Beacon of Light

21 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in acceptance, challenges, coping, friends, life lessons, love, parenting, special needs, support

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death, energy, fate, grief, inspiration, legacy, living with intention, loss, picking up the pieces, special needs kids, when a child dies

Nausea fell upon me like a veil as a friend told me that a child I knew died last night in a tragic accident. My first thought was how vibrant he was despite the limits his body imposed, like a beacon of light floating in the dense fog. How loved he was by his doting, proud and supportive parents and siblings. How it always seemed that there was a swirling funnel of joy all around him radiating out towards everyone who came near him. Now a simple, impossible accident took his life. Gone.

HER Day – The Center on Halsted

20 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in activism, advocacy, community, discussions, education, events, family, gender diversity, gender identity, gender non-conforming, gender queer, gender variant, LGBT, LGBTIQ, parenting, resources, support, transgender, transition

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education, events, gender diverse kids, gender identity, Judy Shepard, LGBT, LGBT families, Matthew Shepard Foundation, support, The Center on Halsted

Join me for a discussion about gender diverse children and their families at 1pm on Saturday, March 10 at the Center on Halsted. I’m so thrilled to be a part of this event, along with Judy Shepard, our keynote speaker and President of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Truly inspiring!!

Click here for the HER Day Facebook page.

Link

Teen Talks Blockers

09 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in acceptance, community, coping, education, gender diversity, gender identity, gender non-conforming, gender variant, hormones, puberty, puberty blockers, resources, teens, transgender, transition, uncategorized

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acceptance, coping, hormone therapy, SRS, transgender teens, transgender tweens, transition

If you haven’t seen this, check it out. Look past the subtitles for an artistic, upbeat and informative piece about a gender diverse teen. She’s adorable!

*Updated the link… let’s see if this works! Thanks for your patience! If it doesn’t you can search YouTube.com under “Ik ben een meisje!”

Squeaky Wheels

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in anger, coping, discussions, gender diversity, life lessons, my childhood, school, uncategorized

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childhood trauma, coping, frustration, junkyard dog, justice, problem solving, rage

After about an hour on the phone with my hosting company I’d trudged through five people in four departments while holding for long, silent stretches. They told me there was nothing they could do to help me. This struck a chord for some reason. Instead of my usual {shrug} I did something that I don’t normally do…

Not Lost Anymore

29 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in challenges, coping, education, fear, gender diversity, gender identity, gender non-conforming, gender queer, gender variant, happiness, life lessons, love, my childhood, parenting, resources, transgender, transition, uncategorized, yoga

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childhood trauma, gender diverse kids, Jazz, overcoming pain, releasing doubt, second chances, starting over, transgender kids

A muscle in my shoulder twitched before it went numb and then the dreaded pins-and-needles phase began. I wouldn’t move my thumping limb; however, as I felt that the barrier it provided from the rest of the world was more important than, oh, being pain-free. Ironic it would be the same shoulder crushed in an unfortunate and near fatal horse riding accident. Some nights I still wake up, now thirty years later, and I’m laying on my back with my lifeless thumping arm in the same traction position. Throwing the covers off from sweating, I’m just thankful it wasn’t a dream where I’m trapped beneath Scorpio’s hooves battling for my life.

Integration

25 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in activism, advocacy, Be Who You Are, challenges, coping, friends, gender diversity, gender identity, gender non-conforming, gender queer, gender variant, secrets, stealth, transgender, transition, uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

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activism, challenges, confidential, Jennifer Carr, living stealth, privacy, pseudonym, transgender advocacy

While prepping for a talk at the University of Chicago today I brought up my YouTube video and saw a face I hardly recognized. She hid behind her trusty glasses, her voice slow and steady as if she was choosing her words as carefully as she would select which colored wire to cut. One slip and kaboom!

Fiddling with the adaptors for the sound I commented to a person helping to organize the event that I hardly wore my glasses anymore when speaking. After I said it I felt an immediate sense of hiding I felt uncomfortable with back then, and now.

“What’s changed,” she asked.

“I guess I get less threats now…” I replied, and then the gravity of what I said sunk

True, All-Person Experience

22 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in activism, advocacy, Chaz Bono, compassion, discussions, gender diversity, gender identity, gender non-conforming, gender queer, gender variant, LGBTIQ, life lessons, school, transgender

≈ 5 Comments

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Girl Scout cookie boycott, Girl Scouts, inclusion, Parks and Recreation, segregation, transgender kids

My Brownie uniform

“True, all-girl experience,” those were the words of the teen named Taylor who is part of a group trying to get people to boycott Girl Scout cookies because the Girl Scouts allowed a transgender child to belong to a troop as reported by CNN Living, on January 13, 2012.

There’s so many things that I find bewildering… where to start? First, I think it’s bizarre that we have to segregate boys and girls in groups. I was a Brownie, and even 30 years ago I thought it wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t there just be Scouts so that everyone could join?

Still Thinking of The Dream

17 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in uncategorized

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I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I’m still dreaming of a day when we’re all just accepted as people, no matter what our differences in appearance, expression, sexual preference or gender identity. Equal people.

From a Deep, Deep Sleep

03 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by TodayYouAreYou in acceptance, belief, Buddha, challenges, compassion, coping, family, fear, friends, gender diversity, gender identity, gender non-conforming, gratitude, grief, happiness, holidays, joy, life lessons, love, support, transition, uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

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awareness, compassion, gender diverse kids, gifts, gratitude, holiday cards, holidays, love, my kids, new day, parenting

Yawwwwn. As you might have noticed I took a tiny writing hiatus for the holidays so that I could mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally step back and just observe.

I’d love to share some revelations with you. Some epiphanies are big and need a little explaining. Some are silly. All of them sunk into my psyche in a deep, meaningful way during my vacation and without judging, I had a way of being with this awareness in a completely new way, like being taken to a party where I didn’t know anyone. I had to feel my way around, ask questions, and above all else, I had to listen. So, let’s begin…