo 360.

One of those friends, Leslie Ann, still posts there for now, but she's also begun to post her crazed thoughts over on Blogger at my request. (Okay, I'll admit it, I'm lazy, and I like reading blogs on my mobile Google Reader in addition to here at T-Central. I can't reliably add 360 blogs to it.)

Leslie Ann, in my opinion, writes from the deep reserves of a passionate spirit longing to find her center in being transgender. What's more, she is one of many who may not or don't pursue transition, something we don't see many people willing to write and blog about. I think those who choose that path also deserve to be heard, and if you'd like to know what that's like, please check out Leslie's site and follow along with her. I know I'll be following closely. Very closely. That girl's out of her mind.
(Really, really, I don't think she's all that crazy.)

The Welcome Mat

Everyone go over to Kathryn's blog and say "hi". While you're there, click on the Followers button. She just performed the epic task of transferring her whole 360 blog over here; an undertaking of that magnitude demands our attention. :)

Welcome aboard Kathryn! Gosh, now I have a lot more reading to do...

Teri, Debbie, Dee, and Allison

Today over on CommonTeri's blog, Teri opens up about her successful day performing at the recent Fresno talent show and the positive review she received from online Gay Fresno. Her point is that we should interact with the world and let them see our talents so that they come to know us for who we are.

Over on Debbie's Life, she ventures into the realm of podcasting as she prepares to travel for her own surgery. I haven't had a chance to give it a full listen, but give Deb your support as she documents one of the biggest moments in her life. She's got a great voice too! As Lucy heals from her own surgery, we wish you luck Debbie!

Dee of Dee's Tales continues to write about the vivid emotions she experiences about the necessity of blogging to help sort through her many thoughts. I like Dee's writing a lot, I think you will too.

And last but certainly not least, I found a new friend in the gorgeous Allison Mackenzie. After reading her most recent blogs, I found myself going back reading her previous writings, and I was hooked. Allison has done a marvelous job chronicling the highs and lows of transition, and I think her wordpress journal is as good as it gets. She faces FFS (pun intended) within a couple of weeks. Her page says "Just another Wordpress blog," but there's much more to it than that.

Too much to read and too little time to do it in. Toodles!

The Radical Tranny's Take on Using the Word "Tranny"

Ethan St. Pierre is well known for his bold activism and work on the Transgender Day of Remembrance project . His podcast, "The Radical Trannies" on TransFM is doing wonders to promote equality and to spread an affirming message for transmen and women everywhere.

In his latest post on his My Halo blog, Ethan explains the differences between groups in the use of the word "Tranny." Whether you find it derogatory or a word we need to reclaim, similar to "Queer" being reclaimed by the gay and lesbian community, Ethan gives a good explanation why it's not a generally appropriate word to use. Head on over to My Halo and find out more.

Good Luck Lucy!

It's come to T-Central's attention (thanks Fiona) that Lucy is on her way to Thailand today for you-know-what! Congrats, and here's hoping for a speedy recovery (*raises glass of, umm, water*...give me a break, it's 7:30 AM here). I'll bet she'd appreciate hearing from others!

Lucy has just re-booted her public blog - Lori, is that linked here? I don't see it - and it promises to be interesting, as she documents the post-srs phase of her life. I'm already hooked on just the first post...

Visually arresting...

So over on Femulate, there's a link to some other blog where a number of famous male comic book characters have been reimagined as women.

Never mind that whoever put that gallery together doesn't know that She-Hulk is a character in her own right, some of the images are great. Oh sure, they're the typical comic book cliche versions of women we've all grown to publicly decry, but that's only appropriate for the medium. What's interesting to me is that some of these images are for more compelling, both visually and iconically, than their male originals. Superman, for instance (and forgive me), never worked for me; there's nothing all that interesting about a dude who can do anything, can't be hurt or stopped, and has a squeaky clean set of personal mores to go along with it. Make him a her (and yes, I know there have been several incarnations of Supergirl, but she never had that iconic status) and you change the dynamic...taking away white male privilege from the character at least gives storytellers something dramatic to work with.

Which is your favorite, and why? The argument for Superwoman notwithstanding, I probably like Aquawoman the best...Aquaman was always under appreciated (until recently, I'm told), but really, the character screams out to be a woman.

Who Makes The Rules?

Lori just had this great idea: Periodically, she and I will post reflections on things we're reading here at T-Central, and in doing so shine a spotlight of sorts on the many contributors to our diverse (and growing) community.

And not to start with a too obvious one, but I'm going to pick on en/Gender right off the bat. In yesterday's blog, Helen Boyd raises an interesting point regarding legal identification. Currently, SRS is required to change the gender marker on your birth certificate (and therefore, on your driver's license in many states, including my own). Well, who made that rule? And why haven't I seen more conversation about getting it changed? We talk about change and progress and legalizing this and legalizing that, but we almost never talk about going back and fixing this one foundational thing that hurts so many of us. No rule is carved in stone...it could be done.

So how do we do it?

Comments are on...feel free to sound off. (from Lori: But please be civil.)

Edited: Turns out Lori and I cross-posted...you can see her reading recommendations Right Here. Take a look!

Blogs of the Day, Version 1.0

Beginning today, Renee and I will be giving brief reviews of recent blog postings from others that you may have missed. While it will certainly only scratch the surface, we hope to highlight interesting stories and life events here at the top of the T-Central page.

Over on Teresa's Treasures, today was the day she got her name changed...woo hoo! Go T.E.R.E.S.A! That's just a name FULL of "awesome sauce!" (as Jayna and Mila put it).

Kathryn of Kathryn's Journey met with HR and has a date set for her to go full time at work...stay tuned to hear how that goes. Results from coming out at work still vary from person to person. I have a feeling Kathryn will do just fine, after having followed her blog for a while. Go girl!

And Veronique over on TransCanada discusses what life is like to be happy. She also includes a video at the bottom. If you haven't followed her blog yet, you're missing a wonderful writer who shares her heart and soul.

Finally, Stephanie posts in her own blog about coming to terms with the big "Why," and decides that "I'm a happy girl, not an angry shadow. That's all that matters."

I like that reasoning. I like it a lot.

112 PERSONAL BLOGS...Sheez

112 personal blogs here. Whew! Lots to read. While I may not have enough time to comment on nearly as many as I'd like, I do read a LOT.
All because I'm still learning... a LOT.

Now get back to reading!