The faces of the transgender (Moved from yahoo)

In the time that I’ve been blogging, I’ve made some great friends and we have shared many personal things. Some have been twisted and used against me, but I do write what I feel at the time. The arts (writing poems, music and drawing) has always been a outlet for me, so I found myself typing away. I’m sure, if you read some of my blogs or any of my friends, you will soon realize that for many of us there is only one viable option available to us. You will also see how we have many of the same issues any one of you may have. Sure, I guess my trans status may be comic relief around the lunch room, who knows, but to me it is a personal thing that I have been dealing with all my life and until recently have I come to terms with what I must do. I take my decisions very serious because it does affect many people in my life. At this time I do have the support of my family and feel I have to move on from where I am now, and take steps to speed up my delayed transition plans (10 years so far ugg).

It seems that I have been away for a while, and I guess I have, but in that time I’ve been trying to catch any shows that may feature trans people in a positive light. I must say the over the last 2 or so years I have seen many positive changes for the transgender community. There are still too many tragedies still out there though and I really hope and pray that they reach out to others, like many of us have. Can’t beat your sisterly support can you.

Let’s look at a few that have been positive. I’ve been watching America’s Top Model’s show and am very pleased to see that a transgendered contestant named Isis has made to the top 10 so far. I believe she could win, I hope she keeps her confidence up because from what I’ve seen so far, she has a chance to win. Girl, I’m rooting for ya. GO ISIS!!!! I felt she took some pretty great shots. Who knew that she would be part of the show, by just being one the faces in the crowd, but was noticed by Tyra, who didn’t even know she was trans until after the fact. She was one of 3 or 4 models that did background modeling while the contestants did there shoot. Isis was noticed over all the other models even a lot of the contestants. How cool is that.

The next show I’d like to mention, and it’s a must have for everyone to watch if your trans or not. The episode was called "My Secret Self". It looked at the life’s of some transgender kids as young as 6 years old. It was a very touching story for me, and I hope he best to those kids in getting the proper treatment. Treatment many of us wished we had when we were young.

Which leads me to some other news that I hope may have so positive change for our community. The APA is advising changes in college studies to include a increase in training on the transgender issues, in hopes of being able to provide better services to our community. Their recommended changes in access to medical treatment for transgender patients excites me, but I wonder when the insurance companies will fall in line to provide the needed coverage for our needs. I guess time will tell on that one.

The many faces of the transgender community is vast, we are many and we are proud. Many of the faces I see have seen have inspired me to be myself and let go of the shackles I’ve worn all my life. I have found some strength from these shows and many of my friends. So thank you. I’m sure in the upcoming year people will start to notice some changes I’m planning, but I’m not saying anything yet :)

I’ve received some pretty negative emails recently and I’m sorry to disappoint anyone, but the transition will progress. There is nothing that anyone could say now. I know in my heart of hearts what my path must be. This is something that must be done to get back in balance with myself. There is no other way. I’ve tried them all, no doubt. Once I faced the fact that for me, there was only one path that will make me complete, I could then concentrate on what will be good for me and my family. The last several years I’ve have done a lot of soul searching and look forward to seeing many more faces out there, some will stand out and others will wait in the shadows. Where ever you find the inspiration, hold on to it. Till my next blog, I hope you all have a great week end.

Hugs Michelle