FTM Chest - 7 mths Post

"---as it says...NOT what 'I' say!
Surgery was on Feb20th so it's been 7 mths and 2 weeks! (time flies?)"  xenokyle

High Standards

by Tynan Power
Bay Windows Contributor
Oct 1, 2008


Standards of Care, a new work by transgender playwright Tobias K. Davis, comes to the stage in Northampton this week. This is Davis’s first play since his award-winning The Naked I: Monologues from Beyond the Binary, which earned the moniker "the trans Vagina Monologues." Claire Avitabile, who was the assistant director of The Naked I, will bring her 20% Theatre Company from Minneapolis to produce Standards of Care.

In this new work, Davis turns the typical love triangle on pointed end with the hilarious and moving story of Nancy, Jason and David. In some ways, Nancy is a typical mother who is not coping well as her 16-year-old, "Jessica," comes out as "Jason." However, Nancy isn’t just a typical mom; she’s also a gender therapist who treats transgender patients every day. What’s more, she’s falling head over heels for one of her patients, an FTM named David who is in therapy with her only to obtain the letter necessary for him to get "bottom" (or genital) surgery. Meanwhile, David is volunteering at an LGBT youth center where he meets Jason, but has no idea Nancy is Jason’s mother. . . .Read More

Transgender task force seeks operation coverage

By Shannon Simcox

October 1, 2008

Health insurance through the university doesn't explicitly cover the transgender community at Penn State, but one student wants to change that.

Denise Conner, a member of the Coalition of LGBTA Graduate Students -- an advisory group focused on LGBT issues -- is lobbying on behalf of the Commission on LGBT Equity's Ad-hoc Transgender Task Force for better health plans for both transgender students and employees.

Official complaints have been filed with the insurance company for Penn State employees, Conner (graduate-chemistry) said, and there have been ongoing discussions between University Health Services and Student Insurance.

"We had conversations with people at UHS and Student Insurance two years ago that transition care was going to be covered under insurance. It's supposed to be explicitly stated, and it still isn't," Conner said. . . .Read More

Why A Federal District Court's Decision Is a Victory for Transsexuals' Right Not to Face Employment Discrimination

by Joanna Grossman

30 September 2008

In a thoughtful, well-reasoned opinion, a federal district judge handed transsexuals a significant victory against employment discrimination. The case was Schroer v. Billington, and the court was the federal district court for the District of Columbia.

The Case Against the Library of Congress

The facts of the case are these: Diane Schroer applied for a position as a terrorism specialist with the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress. The job, which requires a security clearance, entails providing expert policy analysis to Congressional committees, as well as members of Congress and their staffs.

No one disputes that Schroer possessed excellent qualifications for the job, which included an impressive set of relevant academic credentials and twenty-five years of service in the military, including time in combat as part of a Special Forces unit. The dispute arose, instead, because of Schroer's male-to-female transsexual status. (A transsexual is someone whose gender identity diverges from his anatomical sex at birth.)

At the time she interviewed for the position, she had been diagnosed with gender identity disorder and had been working with a social worker to develop a plan to transition to a completely female identity. When she had interviewed at CRS, however, she used what was then her legal name, "David Schroer," and presented herself to the interviewer with a male appearance. After the interview, on which she scored higher than any other applicant, CRS offered her the position. . . .Read More