Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Progress in Florida, continued

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20100324/NEWS01/3240319

Apparently I didn't read the original story right. The Leon County Commission voted yesterday, 4-3, to tentatively approve the measure. The final version won't be ready until late April, with a public hearing scheduled for May. I hope this thing passes. The comments posted there and on another news site are all negative. One commenter said that they accepted gays, but "couldn't get past the transgender thing".

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I was out in the yard watching my nephews for a bit this afternoon while dinner was being prepared. They were playing with a miniature badminton/tennis set, but they weren't using as intended. They're six and seven, so I cut them some slack. Anyway, I glanced away for a moment, and I hear the youngest shout, "You hit my boob!".

I turned around to see what was wrong. His brother whacked him high up on the chest, almost at the shoulder, with a ball. I told him, "That's your chest. Little boys don't have boobs."

I can't believe I said that.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Progress in Florida

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20100321/NEWS01/3210329

I have MSNBC set to feed me headlines from the Tallahassee Democrat, what passes for a local newspaper around here. I haven't been here long enough to get a feel for the local politics, or most of the news that pops up, but the headline on this one caught my eye:

"Leon County mulls LGBT rights"

Leon County is where I live, and they're preparing to debate proposed legislation which would prevent discrimination in the workplace and housing against individuals for being G, L, B or T. I might try to get to the city center Wednesday to see what happens. This is especially of interest to me because I'm still looking for work.

On a related note, I met another trans person last weekend. She's a friend of a friend. She's not under a doctor's direct care, but she's taking hormones, and growing breasts. We had a couple of disagreements. One of them was based on her insistence that I should give up my beloved heels in order to better pass. I thought they stopped telling tall GGs not to wear heels years ago. Why the double standard for transwomen?

I miss my people in Virginia. I know I'm lousy at maintaining contact with people, and I can feel the support from afar, but I miss having someone to hug. No offense to Mister Sock.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Weird, but Okay

Last Friday evening I was detailed to baby-sit my nieces while everyone was out of the house. Actually, there wasn't much sitting involved, as the children are mostly self-sufficient. Sarah, who is 14, is usually competent to look after the rest, who are 10 and 11. Mostly I was asked to keep an ear out in case they got rambunctious or needed help with dinner.

I went out into the garage to rummage through boxes from the move. I've got most of my clothes in the house, and some of my jewelry, but I've misplaced the box containing my stud earrings. After a short, frustrating search, I was called back into the kitchen to help Sarah with dinner. She asked me what I was looking for, and I told her I was looking for my earrings. She gave me that look. Then she looked down at my feet (I got a pedicure last week) and pronounced that all I needed was a dress, heels and a tiara, and I could be a princess. She was joking.

I told her I was only missing the tiara.

I broke down and gave her the CliffsNotes version. She asked a couple of questions, which I answered, then she told me I was "weird, but okay."

It's a little thing, but I'll take my acceptance wherever I can find it. Small steps, right?