Quick straw poll (MtFs only)

[anne78.livejournal.com]

Ok this has always intrigued me:

How many of you MtFs carry sanitary products (tampons or panty liners) in your handbag?

I have heard of T-Girls who do this to aid in passing (in case a GG friend gets caught short or someone looks in your handbag) was wondering how popular an idea it is! :)

(no subject)

[sekoumoja.livejournal.com]

Well.. G'day there. I spent an two hours trying to type this out to ask someone for advice over the net. I sent it to the Nineline place via e-mail and I got an auto-response. <.< Eh, I posted this in my journal but I'd like some more feedback.
( Read more... )

At this point I have more of a yearning and a pain for what I feel is right more than anything else. I have it good and I know it, as well. Although my mom would recomend suicide, I have a girlfriend (the first person I "came out" to, prior to our relationship) whom I love, accepts me, and all that. I'm just distressed about this, if I had a choice I'd just repress it again. But thanks to my mate I have to deal with it. <.< >.>

Thanks.

moving during transition

[madcaptenor.livejournal.com]

I'm a 20-year-old MTF. Just started therapy a week ago. The place I'm going to requires six months of therapy before starting on hormones, which means I'd start on hormones in February at the earliest. I'm pretty much full-time now, and have been since the beginning of the summer; I'm going to attend classes as a female once they start up again in the fall.

Anyway, I will be graduating from my current, undergraduate institution in June and moving on to somewhere else for grad school. This brings up a couple questions.

First, moving during transition. There's a part of me that thinks I timed this horribly, because if I do move away from where I am (the Boston area) for grad school, I'm going to have to find new doctors and everything. I'm wondering - is this just an inconvenient nuisance, or can it be more than that?

Second, I'll probably be applying to grad schools as a male. Why? Well, I still have a male name, and New Jersey (which is where I'm a legal resident, and where my parents live) is notoriously slow on name changes. And somehow it seems unwise for my legal name to change during that process, if I can help it. But maybe I'm just being paranoid.
Anyway, my mother told me that she thinks I should wait to transition until I get into grad school. Is there any truth in this, or is she just being paranoid? Bear in mind that the graduate programs I'd be applying to probably don't require interviews, which is a Good Thing for me since I never interviewed well and that's the part that would be most likely by far to out me.
I'd be particularly grateful if anyone whose transition has been timed similarly (that is, transitioning while trying to get into/starting graduate school) could let me know how their experiences with this were.

IP Address logging in trans-related commmunities.

[kailynbarr.livejournal.com]

Livejournal has a property you can enable on your account which allows you to log the IP address of people who reply to your posts. I am asking people who post to these communities to TURN THIS OFF. Not everyone has an IP address that is effectively anonymous -- some of us have domains and web sites, which can be used to obtain personally identifying information.

THIS IS BAD

I, myself, will not respond to comments if this is the case. I must also ask why people feel it is necesssary to identify people who are not posting anonymously.

I would also like to warn other transgendered people who may not be aware that simply having one's IP address makes it possible to do any number of nasty things, will quite probably point to the user's approximate geographical area, and will most certainly show your choice of ISP. If you value your privacy, do not respond to these posts which log IP addresses. In fact, I ask that nobody respond to such posts, so we can disabuse people of this.

**** UPDATE ****

Apparently this is a per-community setting. Most of this post still applies, though, with the addition that not only the community maintainer but the original poster can see IP addresses of comment replies. I will try to address this with individual community maintainers and lobby for some changes. I'd still like to post this information so the community is aware of it. I am not, however, going to cross-post it all over high heaven.

I can't respond to comments due to the logging apparently enabled on this community, so I will address them below ( the cut )

Long Overdue

[freeme81.livejournal.com]

Ok, so before I start my long over-due update, I'd like to say hey to everyone in the Trans and Intersexed groups...I joined the groups not too long ago but haven't updated my journal recently... Quick intro...I'm "Mo," I'm 23, from Western Massachusetts...new to the tranny game...or at least the OUT tranny game. Ok, so on to my update!

First let me apologize to all for taking so fucking long to update...I honestly keep forgeting about this thing! As many of you may or may not know, I'm working at a day camp. My age group...4-6...I know, I know! It's insanity everyday but I truly enjoy it. My co-workers are really cool (for the most part) and I am known at camp as female :) Yeah, most people probably know the situation by now, either because I told them or because they've viewed my legal name on the hour sheet, but either way, they still treat me as a chick and it's a grand old time!

My therapist, the wonderful Lisette Lahana, has helped me to understand a couple of important things recently.

Number 1: I'm rushing the transition situation. Tis true. I am indeed rushing it. Some of it is subconcious but some is on purpose...I'm just tired of faking it. 23 years is much to long to be a foreigner in your own body, don't you think? So I'm a little impatient with stuff (ie, the length of time it's taking my hair to grow out (a good 2 1/2 inches so far), social acceptance, etc). Lisette has helped me realize I need to slow it down a little bit.

Number 2: (this isn't actually something I didn't already know but it's nice that she reiterates it) I need to hurry up and figure out how to get the FUCK out of my mothers house. Love my mom, really do...I mean she doesn't give me shit (verbally) about dressing feminine or wearing make-up but she's manipulative and controlling about most other aspects of my TWENTY-THREE YEAR-OLD life, and in order to grow up and move on, I need to be outty! So, since it looks like I indeed have a job for the fall (ran into my supervisor in the mall today), I will maintain living on a strict budget while searching for a better paying, yet hopefully equally open-minded job.

Anyway, camp is almost over... How's it going with the guy I'm attracted to? Eh...it's ok. I'm slowly but surely getting over him. I mean, the attraction was pretty much physical anyway and having gotten to know him a little bit more, I'm not all that sure he's my type.

I'm glad the attraction happened though, because I've realized that as much as I wanted to consider myself big fat lesbian, I've decided to not limit myself with a title. I'm queer...I like the ladies (oh ho ho yes I do) but I guess I gotta little spot in myself for the fellas (grrr).

Why does it bother me that I'm attracted to guys too? Well, because I don't trust guys...Not one little bit. I've never EVER met a man I could completely count on or trust for anything. I've never been sexually assaulted or molested but emotionally I've been fucked over and over again, SO I subconciously push male attractions out of my head so as not to get hurt. And yes, I know that women are just as capable of hurting me as men are but still... Anyway, this guy, however, snuck past the radar...

Ok, so I'm babbling (those of you in the tranny and intersexed rooms who don't know me, get used to it because I'm really good at it)...just a couple more quick things:

I bought a REALLY cute handbag today. It's Navy blue and SOOO cute!

I bought two bracelets in Northampton yesterday. They're hemp woven with colored beads. The black beaded bracelet is supposed to represent protection and the gold one is supposed to be for courage, both of which I feel I need right about now.

I also bought a piece of aquamarine stone. It's supposed to help protect and heal you as well as balance your physical and emotional bodies (need those things, yep yep) and it's pretty coincidental that it just so happens to be my birthstone too :)

I bought some clip-on hoop earrings today. They're small and they look really real! I'm getting my ears pierced eventually (don't like sharp things) BUT not until I come back from visiting my uncle in Michigan later this month. This trip will hopefully be the last time I'll ever have to give my full-blown "straight MAN" act...

My 24th birthday gift to myself (in March) will be to get my name legally changed. Lisette explained the process to me and it's pretty simple. Fill out some paper work, hand over my birth certificate, pay $60 bucks, stand before a judge to swear that I'm not changing my name for unlawful purposes and in 6 weeks, Viola! The thing that WILL suck is going through this list of everywhere I would need to call or write to get my name changed (ie: credit cards, school records/diplomas, drivers license, social security cards, passports, etc)....the list is SOOO long...but it'll be worth it. :)

Ok all! Take care and be well.

-mo-