Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert




Tittle: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert 
Genre: Comedy,Musical
Year: 1994
Plot: Extraordinary, essential and brilliant, Priscilla is an over-the-top drag musical that has spawned imitations, but has never been matched. Ultimate camp film. Great storyline, terrific twists, histerically humorous, brilliantly camp, fabulous photography, top acting, superb cast, magnificent costumes.     TLAVideo

                                    
                                                     

To Wong Foo,Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar




Tittle: To Wong Foo,Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
Genre: Comedy
Year: 1995
Plot: Destined to be forever referred to as the "American Priscilla," this bit of cross-dressing whimsy lacks that film's exhilaration and sharp character definition, but ultimately pleases with its good humor and spirited performances. Tough guys Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes get in touch with their feminine side as they don sequins and high heels as two New York drag queens who win a preliminary drag contest and ride off towards Hollywood for the finals. Along for the ride is Latina spitfire John Leguizamo, an ill-refined drag looking to learn the ropes. En route, they run afoul of the law, and are stranded in a small Midwestern town (and befriend the locals) which provides most of the story. Though the gay characters are positively portrayed, they are virtually sexless fairy godmothers who neither love or have partners and who help the hapless heterosexuals with no fashion sense.  TLAVideo


                                                   

                                                   

Top Tranny Tunes....Supermodel





RuPaul : 'Supermodel (You Better Work)'....Actually, RuPaul had other hits too, but this was his/her biggest (drag queens usually refer to each other in the male gender, in case you weren't aware). RuPaul showed that gender bending shouldn't just stop with make-up like Boy George, Marilyn and their ilk, but that a sparkly dress and high-heels give a girl a much more glamorous gait and that attitude doesn't have to be negative.  source trans-mission    


                                                    
                                     

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Top Tranny Tunes...I Want to Break Free






Queen - 'I Want to Break Free... This one's here not so much for the song, but for the video where the Freddie and the band put on some frilly skirts and blouses to do the housework. Not sure if they really count as trannies, what with their moustaches and everything intact. Mind you, they're as convincing as one or two of the girls who we've met that frequent certain other venues around the UK... source trans-missi                                     

Soldier's Girl Beaten to Death for Falling in Love




Genre:Drama
Year: 2003
Plot: They have crafted a moving and 

entertaining film based on the true story of the 

murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell because of his 

love for the transgender woman Calpernia 

Addams. Every detail of this gripping tale rings 

true - from the superlative acting to the amazing 

costumes, the musical club scenes and most of 

all, the tear-inducing portrait of a true love. ...m

ore on TLA

        

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Monday, September 28, 2009

Survivor Palau Philippines



Survivor Palau Philippines
The 1st Transgender on Survivor Reality TV Show 
Justine Ferrer...
29 yrs.old Businesswoman
“Well, I can say that I’m a real Survivor because I have been the breadwinner of my family for 10 years now. Also, I am providing for my nephew’s education and am helping my friends and relatives as much as I can. For me, winning their respect and love made me a real survivor.”
She worked in Japan as a singer at the age of 19 and since then has become a breadwinner of the family. As a businesswoman, Justine helped her father in a buy-and-sell business and managed a baby ultrasound company. To physically prepare for Survivor Philippines Palau, Justine enhanced her skills by enrolling in a swim school, but most of all she invested on a lot of rest and vitamins. She has also prepared emotionally for the experiences ahead of her on the island. “Alam ko na ang buhay sa isla ay unusual, puwede kang masaktan, masugatan at magutom kaya inihanda ko na ang sarili ko,”Justine said. Justine believes that her “uniqueness” is the key for her to become a Castaway. “I think I was chosen because they are curious about what’s really inside of me and my behavior,” Justine said.




East Cleveland Mayor's Transgender Life Exposed




East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer's apparent transgender life has been exposed days before a primary election is to be held, the Cleveland Leader reported.

Brewer is livid after photos allegedly of him dressed in sexy female lingerie and makeup were leaked to various media outlets.
Cleveland's NBC affiliate, WKYC Channel 3, was the first to broadcast the racy photos........... more on source ontop magazine

Top Tranny Tunes,,,,Dude (Looks Like a Lady)



    

Aerosmith - 'Dude (Looks Like a Lady)'  A song which bears an uncanny similarity to many others on the same theme, kind of Lola meets Lou Reed meets TransMission. After meeting a lady, they go backstage and 'Then she whipped out her gun and tried to blow me away!' I don't necessarily think that Steven Tyler (whose lips alone place Aerosmith firmly on 'is he, isn't he' trans-hit-list) is talking about a Smith & Wesson here.  source trans -mission
                                                          

                    

Here is the link of the real music  video of Dude Looks Like a Lady
                                               Video

Top Tranny Tunes...Boys and Girls






    Blur - 'Boys and Girls'  Who knows what's going on here, but all that 'Girls who are boys who like boys to be girls who do boys like they're girls who do girls like they're boys...' must surely have some kind of tranny message somewhere. source  Trans-mission
                                

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Gender Talk Radio & Video Programs


Gender Talk Radio...over 400 hundred programs of 

progressive talk,Trans friendly talk...Hosted by Nancy Nangeroni 

and Gordene O Mackenzie .PhD


The leading radio program advocating for transgender rights and 

dignity, while also exploring related issues that affect us all, like 

gender, sex, race, class, and more. It has programs - last 

recorded  in 2006 -  very helpful, educational, great site........

                                                        http://www.gendertalk.com/


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Friday, September 25, 2009

Top Tranny Tunes.....Diva Eurovision Winner




Dana International - 'Diva'
Winner of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest, this Israeli transsexual artist did a lot to change the image of transgender folk from wacky weirdos to gorgeous goddess. The song may not be all that, but you can't argue with the Eurovision judges that she's a winner.   source Trans-mission




              

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Top Tranny Tunes.....Ob-la-di Ob-la-da









The Marmalade - 'Ob-la-di Ob-la-da' 'Written by none other than Lennon and McCartney, the song begins... 'Desmond has a barrow in the market-place' and 'Molly is the singer in a band' and ends... 'Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face and in the evening he's the singer in the band'... What, you mean you never noticed the swap? source trans-mission


                                                    
       

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Top Tranny Tunes.....Walk on the Wild Side 'Obvious Side'



                                                        




 Lou Reed - 'Walk on the Wild Side' one of the most well-known tranny-related tunes of all time. Any self-respecting t*girl (and, in fact, pretty much anyone of a certain age) knows that Lou's song starts by describing Holly who 'shaved her legs and then he was a she'. Take a walk on the obvious side?   source tranny -mission




Lou Reed performing Walk On The Wild. The song is from the Sally Can't Dance World Tour, Brussels, Belgium 05/1974.     


                                             
         

A tribute to Lou Reed's seminal "walk on the wild side" featuring photos of Holly, Candy, Joe and Jackie, and deleted footage from "ciao! Manhattan". 




       

TigerDirect

Top Tranny Tunes...Lola Spell of a Sultry Tranny Siren.

Songs that have a transgender theme... which are by transvestite or transsexual artists; and which just have tranny themes or lyrics.



                      The Kinks - 'Lola'       The intriguing tale of a poor virgin lad who stumbles into a Soho bar and falls under the spell of a sultry tranny siren. 'Girls will be boys and boys will be girls. Its a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola'. A tranny anthem if ever there was one. source trans-mission                 

                                                        

      

Benefit Cosmetics LLC

Monday, September 14, 2009


Transgender model steals the show in Fashion Rio

Patricia Araujo received a standing ovation after parading along the runway for the Complexo B brand late Friday to end the weeklong event in a city that delights in shocking the prudish with each year's Carnival celebration.
Tall and slim, the dark-haired Araujo entered the catwalk wearing a long fur coat and quickly unveiled a short black-and-white dress to the applause of the hundreds of guests at the event.
This was published last Jan via seatletimes  

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Pageant......A Cast Of Tiara Hungry Queens




Tittle: Pageant
Genre: Documentary
Year: 2008
Plot: The Miss Gay America drag competition is anything but a 

drag thanks to a zingy cast of tiara-hungry queens in this jubilant,

funny, all-frills-included documentary. via  TlAVideo

  

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Monday, September 7, 2009

I want to share this Ad video of Banco Provincia....


Beautiful Boxer True Story of a Transvestite Muaythai Champion



Tittle: Beautiful Boxer
Genre: Drama, Action
Year: 2003
Plot: A determined young man from a village rises to the top ranks of the kickboxing world despite his equally strong determination to become a woman. Wonderful story, impressive action and a fascinating twist on transgenderism.Based on the true story of a Thailand’s transvestite kickboxer, Beautiful Boxer is a bright, original, funny, fast-paced and vivid drama of one young man’s determination to both succeed as a kickboxing champion and live his life as a woman.   TlAVideo


      
        




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Sunday, September 6, 2009

Powder Blue Mixture of Circumstances




Tittle: Powder Blue
Genre: Drama
Year: 2009
Plot: Several Angelenos meet on Christmas Eve through chance, 

tragedy and divine intervention. Velvet Larry( Patrick Swayze) is

the sleazy owner of the strip club where Rose Johnny

(Jessica Biel)dances.

Qwerty Doolittle (Eddie Redmayne) is a mortician who falls in 

love with her. Randall(Kris Kristofferson) is the head of a 

corporate crime organization who tries to convince his former 

employee not to seek vengeance on his former co-workers. 

Charlie (Charlie Whitaker), who also serves as a producer on the

film, will play a suicidal ex-priest. Lexus(Alejandro Romero) is a 

transsexual prostitute who shares an unexpected bond with the priest.  TLAVideo

                                 

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Limits to Ambition Odyssey of Self-discovery




Tittle: Limits To Ambition
Genre: Drama
Year: 2006
Plot: When Michael Dvorak (Reiner Prochaska) immigrates to the United States, he embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery. Apprehensive about his attraction to his best friend and roommate, Steve (“DC” Cathro), Michael seeks refuge from his confusion in the arms of beautiful Julia Hencock (Leanna Chamish), a model with a dubious part-time job—and an even more obscure past.
Julia has her own problems. She must satisfy both a boyfriend—whose true sexual proclivities she suspects—as well as her nightly clients, while evading a killer (Carl Randolph) who knows that her testimony could land him in the electric chair. And, sensing Steve’s jealousy of her attachment to Michael, she fears that Steve might betray her ultimate secret.
Both Michael and Julia must eventually conquer their respective demons. But, after Julia’s path crosses that of the killer for the last time, her life—and Michael’s—will never again be the same.






    

DERMAdoctor.com, Inc.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

And you have JAILA SIMMS !! Making His Band



Jaila Simms is a confident, very talented Transgender contestant on P Diddy ...MTV Show "Making His Band". A bunch of musicians trying out to be included on P Diddy's band. Jaila is one of the singers hoping to be chosen as a back up singers. She is one of the most versatile among the singers trying out. She can sing with a deep voice and in a high voice. I just love the part when one of the judges was on the floor LOL. She is letting them have it. Good Luck Jaila!









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“LGBT Stories: Reflections & Voices from Within” by Mona Mason

Thank you Mona Mason for another wonderful speech/blog



“LGBT Stories: Reflections and Voices from Within”
Mona Rae Mason

Central New York Health Services Agency
Syracuse, NY
August 21, 2009

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome. My name is Mona Rae Mason, and just for the record, I am not gender dysphoric, I am gender euphoric.
From 2004 through 2009, I had the great pleasure and privilege of working on The Transgender Project in NYC. Conducted by National Development and Research Institutes, the study known as The New York Transgender Project was funded by the NIH from an R-01 grant application titled ‘HIV/STI’s in a High Risk Urban Population: Male to Female Transgender’. Dr. Larry Nuttbrock was the principal investigator, with Drs.’ Walter Bocktking, Andrew Rosenblum, and Sel Hawang as co-investigators. Jeffrey Becker, Monica Macri, and I were the Research Associates on the project.
This was a longitudinal study. We implemented an adapted version of the Life Chart Interview as used in the National Comorbidity Study tailored for use specifically with male to female transgender persons. We recruited and interviewed almost 600 volunteer participants from the New York metro area, and by using the LCI, each of these transgender women was in effect telling us their individual life story. So, rather than just stand here and prattle on with a lot of fatuous twaddle about myself, let’s talk about these 600 transwomen.
I think the one thing that stands out to me the most is the transgender community’s diversity. I had always felt that we, transgender people, were pretty much ‘everywhere’, but we are EVERYWHERE. We come in all shapes and sizes and every color. We come from every country, society and culture. We are of all religious backgrounds and faiths, and all economic backgrounds. We self define our individual gender identities in countless ways, and live our lives and present ourselves in just as many ways. Transgender people are just as diverse, if not more so, as any other group of people. There are no one or two models of transgender that will fit us all or even the majority of us all, and those who try to categorize, typologize or dichotomize us are in for a very complicated and difficult time. There really are no finites when it comes to transgender.
I have met and gotten to know some transgender women who have PhD’s, and Masters degrees; and some with very little or almost no formal education at all. I have interviewed transgender women who are plumbers, professors, a NYPD detective, construction workers, accountants, musicians, lawyers, a major university president, a published author, a law professor, a West Point Cadet, and even one who is a monk. I have met sisters who have transitioned successfully at home and in the workplace, and some who have lost everything– family, friends, and income as a result of their transition.
And I have also met with my sisters, far too many sisters, who have never had a job, and engage in survival sex as their only option.
I have discussed and shared experiences with transgender women who have found support and acceptance from family, and others who have been both verbally and physically abused, and in some cases, sexually abused—usually followed by being expelled from the home altogether. I have laughed with some of these women, and cried with others.
For only a very few of us, being transgender has not been too calamitous an issue. But for many of us however, it’s a constant ‘life negotiation’, and still sadly for others, being transgender makes life an ever-constant struggle for their very existence.
I do not use the word existence lightly here. High rates of serious depression and suicidal ideation, difficulty in obtaining and maintaining employment, lack of shelter, and the absence of acceptance from family and society are just some of the reasons many transgender women find themselves in high risk situations for contracting HIV and other STI’s. Even the everyday tasks of life can often become major hurdles and roadblocks for many transgender persons who only want to lead a reasonably comfortable life. Something as simple as going to the local grocery can become a running of the gauntlet of verbal harassment and possible physical abuse. And why? Because we look ‘different’? Because we don’t fit neatly into an uncomplicated gender binary?
Imagine yourself in this situation. I imagine some of you here today have faced this yourselves?

The family, seemingly, is an individual’s first and primary support system. Rejection and rebuke, condemnation, verbal abuse and perhaps even physical abuse from ones family can be emotionally devastating, especially to the young. These young transgender women, expelled from the home or forced to leave, end up on the street, homeless and hungry. Cold and hunger drive people to do things they would otherwise never do. Sex work soon becomes the only means by which they can survive.
It comes as no news to anyone here in this room, that the greater the number of different sex partners one has, the greater one’s chance of contracting HIV or an STI become. But what may surprise you is that this condition of family initiated homelessness is primarily a cultural phenomenon predominate in the African American and Latina segments of the transgender community. This homeless situation, in conjunction with the inability to find employment and shelter, and relying on sex work for survival are some of the direct correlates to our findings that show us that 48.1% of African American and 49.6% of Latina transgender women in our study tested positive for HIV at baseline.
Forty-eight and forty-nine percent! Essentially, every other transgender woman of color that walked in my door was HIV positive at baseline.
So we, as service providers, must ask ourselves, what message aren’t we getting across to these women? Are they really listening to us, and if not, why not? These questions certainly do need to be asked, and the answers found, right now. Are we just talking about condoms, or do we ask about life choices? Or partner choices? Have we asked any of our young gay and transgender clients where they see themselves in 5 and 10 years? If you haven’t you should, because I can promise you not too many of them have thought about it.
And then, shouldn’t we also be asking what message is it that the PARENTS AND FAMILIES AREN’T GETTING? And how do we address this serious and dangerous problem? What do we do about these parents? The ones out there right now who will, in the coming months and years, be casting off their own children for no other reason than these kids are different; they didn’t meet their parent’s expectations. How do we teach them about our diversity? How do we change these long standing perceptions? These questions and issues also need to be, and must be, addressed – and obviously the sooner the better. But short of rounding up these parents and heading them off to re-education camps, where do we begin? In the churches? The PTA’s? The Rotary or Lions Clubs?
Maybe, just maybe, it’s up to each of us, individually and collectively, to get this education process started. Every day. Every night. On the streets and in the home.

Right now in this country, we hear of some school districts who have taken the lead in teaching sexual orientation and gender diversity education, and I know we all pray that this will lead to positive change in the coming years, but SOME schools are not enough! We need ALL schools, everywhere, to get on board. This is a great start for kids still in school, but what of our gay and transgender kids who have left or quit school? Are we asking them, or even pushing them, to get that GED so they might be able to get a job, or are we just handing them condoms and telling them to be safe? That is simply not enough.
Mental health. Depression. As you know, major depression very often leads to high risk behaviors. In the recently completed New York City Transgender Project, we saw that 78.1% reported psychological abuse and 50.1% reported physical abuse at some point in their lives. The perpetrators of both types of abuse were most often parents or other family members during adolescence, and strangers, neighbors or police during post-adolescence.
The rate of lifetime major depression in this study of male to female transgender persons was 54.3%. That is almost three times higher than the corresponding estimate for the general population.
Suicide ideation for this same group was at 53.3%, again three times higher than the general population.
Actual suicide plans and attempts, 35.0% in the younger group, and 27.9% in the older, are seven and 10 times higher than the NCS estimates. SEVEN to TEN times!
Serious depression, joblessness, homelessness, lack of acceptance, verbal and physical abuse. Marginalized, trivialized and sensationalized. Is it any wonder why this community is at high risk?
Many state and local governments have been passing laws that provide gender identity protections, and that is wonderful news, but laws by themselves are not the answer. Laws alone do not change public perceptions or attitudes. Changing the currently popular but sadly misinformed and shallow perceptions of transgender is what will bring about the most positive change. In the end, that will be up to us, the greater transgender community, to bring about this desperately needed change But I feel comfortable in saying that I speak for most transgender persons when I say, “We need and want your help” via Monamason

Generativity Within The Transgender Community

Another great speech by Mona Mason



“GENERATIVITY WITHIN THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY”
Mona Rae Mason
Keynote Address, May 1, 2009
Transgender 2009-Liberty
Philadelphia, PA

Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to Transgender 2009-Liberty.
My name is Mona Rae Mason. Some of you here know me through my work with The Transgender Project. Others may have heard of my sometimes scandalous NYC party girl reputation. The Transgender Project may be over, but I think I have a few parties left in me.
There are some of you here today who I know that stepped up and participated in the baseline interview process for the TGP, and a few of you here who were randomly selected for the follow up interviews, which involved the sometimes arduous task of having to talk to me, face to face, every six months over 3 years.
For those who may not be aware of TGP, it was a 5 year, longitudinal study of the male to female transgender population of the greater NYC area, funded by the National Institutes of Health. A few of the topics we examined were mental health, verbal and physical abuse, hormone use, HIV/STI prevalence, job discrimination, family relationships, gender identity, sexual identity, and substance use among other topics. We also took a closer look at the concept of autogynephilia. Recently, some of the data collected from the baseline interviews was applied to the re-writing of the training manual for the NYPD Police Academy, and I was very proud to have been asked to participate in that process. We also have written and submitted, for journal publication, several papers relating to the data and have several more to write.
During the course of this study, we interviewed almost 600 male to female transgender women from all walks of life, and it was my great privilege to meet so many sisters that I am very certain I would never have met in a million years otherwise.
I suggest ‘never have met’ because we, as human beings, tend to stay in our social ‘comfort zones’. It’s basic human nature to do so—you socialize with people much like yourself, of your own age and background, in rather tightly circumscribed social settings, and we tend not to leave these social comfort zones—at least not very often. I was most fortunate to have been allowed to cross over many of these social boundaries, meet with various subgroups of transgender women from different economic, cultural, generational and ethnic backgrounds, and I was welcomed in all. I have laughed with some of you, and cried with others. I stand in awe of our great diversity, and I say again, what a truly great privilege the past few years have been for me.
Diversity? I have met and gotten to know some transgender women who have PhD’s, and Masters degrees; and some with very little or almost no formal education at all. I have interviewed transgender women who are plumbers, professors, a NYPD detective, construction workers, accountants, musicians, lawyers, a major university president, a published author, a law professor, a West Point Cadet, and even one who is a monk. I have met sisters who have transitioned successfully at home and in the workplace, and some who have lost everything– family, friends, and income as a result of their transition.
And I have also met with sisters who have never had a job, and engage in survival sex as their only option.
I have discussed and shared experiences with transgender women who have found support and acceptance from family, and others who have been both verbally and physically abused, and in some cases, sexually abused—usually followed by being expelled from the home altogether.
For a very few of us, being transgender has not been too calamitous an issue. But for many of us however, it’s a constant ‘life negotiation’, and sadly for others, being transgender makes life an ever-constant struggle for their very existence.
One of sentiments so many of these women confided to me that really stands out in my mind, was the expressing the desire to ‘give something back’ to the community. Many told me they were taking part in the interviews in the hopes that it would somehow help other transwomen. Early on in the TGP, I interviewed a woman whose life as a transgender person has been a total hell, and yet she told me she wants to give something back. A person who has not had known one minutes pleasure or enjoyment of being a transgender woman, and yet she wants to give something back, something to help those coming in the next generation of transgender women.
Helping others.
Giving something back.
Helping someone else avoid some of the pain and pitfalls of this life.
Sharing your experiences with those younger than yourself.

Generativity.
Generativity as defined by psychologist Erik Erikson is “primarily the interest in establishing and guiding the next generation”.
As the Transgender Project was coming to a close, we thought we’d like to give the participants a chance to ‘sound off a bit’, in their own words. Dr. Nuttbrock, the PI for the Transgender Project and I devised a few simple questions, with a ‘if I had to do it all over again’ theme, and selected participants, quite randomly, and asked them to take a few minutes to respond. The women were told they could write as much or as little as they liked. They could answer the questions ‘on the spot’ and we would record their comments, or they could write out their responses and thoughts. We even suggested that they could take the questions home and mail them back when they were finished. Some very informal, qualitative data, to be sure.
I think that it should be easy to understand, and I believe most professionals agree, that analyzing narrative responses in not exactly a fast and firm science and can be rather subjective. However, we had many very similar responses that really stood out and would be difficult to ignore.
The first question was actually in two parts:
1. “Let us assume, for now, that being transgender is a choice we make. If this is or were the case, and you could live your life over again, would you live your life as a transgendered person? Why or why not?”
My personal favorite response to the first part, which appears to be a predominant theme is: “Who in their right mind would choose to do (or be) something that makes them an outcast from the mainstream of society?”
Other responses were similar, and included the recurring terms such as physical abuse, having to hear the verbal abuse, harassment, living in fear, guilt, shame, separation from family, etc..
The majority of responses however, indicated directly that YES, they would indeed live their over again as a transgendered person, despite the many negative experiences in their lifetime.
What I found very interesting from a generational stand point is that when I divided the respondents into two groups, those 40+ years of age and those 39 and under, 78 % of the older group said yes, while only 59 % of the younger group said they would live their lives again as a transgender person if being transgender was a choice.
Of course the second part was, “Now let us assume that being transgendered is not a choice. If you could live your life over again, what things, if any, might you change or do differently”
The overwhelming responses to the second part—what would you do differently?–
Come out earlier—when I was younger
Start transition earlier– when I was younger
Begin hormones earlier– when I was younger

But the one question we asked where I felt the responses were most interesting was:
“The Next Generation—is there anything you might offer as advice to transpeople younger than yourself?”
23% stressed the importance of getting an education and getting a good job
45% specifically stated “be true to yourself”
And a full 70% urged getting support and sound advice.
SUPPORT and ADVICE
GIVING SOMETHING BACK
Generativity – “establishing and guiding the next generation”

Generativity—it’s in you, at least 70% of you anyway. You WANT to help others like yourself. You WANT to share your experiences with the next generation.
Various surveys by numerous agencies in most large cities suggest that 40% and more of all homeless youth identify as Transgender, Gay or Lesbian. One in NYC suggests as many as 60%. And that equates to over 10, 000 LGBT kids out there, just in NYC, who have either been thrown out of their homes by their own parents, or the family situation was so bad they were forced to leave. Drawn to the narcotic glow of the neon lights, they head to a big city to ‘live the dream’ of just being able to be who they really are, and to find others like themselves—social comfort zones. They arrive with little more than the clothes on their back and way too few dollars in their pockets. They seek out peers, people like themselves, but the problem here is that this new social circle is all kids in the same situation.
Imagine you are 15, 16 or 17. No money, no family, big city, its’ cold, and you are hungry and no place to go. Hunger and cold drives people to do things they would normally never do. Prostitution very quickly becomes the means by which these young people survive. I guarantee you that no one wakes up one day and says ‘When I grow up, I want to be a prostitute” And when the epiphany strikes and the realization of having to have sex with some fat ugly bastard in order to eat hits home, any self esteem that may be left goes right out the window and depression—serious depression sets in. And of course, when you are down you want to get high—here come the drugs. It’s a horrible, vicious cycle that is played out again and again.
Living the dream?
Do you think these kids could use someone to talk to—maybe someone to just listen?
Or how about the young transperson in the suburbs or a rural area? Sitting very much alone and trying to figure out who she is? No one to talk to about how she sees herself, no one to listen. Where does she go? Who would understand? What can she do and how can she possibly think well of herself while hiding this secret she keeps deep inside? Confused and lonely, most likely feeling only shame and guilt.
Think she might appreciate a friend? A little advice? Maybe just the tiniest bit of affirmation? Didn’t YOU wish there was someone YOU could have talked to?
So, what can you do? What can you do to give something back? How do you to share your life’s experiences? Start a blog?
No. What I think needs to be done requires actually getting up from your desk or table, away from your computer and getting involved! In person, face to face. EXPAND YOUR SOCIAL CIRCLE! It’s not always easy, in fact it’s tough. But we are transgender and we are tough. Look what YOU have gone through already in your lives. Being transgender is not for sissies. We have been there and we have learned and now it is time to help and teach and share with those younger than us, if for no other reason than it is quite simply the right thing to do.
Something as simple as helping a kid write that first resume, or advising her what to wear to that first job interview. Or maybe explaining why getting that GED is so important. We have teachers among us—why not TEACH a GED class? In most states all you need is a bachelors’ degree. Or tutor! Or talk to a kid about her substance abuse problem. Explain the risks, in detail, of unprotected sex. Talk about how you came out. It means SO MUCH more coming from you than a social worker. Be a peer—be a mentor—or just be a friend. Step up. Let that young person know that someone does indeed care.
Today in every major city and many smaller ones, there is something akin to a LGBT Center. Maybe it’s the local library or church. Maybe there are meetings or get-togethers once a week or once a month. ATTEND! If there isn’t one, START ONE!
Unitarian Churches and MCC churches are usually a good place to find free or inexpensive meeting space.
This is the next generation of transgender we are talking about. These are OUR kids—yours and mine. They have no one to look to except us.

I think we all realize that in the general population, awareness of transgender has never been greater than it is right now, yet how we are still perceived and what people think they know about us is far removed from the reality.
What are we going to leave as our legacy?
Right now, THIS is our time. Let’s use it wisely.
“to leave the world a bit better……….to know even one life breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded.” Emerson

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