February 5, 2010

I am transsexual (which is part of "transgender"). Whether you want to say I identify as TS is probably a matter of semantics. What I am does not define who I am. Personally, I identify as a woman; I present as a woman, I work as a woman, I make friends as a woman.

While I don't want to go around and broadcast my past life, I cannot leave beind my past - it is impossible. Human beings are defined not by the flesh hanging from their bones; humans are defined by their life experiences. My past is what makes me who I am today. As I age I am often reminded that many dying people are asked if they regretted anything. I can say that I do not, for to regret anything I've done or had happened would be to say that I regret who I am. And I don't see how anyone can regret their being and remain alive. I love who I am - even what I am.

And since I am very much for social justice (being so close to the issue personally), I feel the need to join with others who are not necessarily like me, but who face pretty much the same issues. Whether the beginnings of the G&L movement was broad-minded enough to include B's and T's is totally immaterial. They do now - and the reason they do now is because of work by people like the members of CGA who work to help the GLB community see that T's have the same issues and many of the same psychological needs. The funny thing is that we still see many in the T part of the community refusing to learn about the issues the other way around. "They don't get us" goes both ways.

T's need the GLB's or we will never get any where with lawmakers - we are simply too few in numbers, and largely still closeted, to make enough noise. On the other hand the GLB community needs our numbers and support. And "they" already have made significant beachheads in the battle for human rights. If "we" don't become "they," then we will be forced back into the closet forever. I, for one, cannot tolerate that happening.

So despite a desire to let my past fade away, I have to join with those who speak for the causes I believe in. If that means that I must display my past, then that is the debt I must repay for the generations to come who, hopefully, can transition in peace and have the ability to let their past fade away.