Monday, April 21, 2008

FtMs and female-bodied men throughout history



Much of the information and images in this video can be found either here:

http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conwa...
(Lynn Conway's "Successful Transmen" site)

or here:

http://www.computerconsultingservices...
(the ftmi-linked page on ftm contributions to society throughout history)

First Lady

New York nightlife fixture and network TV star Candis Cayne heads West to take on Hollywood.

Julia Serano

April 2008


Since the 1990s, Candis Cayne has been dazzling queer audiences with her one-woman shows -- an outrageous and entertaining mix of comedy, dancing, and improv. Now she’s finally broken into the mainstream on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money, playing Billy Baldwin’s love interest, Carmelita, the first recurring transgender character played by a transgender actor on prime-time television. Trans writer and activist Julia Serano recently sat down with the newly minted California girl.

Out: For the uninitiated, tell us a little about your character.
Candis Cayne: I really think she is the most normal person on the show. And they’ve written her that way, which is amazing to me. She has her wits about her, she’s honorable, she’s moral. She’s a mistress, though -- you know, there always has to be something. [Laughs] She and Patrick [Baldwin] have the most honest, real relationship on the show. I think that she has been through a lot, and I think only trans people understand what that means -- there’s a sad wisdom to her.

Did you have any initial reservations about the role?
When I first read [the part], I was like, “Ooh, a mistress.” I was a little worried, but that’s the reality of how trans roles are written. There is a truth to that, though. There are a lot of trans women who are prostitutes and mistresses because of the sheer fact that they can’t go out and get a normal job in society. Or they have wanted to start relationships with men -- like every other human being wants that personal relationship with another person -- but somehow can’t because the men who are attracted to transsexuals are afraid of how their families would deal with it or how people will see them. For the most part, it’s really hard to get into a relationship with a man who is strong enough to admit that that’s what he likes. . . .Read More

When Dad Becomes a Soccer Mom

Author shares personal battle of a man becoming a woman.


jennifer_boylan_book.jpg

Jenniferboylan.net


Mom•Logic: When did you start to question your gender?

Jennifer: I lived my life as a man and married my wife, Deedie, three days after my 30th birthday. Eventually, I had two problems. First, I was transgender, and second, I had been hiding a secret from someone I loved. I didn't tell Deedie about my feelings of possibly being transgender before we married. I should have, but it's fairly typical not to share what's in your heart with anyone, including loved ones. I carried an atomic secret.

It wasn't until my late 30's I started sharing my feelings with Deedie. I explained what I was going through, and we talked about what we were going to do as a couple. I was 40 when I decided to start therapy. At the time, our sons were 6 and 4. . .Read More

Get past the phobia

April 20, 2008

ALEA THOMPSON
Ashland

IN READING Jeff Jacoby's April 13 column "Pregnant, yes - but not a man" I was struck by how much transgender-phobia still exists in our society. I am female (this is my sex) and I am feminine (my gender), so I fit society's expectations of the connection between sex and gender. I cannot imagine not feeling at home in my body (and, I suspect, neither can Jacoby in his) but people do. Who are we to judge someone's expression of gender, regardless of their biological sex? . . .Read More

Uganda: Government refuses passport to transgender woman

20 April 2008

by Rebekah Heacock


A post by Gay in Uganda last week reveals the discrimination the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) population faces when applying for travel documents:

Ugandans know a guy called Brenda. A gal, because Brenda is a trans person. Meaning that biologically the birth was to a male baby, but growing up Brenda was more confortable in the female role, and ultimately embraced the female gender.

Recently, Brenda needed travel documents. They were denied. Reason, they don’t give them to ‘people who have changed themselves’. Julie Victor Mukasa (Note: a Ugandan lesbian activist) tells of the time that she had to prove that she was biologically female at the RDC’s office in Kampala, when she went to get passport forms filled. Use your imagination how she proved that. . . .Read More