If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
I am well aware that some parents of my generation do not accept LGBT youth. I explained that most often love overcomes family fears. I asked them not to give up on their parents. I reminded them that if I could change, so can their parents.
These last 12 months have seen their fair share of events that had a direct impact on Ireland's LGBT community, speeding up progress to a pace that was barely imaginable 10 years ago.
The "baker's dozen" of 2012 -- the most incredible 13 months in transgender (as well as LGBT) civil rights history, began on Dec 6, 2011, with two remarkable events.
I took my seventh shot of testosterone just a few days ago, and I still don't have a way to reconcile my utter disgust with misogyny and personal commitment to feminism with my male identity. I find it hard to believe that feminism and masculinity are mutually exclusive.
As an African-American transgender woman, I have faced much discrimination and injustice in my life. Transgender people of color continue to fight for basic human rights in the justice system, but today we have achieved broader awareness and understanding of our issues.
The same networks and partnerships we use as safety professionals may open doors that have never been opened before. Maybe they can help me build new partnerships and relationships to protect transgender youth.
Four years ago this month, my daughter fearfully looked across a table at me and said the words that would forever change my life: "I want to transition to be a boy."
When Nicole decided to become her authentic self, I was startled and unsure -- but time, education and counseling have made our parent/child relationship stronger than ever. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our extended family.
With little sleep and lots of self-doubt, I have been trying to collect my thoughts on parenting and the many changes this little person has brought to my life in the five months since we met. In so many ways, being a parent reminds me of being trans.
This week I talked with Laverne Cox, an actress, producer and transgender advocate who is currently appearing in Musical Chairs, a must-see film. I talked with Laverne about the film, as well as about "I AM: Trans People Speak," a national campaign that she is involved in.
Now that the courts are recognizing that sex and gender overlap, and now that Americans realize that gender identity and sexual orientation are rooted in the biology of our brains, we are nearing the moment that the entire LGBT community may be protected under an expanded Title VII.
Reading about the trial of former New York City firefighter Taylor Murphy, who is accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, model Claudia Charriez, I was saddened and infuriated by the attempt of Murphy's legal counsel as well as the press to discredit and delegitimize Charriez.
To call the media's silence on Sage Smith's story deafening would be an understatement. That someone's son or daughter, trans-identified or not, can go missing from their family for nearly 20 days and there be no national or even local outcry is more than enraging; it's terrifying.
Some transgender youth are being called out by members of the trans* community for being "trans-trenders," which is taken to refer to women who take steps to begin to transition to male simply because they do not fit a stereotypical mold of womanhood.
At a time when sensationalism seems to generate high ratings, exploiting the subject of transgender people could be tempting, but that was not our experience.
In the absence of any concrete statements from Manning, it's impossible to know for certain how he prefers to be known, but if his use of a female name was indeed one of the reasons why Manning was placed on a highly restrictive status, that's a very troubling justification.
Most Popular
