Editor's Note: This is part of a series on "stealth." The goal of this series to examine the nuanced ways trans opinion leaders conceptualize stealth and how they feel about it. Suzan Cooke kicked off the series with her article, The Many Shades of Stealth. It should be noted that TA is not endorsing any one view, definition or conceptualization. As with the elephant parable, each perception presented in this series represents one representation of the truth; taken together, it's… Read more.

I published an earlier revision of this essay first on January 12, 2011 at Pam's House Blend. I believe the hypothesis of this essay is still true and bears repeating every now and again. ~~A~~ I work on LGBT community issues, as well as transgender community issues. I have, and will continue to work with LGB and T activists working on issues that effect transgender and LGBT community. From what I've learned and experienced within LGBT community, and activism… Read more.

I've witnessed many arguments and misunderstandings explode over the conflation of these THREE dimensions of what we in trans discourse collectively refer to as gender: Gender Orientation: One’s subjective experience of one’s body, including its sexed attributes. Gender Identity: Identity labels used when socially constructing sexed personas within the context of social groupings. Gender Expression: One's situational expression of cultural cues which communicate gender identity. Note that gender identity and expression are absolutely culturally influenced. However, even if you stick me on a deserted island, I am… Read more.

South America is quickly becoming the most trans friendly continent on our planet.Argentina just passed a groundbreaking Gender Identity Law and now their next door neighbors in Chile have made some moves that benefit their trans population.Chile will soon cover sex reassignment surgeries under its public health plan in order to allow citizens of limited means to “recover their true sexual identity,” Health Minister Jaime Manalich said. Brazil and Cuba are the other nations in Latin America that offer SRS as… Read more.

Gay media, did I not succinctly make the points in this 2009 post that RuPaul is not a trans person, emphatically said he was a gay man, and if you want to know what the trans community is thinking about an issue it would behoove you to ask a living breathing transperson? Guess I need to repeat it for Michaelangelo Signorile's benefit and the rest of the gay media and vanillacentric Gayosphere. RuPaul is not a transperson, he is a… Read more.

  For those of you who have been keeping up with the latest news and views in the trans community as the 2k12 goes through week one of the 51 remaining in this year you are probably aware of the kerfluffle that has been building since May over the problematic show Work It. It has garnered protests, pleas from transpeople and our allies to either rewrite, recast or cancel the show with those requests being ignored by ABC and the… Read more.

Back in 1977, in the Jefferson's fourth season we were introduced to George's old Navy buddy who was in New York to visit for a few days.   George's buddy had a reputation in the Navy as a practical jokester and he was eager to see his old friend. However, there had been some major changes in the intervening years since George had seen his old buddy, and he was shocked to discover Edie's transition.   He handled their initial… Read more.

While today is a historic and monumental day for GLB people who serve in the military with the death today of the odious Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, there's one part of the rainbow family who still will not be able to serve in our military openly and proudly in the transgender community. Never mind the fact that one of the people who was chained to the White House fence and arrested for protesting the DADT policy was transwoman Autumn… Read more.

According to the DC Trans Coalition,  the city has promised to help address on of the pressing problems in the local trans community in terms of unemployment. As the Injustice At Every Turn report painfully pointed out,  Black transpeople are facing unemployment rates as high as 26% almost double the African American employment rate. The program had a start date of September 12  and would start with an initial class of 20 participants.  The participants would spend the first three… Read more.

I talked about this issue that Thai transpeople face when they are disqualified for military service by labeling them as mentally ill. There has been a lawsuit filed, activism centered on the issue and changes to that policy are being discussed in the 'Land of Smiles'. Because the birth records of Thai transwomen are not changed to reflect the persons they are now, after age 18 they are subject to being conscripted into the Thai military.  The Thai army routinely… Read more.

I've said this multiple times on this blog and will continue to say it until you peeps embed this point in your brain cells.   You need to focus on what's between a transperson's ears, not their legs. I'm tired of repeating this obvious point ad nauseum, but if that's what it takes for you recalcitrant gay and straight cis people and elements of the trans community to get it, so be it. It's none of your business what's between mine… Read more.

While United States transpeople are gearing up for a battle to openly serve in the military long since won in other nations such as Canada, Israel, Spain, the Czech Republic and Australia, our Thai transsisters recently won one just to not be labeled insane by their military for being themselves. In Thailand all males starting at age 21 until age 30 are entered into a subscription lottery to serve two years in the military.   Because as of now in Thailand… Read more.

As I've talked about over the last five years on TransGriot, the way a gender transition is experienced for African descended transpeople is vastly different from the way our white counterparts do. The National Black Justice Coalition recently sent me a copy of the report they compiled based on the recently released National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS). Of the 6,456 people who completed the survey that the data was based on, 381 of them were Black or Black multiracial. This… Read more.