[AtLast]

I watched the Susan Stanton interview on Larry King tonight (glad King was not the interviewer) and found her comments about now working as a woman (MtF) as a city manager (same position fired for a few years ago due to transition) was fascinating. She honed in on what experiencing male privilege from the other side is like. Her awareness of sexism from this perspective is obviously quite unique (although it was obvious that she has had this awareness all along, but is now on the other side and very aware of this fact).

She also talked about the fact that she most likely had an easier time with the costs of transitioning due to class (can throw race/white privilege in there, too) and that this is just not the case for most trans individuals. She talked a little about the fact that she did have the financial means to carry out her transition.

The CNN special - Her Name Was Steven airs Saturday night. Tonight’s interview was an hour long and quite detailed about her transition journey. And very open concerning surgical hair removal procedures. Something else that struck me was her very deep regard and sensitivity for what her teenage son and ex-wife were subjected to in this process. And that she really does not come from a political space about her lifelong struggle with knowing she is a woman and in a male body. This is true for a FtM that I have known for many years and long before ever being a member of the B-F community.

I have followed her case somewhat since her firing in Florida and consequent decision to not seek legal remedy against the city she was a city manager for (which she received a lot of criticism about from trans political & legal organizations for). I had a much better understanding of the fact that she made a very conscious choice not to as a means to not add more stress for her family. And, for her, it was about moving toward her personal human completion and living her life as a woman. Although difficult for her ex-wife, snippets from the documentary of her talking demonstrated that they both were very loving with each other through this, really and wanted to make it as easy as possible for their son.

But, her discussion of sexism in the workforce as a woman as compared to doing the exact same job as a man was quite interesting (hope there is more about this in the documentary). She seems to be doing well and strikes me as a very warm and caring woman, which she was as a man. She and her ex-wife remain close friends and her son is quite an awesome kid! I do want to catch the special.