Newsweek tackles transgendered profiles in huge section

I can hardly believe this one. . .though I haven't seen it in the upcoming NATIONAL edition yet, it is already posted in the INTERNATIONAL edition of Newsweek.

Now I know for some of you, transgendered issues may be a little uncomfortable, but they appear to be gaining more visibility and I think this cluster of stories represents some fascinating, easy-to-digest information on the issue.

They also do a profile on J.T.Hayes (well, who is now a woman) a former NASCAR driver and an interesting profile on LA Times sports columnist and veteran writer Christine Daniels, who has been penning a column about her transition in the newspaper.

These really are some of the most touching, personal stories I've read in a long time. . .if you have the time, please venture to the link and check it out...:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18618970/site/newsweek/

Sample:

By J.T. Hayes
Newsweek
Updated: 3:11 p.m. CT May 12, 2007
May 13, 2007 - J.T. Hayes won over 500 regional and national championships in go-kart, midget and sprint racing and competed in NASCAR Winston Cup before undergoing sex-reassignment surgery in 1994 at age 30. During the two years she transitioned from man to woman, the Corinth, Miss., native raced throughout the South and California, wrapping an Ace bandage over her breasts to flatten them out ("Boys Don't Cry"-style), wearing baggy T shirts and tucking her long hair under a baseball cap. Now as Terri O'Connell, she's had very little luck breaking back into the racing world. O'Connell still lives in Corinth with her elderly mother and is working on a clothing line for female NASCAR fans. The petite redhead is also writing a memoir, "Dangerous Curves," (due this fall). She'd like to get back on the track and is currently looking for a sponsor.

The terms transgendered and professional motor sports just don't go together, especially when you say I'm 5 foot 6 inches and weigh 118 pounds. I have girl's body—small, fragile and tiny.

I grew up in a little community in Mississippi. There were 10 or 15 boys in the neighborhood, we played sports in the front yard, and my daddy always had men over to work on race cars in the garage. He was a race-car driver, so I had this cache of toughness. I didn't get bullied too much. But by junior high, my mom stuck me in these sports programs to make me tougher and I started getting picked on. I was looked at like a girl, so bullies in gym class used to sit on top of me and put me in headlocks. I was lugging around this whole transgender thing and I was already depressed—suicidal really. I will never forget when we registered for school in the fall of eighth grade, this girl said to me, “You know, you got prettier legs than any girl in this school.” It scared the hell out of me because I knew it, but I didn't want anybody else knowing it.

My God. .. Freeper heads are gonna explode. NASCAR racers changing gender. Sports writers turning into lady soccer coaches.

It's definitely worth the read. . .

My father loved cars, too. While he wasn't a racecar driver, he loved to work on them and so did I. I spent years under the hood, collected Matchbox cars and rode rodeo horses.

But, I never felt the need to be a man.

I'm currently pregnant with a girl. I already have a little boy (who had his 8th birthday party today and, yes, I played with the cars he got) and I'm pretty perplexed as to how to even play with a little girl. I never liked dolls or tea sets - well, not that I can remember. And I gag when someone buys my little girl pink (I prefer peach or green for her).

Stories like this just make me wonder about gender roles, is all.

and when you think about it, pink is nothing but a COLOR. . .just like cars aren't assigned gender...we assign them TO gender, which is just as ridiculous. After all, why wouldn't it be a good bonding experience for a daughter, for example, to enjoy working on cars with her father...or for that matter, her mother? Individual minds work differently and develop different interests, just like everyone's relationships are different, even though the crazy-ass "religious" Right is only secure when they think everyone is assigned some extreme symbolic gender role which must be played or face the wrath of God.

She could have cared less about any of the toys with wheels. Her interest in the toy workbench was minimal. It was girlie stuff for her, all the way. In gradeschool she was quite a daring tomboy, however.

When her brother was born, I gave him both trucks and dolls. Right away he loved things you could take apart and put back together. Once when he was barely two we ended up stuck in the pediatrician's exam room and I gave him a ballpoint pen to draw on the paper that covered the exam table. He took the pen completely apart instead -- and put it back together. He loved stuffed animals though, and for years he spent his Christmas and birthday money on them.

Just give your little girl a variety of things to play with and see what she likes, without judgment. Then help fill in other areas that will be useful later on as well. You just never know.

Enjoy! :D

Hekate

Many in the MC racing community won't even mention his or her name.

after all. . .how shallow can people be to think that relationships must be completely based on some kind of physical appearance rather than the value of the person inside? No wonder this country still stinks of the humiliation of encouraged bigotry and discrimination. . .Freepers teach their children to see others exclusively according to some pre-designed assigned appearance to be legit. . .a sort of rigid political correctness in which only a small minority of people REALLY fit in.

there was a decided mixed reaction...I don't think it was just the Freepers flipping out.

The T* community really has it rough, even from Lesbian and Gay leadership, who have been willing to sell them out for the benefit of their communities. In all honesty, I am not entirely comfortable with T* issues myself, there are some in my family. While it may not be everyones cup of tea, its no reason for discrimination or bashings.

the Guardian in SF Bay Area did an unofficial poll along with a transgendered interest group and the results were quite depressing. their results were something like 75% unemployment/underemployment for the transsexuals in the greater Bay Area. something like 80% of these unemployed/underemployed had to turn to drug traffic and sex work to scrape by. lack of education was present from runaways, but there were also degreed professionals who could not find any work outside what was given to them by a few city gov'ts and non-profit orgs. usually there was work place hysteria over what happens to the bathrooms, and other various lame excuses for discrimination. in fact, sexual and gender orientation can still be legally discriminated against in most places -- there's even been quite a few failed lawsuits of sex/gender orientation in San Francisco itself. only recently has cities and businesses put these categories in their anti-discrimination laws, and there's still very few of them. it is still a very real risk that to go through the operation one subjects themselves to future poverty.

One of the things I like about the major bank I just started working for is that they have a very comprehensive non-discrimination policy that includes both sexual orientation AND gender identity. There's even a guide to handling gender transition issues at work, for both the transitioning folks and those who work with them on the intranet. I'm really proud of them.

Coming from the virulently homophobic company I just worked for, it's a real breath of fresh air. I just referred a trans friend of mine and she's really excited.

I'm the teacher who was quoted in the article. The fact is that way too many TS/TG people end up unemployed or seriously underemployed. We are rejected by friends, families, churches, lovers, and of course by the "protections" of the US Constitution. I am lucky to live in Illinois, where my state has a gender identity non-discrimination law, but that is (alas) still rare. And I am lucky to have been accepted for who I am instead of reviled for "what" I am, as has been the case for so many others.

I did not know that would be the case when I transitioned. I has a very real concern that I would be the victim of discrimination or even violence. I thought it was at least even odds I'd lose my job despite my tenure (though I'd have made it hard for them). One thing I never believed was that I'd lose my family: my bonds with my children were and are simply too great to break. The interview I did with the reporter talked about that at length, but they opted to go with the juicier stories like the race car driver instead. Ah well. Still, in the photo there is my daughter, and I guess you can tell we get along fine. :)

I am a lucky woman and I know it. After all of this time, I felt the need to reach out to help those who might be less fortunate by helping others to understand. I think it's a good article. At least it's a start.

Karen

:hi:

Welcome to DU!! :toast: