21-14 Go-Go-Go

[wiserube.livejournal.com]

Today the Senate voted 21-14 for the marriage bill without amendment. The bill now goes to the House, which is expected to vote early next week.

Please contact your Senator today to thank him or her for supporting fairness for gay and lesbian families in Maine.

MOD POST: Dreamwidth

[auntysarah.livejournal.com]

For those who don't know, Dreamwidth is the up and coming blogging site that everyone seems to be talking about. Kind of a next-generation version of LiveJournal, and indeed is based on the LiveJournal code base.

Anyway, it's gone into open-beta today which means it's much easier to get an account that it has been before. With that in mind, I'd like to announce transgender's Dreamwidth sibling community, trans ("transgender" was already taken).

As a community, it will operate in a very similar manner to transgender, but there are some changes on the community info page, taking advantage of the "clean-slate" that Dreamwidth allows.

We very much hope to see lots of you over there soon!

Sarah

Welcome!

[auntysarah]

Hi everyone, and welcome to trans!

This is more-or-less like transgender, but I've taken the opportunity to do a bit of a spring clean and rationalise the community info page a bit. I've hopefully made the interests list a bit better with some additions and some deletions, but if anyone has any suggestions for that they would be greatly received. The "community rules" section has also changed a bit - the two biggest changes are probably the "don't delete stuff" rule, and the "Please be patient with newbies" rule. The latter, I think, is particularly important, so I'll quote it here and then talk a bit about the reason I put it in:

Please try to cut newbies some slack. Terminology is often a contentious issue amongst the transgender community, and those initially seeking help with their gender issues are unlikely to be well versed in trans politics. Members should not feel they have to bite their tongue in the face of offensive statements, but please remember that we all have to start somewhere and it is important not to frighten off those seeking help when they are coming to terms with a trans identity. On the other hand, those seeking to hide behind this rule when making a tone argument will not be treated sympathetically.

This is my attempt at balance. In transgender, there were often complaints on one hand from those who felt that restrictions on expressing their anger at offensive posts and comments in the community were unreasonable, and on the other hand from those who felt that those seeking help for the first time with gender issues might be put off by what they saw as an "aggressive" environment. This is an attempt at balance - it's understandable that those who have not had much of an immersion in the trans community may be unaware of some nuances that some of us perhaps take for granted, and I would ask people to please be patient.

At the same time, this space should concentrate on the needs of trans people, and I think it's important that people who should know better, and those who possess cissexual/cisgender privilege don't have a "you must always be respectful" rule they can invoke as a tool to silence people objecting to transhphobic or other problematic remarks.

How well this works in practice remains to be seen, but I pray your indulgence while we find our feet here, and hopefully the community can evolve and build on what we have, and become a really nice resource.

Anyway, a community is nothing without content, so have at it!

Prometrium

[pkbarbiedoll.livejournal.com]

So I started taking prometrium last night.. today around lunch I started feeling a little ill.. by late afternoon I had chills, and felt feverish. kinda like flu. I read that prometrium can have those side effects - obviously I don't take any more. But do I need to go over to the ER?

(no subject)

[jamie-patrick.livejournal.com]

So I went to a counseling appointment and talked about making friends--and my counselor really made it simple. All she said was "find moments you can build off of." So, that's what I have been doing. Instead of looking at soicalizing as scary socializing.... I'm looking at it as a project, and it's not so scary with that outlook. I find little things people say and do that i can build on for our relationship--whatever it may be. 

I'm working toward accepting my transness/ myself... but that will take a long time. I signed up for boxing today, and that is something that I have been wanting to do for so long.... but couldnt because I had surgery--and then I just kept putting it off becase I was scared to be around a bunch of guys all the time--afraid I'll do something wrong, or-- I dont know. ...but, I'm trying to just be myself. I'm trying to just forget about trying to be anything, actually...

Tonight i went to a trans support group and didnt really talk about anything. Speaking in groups is something that I can never seem to do... I go, in hopes I'll talk.... but. Anyway. I got up to leave and one of the mothers at the group (its a trans and trans families support group) looked at me and said, "You really used to be a girl? I squinted and cocked my head.... wondering if I should take it as a compliment, wondering what I should say.... I said yes. But it bothered me. When I was little and heard of someone being a transexual-- it was somehting that I thought of as someone was once one thing and now something else--- and that's how many people view it--but I don't feel any different from when I "was" a "girl"--I'm the same damn person. I just look different.