i was born and raised jewish. and while i don’t practice the religion, i have no doubt that if a certain group of bigots came to power, i’d be carted off and killed placed with the other jews. in reality, it has nothing to do with how i identify, or how i see myself, or how i currently live my life. i was born and raised jewish, and that makes me jewish, regardless of how i “identify”.

i was born and raised male. and while i don’t live as a male, i have no doubt that if a certain group of bigots came to power, i’d be carted off and killed placed with the other homosexuals. in reality, it has nothing to do with how i identify, or how i see myself, or how i currently live my life. i was born and raised male, and that makes me a homosexual, regardless of how i “identify”.

as such, i am invested in maintaining a relationship with the “jewish community”, just as i am invested in maintaining a relationship with the “homosexual community”. both of these communities offer support, sacred space, and resources.

i can’t care to any significant degree, what certain individuals of either community says with regard to my status in either community. i am, regardless of how those individuals may see me, a part of both communities. i have no choice. the world at large forces me into these communities, regardless of how i may feel about it.

so be it.

just hand me my pink desert eagle. 

so the discussion on real transbigotry over at pam’s house blend turned into a shouting match, and was shut down, with all comments deleted. i can totally understand why that decision was made. i read pam’s every day, and the mud slinging and back stabbing that occurred from both sides in that thread was totally out of line. it’s just amazing to me how certain groups of grown women can’t hold a civil discussion.

i do wish they’d have kept the comments though. it was a perfect example of how not to have a discussion, and who the perps were. well, based on the heat, i imagine that this type of thing will rear it’s ugly head before too long.

you’ve no doubt heard of godwin’s law, which states:

“As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”.

i propose a new law which states:

“As a trans-related online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving men in dresses approaches one.”

i call it “nexy’s law”, and i will promptly exit said online discussion immediately, according to the first corollary of nexy’s law, which states:

“once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the men in dresses has automatically “lost” whatever debate was in progress.”

i’ll add that as both a jew and a transwoman, i am uniquely qualified to coin nexy’s law.

it has recently come to my attention that yet another faction of - well, i was about to say trans people, but i’d be stepping into another battle, so i’ll just say “people of non-traditional gender complexity” - hate me. it used to be that only the “early transitioners” - that is, those people who transitioned at a “young age” - lets say, before legal adulthood - hated me, because i appropriated their experience and silenced them. apparently, there’s a whole different set of people who now hate me, for grouping them with “the transgender community”. and i use quotes on purpose, because the trans community is quite the loose group of people who are guilty by association in many cases. the ubiquitous “umbrella”, of which we hear so much about.
(more…)

i came across an article in the la times entitled trapped inside the wrong body by al martinez. i’ll bet you can guess what the article is about based on the title.

i found it notable in that it doesn’t follow all the stereotypical template for every other news article on a trans person. it does have the title, which we’ve all seen so many times before, and starts off with an offensive first sentence:

There is a place between reality and make-believe where strangers dwell.

i’m wondering in what part of “make-believe” i dwell.

he does avoid using the trans woman’s former name though, but perhaps that’s only because he “will respect her desire for anonymity”, not using her name at all in the article. and while he describes her physically, there’s no picture, and there’s nothing about the makeup she’s wearing (or not). he does give up a detailed description of her clothes though.

he goes on to write:

Why write now about someone in such an isolated state, living on the fringe of a society that finds transsexuals an anomaly? Because, as members of the human family, they deserve identity.

and:

What some see as a person with a cultural deformity, I see as a vulnerable victim of nature’s caprice, a mismatch between the brain and body that confuses the sexuality of an embryo and results in the anguish of indecision. I have admiration for those who, as adults, decide and declare who they are — even though I know that they probably will always be uneasy with themselves, always a part of the lonely places we create in the world we know.

i am happy to see that al feels i deserve identity. however i don’t believe i’m confused or indecisive. and really, it’s not that i’m uneasy with myself - i’m uneasy with the bars that our culture erects around who i can be.

some people need it to be spelled out.

a screen shot of my statcounter keyword analysis for the past few days shows an interesting trend. people are searching for “jewish shemale”. ok, so you found me. now what?

straight from the outdoor superstore comes hunter ann rifle hunter:

She’s paving the way for future lady hunters and she’s geared up and ready to go! Join Hunter Ann, like thousands of other women from all across America, as she heads outdoors for the hunt of a lifetime.

Whether Hunter Ann is chasing rut crazed bucks in Illinois, bugling bull elk in Montana, or tracking the elusive black bear in Pennsylvania, you’ll have hours of fun hunting wherever your imagination takes you.

all she needs now is that pink camo rifle.

in a stroke of genius, remington, home of america’s oldest gunmaker, has come out with a beautiful new color scheme for 2008. the model 597™ pink camo .22LR rifle features their exclusive mossy oak® pink camo non-glare matte finish, on the textured synthetic stock. it’s a factory color, and i want one. i’m hoping they’ll come out with a replacement stock and fore end for my 870 shotgun in mossy oak pink camo.