Practice and Theory, Equals Science: The Science of Transgenderism and its History.

So, one of the regular things I hear from many against transgender people state is “There is no science behind it.” And X any Y Chromosomes determine the gender and you can’t change that…

Well that is in many ways both right and wrong. The science of transgenderism has been in play longer than many studies. It predates cancer studies, the polio vaccine, Radio, television and automobiles. As I covered in the chapter History of Transgender, the scientific diagnosis of the issue arose in 1869 by Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal.  While it’s been acknowledged and even treated with surgery all the way back to current studies in archaeology as back to Roman times. The fact this isn’t a quote new science and new thing like some in the media wants you to think. And don’t take my word for it a quick research in this subject brings one to the science of transgenderism in our world. It just goes selectively pick and chosen by both sides of the argument to where that science stands…. So today I will take on that challenge as always presenting both sides of the argument and showing where I stand. As always, I am not a doctor… and in this case, I do want to point out I am not a scientist. What I can do is the research and like always I will provide sources to the information I provide.

Let’s Begin with the basis of life… genetics

It’s in our Genes!

Okay so as basic biology will tell you chromosomes make up our physical gender and this is repeated in nature. X is the female gene, and Y is the male gene. Now all creations have at least one X chromosome. To sum it down these two are based on the passed down genetics one gets from their biological father and mother. The first X in the definition of gender is passed down from the mother. The second the father. This isn’t argued science… But some will stop there and say “See that defines it all! There is no such thing as transgenderism” and well they are right but also wrong. They refuse to look at the details further and understand a few things. While such genetics do often form male and female … that isn’t always the case. In fact several genetic disorders and issues arise from these two simple chromosomes.

Most Notable are Hemophilia and Color Blindness.

Color Blindness is often carried in the Mothers genes to be a genetic defect that causes the subject to not be able to process certain colors in the spectrum.

While Hemophilia is more often carried by the father gene. And often will affect men over women. This is caused by a X Linked Recessive Gene.

Why is this important for the further end….

Because there are more genetic disorders in the world of science, as one breaks down the study you come across the fact that XY or XX aren’t the only possibilities and even still they don’t always mean that XY would develop into a male physically or XX would do the same for a female. While they are the majority it’s not a constant. Which is the fault of those that use that as an argument. Because each person’s genetics are unique. There are many in the world that have three or even four genetic markers. The existence of Hemerophytes in the natural world is one such case study.

It also is ignored that in Nature not only do such cases exist outside the influence of the hand of mankind. But there even is points in nature where sex is interchangeable. Clown Fish, Wrasse, Moray Eels, Gobi are all fish species that can and do change gender when its needed to survive. But let’s look a bit closer at an animal a bit closer to us and likely something you had to eat in some manner in the past few hours…. The Chicken. Yes boys and girls the chicken can change its gender.

Chickens can sometimes undergo natural sex changes. Normally, female chickens have just one functional ovary, on their left side. Although two sex organs are present during the embryonic stages of all birds, once a chicken's female hormones come into effect, it typically develops only the left ovary. The right gonad, which has yet to be defined as an ovary, testes, or both (called an ovotestis), typically remains dormant. Certain medical conditions can cause a chicken's left ovary to regress. In the absence of a functional left ovary, the dormant right sex organ may begin to grow, if the activated right gonad is an ovotestis or testes, it will begin secreting androgens. The hen does not completely change into a rooster, however. This transition is limited to making the bird phenotypically male. The condition could also be caused by mycotoxins that can develop when animal feed is stored, and these have the same effect as synthetic hormones. In about 10 per cent of cases, if eggs fertilised with male chromosomes are cooled by a few degrees for three days after laying, the relative activity of the sex hormones will favour development of female characteristics. The sex chromosomes work by coding for enzymes that affect the bird’s development in the egg and during its life. This cooling will produce a chicken with a fully functioning and reproductively fertile female body-type; even though the chicken is genetically male. – Wikipedia article on chickens

In fact, there the more we study about the world around us the more we find how nature “will provide” its need to reproduce. So, in science and in Nature the X and Y chromosomes while they do determine sex…. Do not fully define it alone. To base it simply as the solid answer to confront transgender people about their feelings and desire to change… Then selective science is being destructive in the further of progress in scientific study.

So, if genetics don’t quite support the argument against transgenderism is there another place to focus on. Well how about the “feeling” or “desire” of the person. Was it wrong for it to be removed from mental health as a mental disorder?

It’s a Mental Disorder!

As of 2013 the definition of Transgenderism was changed from a mental disorder to an identity issue. So first of its still treated as such. But most often when I read about this they point to John Hopkins doctor, Dr. Paul R. McHugh.

As reported in these articles cover

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/johns-hopkins-psychiatrist-transgender-mental-disorder-sex-change

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/24/born-gay-transgender-lacks-science-evidence/

However, that is one medical opinion… and it’s from a former doctor. If you ask John Hopkins themselves these days… They support the international findings over the former doctor and his findings.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bal-johns-hopkins-transgender-20170406-story.html

Why this change? Because the issue is showing more and more to be not fully psychological issue. As science studies, it further and in greater detail there is truth behind what people say.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-there-something-unique-about-the-transgender-brain/

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/01/how-science-helps-us-understand-gender-identity/

http://blogs.plos.org/dnascience/2017/03/02/is-transgender-identity-inherited/

The more we look into psychological understanding of how the brain works…. Something we are still vastly far from fully understanding. So we are told by some that “Oh I should accommodate to how you feel!” in many ways yeah. Is it against the law? No. Then be respectful and treat the person as they present themselves. It’s called human decency. Something this world needs a whole lot more in this and other issues of the world.

So break it all down. Does science support Transgenderism?

Yes, between genetic issues and mental study as it is growing it does. And as Science advances transitioning will become more of a common and advanced process. With the current ability to rebuild or build new functional sexual organs. Advances in medication and nanotech. There will be a point in the future… as soon as the next decade where changing one’s gender maybe common place. And decades after that it may be so common it will be like changing cloths.

So why is it such an issue!

Because it’s a moral issue. No I don’t mean in the biblical sense but that does play into the view of some of those that don’t want to really consider the science of transgenderism.

No, it’s a psychological issue in all of us to have a like or dislike to change in our personal environment. We have advanced far in humanity… but we will always fear the change of the future. Be it for the better or worse.

It is that right to fear that change why there is a backlash against trans issues and some subjects like shown in the recent release of “The Sexual Spectrum” episode of “Bill Nye Saves The World” available on Netflix, Where it’s a crude and forceful way to push a subject on children that makes the opposing side take to arms against the science.

This is the core issue of the problem not just in Transgender studies but in all science. The fear of change and doubt of numbers. Can play in multiple ways. For both sides. Science is in itself an ever-evolving form, the belief of one thing may come in doubt over time but it’s not good to shut it down when that change comes. Current studies into Evolution and the recent debunking of the Big Bang both show examples that science sometimes while adamant of being right… maybe wrong. Because it’s a theory. It’s a belief. Not fully fact but a belief just like religion is a belief science is a belief.

It is all summed up in this quote:

Nobody in this world possesses absolute truth. This is God's attribute alone. Relative truth is all we know. Therefore, we can only follow the truth as we see it. Such pursuit of truth cannot lead anyone astray. – Gandhi

The only thing we can do for now is adapt and be decent to those around us with that change.

Living a life In the modern eye

Okay so its been a long time since I have posted a new blog post. This mostly has been due to some personal and difficult situations in life that yeah partily have had my status as a transgender person in effect of it. But mostly I wanted to let the massive Trans coverage to die down some before working on discussions in the future. But recently I have been getting emails from groups to discuss these topics as a quasi expert on the subject. So let me start by saying what I always like to say.

I am not a medical expert, I have no medical degree and the advice and discussion of any issues you have should be directly addressed with your own medical professionals.

Now lets talk about something here.

The divisiveness of the media on begin Trans.

We live these days in a world of self celebrity, self experts, and we get offended on things when one disagrees with our opinions verses theirs. This is basically why in today's world we appear to be at each others throats more then normal. Be the issues of politics, law, religion, or what one does with their own bodies.

When one puts a positive spin on a issue about a type of person... in this day and age of social media and reporting, so called experts which generally end up being people with no education or desire to seriously spend time on a subject involving this subject make their opinion known and try to shout it for their own social messaging mountain top.

Lets look at the Transgender bathroom issue as it came to be.

1. President Obama, in May 2016 signed in an executive order to force public schools to allow trans children to use the bathrooms of their chosen gender.

2. Conservative Media in turn fired back, claiming that the bill would allow men to quote "rape" our women and children by simply claiming to be trans.
[ http://www.snopes.com/obama-transgender-bathrooms/ ]


3. This action caused other things to fall in line... such as Target allowing the same as the executive order in their stores. Countless attacks on people (be they trans or not trans) from people that stand against this action. And even the next president Donald Trump (despite how those against him feel including his VP) coming out in support of the action. [ https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/21/donald-trump-says-transgender-people-should-use-the-bathroom-they-want/ ]

Now while the question of how the action came about to law is a issue. The fact is most both for and against don't really discuss facts of the issue, but more focus on opinions and possibilities through fear.

But that is the problem, In this day and age of self celebrity and self experts, we focus more on the power of opinion and fear, then on facts involved.


Fact:

Nothing really stopped trans people from using the bathroom of their chosen gender before the action was in place.

Fact:

There is violence to Trans people that has risen since this bill has been in place. But this includes none trans people being falsely accused and attacked.

Fact:

There are a handful of cases that yes people are trying to abuse the action to gain access to another gender for the wrong reasons.


That's the issue with any positive / progressive law such as this bathroom bill. There will always be people there to abuse such a policy.

The best example of this can be seen on Halloween when a person leaves a bowl full of candy with the sign take one! Now if the world of people where honest and actually did the right thing everyone would take one and it would be fair to all. But the world isn't fair and yes there are people out there that will take more then others.

But what people fail to understand is its a personal morality that one has to avoid. You have to make yourself the better person and when given the chance to follow the rules.... YOU DO!

Morality is not a solely religious product. You can know right from wrong personally. But there is one issue to look at. Your self judgement is not given a right to damn others.  Are there laws in which society have been built on yes. Do we sometimes need to go through those laws and change them based on the times, yes.

But there is something we need to remember in life when such laws are made or changed. People will be against a decision just as much as they are for it. What we need to do when making such laws is to have a civil and social discussion. The key word being CIVIL. With the election of Donald Trump we have seen far too many of what people call civil actions and calls of peace. From people that are doing just the opposite. They are burning cars, beating people, and destroying businesses because they are for or against Trump and his views. This is the furthest from civility, its anarchy! You cant demand peace and love as you beat a man in the streets for whom you disagree (more so when you are doing it by pure assumption)   Its not civility its Assault! Its vandalism, its destruction of property These are violations of the law and not only does't help win people over to your issue. It makes you seem no better then a spoiled child throwing a fit over not having things their way.

Want your message heard. Then speak it. Protest peacefully, but don't cause your protest to hurt or disrupt the lives of others. When you disrupt people you think your getting your voice heard, but all you really do is piss off others with your actions. Do things in your personal life to change the view of others. Be the better person. Dont demand it of others. You have to be.

To be civil is the best way to get what you want in life. As the old saying goes, give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a life time. Such a action is how you succeed in life by teaching your view and finding ways to win over people with your actions that help them in kind. You change their minds by showing people who you are as a different person. You do this following the laws.

Again I return to the point I made comparing the civil rights movement how to win hearts and change minds people preferred the actions and words of Martian Luther King vs the words and actions of Malcolm X. Because he was civil and made sure his protests where peaceful and changed minds with such actions and words. vs X's actions and words of divisiveness and violence to get his way.

When we have such laws, as the bathroom law, we need to be peaceful as those against us get violent. Let them be shown for their ways. Win hearts be positive call out those that do abuse the law, But be respectful and to those that stand against it. Make your voice be herd but don't silence the voice of opposition, because freedom of speech protects the speech we disagree with. (It wouldn't be needed to protect speech we agree with).

Are there voices we disagree with in the world.... Yes.

Are there issues we will disagree on ... Yes

Do we have a right to stand on our social mountain and speak our mind.... Yes

Do we have a right to demand others listen and follow our opinions in life.... No

Do we have a right to fight, attack, beat, destroy property of those we disagree with .... No

Do we have a right to disagree on the laws and actions of those in power .... yes

How do we change things if we do.... Speak your mind and get out and Vote to change things.

This is what it means to be civil in this world. I would wish people took the time to stop and give the news time to settle in the world, spend time researching something before blowing up about it. But sadly humanity is an impatient beast. We must teach our self to have restraint and research the actions of others, before we do something rash with our own actions that we may eventually greatly regret.

Thank you for reading the post and may your heart find peace, love, and your mind be civil to control the passions that come from your heart.

Till then I will keep walking this path in life.

Vlog Post: Perspective

Today's subject Perspective. So why is a Tomato like a transgender person. Well it all comes down to the perspective of the individual, and its the issue of trying to change others perspectives that cause us issue. 

Check out older none video entries of Path at 

http://butterfliespath.blogspot.com/ 

Vlog post: Intro

Path of the Butterflies: a Guide for Transgender individuals, Family, Friends and others 

This video series will discuss issues of being transgender in new ways. We discuss issues such as history, politics, coming out, dealing with troubling issues and more. Future videos this section will contain links to articles that support the subject of the video and helpful links to support. The series is a combination of personal experiences, advice I have discovered and opinions you may not always hear.  

For old none video Path blogs go to http://butterfliespath.blogspot.com/

What is in a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

So, yeah as promised, last month this issue is going to be a fairly easy one. This for me is good as I have my hands full with other tasks just check out my personal blog, Brittany’s Desk, for that load. So this month’s issue is going to cover how one goes about a name change, while it may sound as easy as picking a name out of a hat it surprisingly is a bit more difficult than that and can be downright difficult depending on where you live based on the laws at hand.

The process is mostly personal in choosing a name but the steps afterwards will require assistance from medical professions, legal professionals and sometimes in even extreme cases civic intervention. Now this is odd for something that is so common in these days of credit fraud that one can jump from one personality to another. And if you want to have a legal traffic mess trailing behind you then yes it is easy.

The first step is the one that is the most personal. Choosing your new name! Now there are many ways to go about this choice and it varies from person to person. But ultimately it comes down to what name one would prefer to go by in their life. In High school I was a bit of a careless wiseass in my time. I had long learned the trick to schooling was to act stupid on things at the start of the school term and appear progressively to improve over time. Now this only worked in the academic lessons as my low grades in Phys Ed showed when I couldn’t pull off one damn chin up. (Still can’t)No instead I actually spent time in some classes doing the New York Times Crossword. In one such case in my sophomore year of High School I had a History teacher that asked us to write a nickname at the start of the first day of school I wrote the name Don after having just watched Godfather. So for the whole year the teacher struggled with it and I honestly expected not to have to deal with the issue again, till the next semester where I had another class with the same teacher and this time I asked her to refer to me by my given name instead confusing her all the time.  Sadly my mental trick of playing innocently dumb also failed to work on her as it only works once on the same person. But the utter confusion was something that I would find I would want to avoid with my future self. And given with my semipublic nature in college from my convention circuit days and work at trying to be picked up by studios for work, when I came out with the big issue I knew my name had to be not too far from the original one most knew me by.

In my time of choosing a name I have met a few other transitioning people and asked them how they came about their names. Some told me they chose a name out of the blue with names like Cystall, Manajere and such (yeah I may have misspelled their names but hey it was 6+ years ago). Others asked their friends and family for a new name and to my credit I did hold off on suggestions from people but the number 1 choice from them always was Brianna which was a name I despised. Given I knew from a previous discussion in my childhood with my mother though I am sure she long ago had forgotten it that before I came along my parents wanted a daughter and she wanted to call her daughter Samantha. Which in all truth was a name I honestly thought of but since only one letter from my given name of Brian appeared in it and I was known on the net under the handles BTD on my art work and btdod on the net projects, I knew I had to find a B name fitting for me. Given this was a hard one as my top choices of my new name where Lina, Jean, Samantha, Moyria, Faye, Lily, and Ann. None of which were fitting. So while I could have pulled those names which mostly came from popular culture, I had to get more creative. So I gathered a list of my top 25 names for myself that had to have 10 B names and started to weed down every one till I got one that I literally chose from a web comic series (that no longer exists don’t try looking if you don’t recall it or else you more likely will just find me, trust me I tried) In the series the two title characters where mysteriously changed and had to come up with names for their new persona and again the name Brianna was suggested to the character Brian. Luckily it was this comics point that matched my own on the name I didn’t want that turned me onto the name Brittany. (So those that think it came from Britany Spears or Britany S. Peirce [Glee] than think again it’s a far more vague reference.) I chose the name in about a month after coming out to my friends and family and it took almost a year before I officially announced it publicly which ironically was the same time I was stepping away from my public time to focus on my personal life and trying to straighten it out as much as I could cause it was a huge mess back then. So since that Wintery time in 2007 that I started to go by the name Brittany and even after about 5 years down the line started job hunting under my new persona. That being said legally I have done only the very basic thing.

This is where things get more complicated and will require you many hours in lines and phone calls. In getting things legally done, while when I started to transition it was pointed out to me that the legal process of name changing could take several years it came mainly down to personal preference. For many that can’t stand their former title they do need to look forward to hours of work in government institutions that they likely need to hire an attorney to make sure everything gets legally done clean and professionally. But this is more to the case for a complete name change. When this occurs things get legally hairy. You have to legally change records with every government agency and sometimes twice. These things can take years and even still things still will get messed up. Heck I have been on my own for 14 years and it’s taken me 13 for my home cities gas bill to send the bill to Brian and not Bryant. Yeah 13 years for a mistake they made on day one. Given since I only changed my middle and First name the legal issues that I only face are driver’s license, and social security. I did have to clear things up with the IRS when I started searching for work as Brittany but it was a four hour phone call with them to get that straightened out as in their own words. “We identify a person based on their last four digits of social security number and last name.” This indicates no matter what name I went by it was fine with the so long as those two factors would match up. When I do want to proceed on I can simply sign up for a legal name change service that many legal companies offer at low rates (as long as there is no outstanding warrants out there for you). Once legally changed (takes about ½ a year) you then can proceed to government buildings and get things changed. BUT HOLD ON.

In some states including my native Virginia, the law on name changes and what and how you can change your name is different. In my own case I personally want to get my name legally changed before the next year when my driver’s license is due to be renewed. What is odd here is while I can’t change the name right now legally, I can change my gender status provided I have a legal paper they provide on their site and the signature of one friend and a medical professional. So this time next year my license may still say Brian on it but chance are high that it will declare me Female over what sits in my pants. This is due to litigation in government paperwork which is changing pretty much nightly. So unless you are or related to the best lawyer in the world it’s highly likely you may miss a change in the name change legality for transgender people in the world.

So where does this leave us for setting up our name changing process. Well it comes down to stages.

Step 1: Choosing a name you want to answer to.

Step 2: Getting things started by listing all legal paperwork you have that you want or need to change. (Need to change paperwork, Taxes, Social Security, Voting Register, Billing, School Records and Criminal Records if any)

Step 3: Getting legal assistance. (I cannot suggest going on with this alone as it is a difficult thing to wrangle one’s personal paper trail and make sure every paper is filled out perfectly without legal help)

Step 4: Filling forms and Attending Court cases

Step 5: Finishing touches and living your new life.

Homework:

Okay this month’s exercise is up for all to try and its one I personally tried. That is to pick your top 25 names that if you could go by. That you would choose for yourself. Then take those names and share them with friends seeing which ones they think is more fitting of you.  

Next Discussion:

I hope to get things up and going on a web cam by next month to deliver a special report but don’t hold your breath till then next month will cover, the one thing many try to avoid in life. Getting in Shape. That’s right I will be going over transgender physical health and some exercises and tasks to help with transitioning.

IN THE NEWS:
Pentagon OK’s Manning Treatment. 

Okay this somewhat is reflective of last month’s big news in the transgender world but at the same time this one is more controversial. As Private Manning is being held in Military court for his (yes I will use birth ID on a criminal cases folks deal with it or hate me I don’t care.) for being the chief info leaker in the Wikileaks case years ago. Personally I have issues with criminal cases of transitioning that I will make a bigger issue of discussion in a future discussion, but for now here is the laydown from US news.

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/05/14/pentagon-oks-manning-transfer-for-gender-treatment 

What does it mean to be?

First off let me apologize to the readers for the late post this month I had alternate plans for this months discussion and those plans fell through and now I have been busy playing catch up with this and several other projects for more on that look at my weekly blog Brittany’s Desk.

Okay on to the subject.

The subject this time around is what is medically a Trangender person? How do you, someone you know they are transgender. The issue here I briefly touched on the first post of this blog but I walked around the issue for those truly asking as to how and why someone would identify this way. Before going further I have to do the usual notice. I am NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL, I am a writer and artist and am writing this blog through hours to years of research personal experiences and more, do not take my word as such for your own safety. This blog is a tool to aid you in your journey not direct it. Please seek a medical profession for more advice and please do your own research. If you want to discuss the issue at hand you can comment below or email me at brittanydodson@imbriaarts.com, Thank you 

When one looks scientifically at the issue at hand you have to understand that no science is 100% known. To this day science still doesn’t understand many things in our common everyday lives and mysteries of the human body and genetics still tend to puzzle us.  But that being said the study of transgender people as I noted in the second official posting started in the late 19^th century and continues to this day. So the over 100 years of scientific study has resulted in a solid ground work that the issue does exist in a medical term and is not a clear case of mental disease as it was labeled till last year. Now keep in mind other formerly labeled mental diseases where including Seizures, Left Handedness, Homosexuality, and that’s not going over the current issues now involved in trying to diagnose some actual treatable diseases as a mental disorder. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/turning-straw-gold/201212/physical-illnesses-may-soon-be-labeled-mental-disorders  

So often now days even though the issue has been changed of late people still refer to Transgenderism as a mental disorder. Yet science of late has more proven it to be a genetic one. In many cases of transgender study they have discovered chemical makeup and genetic makeup in many cases to result in a sway in our bodies development as we mature. Yet even if a person is genetically the opposite of what they are physically, that does not mean their transgender. So don’t get your self tested and jump straight in to a whole new life.

No, in fact these days we are seeing a flow of transgender cases increase yet many are self-diagnosis cases that don’t truly understand what it means. And often they place themselves on a path they aren’t too clear of what lies ahead of them. Sadly we live in a time of self-prognosis with constant drug ads filling our lives pushing us into thinking we would be better off with the drug for a disease we heard about on tv or in the news. Sadly life can’t not be fixed with a pill, the sooner you learn this the better. True cases of transgender people drum down to these things.

1. How long have you felt this way?
2. Can you see yourself living a normal life without preceding this path?
3. If not how does that make you feel?
4. Are you clinically depressed?
5. Are you suicidal?

These are serious questions you need to focus on. Most clear cases of transgender people are suicidal and have even tried it. Sadly this is the #1 defining issue. But at the same time Suicidal thoughts and tendencies is not the solid case for being transgender. No that is where questions 1-3 come into play. Transgender individuals, true cases involve a long history of this issue weighing on their lives. While there are several cases of children identifying as trans, the issue isn’t easy to lock in on a child till years of maturity hit them. Often to see how things go some doctors will offer blockers to keep the child from going through puberty while they are conflicted in their thoughts.

 Mind you this is a highly risky venture and should be well understood as the medications of blockers (mainly the #1 perscribed spironolactone for Transwomen) is a “high” dosage prostate cancer fighting medication. That is known to cause many things including many effects similar to a heart attack and kidney disease thus has to be treated under a doctor’s care.  Placing the strain of this on a developing child’s body could have stronger effects of harm and may cause physical issues down the line. That is not including the side effects of Testosterone on Transmen at a young age. As a medically induced steroid it’s very easy to show the side effects of that medication taken out of supervision without having to look at transgender cases.

When one is properly diagnosis its best they work on keeping their body in good shape to lower the risks of the medications side effects when they eventually get on it. It’s not an easy task. It’s a long and painful road to go through being trans the pain is mental, physical and even social. Every now and then you hear of a case of an Ex trans person appear. These case usually can be classified in several ways.  

1.      Going with the in crowd

2.       Seeking a new sexual high

3.       Past scars

4.       Creating a spotlight

5.       Genuine self-doubt

6.       Mentally poisoning

Let me explain each of these. The first is the most common on found today. Transgender is becoming the social in thing right now. A way to rebel against one’s life ending up not down a path one hopes for and a way some see as a way out is by building a crutch for their pain. This is nothing new in many cases of the past the idea of doing something society sees as shocking to stand out when you refuse to fit in is all too clear of each and every generation of person. Sadly this group however moves to take risky behavior to resolve these feelings and seek things like back alley drugs to help transition causing them possible medical issues and higher risk behavior for other things Such as sexual disease harder drugs and worse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw3K2L5XrW4 A former trans-person that turned back with a warning for the “In crowd” Type

Second is the oldest case of false identifiers for transgender. People who for some reason or another that found themselves ether wanting to go down this path because they wanted a sexual high or had issues sexually and felt it was a better way to go on enjoying sex.

Third is the harder to deal with issue. Sadly it comes down to trying to deal with past sexual abuse and accepting the pain of the abuse as a reason to transition to make one feel better for the reasons why they were abused. In my discussions and meetings with many people in my life I personally can say one in 10 cases of transgender identifying people I have come across claim that the reason they transition is due to former sexual abuse they underwent as a child.

Forth is a rare case but not unheard of in this day and age. The idea that somehow becoming transgender will lead you down a life of luxury and fandom, there is little I can say other than anyone who seeks to change their genders for fame, needs to get their head examined thoroughly. Going through this life is not a whim spur of the moment thing and the further you go down the road the more it costs and the more isolation you will experience. While there are some that have become famous being trans the numbers are so low its below 1% of the transgender population vs the 5+ % in normal society.

Fifth is a serious case. Sometimes people do change and they may genuinely think one thing of them in their lives for years and be actually convincing of it but then something in their life changes and they begin to doubt their decisions.

Finally is the Mental poisoning. This is by far the most dangerous type. The quote cured transgender people through ether “faith” based programs or others like it. These programs often try to convince the person they are wrong and often do more psychological damage to the person in horrible ways. Note I am not saying faith is the problem in fact in some cases people who turn to faith may in fact find clear answers to their doubt but there are dangers in these groups.

Here is a interview with famed British Actor Stephen Fry and an ex-gay therapist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnBBqYFGKB8

The ways to understand things comes down to long sessions (often years of such) of therapy from a professional. Personally I spent 4 years in therapy alone on the course before I got the green light to seek the medical end of things. While often most cases should take less. (Mine took more because I kept getting pushed on the fresh out of college interns as a case study) In general at least a year of therapy is not unheard of. As transgender cases often tend to have compacting social and mental issues around them. Issues like Agoraphobia and anxiety disorder can arise and also need to be dealt with to help live a semi normal life. So to go through this process a few years ago I devised a list of questions for therapy that need to be asked in the cases of being transgender.

The issues one must ask both themselves and a medical help professional and likewise questions they should ask you  (The questions for the therapist to ask in red the ones for you to ask your therapist in blue)

What is your first memory of what gender means?

Does stating this mean I’m prone to mental disorders and possible clinically insane?

If you knew you never could get surgery, how would that make you feel?

What should my first steps be?

If you knew you never could get medicine to alter the body, trapping you in the form you have now, how would you feel?

What are the risks I can look towards if I start (medication, surgery)?

How do you think you would act if someone discriminated you for who you where?

I came out to my (Family, Friends, Lover, Children), yet they are having trouble with my decision, is there a way you or someone you know can help us work through this together?

How do you think you would act if someone threatened violence for who you where?

I want to come out to my (Family, Friends, Lover, Children) how do I best go about doing this?

How would you act if an act of violence is being directed at you? What steps would you take to prevent it? 

Is it normal to have these feelings?

What does it mean to be your chosen gender?

Do you have knowledge of where I could seek medical help on this issue? And if so would you be willing to offer your approval for me to seek it out?

Have you tried disguising this with your friends or family?

Do you have former knowledge or experience in dealing with this issue?

If someone close to you doesn’t accept it, how would it make you feel?

How long will I have to be treated for this issue in my life?

What would you tell a person who chooses not to accept you? How would you react if things worsen after your first action?

Do you find that I have other issues as well not tied to this or do you think that this issue will help deal with all my issues?

Are you prepared to face the aftermath that this issue will bring in your (Family, Freind, Work, Social) environment?

Am I too (old, young, Masculine, Feminine) to go through with this?

Did you face bullying and/or name calling that fits derogatory terms towards being transgender as a child?

I’m worried that if I come out at work I’ll be (discriminated, fired, assaulted) is this a logical fear?

Did you try to hide this from yourself? If so, how long, and why?

If I go through with this and find its not who I am was it all just a mistake?

Are there parts of you, that you think will prevent you from passing as the other gender?

Will I learn to love myself if I (Go through with it, don’t go through with it)?

How does this affect your love life?

Do I have a hope for finding love if I go through with this?

Are you aware of the risks of (Hormones, Surgery) if you chose to go through with this?

 How much is all this going to cost me if I proceed?

Will this truly make you feel better about yourself?

Is there hope for me going down this path at feeling better for myself?

But therapy is only one step. Mostly it comes down to self-identification or 1 on the lists of questions that a professional will ask you when you discuss this issue.

Ultimately one needs to come from this blog post to understand that going down this life is ultimately your choice but it’s not going to be an easy path for you down the line. You’re going to be painting a target on your back when you go down this path facing a life of persecution and rejection for just being who you are. Don’t believe me check out the part of this 20/20 interview with young 11 year old transgender Jazz and the confrontation she gets in her life.  

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/transgender-11-listening-jazz-18260857

Personal Note:

In my personal account of the very issue I will be brief and direct you to read my post in chapters 2 &7 of the old Path site http://www.imbriaarts.com/path/

But I will share a story I didn’t share before. One that even my family didn’t know and maybe still don’t. Back when I left college and got out of my parents’ home to live on my own I start to explore the side of me that I had no clear idea about I hadn’t studied it nor have I focused on it. In fact I failed the college sex ed course I took that only spent ½ a day on it as a subject and the book which I ironically still own. Barely touches on the subject at all. Yet I was hiding myself from the world at the time. (this part many of you that have followed me all this time and family know) What they don’t know is the self-mutilation I did. I was greatly depressed about the issue and badly wanted a part of me gone so often on long lonely days I would go to my kitchen and pick up a knife and cut the skin along the legs towards my private area. I never went too deep knowing enough about human anatomy that cutting the femoral artery would likely mean certain death. But I have cut enough to leave marks across the inner portions of my thighs that don’t heal right and sometimes in the heat of sweaty summer will tear open just enough due to the low amount of skin built around it that they slowly bleed. Thankfully I stopped listening to the depression in my life and listened to reason and hope to find a safer and open way of changing my life. But it would still take me 7 years and several suicide attempts and threats to reach the point of help and courage to come forth on who I am.  Since then I have become a changed person. While depression still hits my life it’s never gets so low as to bring harm to myself in any way. I have learned more about myself opened up more to the world and become a better person through being the person I see myself as. Now with the blessing of medical professional at my side I am able to show more of that side of me to the world. To become a better me on both the outside and inside and to live a life I want to live.

So what is the medical meaning of being transgender?

It’s the goal of giving yourself a strong footing on the road to finding yourself no matter how you see yourself for a sense of mental security and peace of mind. It is a genetic or chemical imbalance in the body of the person across their physical identity from their spiritual, mental and emotional identity.

Article resources:

http://www.pfc.org.uk/node/614 - Medical Study Jan. 1996 U.K.  -  Based on the basic general study of transgender in medical terms

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-boys-become-boys-and - How Boys become Boys and sometimes Girls (Scientific American May 2008)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=going-beyond-x-and-y - Going Beyond X and Y (Scientific American June 2007)

http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k78405&pageid=icb.page414493 – Harvard Study on identification of transgenders

http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/publications-a-z/731-i-think-i-might-be-transgender-now-what-do-i-do - actual Q&A by medical professional on the subject.

HOMEWORK:

So how did you do with last month’s homework? Yeah well some share with me in email brittanydodson@imbriaarts.com others just read the blog and move on. This week the assignment is an old one I learned and I want to have others do more often.

You do a chart for both living your life as is and one for changing your life that way you want it to be. You give yourself 20 minutes to do this no more, no less in the end count them and see where you stand.

Next Month’s subject:

Names What are they good for?

I will be discussing both choosing a new name and how naming yourself comes about and how to legally do it.

Trans in the News:

Speaking of Names the big issue going on right now in the transworld this month is…

India Recognizes Transgenders

You would think of all the nations in the world that in the past where not very trans friendly many would pass on India. You know the country where many of its people worship a transgender goddess. But hey they do or did up until recently where it is now a recognized group in the country yeah India

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27031180

Stepping up to the plate

This month’s issue I want to focus on how the Trans movement needs to find more of a face in its involvement. This is a huge issue of the coming months and years but when it comes to stepping up we tend to shoot ourselves in the foot instead.

Let’s touch on a few issues brought up in the special report I did two months ago as well as an update.

The issue discussed in the special was based on the concept that Hollywood would hire no Transgender actors/actresses to play transgender roles. The reason for the action was based on Jarred Leto’s character in Dallas Buyers club (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvMPU0WaPcc ) where last month he was awarded an Oscar for his role in the film. In the film he portrayed a fictional (yes the character was completely fictional) and poorly stereotyped trans-woman. Many LGBT sites and groups called out claiming that this portrayal of Transgender people in film was akin to Black face actors and actresses of early film or the quote Mammy-ification of the roles (noted as such for the portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ7r2OVu1ss ). In many ways the trans movement is further then the issues that plagued the African American lives throughout the past, but at the same time issues such as trans violence, unemployment and even housing issues are very similar if not worse in percentages based on population then it was for just African Americans from the 1870’s to 1970’s. The problem here can be led to one issue in general. While there are many trans-people coming to the public view. There are a very small amount of Trans-people that are taking a positive stand.

Let us look at one of the more visible voices that is not a person of film/reality show and TV fame. Janet Mock (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1NR8rHlvXA )( http://janetmock.com/)  Janet is a transgender activist and a skilled journalist and  writer. A positive role model of the trans movement whether you agree with her opinions and politics or not Janet always is holding a strong role for the trans community to step out and present itself in the public light. She is in many ways a strong image for the trans movement, but is she a leader of the trans movement.

Well to answer this let’s look at what other civil rights leaders had dealt with in the past and see what it takes to become a leader.

The first civil rights movement of all time was long before America was even discovered. To look at this movement it’s a good idea to look at the records of both Egyptian and the biblical record at the first movement being the Exodus of Moses and the Jews from Egypt’s control (though widely still debated on the authenticity of such a story). While we don’t know about Moses’s death we do know about his life and the fact that he was (even if you don’t believe the religious mysticism end) able to free the Jewish slaves from the current Pharaoh (The pharaoh was yet to be named outside of Hollywood)  at the time of the land. Much of his actions to achieve these goals where done through actions of prophecy and mysticism. That was able to frighten a heavily religious sect of people like the Pharaoh and his followers would be.  Thus Moses won freedom by playing into the fears and hearts of the people at the time.

Malcolm X's style of activism was a fiery and forceful one built on fear and aggression

Martian Luther King's way of Activism was the peaceful Christ like style to gain followers.

More recently you have figures like Gandhi, Martian Luther King, Malcolm X, Susan B. Anthony and Harvey Milk. Each in their actions of becoming a face for their movement would choose ways to lead their movement against those that oppressed them.

Let’s look at the vastly different ways two members of the African American movement of the 1960’s and  1970’s played out with Malcolm X and Martian Luther King. Malcolm X, tried intimidation and fear much in the same ways the Moses brought fear into the Egyptian leaders for their freedom. While Martian Luther King did a completely different way of standing up, by taking the more Jesus Christ method of standing up for what was right but be willing to be punished under the law of the land to help change hearts and minds. In many ways both where successful, but it was Martian Luther King’s, actions that truly helped the cause greater. Why?

This is because instead of causing the world to fear the black man, he showed that we are no different from one another and must stand next to each other work alongside each other and helping each other as we go. When you look at the movements King lead verses the ones Malcolm X led you see a clear difference in who is listening to the words of the man at the front. Malcolm X had a more radicalized almost all black male following. While King had a more diverse following which brought in scores of numbers to his side of Black, White rich and poor, male and female. Both men preached God’s word in their movement but only one lived by God’s word and with it he found a way to win over the hearts and minds of people in a greater way.

So how does this fit with Janet Mock. Well in Janet’s case so far she is proving to carry a mostly positive attitude towards her few public appearances.   Being a general likable personality, however she does at times come off a bit militant about people needing to accept the concept of transgender people in society. But in many ways this is the key issue of people who take on the title of activist’s. Most activist people take on a far more aggressive role like that of Malcolm X and Moses. Less the peaceful Jesus Christ like role such as Gandhi and King.  Thus we make the road to acceptance a bit harder and longer than one would like to see. When one sows the seed of equal rights we need to understand its better to till the soil first with building a stronger relationship with our communities and neighbors before we expect to harvest the rewards of our work in acceptance and tolerance. Activism is more a like breaking down the door to the grocery store to get the same fruits while upsetting the roles of others that had worked so long to receive them in their own lives.

This is seen no greater than in the numbers of transgender people in and around the African American community. These numbers (http://transequality.org/PDFs/BlackTransFactsheetFINAL_090811.pdf ) such as the discrimination poor, education, and absolutely horrid employment and housing numbers for the Trans African American group, you have 15% employment and nearly ½ of them cannot even read. Mainly due to poor upbringing and constant discrimination within their own race as the most advent and anti-trans people aren’t as the media would like to hold the Southern white redneck, but instead is the African American community that has fallen into a system of self-decay in many parts of the country.  Given the African American community isn’t the only group that does harm to transgender people. No you have many groups including Westboro Baptist [warning this video is part of their hate, but its important you know what real hate looks like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI2PL1pMDcg  ](not a real church just a family of lawyers looking to get rich on the law suits when they get attacked by the provocation they create.) which just recently lost its leader Fred Phelps this past week, that also takes an activist role against transgender people along with pretty much everyone else.

So what do we need to do to stand up and gain the rights we need. Well for this we need to start looking to both be activists in our personal lives but at the same time take a more peaceful route with our activist ways. Getting transgender people into more civic minded roles of charity, support and assistant areas of the world will help win over the minds of people that are suffering. Finding ways to stand with someone and not against someone is the role we need to take. And its  finding someone to stand in both those fields that will cause a true positive leadership role in down the line for transgender people to become more accepted into the
community at large.

On a Personal Note:

Two years ago I promoted an idea at an anti-trans violence meeting held locally in my hometown of Richmond Va. While many there wanted to point out the issue at hand few offered reasons to bring a halt to trans-violence without finding a way to lift up the community from its problems of unemployment, education and housing issues. These are the real problem we face down the line. It doesn’t matter how many gender neutral bathrooms, or how often you get treated by having someone address you by the right gender if you cannot meet the basic needs of yourself in the world on fair ground as the next person. And while many would jump and state it’s an issue of discrimination, I would point out that it’s more an issue within the problem itself “education”. It’s far too easy to meet people uninformed on what and how much understanding on what transgender people go through without people learning about the issues a transgender person really faces.  No I am not suggesting that schools start teaching about transgender people in a course for grade K-12 (although having Transgender studies in college may help). But having times where one can offer true awareness of what it means to be trans other than the white wash term of “They are a man trapped in the body of a woman” or vice versa.   We need to explain that the mental state of trans people is strongest and most secure when they become both excepting of themselves in the forms they see fit and the way others can see them as such as well. The issue of Transgenderism while isn’t a mental disease as it was previously label for so long (along with being Gay, Autistic, Physically handicapped, and epileptic all where at one time declared a mental disease) but it is a social one. Take this as an example. If we had no concept of difference in the world would we truly be accepting of all? Or would we have an issue like Butch Hartman wrote in his cartoon series Fairly Odd Parents episode  “The Same Game” (https://archive.org/details/TheFairlyOddparents-TheSameGame) where the world is change to make everyone the same yet they still hold discrimination in the world despite the fact that everyone is the same.  Personally I feel we need to be open to all even those that disrespect and demean us. We need to be willing to show them the error in their ways but becoming a better person in their eyes and not forcing them to make such decisions on their beliefs without them coming to the decision on their own. We need to take the same path of Dr. Martian Luther King and be a passive activist not an aggressive one and soon one person will stand out as the voice of civility for our kind.

This month’s homework:

Become active in helping out your community and neighbors in some way. If you’re a transgender person or not the act of charity starts at home with helping your friends, neighbors and community out but taking action through acts of good. This doesn’t mean you have to spend your money or dedicate your life to a project. It just mean lending hand and helping out on things when others need you to. The more you help people the more you win them over to accepting you into their society so help out. And in turn when you’re in need you may just find others willing to help you out in turn.   

As always I want to thank you all for reading the blog, feel free to share your opinions, views and comments below or if you wish to do so privately then you can email me at brittanydodson@imbriaarts.com.

Next Month’s Topic:

Well for the last few posts I have discussed the topic about issues that face transgender people but next month I will discuss what a trans-person goes through and how medicine is supposed to look at transgender people to diagnose them as such.

Trans in the News:

http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/03/15/lgbt-group-obama-sign-executive-order-opening-military-transgenders

This week an issue has become that president Obama is going to allow Transgender people into the military. In many ways trans-people have served in the past but the issue was and currently still is that once their transgender nature comes to light they are discharged from the service. Even after the lift of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” which was put into place by the Clinton administration after cases such as Barry Winchell’s murder in 1998 where the man was brutally beaten to death by his fellow soldiers after his relation with transgender performer, Calpernia Adams, became known. It is important to note that in that case Calpernia, herself was a discharged former member of the navy.  You can read more about this in my earlier Paths guide chapter 6. http://www.imbriaarts.com/path/chapter6.pdf

History of Transgender

Ask most people that know what it means to be transgender (small number sadly) when the first cases appeared most will answer 1952 with Christen Jorgenson!

(even GLADD  puts it this way and they are wrong)  

http://www.glaad.org/blog/timeline-look-back-history-transgender-visibility 

And they would greatly be Wrong. Heck not even close to the date and the first cases. So this month’s issue on hand I will be discussing several of the lost moments in history and even introduce you to a subject that had been part of the world since the invention of writing.  

When we look at this issue I do want to state one thing while some on this list will be simply transvestites (otherwise known as cross dressers) Others are in fact Trangender we know this by not only how they acted but thru their actions in history. This is a new subject for this blog even though I had been studying this for well 3 three years now I may still be a bit off on my research but please bear with me on this one.

The first recorded Trans person!

Hatshepsut The female emperor of Egypt - 1479 -1458 BC

Okay one may state I am stretching on this but not really it is down to the wording that Hatshepsut refused the title of Empress for the term Emperor instead. Upon her accenting to the royal throne she dawn a false beard and male clothing. Her reign is mostly wiped from history because her son ordered the destruction of her image when he rose to power. Despite the fact that she was in many ways the only pharaoh to accomplish and see thru her projects in her lifetime as ruler. It’s not fully known on how she was treated in court but for a woman to even seat on the royal throne at these times was unheard of and she stands as one of Egypt’s strongest rulers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatshepsut

The Man-woman of Emperor of Rome

Emperor Elgabalus - 203 – 222 AD

I use the term Man-woman as it’s a medical term that Romans first discovered some point between the 6^th and 1^st century BC, and several years after they found the basis of trans-genderism in their medical studies a transgender emperor rose to power. Now Elgabalus was not a great emperor, just the opposite in fact many place him in second worst behind Caligula. And the fact that the only really thing of note about him was the way he presented himself in female clothing and acting female in many cases committing perverted acts and prostitution, he even offered a reward for the doctor willing to perform early days sex change surgery at a time when the first plastic surgeries where a death sentence for those that underwent them from the diseases and complications that the surgery would cause. The reward was never claimed. It is important to note that the court was use to Eldabalus actions after Nero took a Eunuch named Sporus as a wife and was displayed in the royal garb of an empress in 60 AD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elagabalus

The Big Apple’s Big Secret, That No one Wanted

This is said to be a picture of him but is likely his wife

Edward Hyde - 1661 – 1723

In many ways Edward was the worst Governor ever placed in office while England ruled over the colonies. A lord through birthright Edward, was not well liked and massively corrupt  but still he sat in as one of New York and New Jersey’s first governor s.  Robbing the colonies treasury and harassing the public as he dawned woman’s clothing and acted as an outright public menace. He was removed from office after creating so much a stink with the public that the revolution may have occurred years earlier if he hadn’t been removed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hyde,_3rd_Earl_of_Clarendon

 The First to stand up as Trans

Charlotte Clark - 1755

She is the one in Pink

The first recorded Transgender and lesbian person as when the book “A Narrative of the life of Mrs. Charlotte Clark” An autobiography told the story of the cross dressing actress during a time that even the concept of women being on stage was unheard of. She spoke of her relationship with a woman only known as Ms. Brown and sadly while the publication brought her fame in her lifetime she died penniless and destitute. Sadly not much is known of this early figure in history and even rarer is it likely to find a copy of her autobiography but luckily we now have the internet and Wikipedia has a nice entry on her life and writings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Charke

World’s Greatest Spy

D’eon De Beaumont - 1777

Now we really have a pivotal figure that far too often is ignored in history. Now I could have placed the first strong case as Joan of Arc she wasn’t hiding her gender for anything more then to join the battle. Instead we have someone living both genders and even persecuted for it.  D’eon is known as one of the greatest spies not just in his time but ever. Here is a list of just some of his known accomplishments covers and encounters.

even in that dress D'eon could kick major butt

Skilled Dragoon of French royal court (Royal knight)

Lady in waiting to Catharine the Great (Yes the Russian queen famous for rumors her equestrian encounters)

Friend of Queen Charlotte (wife of George the 3^rd aka Mad King George)

One of the greatest swords man in France at the time

Rumored friend/chess player and supporter of Benjamin Franklin

D’eon in his efforts as a spy used a genetic disorder (Klinefelter’s Syndrome) to his advantage and dawn the disguise as Lady Lea De Beaumont. Despite the skill and continued loyalty to the crown King Louis the 16^th upon gaining the throne from his father Louis the 15^th, forced D’eon to dress and act as a lady in court because of the treatment of ladies versus lords when it came time for the American revolution D’eon wanted to go forth and honor France and fight on the side of the Americans only the King felt it was an insult to have a woman represent France and had D’eon exiled to of all places England for even daring to help. D’eon spent his last days in England as an ambassador and friend of the royal court. 

Despite the added zombies it is an awesome anime and one of my favorites of all time its both very artistic and intense drama. Check it out its on Netflix or buy the series now from Funimation

Now it is important to note not all history has washed D’eon away as in 2006 a manga and anime series was made loosely based on his life (very loosely but it’s really good as a supernatural horror)  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevalier_d%27Eon

And then there was the word

Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal - 1869

The term Transexualism is officially coined by Karl in his medical paper where he simply diagnosed the symptoms of men wanting to be women; it is his paper that would be the earliest medical study on the issue. More words would come such as 1910 Marcus Hirschfield coining the term “Transvestite” while he and Harry Benjamin where researching since 1907. The first use of the word “Faggot” appearing in a Portland Oregon dictionary in 1914 putting all LBGT issues under its terminology

Doctor of Sex

Marcus Hirschfeild - 1919

After almost 20 years of his course of study the subject Marcus opened the Institute for Sexology, in Berlin. In it he worked to study transsexuals in particular to further his research. In one case of study a successful transplant of sexual organs occurred (yeah I bet you think it never could happen) sadly while the surgery was considered a success the patient died of internal bleeding the day after, the process to medical knowledge has never been tried again. The first successful surgeries afterwards as we now know them started the next year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_f%C3%BCr_Sexualwissenschaft

Literature gets twisted  

Virginia Woolf Writes “Orlando” - 1928

Famed female writer tells her tale of a man that refuses to grow old and one day awakens to having changed genders then goes on living as a woman. Keep in mind this was written at the High point of Victorian living where the idea of any sexual behavior is considered wrong and yet here was a book purposing the twisted concepts of sexual escapades of both man in woman in one character.

First Child Treatment

Harry Benjamin -1948

Harry who co-founded of the study of Transexualism was introduced to a young boy that wanted to transition. The practice up until then had been strictly done with adults but after study of the boy Harry started the treatments on the boy in San Francisco (4 years before Christen Jorgenson became the face of transsexuals) This caused Benjamin to open the first clinic for Transgender patients in the US.

Give Him Meat and two Veg

Matt Dillon – 1949

The first recorded Female to Male transition occurs, transitioning Matt in London England. It took him 13 surgeries to get the completion he so wanted to live out his time as a man.

A Star Rises

Christen Jorgenson -1952

While the practice was becoming a common thing for treatment up until Christen it hasn’t really been a public issue. When the New York Daily News made world news with the transition of the former soldier and photographer showed the world sometime that sexy blond bomb shell may have been playing on a different team in childhood.  While this Wikipedia article is somewhat good about the story I strongly suggest a surprising film of its time The Christen Jorgenson Story 1970.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Jorgensen

http://youtu.be/8FlPfahyRV0

The Worst Director, Shows the world

Ed Wood Jr., releases Glen or Glenda   - 1953

Sadly despite being labeled the worst director of all time this really is a good film and very sincere all be it still with its issues as Ed Wood tried to give a face on the issue that he himself was dealing with. Given the later Tim Burton film on Ed Wood would ignore Glen or Glenda but still touched on Ed’s love for dressing. Ed Wood never stated on if it was inspired by Christen Jorgenson or not but it’s believed it was his reasoning for making the film. Much of Ed’s usual actors where in this film including Horror Film Legend Bella Lugosi giving an odd moment in the film where he makes the whole process seem dark.

Watch the whole film on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CVVmQRy4lE

The Rocket is complete

Dr. Judy T Wu – 1958

Dr Wu creates the first complete Phalloplasty surgery changing the way the surgery for FtM patients were going through.   Oddly enough I really want to emphases the location this occurred was Bratsk, Russia. Yeah the same place that lately has gone anti LGBT severally is the home of one of the modern procedures in transgender surgery. It was Wu that devised a way for the new member to stand erect as well.

I could go on from here but then the History from 1960 to modern times is well covered and described in many other sources including GLADD and other places. I do want to note though a few rumors and issues not confined to History

To defend and Honor (All Known Wars before 1950’s)

While there are many cases including my choice to ignore Joan of Arc, we should not ignore the fact that many women served in wars worldwide even to the point of arrest, execution (in Joan’s Case) and exile should they be found out.  They would dawn disguises and false names till they were found out in battle, such figures like Deborah Sampson in the Revolution or Sarah Rosetta Wakeman/ Private Lyons Wakeman.  They were the first women to serve this nation with honors and integrity yet far too often are ignored by history books. While most did it for the cause, others saw it as a chance of equal rights and a few cases it is assumed that they may have seen themselves as men. It is not recorded how many women dawned pants and fought in war some may never have even gone noticed at all, but all are due their respect for their role in history.

Outlaw is Out the closet?

One of the strangest rumors out there is that Billy the Kid (Yes the Billy the Kid) was in fact transgender. In fact there is claimed a rumored image of Billy in drag. Sadly the only real reference to this was an episode of Discovery’s Wild West Tech. It is believe to be nothing more than an attempt to drum up interest in the show.

FBI goes deep under cover?

The Infamous case of J Edgar Hoover is… well completely made up. The issue that Hoover wore women’s clothing and was gay was a rumor started by criminals and the mob in an effort to get Hoover ousted from office. Why? Well how about the fact that the director was biting down hard on the criminal activities of the group. Thus the rumor mill was spilled that J Edgar wore Mrs. Hooves Finest.

Stonewalled

Okay this is the last historical issue I will bring up in this post. The moment Gay rights became an issue was Stonewall riots. And the spark that lit that fuse was the arrest of transgender individuals. Every point of the GLBT civil rights began with transgender people and I bring this up as it’s become somewhat an ignored issue of the last few years that the GLB have gained rights that the T still face prosecution about things like finding work and places to live still are issues for the trans community that the LGB end rarely if ever face. In many ways I see it as a disgrace to have the LGB culture to run to the front of the line and step over the equal rights of the people that helped give them a voice in gaining their own rights. But then we are starting to see a change in these rules and laws as we grow and soon I truly hope that we can say Justice is blind and 

ALL are treated equally.

Additional Supporting links on this subject

http://www.albertatrans.org/history

http://www.bilerico.com/2008/02/transgender_history_trans_expression_in.php

Thank you for sitting down to this massive chunk of trans history. If I missed something or you want to share something then leave a comment, if you don’t feel like making it public email me at brittanydodson@imbriaarts.com. This is intended as a public discussion not just a blog. I would like to thank all that have sent me messages of support for both your families and myself in this discussion. I am sorry I try to respond to all but sometimes I just feel there is little more I can add to your heart felt letters then a loving Thank you.

Next Month’s Subject: 

 Who will Stand Above!

 We look at Trans voices and see if we can find strong voices as well as discuss issues about civil rights and discrimination (using both sides of the arguments) expect it to get heated on this one.

Suggested Homework:

Okay I didn’t do this the first time on the new blog or in the special after but the original path offered tasks and projects people can do with each lesson so I am going to try to have such tasks again from now on. I will go into more when I get to truly discussing the process of transitioning but for now here is this month’s discussions homework.

Read History books and go to history museums- Yeah I am copping out but seriously when we have a recent study say 1 in 4 Americans think the sun revolves around the earth this is an important homework, the subject doesn’t have to be about trans characters but it can be. There are many I know I left out of discussion for frankly space. I personally live in a part of the US where you can’t spit and not hit some place of historic importance of this county (I live in Richmond VA USA) Learn your own history of your family or just catch up on historical people who changed the world

Trans in the News Issue:

Facebook adds new classification of genders for members to choose from.

Now damned if you do damned if you don’t, it’s a mixed bag. I know many trans people that aren’t changing their status for the fear of repercussions of labeling themselves on Facebook. Me personally I don’t care. I changed my status last week from female (what I had it as before) to Trans female. I do not fear the world being open about myself and even apply as such and am open about it when I talk with others. It’s all about personal choice but just to be fair about the issue here is an article about a comedians report on the matter. (And for those that take Colbert as a reporter I feel sorry for you. He is a comedian not a reporter. Don’t ever take him or John Stewart as actual news authorities on any subject they are there to make you laugh at subjects don’t take them seriously ever.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/19/colbert-media-transphobia_n_4815940.html?utm_hp_ref=transgender