It makes me sad......

[ReneeT]

I just read a post by a young person with obvious long standing gender confusion and dysphoria. He/she has suffered with this or almost half his/her life and appears strongly in need of direction. It makes me sad that people, especially our young people, can be left to drift alone, that our social systems are not adequately tuned to meet his or her needs. Left to own devices, statistics show an incredibly high rate of ilicit drug use, alcohol dependency, homelessness, and suicide. Dammit. This has to change

[mykhelee]

as long as little boys are told to "man up", big boys don't cry, don't be such a sissy etc. Real change is still a long way coming. It has only been in the past couple of decades that things started to get easier. If a boy came out publicly about any sort of gender issue when I was in school....it was only a matter of when the jocks would provide a bathroom beatdown. Now we are finally wrapping our minds around the idea that just because the abuse is verbal, or mental that it is just as dangerous. Just had a young man commit suicide in the local school district...merciless bullying by the golden boys that went on for years...ignored by the school, can't have athletes getting suspended during sports season.
Guess things haven't changed that much after all.
Khelli

[Tara D. Rose]

as long as little boys are told to "man up", big boys don't cry, don't be such a sissy etc. Real change is still a long way coming. It has only been in the past couple of decades that things started to get easier. If a boy came out publicly about any sort of gender issue when I was in school....it was only a matter of when the jocks would provide a bathroom beatdown. Now we are finally wrapping our minds around the idea that just because the abuse is verbal, or mental that it is just as dangerous. Just had a young man commit suicide in the local school district...merciless bullying by the golden boys that went on for years...ignored by the school, can't have athletes getting suspended during sports season.
Guess things haven't changed that much after all.
Khelli

That was me way back in HS. I was bullied it seemed on every hall. I was forced to on many occasions re route going to the next class. I sort of hated school because of it. I did make a lot of friends though. Most of my friends were other victims of bullying as well. And it turned out now, that most of those bullies have turned out to be losers and jailbirds too.
Renee, I agree with you. There should be some kind of programs in school, starting at an early age to work with those that are confused with being TG, or just confused. Most schools across America today do have policies in place now to deal with bullies of people that are different. Back in my day (as they say), people like me were just own thier own to deal with so much confusion and what was really going on with them. I think some progress is being made in these times, for we have councelors now that understand TG issues, plus we now have the internet with so much information and knowledge about us that TG people should not feel so alone. There is still so much to be done though. I hope for the day that we can go anywhere in public and we just fit in and accepted by society.
L&R........Tara

[Danika140]

The timing for this post couldn't have been better! I just read an article that Nike is holding an LGBT sports summit for working towards Homophobia and Transphobia.

Here is the link: http://www.queerty.com/gay-jocks-unite-as-nike-hosts-first-ever-lgbt-sports-summit-20120601/

[ReneeT]

The timing for this post couldn't have been better! I just read an article that Nike is holding an LGBT sports summit for working towards Homophobia and Transphobia.

Here is the link: http://www.queerty.com/gay-jocks-unite-as-nike-hosts-first-ever-lgbt-sports-summit-20120601/


Wow! That is impressive. It wont change the world, but when a big company like Nike gets behind somthing, there s a beter chance for change

[Danika140]

It won't change the world but it is definitely a huge step in the right direction! I can't think of a better advocate than a professional athlete.

[juno]

I was raised with wonderful parents that were totally accpeting of y feminine interests, and that conformity is bad. And yet, I spent half of my life hating myself before I realized that becoming an actual female, and not ust a feminine male, was what I needed to be happy. We need more than better schools and parenting. We need visible transsexual role models. I have no interest in going "stealth" because I think that is just another word for "in the closet". Society, especially children, need to see transsexuals being treated with respect. As long as stealth is the main goal for so many people, real acceptance of transgender people is at risk, because many of the "stealth" people are the best examples of successful transsexuals. Don't hide at home until you make enough progress to pass. Get out there and be a member of society as your real self. Some young person may see you and figure out their own self.

[Kathryn Martin]

I sincerely hope that they will not work towards homophobia and transphobia but rather against it.:battingeyelashes: Otherwise I agree with Renee this could be very big. :daydreaming:




The timing for this post couldn't have been better! I just read an article that Nike is holding an LGBT sports summit for working towards Homophobia and Transphobia.

Here is the link: http://www.queerty.com/gay-jocks-unite-as-nike-hosts-first-ever-lgbt-sports-summit-20120601/

[Danika140]

Lol yeah I did forget to add "ending" Homophobia and Transphobia.

[Danika140]

I was raised with wonderful parents that were totally accpeting of y feminine interests, and that conformity is bad. And yet, I spent half of my life hating myself before I realized that becoming an actual female, and not ust a feminine male, was what I needed to be happy. We need more than better schools and parenting. We need visible transsexual role models. I have no interest in going "stealth" because I think that is just another word for "in the closet". Society, especially children, need to see transsexuals being treated with respect. As long as stealth is the main goal for so many people, real acceptance of transgender people is at risk, because many of the "stealth" people are the best examples of successful transsexuals. Don't hide at home until you make enough progress to pass. Get out there and be a member of society as your real self. Some young person may see you and figure out their own self.

The problem is that the US is a country that preaches individuality, yet practices conformity. I completely agree with you about just going out and being yourself. I stopped stressing over being "passable" and just focus on being comfortable with myself. It's getting easier each day. I find your sentence interesting because I had a recent experience with it. My dad's girlfriend's oldest son approached me earlier in the week about having desires to dress up and how good he feels when he does it so he has been asking me questions about being TS vs CD etc. He told his mom last weekend right after I came out to my father and she seems to be supportive of him as well.

[KellyJameson]

It helps when there is a loving and supportive family environment, many are in high conflict relationships with their parents so end up leaving home with no resources to fall back on. They end up on the streets in cities all over the world.

As society accepts those that are LGBT it will lessen the stress on the parents and increase the chances for acceptance and protection from parents.

Children become caught between the parent and the parents relationship with other adults. Whether it is the neighbor, priest, other parents, teachers, relatives, ect...

[ReineD]

We are in the midst of positive change, even though we're not fully there yet. It will take time. There are many children who are transitioning now with their parents' help. This is just a sample:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3088298&page=1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-herman/dad-transgender-daughter_b_850865.html

http://www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/

[c2candice]

I think the most important movement in the LGBT community HAS to be youth and gender identity. There is so little support for it. It is arguably the most critical time of one to find acceptance as a person in the trans community. Like me, I could not find support in the small visibly gay high-school community. High-school is wrought with judgement, social type-casting, discrimination and down-right abuse.

I think it is important for people to understand that within the LGBT umbrella, all of the other letters have relatively "understood" and defined roles in society, and a general understanding (if not acceptance) amongst the general public. The "T" covers such a wide spectrum of gender and sexual issues that are so hard for the normal person to understand, that it is simply cast as too "weird".

The more presence we have the better. Our youth need to understand that it's OK to be "T", no matter what type of T you are.

hugs,
Candice

[a1stephie]

Well put, Candice. I have two young children, a son and daughter...if my son were ever to express anything other than the 'normal' tendancies for a male, both my wife and I would support him fully. I can't say what the rest of our extended families would do, and I know it would rock a lot of their foundations.

Gender roles and stereotypes are so engrained...it's hard to be a man in this day and age. Women want us to understand their feminine sides, yet still be man enough to meet their visions on what a 'man should be'. If, however, we cross over into too feminine a territory, it challenges all parties and a boy is a sissy, a fag and all the other lovely names that come with such narrow-minded views. All we can hope for is a slow change, as you say, with a building presence and plenty of time, perhaps then young dressers or anything with a 'T' will be OK in these critical years.

[c2candice]

as long as little boys are told to "man up", big boys don't cry, don't be such a sissy etc.

OMG... there is an add campaign here by some potato chip company on all of the bus stops, saying "Tell your taste bus to MAN UP", for some hot wing or bacon flavour. I can't tell you how angry that makes me.

Candice

[Julia_in_Pa]

Your right Renee, it does have to change but in a country that can't even take care of it's own citizens concerning even the most basic of preventative health care I fear it won't change anytime soon.
With opposition from the " Christian " right wing conservative segment constantly dragging progress down into the gutter we as a community will continue to suffer and die because of it.



Julia

[ELIZABETH46]

you are right Renee, things need to change BUT NOT JUST HERE in the u.s.a.
this is a world union confusion and obvious ignorance.
i was born in URUGUAY to a British family ( in a ranch in the countryside ) and there is just three countries than I KNOW the ignorance and confusion is abundant.
now..., England has progressed much faster than Uruguay or USA, but the need to help young TG/CD is still great.

[jennifer24]

So glad to see times are changing, like most have said.. If you even tried to come out in the 70`s-80`s you would be bullied and maybe even dis-owned by your own family, makes since why our suicide was much higher back then, as most know there is much more info out there in todays world then we had when we were growing up, and some people are more excepting of us now.
All I say to the young girls is, the info is out there, please use it, also helps when some of us older TG`s help out the young ones too.

[Raquel June]

I just read a post by a young person with obvious long standing gender confusion and dysphoria. He/she has suffered with this or almost half his/her life and appears strongly in need of direction. It makes me sad that people, especially our young people, can be left to drift alone, that our social systems are not adequately tuned to meet his or her needs. Left to own devices, statistics show an incredibly high rate of ilicit drug use, alcohol dependency, homelessness, and suicide. Dammit. This has to change

On one hand, things aren't that bad. I'm glad I wasn't trying to transition 30 years ago.

But on the other hand, it breaks my heart hearing about people's struggles. Maybe it's because I haven't quite made it to the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but if I had known 10 years ago what I would go through ... I would've tried a little harder with the pills and alcohol. Someday I'll say it made me stronger. But I was strong enough. It just made me a little more numb and empty. There's a lot about this world that you wouldn't wish on anybody.





OMG... there is an add campaign here by some potato chip company on all of the bus stops, saying "Tell your taste bus to MAN UP", for some hot wing or bacon flavour. I can't tell you how angry that makes me.

Masculinity being associated with strength isn't that bad, and the somewhat aggressive but mostly stupid (Tim Allen / Homer Simpson) male stereotypes of the guy trying to prove something is more demeaning to men than it is misogynistic.

Maybe I'm just defending ignorance in advertising because I love hot wings.

[Bree-asaurus]

OMG... there is an add campaign here by some potato chip company on all of the bus stops, saying "Tell your taste bus to MAN UP", for some hot wing or bacon flavour. I can't tell you how angry that makes me.

Candice

Mneh... I think it's funny. I tell people to 'man up' or 'grow a pair' all the time. And I just got rid of my pair ;)

[ReineD]

We need more than better schools and parenting. We need visible transsexual role models. I have no interest in going "stealth" because I think that is just another word for "in the closet". Society, especially children, need to see transsexuals being treated with respect. As long as stealth is the main goal for so many people, real acceptance of transgender people is at risk, because many of the "stealth" people are the best examples of successful transsexuals. Don't hide at home until you make enough progress to pass. Get out there and be a member of society as your real self. Some young person may see you and figure out their own self.

I so agree with this. :)

People will have no choice but to become accepting when they see transwomen living and working alongside with them. If the women who started wearing pants last century only wore them in the closet, lord knows how far back this would have pushed feminism. :D :D :D

[Diane Elizabeth]

All that was said is soooo true.

I have flashbacks to high school and the bullying I took. I didn't even know I was different other than an easy target, Never figured out why. I wish I knew then what I know now.- I would have invested in Bill Gates then and got rich.

[Deanna Jeanine]

Mneh... I think it's funny. I tell people to 'man up' or 'grow a pair' all the time. And I just got rid of my pair ;)

Good one Bre...............

[kimdl93]

I empathize with young people, because I went through much of this myself. Part of the problem is our culture expects males to keep things inside, particularly things considered abnormal or "perverse". So many young people suffer in silence because of these ideas. At least today, the young person in question was able to find information via websites like this, information that was denied us a generation ago.

[Xrys]

It has always amazed me how mean and vicious people can be at such a young age. I remember being teased and bullied all the way back in the 3rd grade. I also do not understand Christians total opposition to us. I have been attending the same church since I was a child. I am familiar with scripture and Christian beliefs, but this one makes no sense. I have been wanting to talk to the pastor at my church about this. He has been there for a few years now, and we have become good personal friends. He is the youngest pastor I know out here (still in his thirties) and many of the older people left when he got voted in. I still am nervous about comeing out to him, but I want to know his thoughts and beliefs on the matter. I want to understand why we are so often shunned and pushed aside, or downright threatened and abused. Mabey I will have the courage to talk to him soon. After all, he is someone I consider a friend, and should know anyway.

Sorry if my thoghts are less focused than normal, it has been a stressful day.

[Thera Home]

I so agree with this. :)

. If the women who started wearing pants last century only wore them in the closet, lord knows how far back this would have pushed feminism. :D :D :D

Remember, our forefathers wore wigs. What happened that men wearing wigs didn't evolve.

Thera