I found this article about raising medical professionals' awareness and sensitivity towards gay and trans patients. On the one hand, it's encouraging that there are efforts and energies afoot to do this. On the other hand, it's sad how ignorance and discrimination can exist in the medical community, just as elsewhere. The third paragraph of the article is of particular relevance to our little community here.
I have access to this through a subscription from a free Medscape blog site for Med students entitled "The Differential" (no, I'm not a med student -- I lied when I signed up for the site.) I found copies of it adapted for other websites, so I'm going to assume its copyright is either absent or permits that. Rather than post a link that probably won't work for anyone not subscribed, I'm posting the full text here.
"I hope you don't mind me saying this," said June, the vivacious, large-bosomed, tattooed, gum-chewing, 30-year-old bartender, looking me over again, "but I think you might actually look," pause for emphasis and hand gesture, "better like this."
I've seen this before, somewhere. I think someone here may have posted it already, but I haven't seen it in a while, and today Andrew Sullivan posted it on his widely-read blog at The Atlantic magazine.
On "Countdown," his political news/analysis/commentary show on MSNBC last night, Keith Olbermann used his "Worst Persons In The World" segment to highlight (not to mention rip, tear and shred) a Congressional critic of the Matthew Shepard anti-hate-crimes bill that was later passed in yesterday's session.
The state legislature of Vermont has voted to override the veto of their governor to a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry. The bill now becomes law. Vermont becomes the fourth state to legalize same-sex marrige, and the first to do it through legislative action.
I always liked Vermont. There's something honest about the place. With this new law, they renew their dedication to their state motto. "Freedom and Unity," indeed!
Just ran into a fascinating article on the social value of smoking. No, not the costs of healthcare, or the burden it puts on your body, or the damage to the economy in lost worker productivity. There are a million reasons to not smoke. It's not healthy for you. But...
The author of the article identifies the social role that smoking plays in social settings amongst smokers.
I injured myself last Friday. Nothing of the usual home injuries. Didn't take a fall, step on a pin, hit my thumb with a hammer, pick up the business end of a soldering iron, or bang my head on an open cupboard door. No, I executed a sudden maneuver. I was outdoors, testing a type of lightweight fabric used for roofing, when my sample started blowing away from me. I lunged for it after chasing it across the roof a few feet, to catch it. Something happened in my ribcage and knocked the wind out of me temporarily.
Today's (Sunday, March 1) Skin Horse comic, tooncasted at the bottom of every blog page, has Tip's humor-tinged crossdressing tips. The strip changes every day, and I think this one is worth keeping around, at least for some of us, so I went in search of a "permanent" link. If you liked this one, and want to keep it, click on and then bookmark this:
For anyone who doesn't know the history of the site, it's quite informative. One can't help noticing, though, that in its current form, it reads rather like the obituary of a well-loved senior statesman or other notable person.
Let's hope it needs amending soon, and because Fictionmania rises from the ashes.
Here are two reading lists, one of men's "must reads" from Esquire, and one of women's from Jezebel. Can we assume someone's gender orientation by whether they've read more of one list than the other?
Dating from pre-Colombian times, native people in parts of Mexico recognized a third sex, men who believed they were women, and accorded them an accepted place in society. Despite the efforts and attitudes of their Catholic conquerors, pockets of this acceptance still survive.
An article in the Sunday New York Times "Week In Review" section, dated tomorrow:
I'm posting this for reference and discussion. It's quite a conflicted article, showing the unhappy sides of two opposite approaches to treating gender dysphoric behavior in young children and raising doubts of the value of either.
I find the name of this bus inspirational, at least from a fiction point of view.
I first saw it go by a couple weeks ago when I was driving through a neighborhood in Brooklyn. On Saturday, we were out doing a bit of shopping in that same neighborhood when I spotted the bus again. My wife had her camera with her, and this time, I was able to get some pictures.
Treated myself to a pedicure today. I was dressed in standard random male street clothes, sneakers, socks. Just picked a random nail salon, went in, asked about getting a pedicure, with polish, was greeted with a bit of a giggle, but directed to a pedicure station in the back of the shop. "Great," thought I, "at least I won't be on view from the street."
As some of you may know, from a chatroom we often hang out in together, I've been having some really great breakthrough experiences lately! I've somehow made friends with a few of the staff of a local lesbian bar. Pretty good friends, too. I feel like I'm in a dream at times!
Interesting story from a business news source that occasionally publishes human interest or sociological trend stories. It's about a new government regulation in Thailand to outlaw elective castration for those under 18. Gay rights campaigners support the new restrictions, while the medical establishment opposes it, citing the rights of transsexuals to be who they are.
Been suffering with a peculiar pain in my abdomen this past week, which I seem to get periodically and no one has been able to diagnose. One doctor thought it might be a hernia. Another thought it might be diverticulitis, or a kidney stone. I, being something of a pessimist and phobic hypochondriac was thinking "cancer! gangrene! invulnerable flesh-eating parasites! that thing from Alien! you're going to die!" (I really, really need to work on my optimism and positive mental imaging, don't I?)
Just found this great bra reference page [click here] in the online Macy's catalog. One link has information on measuring size, which might be of great interest to crossdressers and stories about them, especially as it has the "formulas" for dealing with larger band sizes.
Funny parody video (of a climate-change Public Service Announcement) from the Seattle alternative newsweekly, "The Stranger". (Drag queens do not appear until 1:00 into the 2:51 film.)
Alyssa Plant has written one of the most sensitive and affecting tales of emergence. I just love the way it's developing. Anyone who hasn't read "The Road To Haifa" yet, is missing out on a beautiful story, at least I can say that through part 3 which is all that's posted so far.
The "Member For:" counter in my account page here seems to have just flipped over to 3 years. Have I really been a registered Top Shelf-er for that long!
I'm posting this here, because I think that readers who might otherwise enjoy a particular story are skipping over it because they're making certain assumptions about it that miss an important point.
Checks can be made out & sent to:
Joyce Melton
1001 Third St.
Space 80
Calimesa, CA 92320
USA
Note: $6000 is the operating, maintenance and upgrade budget. Amounts received in excess of the $6000 will be applied to long term debt accrued over the last 19 years.
