I’ve been woefully behind in updating things—look for some backdated stories once I get a change to transfer some things from my journal to here—but I had to mention one of the best articles about transgender people I’ve seen written in awhile. It really captured the simultaneous feelings of isolation and community. Thanks Erin!
Sadly, she took some flack from a few folks in the trans community, including one who wanted to know “Where’s the gratuitious sex? The drugs? The alchohol abuse? The prostitution?” Yes, sadly there are those who cheat on their spouses and sleep around—but there’s plenty of “straight and normal” people who do too. And when good parts of society want to beat you to death with sticks just for being trans, it’s hardly surprising that some folks turn to alcohol and drugs for comfort. And when trans people are can’t get a job because of who they are, is it surprising they end up selling the one thing left to sell? I’m not saying these aren’t problems, but as Erin said, it’s not that different from gratuitous sex, drugs, alcohol abuse and prostitution in the straight world.
As Erin said:
Every T person I met longs for acceptance.We are all ying yang. Each of our black swirls has a white dot and vice versa. In some the dot is a little bigger than in others, but there are no absolutes. This is what makes us beautiful.
BTW, one of my other favorite articles on crossdressing was done by a reporter for a gay publication who went out en femme with a local group. I particularly like his insights about the experience at the end of the article. (There’s also a 3.8MB
PDF version with photos.)
