Actually you read it right but I worded it wrong. Blame it on my grieving process for the lose. What I should have said that there is a good chance that on Thursday I will have to stop taking T due to a medical side effect. They found tumors on both of my andrino glands while I was in the hospital for phenomena. However I also found out yesterday that my sister has the same thing so it could be genetic and not T related. I apologize for the wording but that is how it feels after such a long fight to finally get to start my transition. However, as Liam and Lady Pamela reminded me it is not the T that makes me who I am or the man I am. I just am. Granted the T helps in a lot of ways I can't even explain. Still though it is good to have friends like Liam and Lady Pamela that remind me of the truth.
As for the restroom it hasn't been resolved yet but that was bcs I pulled a 24 hr night and didn't make it to school. I am not to worried about the outcome especially since in one month my government id will state that I am legally a male. T or no T
Besides the school is being really good about everything to this point. We will see.

Eh, things happen. I hope that you can continue to take T, though. I know that I would not do well, at least right now, if I were forced to stop taking my hormones. I don't know for sure how that I would handle it, but I do know that I would be obtaining an orchidectomy ( This op removes the testicles, so that the body doesn't produce testosterone anymore, well, not much, anyhow.) immediately, if not sooner. I'd have to manage it, somehow, as I absolutely refuse to allow my system to go back to the way that it was.

Liam and Lady Pamela are right, you ARE a man, regardless of whether you are on T or not. Hang in there! HUGS

I forgot to mention that I got Christmas cards with my real name on them :)

I swear seeing that my name is legally my name never gets old :)

Thank you Bruce Weber and Barney's New York
 

http://www.nowness.com/media/embedvi...6&issueid=2765


Watch this trans-positive ad campaign for Barney's New York done by Bruce Weber. Great piece.

Love Always Finds Its Way
 

I am blessed to live on the edge of/and work in the gayest neighborhood of San Francisco. I am not the only transperson at my workplace; so my team mates and customers are savy, respectful, and very understanding. I am still waiting for my chest surgery, and I am not able to always hide the fact that I do not have the typical male chest, and since starting there at the end of January, my voice was cracking for awhile, and is once again, noticeably deeper. There have been several occasions, when I was asked questions that were pertinent, in the moment, related to my transition. They were asked discreetly and very respectfully. The sensitivity shown to me, touches me deeply, and I can feel how much I am cared for and liked. I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world, and that I could not be in a better place, nor work with a finer bunch of folks.

I was completely shocked when my nice introduced me to her byfriend as her Uncle Alix still smiling over that one. Maybe there is hope for my bio family yet, well at least the younger generation!

Father, writer, and public health consultant, Willy Wilkinson was the Transgender Law Center's, Claire Skiffington's Vanguard Awardee for 2014. I've had the pleasure of meeting Willy several times, and I have personally benefited greatly from a workshop which he wrote, and continues to add to, called the Trans Employment Empowerment Initiative, which is offered through The (LGBQT) Center in collaboration with TransThrive. One of the many reasons why I am happy to be living in San Francisco.

Recently, Willy alerted BABOYZ (Bay Area Boyz, an email group, which is a resource for transmen in the Bay Area, notifying members of news, events, and resources, relevant to transmen, as well as a venue for transmen to ask other transmen questions,) of an OP-ED piece that appeared in the Advocate this month, written by his wife.

"Check out my amazing wife Georgia Kolias' article in the Advocate about accepting my gender transformation. I love her brave, authentic voice about the complexities of being a lesbian married to a trans man."

http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2...transformation

In a later BABOYZ's email, it was shared that there was a Call for Submissions by Transgress Press, and to please let our partners know about it.

"Letters from Our Partners", inspired by "Letters for My Brothers", is an anthology of Letters written by partners to their trans* partner about their experience being partnered with a trans* person.

http://www.transgresspress.org/2013/...-our-partners/

Deadline has been extended. Email editor (on call page via link above) to get exact date.

Some of you might be familiar with "Letters for My Brothers", a book whose contributors included several members from our site.

I wanted to share this information, since this seems to be a persistent topic in my world, and on more than one occasion, an ongoing dialog which I have had with my partners, who identified as lesbians and femmes.

positives
 

My whole experience has been positive. I found a great local doctor and have been on T just over 4 years (July 15th was my four year T anniv).

On Jan 24th, 2014 I had a phalloplasty with Dr. Crane in San Francisco. They were the nicest people I ever met. The hospital staff was wonderful and encouraging.

Even getting my paperwork changed a few years ago went smoothly. I was born in Kentucky and thought I would run into problems with my birth certificate but had zero problems.

I now live in Texas and thought I would run into problems with getting my gender marker changed with social security, but again had no problems.

I feel very lucky. And on top of all that I got married almost 4 years ago (Oct 14th is our fourth anniv) in New Orleans. She has been with me every step of this transition and still gives me my twice monthly T shot.


Rufus

I happened across this article on Esquire and thought others here may be interested in reading it.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/th...cbee-interview

Unfortunately, I did not see this. You? I'm always happy to see something positive and mainstream out there about the lgbT community. I believe it helps to mitigate ignorance, which in turn, helps to mitigate fear. The antithesis to love and acceptance, of oneself and others. Cheers for Queers!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/1...n_5998692.html

Eye Candy
 

The New Face of Transgender Youth

Katie Couric interviews "Jazz"

I loved this and thought of all the guys here I love who don't buy the hype!
 

Positivity Spreads
 

For me, the thing that eliminates fear and ignorance is education and what could be considered mainstream exposure to groups of diverse people and experiences. As such, I'm thrilled and excited to see progress in the transgendered community and how some industries [like the fashion industry, performing arts, for instance...] are putting it out there for the whole world. I know if this were all available to, and witnessed by me, when I was a youth, it would have had a long-lasting and positive effect. I mean, the cover of Vogue still has a lot of cachet and it is broadly and internationally viewed as an accepted publication of fashion and advertising authority.

Cheers for Queers!

http://www.vogue.com/13253741/andrej...sgender-model/

That is great you were able to give someone a bit of positive insight, I'm M-T-F don't have any major issues these days, except with dating. I'm a Butch and Androgynous Naturally due to being XXY.
I've found trying to explain it all to a Womyn who is interested a bit much for them to grasp and it kind of freaks them out a bit sometimes...

So I've known for almost 10 years that I've wanted to transition, possibly longer, but due to my concern with some family members I've kept this about myself secret this whole time. Well until today, my mom's health is declining rapidly and I knew that I needed to tell her before it was too late. So today I decided to not only tell mom but also my brother and my boss. I needed to be open because I'm up for a promotion into a management program and I didn't want this to negatively affect anything, which I was assured it wouldn't and I was even given praise for letting her know. My family is taking it better then I thought and I finally feel like I can be me and move on with what I want to do with my life :D

Wow. This is great. Congratulations!

I got my first injection of T today at about noon :D I am beyond excited that I can finally live out and happy and the important people in my life are in full support of me. My younger brother told me last weekend that he was going to "give me man lessons" lol I am going to go with it it's funny that he wants to be involved.
:batman:

I love this thread. That is all...

Congrats!!

I'm posting this mainly to get people's thoughts...
http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/06/...ege-trans-man/
Perhaps it's been posted elsewhere...

I saw this as well and thought it was very insight and really does codify white male privilege

Images of older trans* people.

Sometimes it seems like all I see "out there" about trans issues, conversations, presentations only applies to folks under the age of 30, or 20 if I'm real about it. It's discouraging. Of course the resources and beginnings of social acknowledgment (nevermind acceptance) are recent seemingly, only in the last decade or so.

I don't know if this has been posted already but it's fairly new, a photographer has captured the images and stories of some of the older members of the trans community and complied them on a website "To Survive On This Shore".

Advocate published an article about it back in February here.

I'm sure this must be posted somewhere, one of our own is featured!
 

Thank you so much LWF, I hadn't seen this!

I have enjoyed coming across Mike's pic here and there on social media.

IN NYC:

AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS with Kate Bornstein, Sheila Cunningham, Miss Major, & Jay Toole

Presentations + Community Discussion: 2–4PM

Intergenerational Reception: 4–5PM

This community, open forum event will bring together trans, genderqueer, and gender nonconforming folks from across generations, along with allies, to discuss and celebrate AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS.

Amidst ongoing violence and increased visibility for the trans community is the truth of the importance of trans lives. Often missing in conversations between both the great heights of visibility and the epic lows of violence and neglect are trans and gender non-conforming folks who have lived long, storied and rich lives. Presented by Visual AIDS and the NYC Trans Oral History Project, AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS is centered around the lives and stories of four gender non-conforming folks who have aged resiliently: Kate Bornstein, Sheila Cunningham, Miss Major, and Jay Toole. The event, moderated by Reina Gossett, is an opportunity to hear experiences, stories, and insights from multiple generations of people from across the gender spectrum. Come and be a part of the conversation.

AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS is inspired by art, activism, and life of Chloe Dzubilo, who passed away in 2011. Although Chloe is no longer with us, it is clear to those who love her and the organizers of this event that she would be among the growing intergenerational dialogue of trans lives and legacies.

AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS is coordinated in conjunction with the second publication of Visual AIDS' DUETS series, Che Gossett & Alice O'Malley in Conversation on Chloe Dzubilo (2014), which features a conversation between Che Gossett and Alice O'Malley about the art, activism and life of Chloe Dzubilo. DUETS is a series of publications that pairs artists, activists, writers, and thinkers in dialogues about their creative practices and current social issues around HIV/AIDS.

The NYC Trans Oral History Project is a community archive devoted to the collection, preservation and sharing of trans histories.

Please be in touch with Alex (afialho@visualaids.org) if you have any special needs in order to attend the event.
The building is wheelchair accessible.

Participant Biographies

KATE BORNSTEIN is a world renowned transgender activist, author, playwright, performance artist, blogger and educator who focus on issues of gender and sexuality. Her books "Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us" and "My Gender Workbook" are essential reading in gender, queer and feminist studies. Kate's books are taught in five languages in over 200 colleges and universities around the world. She lives in New York City with her girlfriend, three cats, two dogs, and one turtle, in whose company she wrote her new memoir, A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology, and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today. For more info on Kate Bornstein: http://katebornstein.typepad.com/


MISS MAJOR GRIFFIN-GRACY, for over 40 years, has been an activist, instigator, and community organizer. From the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion to her current work with the Transgender GenderVariant Intersex Justice Project, Miss Major has worked tirelessly for social justice and the human rights of transgender women of color. She identifies as a father, mother, grandmother, and grandfather to her own children, and to many in the transgender community. Miss Major has spoken around the world about concerns of transwomen of color in the prison industrial complex. Her life and campaigns are currently the focus of a feature length documentary film, which will be released in 2015. For more information visit http://www.tgijp.org/ and http://www.missmajorfilm.com/


JAY TOOLE is a 67 year-old butch identified (well superbutch identified) lesbian who battled addiction for 37 years, during which time she was homeless for over 25 years, and often lived on and under the streets of NYC and in the NYC shelters. In 1999, she got her GED, she began volunteering with The Coalition for the Homeless as a shelter Monitor. In November of 2000 she left the shelter system for her first ever apartment in her own name. Since 2001 she has graduated from The Resource Training Center to become a alcohol and substance abuse counselor with a award and prize for leadership in education, worked part-time as an out-reach worker to the shelter system on recovery issues at the LGBT Community Center. In 2006 she received the Richard L. Schiegel National Legion of Honor Award for Emerging Activist. In 2011, Jay was honored for her service to the transgender community by the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. She is a Co-Founder of Queers for Economic Justice and was the Shelter Project Director for over 14 years and now is the founder of Jay's House. In 2014 Jay was honored by Camba (one of NYC largest homeless providers) for her continued work to make shelters safer for queer adult homeless.

Yes, there is such a thing as male privilege. When you transition to female to male, you have even more insight into that. I don't get why this is news.

Positive and Articulate
 

All transgender modeling agency set to launch.

https://www.advocate.com/arts-entert...ncy-set-launch

Trans Men’s Positive Emotions
The Interaction of Gender Identity and Emotion Labels

Stephanie L. Budge1
Joe J. Orovecz1
Jayden L. Thai2

1University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA
2University of Louisville, Louisvillle, KY, USA

Stephanie L. Budge, Department of Counseling Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1000 Bascom Mall, Room 309, Madison, WI 53706, USA. Email: budge@wisc.edu

Abstract
The current study used grounded theory methods to analyze trans men’s positive emotions. The sample included 11 participants who were assigned a female sex at birth and currently identify with a binary male identity. Results yielded eight positive emotion themes emerging for trans men, which included the following: confidence, comfort, connection, feeling alive, amazement, pride, happiness, and interpersonal reactionary emotions.

Participants reported specific gender experiences within these themes, including a sense of brotherhood, excitement related to taking testosterone, authentic pride in identifying as a man, and happiness connected to others using correct gender language (e.g., pronouns, family labels, greetings).

A theoretical model from the eight themes and 39 higher order categories emerged, indicating the importance of initial internal emotions, confidence related to trans men’s identity processes, and the ways in which positive interpersonal interactions affect positive emotions. Implications include using emotion-focused therapy and including more positivity into trans individuals’ experiences and emotions.

http://tcp.sagepub.com/content/43/3/404.abstract

This is something I had not seen from about three weeks ago. The New York Times is running a series of pieces apparently (I'll stop back when I find more) so here is a section of transpersons telling their own stories.

Transgender Lives: Your Stories

There are days that I feel just ridiculously happy since my transition.

Just out of the blue I realize I am happy.

I thought to myself...."Is this what real life is like?" You just sort of live and people regard you, experience you, and interact with the real you, as you?

It's so flipping easy. Such a new way to live life. The world outside my home is not an anxiety inducing place anymore. Who knew it could be like that?

<--- blessed

This is great to hear/read. I've not come across too many posts this positive about transition. I always read about the problems.

THIS:

"Call to remove gender from UK passports and driving licences"

This makes so much more sense to me. Instead of all the rigmarole around how to get things changed in this place or that place, simply remove the extraneous.

It seems that about 95% of the places it's currently required it's totally irrelevant.

My .02

I just got the perfect example in my own life. I recently moved and the county sent me a notice to update my voter registration. I don't have to state any political party affiliation (relevant to voting), BUT, I do have to select a binary gender (relevant to nothing).

:blink:

I haven't seen anyone post this yet, so I thought this would be a good place for it. I've seen this Nike ad twice now, must see.



YouTube seems a bit overwhelmed at the moment, if you can't see it here, go >here<

There is an article about this in Runners World from yesterday. :cheesy: