gawd it was like she was talking to me directly, so inspirational, thankyou for bringing even more clarity to our lives, keep on rockin in the free world
I am very conservative but I love CC!! The message is fantastic and can be used for al types of situations. We SHOULD love ourselves first and then we can learn acceptance and tolerance. Thank you CC. You are an inspitation!
Cici has ben an inspirational contributor to our Blog and we are so happy to see her blosom and have this opportunity to express herself in a new and exciting Forum. Upwards and onwards. Awesome!
I've only just seen this talk. What an amazing person. I could watch this talk 10 times and not be bored by such an eloquent, insightful and warm hearted person. I feel inspired. Xx
I am so grateful to you for having the courage to be yourself even as the immense pressure of society told you not to. You are changing the world for those future generations you mentioned, and this new world will be forever indebted to you.
The speech is articulate, beautiful and inspring. CiCi, you are such a wonderful person for saying what needed to be said. Your speech has struck a chord with me and not only applies to Transgender individuals, but can apply to every human being. We all need to "own it" and take control of our lives. We all can take away that we need to stop worrying about what the rest of the world thinks about us and start "owning" our own lives. Yes, it can be the hardest thing in the world, but courage like yours is infectious and can and WILL make a difference. Never stop having a beautiful soul CiCi, never stop not being afraid to be your true self. Never stop making the world a better place. Thank you.
That was a beautiful, as are you. Whether you look like a woman or have the bod' of one doesnt mean you are more or less of a woman. Negative people put all their conditions on everyone else I say and its evident in the comments and out there. The biggest message I got was that the hardest thing we all have to do, is to be ourselves. So we have got to ...Own It. I cant think of better advice to share. Thankyou gentle sweet CiCi. :)
This was utterly brilliant, my friend!!! I look forward to the day when we cross paths at one of Shelbe's events after a few years of being FB pals and 30 minutes from each other - lol!. You've given me great inspiration over the years and am now determined to make a small bit about the first time I was out on a "Ladies Night" event of the SoCalTGirls group. Unexpected result? As I was pretty new to this? I had no second profile, so there I was all dolled up and tagged in pics all over FB in my only "boy" profile the following morn... Just decided to take a deep breath and think "Here we go!" Unexpected trial by fire, but have never regretted it.
Awesome talk. Should remind everyone about how difficult it can be in the world. The few comments complaining clearly did not get the message. Cici is being Cici and inspiring others to be themselves. How can you possibly be against that?
I continue to unlike this video just so I can like it again. I wish we could put multiple likes on it. Is CiCi still around? Does anyone know if she has an online presence? I absolutely love this video and come back to watch it and it gives me so much inspiration and confidence. I'm planning on sending this video to a friend so that maybe they understand what I've been living all these years.
I love the internet, i love Ted Talks, I love ya sister for standing up and saying your life path information, everyone needs to hear and understand. .... ans I love your hair!
You are just wonderful you summed up all my ideas in just few minutes i am like you a trans but i came from libya where being yourself is a crime now i live in sweden where you have to label your genitalia to get a personnummer and i had a real problem getting it as a women even i am on hormones and i had a boob job but they still view me as a man which is humiliating .but thanks for the speech i downloaded it ...
You definitely OWN IT!! You are pretty and I LOVE YOUR HAIR!!! Is it real? I like my blonde wigs the best.. I do like being girly when not doing dad, husband and manly stuff like splitting wood etc as it's tough doing that in heels and a dress.. guess I am lumped into that same corner but as one of those crossdressers... we are all part woman and until I figured that out I could not love myself.. I am straight and love my wife and am attracted to women.. so much so I like to look like one when I can.. but I like to be that man for her and our kids...
Then who should, only trans women?, what about trans men? I would think that it wouldn't matter who is speaking out just as long as someone is speaking out and the silence that seems to be coming from the trans community against this current tide of hatred and racism is very disappointing what we are seeing now is not just a LGBTQ issue ....it's a democracy issue and everybody needs to get in the fight and every voice needs to be heard or else no one is going to be safe. Everyday the republicans are trying to roll back protections that we have achieved Trans, people of color, everybody so when someone speaks out on a issue for you, you need to support them cause there are just as many on the other side speaking against you ....and by the way every trans woman started as a crossdressing boy whether you want to admit it or not.
+Rick H + Petra Dehnler It is easy to point at someone who stands in the face of tradition and people's sleepy comfort in tradition, and makes an unholy ruckus, as a lighten rod or a firebrand, and fear that we (more traditional transsexuals) will suffer by association, because people are crappy at making distinctions where others are concerned... One only need look at the poor innocent victim of the angry backlash after 9-11, angry racists attacked anyone with brown skin... Hindus, Sikhs, even Mexicans were assaulted and even murdered in the Nation's Outrage, and even today a decade and a half later... men like Donald Trump speak to that fear and anger. Transsexuals are quiet, looking only to transition and assimilate back into society, remaining invisible is the whole point. We want to live quiet, happy, "NORMAL" lives and mean to bother "NOBODY". Transgender activists have different ideas, Gender queer, Gender Fluid, Gender F*ck... are all about tearing down the perceived tyranny of enforced Gender Norms and how they damage people's free expression. Its easy to criticize these people if you've made a life about conforming to those norms (in either direction.) Moreover, the near reflexive need to shout out "I'm not the droid you looking for... to the threatening Imperial Storm Troopers" to make certain they get, you are no threat, seems less than throwing them (the new transgender) under the bus and more like making certain that the huge target they've painted doesn't somehow get on you. I sympathize. I feel that reflex. We should try hard to let that feeling pass and realize this is a good thing. That someday soon, there will be room for variations on normal gender expression and we will continue to realize the words of Martin Luther King, to build a world where a person is judged by the content of their character and their contributions to society, rather than their creed, or religion, or sex, or gender, or race, or color or any other superficial aspect of their humanity. Strangeness is not the enemy, no matter how embarrassing or uncomfortable it makes you. Hate, ignorance, superstition and traditions steeped in hate and prejudice... those are your enemy. Confront them joyfully and make them yield to the light of reason and good will towards all people. Start with those that are the point at the spear of change. Support them, love them, embrace and honor them for the contribution they make to a better future, and the crazy courage and vitality it takes to tilt at windmills. Guide them with love and wisdom. You are 70, you've seen life, you know things. Be generous.
Marie: please see comments embedded in you comment below. "It is easy to point at someone who stands in the face of tradition and people's sleepy comfort in tradition" The point was (and is) it's NOT tradition. It's not some nebulous patriarchy either. It's is built into our genetic programming by evolution. Here's the proof: the persons who most often "read" a trans woman are children ages 2 to 10 or 12, not adults. Adults have been programmed to Not question gender as there are a lot of cis women out there who don't look all that feminine, but a little kid hasn't been programmed by society yet. That said, just because the adults have been programmed, it doesn't mean that they don't recognize the non-gender conforming traits. They do and the ones that are more likely to act upon there suspicions are the more child-like or those who feel freed now because someone in authority has loosed the bonds of law and enabled societal approval for their (previously) anti-social actions. "men like Donald Trump speak to that fear and anger" Actually, of all the candidates, Mr Trump is the ONLY ONE who has directly expressed acceptance and acted upon that acceptance. Don't take my word for it, look it up. Google on "Caitlyn Jenner" and "Trump Tower" "Transgender activists have different ideas, Gender queer, Gender Fluid, Gender F*ck... are all about tearing down the perceived tyranny of enforced Gender Norms and how they damage people's free expression." See my first comment. Also, in "tearing down" the norms, they endanger me and my wife and my kids if they are with me and alienate and separate me from society. I don't want to be separate from society. I need to live in society and work at my job and go traveling and enjoy life. I didn't transition as a social protest, I did it because that is who I am. I want to live my life and I DO NOT want someone else telling me I how I should act, especially some smarmy Social Justice Warrior who is crusading for some misunderstood idea about how society should be. Those are really the people who "decide they are a man" in the parlance of the right. Ok, let them prove their point - they are professional rebels. but I and the real transsexuals shouldn't have to suffer to let them get there endorphin high from "doing the right thing". "Its easy to criticize these people if you've made a life about conforming to those norms (in either direction.) Moreover, the near reflexive need to shout out "I'm not the droid you looking for... to the threatening Imperial Storm Troopers" to make certain they get, you are no threat, seems less than throwing them (the new transgender) under the bus and more like making certain that the huge target they've painted doesn't somehow get on you." Horses**t. See comments above. "tilt at windmills". You picked out essence of it there. They (the gender what-ever-the-f**k) people are just latching on to me like remoras and feeding off my life. If they are so bent on reforming society, great, but don't let them use me and my transsexualism as their platform. One last reference: Blaire White. She is a transsexual woman. She is female through and through. Yet she (according to one of her vids) still has the male bits and isn't (at this point in her life) going to get surgery. BUT, I can guarantee that she will never go into a ladies room and pee standing up. never go into a women's locker room and change in full view of the other women just so she can make a statement. She has her head screwed on tightly and correctly. "Guide them with love and wisdom. You are 70, you've seen life, you know things. Be generous." Just what the F does my age (now 71 BTW) have to do with this. Don't condescend to me or treat me as if I were some fossil set in my ways. FYI Blaire is about 50 years younger than I am and yet I know we are on the same intellectual plane. Not you I am afraid - you are somewhere in the SJW stratosphere. And yes, I do know things. Apparently many more than you. Aw damn, now I've fallen into the ad hominem trap. you're probably a lovely person, but I think misguided. I gotta quit.
+Petra Apparently I've inadvertantly stepped on your tail and for that I apologize, my intent was not to make you defensive, but to simply cut the loud and noisy youngn's a bit of slack. I turn 60 in August. I've been living in the gender of choice for nearly 25 years and been postop for well over 20 years. I grew up and lived as a feminine androgyn before transition and had a number of physical anomalies causing me to be taken for female often enough that it was clear I was squicking people just being my day to self since I was a child. I repeat, I empathize with your position completely. No... I am not an SJW. No... I am not a special snowflake expecting anyone to do anything to make me all warm and fuzzy. Like you I survived the bad ol' days when society felt absolutely justified in smacking the unholy crap out of people who were gender nonconforming, just as a matter of fact. So I appreciate the depth and breadth of your concern for your safety and that of your family... I have the scars both physical and psychic to give me every reason to treat you with kid gloves, I do understand. I've never had problems with children, but then when I transitioned in my mid 30s, the first question my therapist asked was "Are you FTM or MTF?" That sort of encapsulated my entire life prior to transition. By 6 months on hormones I couldn't pass for male in a 3 piece suit and crew cut (I began RLT shortly after that.) I've made many of the points you state here speaking to many of the same loud and radical young folks. So I again understand your position, your concerns and your perfectly valid reasons for not wanting to be anywhere near the front where this battle is being waged... its not your war. ;-) I can also understand you frustration at people who would bring this fight to your door... what part of "Its not your war..." do they not understand. Yes? Being true to oneself is deeply personal endeavor and nobody has any right how to do that. I'm certainly not telling you how to do that... I would never dream of imposing on you or your family that way. My only suggestion was that you have life experience these children do not. You have access to wisdom and experience they simply haven't had the requisite life experience necessary to acquire. This is an acknowledgement to your knowledge, not a slight regarding your age. I have a number of trans friends your age and older. I do not consider you old. Whatever Blaire's choices are, they are her choices and less than none of my business... she is indeed a lovely young woman with her head clearly screwed well on her shoulders. My only thought is that being older and wiser, we can speak to young people and try to gently impart some of that wisdom. You can't force change, in fact the harder you push the more likely you are to seize the social machine and make further progress impossible. You can only empower change. Grease the wheels with compassion and social responsibility. It has always been my assertion that the greatest opportunity to make a difference only arrives an bringing your best self to the service and contribution of others. Anyway, I had no intention of getting you up on your hind legs (a Dr. Philism... ;-) I hope you accept my apology for leaving you any other way than respected.
Rick N I would say more gender fluid than a cross dresser But she is a wonderful person❤️ and a great writer. Her blogs can make you laugh and cry and are always so insightful. she is a great advocate for the trans community. We love Cici 💋
Not sure how many times I have watched this TEDx Talk video. I am blessed and honored to have CiCi as a friend, a sister and a mentor!
Yes so am I.
If We are freaks ; Cici, You, and I as well 💃💃💃 should " Let Our Freak Flag Fly "❤❤❤ !!!🌈
I watch this video almost everyday since finding it. It helps me overcome the hurdles othat lie on my path. Cici is truly inspiring to me.
Cici, what a great role model. I hope many got something out of this wonderful speech. She's beautiful.
gawd it was like she was talking to me directly, so inspirational, thankyou for bringing even more clarity to our lives, keep on rockin in the free world
Thank you CiCi, this was so inspiring to listen to for so many reasons. You are an amazing lady in every sense of the word. :)
I loved this girl!!! You owned it! Thanks for raising awareness for our community and letting people know we really are, no diffident from them.
I am very conservative but I love CC!! The message is fantastic and can be used for al types of situations. We SHOULD love ourselves first and then we can learn acceptance and tolerance. Thank you CC. You are an inspitation!
One of the very best, most inspirational messages I've seen...
So awesome..! Thank you..!
Cici has ben an inspirational contributor to our Blog and we are so happy to see her blosom and have this opportunity to express herself in a new and exciting Forum. Upwards and onwards. Awesome!
love this!
I love this video - so hits home for me - Cici is such a role model and so admire her
I've only just seen this talk. What an amazing person. I could watch this talk 10 times and not be bored by such an eloquent, insightful and warm hearted person. I feel inspired. Xx
I am so grateful to you for having the courage to be yourself even as the immense pressure of society told you not to. You are changing the world for those future generations you mentioned, and this new world will be forever indebted to you.
one of the huge reasons I love the internet bringing people together
Wonderful Job CiCi! :) Proud of ya!
Thanks so Much!
The speech is articulate, beautiful and inspring. CiCi, you are such a wonderful person for saying what needed to be said. Your speech has struck a chord with me and not only applies to Transgender individuals, but can apply to every human being. We all need to "own it" and take control of our lives. We all can take away that we need to stop worrying about what the rest of the world thinks about us and start "owning" our own lives. Yes, it can be the hardest thing in the world, but courage like yours is infectious and can and WILL make a difference. Never stop having a beautiful soul CiCi, never stop not being afraid to be your true self. Never stop making the world a better place. Thank you.
Amazing, CiCi. So, beautiful and so well said. So, glad we've met. - Punky
Thank you for sharing this!
So powerful. Thank you Cici and Ted Talk
I share this with so many people CiCi, thank you so much for your intelligence, eloquence and beauty (inside and out). Love you!...Sheela
That was a beautiful, as are you. Whether you look like a woman or have the bod' of one doesnt mean you are more or less of a woman. Negative people put all their conditions on everyone else I say and its evident in the comments and out there. The biggest message I got was that the hardest thing we all have to do, is to be ourselves. So we have got to ...Own It. I cant think of better advice to share. Thankyou gentle sweet CiCi. :)
"Be yourself, everyone else is already taken." ~ Oscar Wilde
Thanx, CiCi. Love you.
Cici is magnificent for so many reasons. Bravo.
This was utterly brilliant, my friend!!!
I look forward to the day when we cross paths at one of Shelbe's events after a few years of being FB pals and 30 minutes from each other - lol!.
You've given me great inspiration over the years and am now determined to make a small bit about the first time I was out on a "Ladies Night" event of the SoCalTGirls group.
Unexpected result? As I was pretty new to this? I had no second profile, so there I was all dolled up and tagged in pics all over FB in my only "boy" profile the following morn...
Just decided to take a deep breath and think "Here we go!"
Unexpected trial by fire, but have never regretted it.
Thank you for this. I’m trans masc, and I agree that being myself is the hardest thing. It’s much better than the alternative though.
Believe in yourself and so much more will follow as can be seen with this beautiful person
What a wonderfully holistic talk...FANTASTIC! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bravo Cici! I go along with what you said.......completely.
Awesome talk. Should remind everyone about how difficult it can be in the world. The few comments complaining clearly did not get the message. Cici is being Cici and inspiring others to be themselves. How can you possibly be against that?
Wow! amazing video!
Verry well said my friend. Thanks!
OMG - you brought tears to my eyes. You are a brave and wonderful person. Thank you.
That was freakin awesome
So inspirational, so much truth. Gotta share it with my gurl friends!
Merci Cici... tres sympa, je t'adore
CiCi, you're a rock star! XO Sheri
thank you
Very nicely said. Who knows why? But there is no "why." It just "is."
I continue to unlike this video just so I can like it again. I wish we could put multiple likes on it.
Is CiCi still around? Does anyone know if she has an online presence? I absolutely love this video and come back to watch it and it gives me so much inspiration and confidence.
I'm planning on sending this video to a friend so that maybe they understand what I've been living all these years.
Brave and true. Get over YOU!
I love the internet, i love Ted Talks, I love ya sister for standing up and saying your life path information, everyone needs to hear and understand. .... ans I love your hair!
A year later and still brilliant!
Now we need to plan that coffee/espresso date.
Moving...
Luv u gurl
Sheer awesome, girl.
Why some people worry if you are, cross, transex, transvestite, or... another label... stop labeling, be yourself...
💖💖💖🙏🏽💖💖💖
You are just wonderful you summed up all my ideas in just few minutes i am like you a trans but i came from libya where being yourself is a crime now i live in sweden where you have to label your genitalia to get a personnummer and i had a real problem getting it as a women even i am on hormones and i had a boob job but they still view me as a man which is humiliating .but thanks for the speech i downloaded it ...
Hello
You definitely OWN IT!! You are pretty and I LOVE YOUR HAIR!!! Is it real? I like my blonde wigs the best.. I do like being girly when not doing dad, husband and manly stuff like splitting wood etc as it's tough doing that in heels and a dress.. guess I am lumped into that same corner but as one of those crossdressers... we are all part woman and until I figured that out I could not love myself.. I am straight and love my wife and am attracted to women.. so much so I like to look like one when I can.. but I like to be that man for her and our kids...
Her hair reminds me of the goblin king
Uhmm, there is plenty of scientific evidence about what makes us Trans. Great video but I wanted to point that out.
A cross dresser shouldn't talk for transwomen!
Ever stop to think that she is talking for everyone?
Then who should, only trans women?, what about trans men? I would think that it wouldn't matter who is speaking out just as long as someone is speaking out and the silence that seems to be coming from the trans community against this current tide of hatred and racism is very disappointing what we are seeing now is not just a LGBTQ issue ....it's a democracy issue and everybody needs to get in the fight and every voice needs to be heard or else no one is going to be safe. Everyday the republicans are trying to roll back protections that we have achieved Trans, people of color, everybody so when someone speaks out on a issue for you, you need to support them cause there are just as many on the other side speaking against you ....and by the way every trans woman started as a crossdressing boy whether you want to admit it or not.
she is crossdresser but talks about trans, this whole presentation is not true
+Rick H + Petra Dehnler
It is easy to point at someone who stands in the face of tradition and people's sleepy comfort in tradition, and makes an unholy ruckus, as a lighten rod or a firebrand, and fear that we (more traditional transsexuals) will suffer by association, because people are crappy at making distinctions where others are concerned...
One only need look at the poor innocent victim of the angry backlash after 9-11, angry racists attacked anyone with brown skin... Hindus, Sikhs, even Mexicans were assaulted and even murdered in the Nation's Outrage, and even today a decade and a half later... men like Donald Trump speak to that fear and anger.
Transsexuals are quiet, looking only to transition and assimilate back into society, remaining invisible is the whole point. We want to live quiet, happy, "NORMAL" lives and mean to bother "NOBODY". Transgender activists have different ideas, Gender queer, Gender Fluid, Gender F*ck... are all about tearing down the perceived tyranny of enforced Gender Norms and how they damage people's free expression.
Its easy to criticize these people if you've made a life about conforming to those norms (in either direction.) Moreover, the near reflexive need to shout out "I'm not the droid you looking for... to the threatening Imperial Storm Troopers" to make certain they get, you are no threat, seems less than throwing them (the new transgender) under the bus and more like making certain that the huge target they've painted doesn't somehow get on you.
I sympathize. I feel that reflex. We should try hard to let that feeling pass and realize this is a good thing. That someday soon, there will be room for variations on normal gender expression and we will continue to realize the words of Martin Luther King, to build a world where a person is judged by the content of their character and their contributions to society, rather than their creed, or religion, or sex, or gender, or race, or color or any other superficial aspect of their humanity. Strangeness is not the enemy, no matter how embarrassing or uncomfortable it makes you. Hate, ignorance, superstition and traditions steeped in hate and prejudice... those are your enemy. Confront them joyfully and make them yield to the light of reason and good will towards all people. Start with those that are the point at the spear of change. Support them, love them, embrace and honor them for the contribution they make to a better future, and the crazy courage and vitality it takes to tilt at windmills.
Guide them with love and wisdom. You are 70, you've seen life, you know things. Be generous.
Marie: please see comments embedded in you comment below.
"It is easy to point at someone who stands in the face of tradition and people's sleepy comfort in tradition"
The point was (and is) it's NOT tradition. It's not some nebulous patriarchy either. It's is built into our genetic programming by evolution. Here's the proof: the persons who most often "read" a trans woman are children ages 2 to 10 or 12, not adults. Adults have been programmed to Not question gender as there are a lot of cis women out there who don't look all that feminine, but a little kid hasn't been programmed by society yet. That said, just because the adults have been programmed, it doesn't mean that they don't recognize the non-gender conforming traits. They do and the ones that are more likely to act upon there suspicions are the more child-like or those who feel freed now because someone in authority has loosed the bonds of law and enabled societal approval for their (previously) anti-social actions.
"men like Donald Trump speak to that fear and anger"
Actually, of all the candidates, Mr Trump is the ONLY ONE who has directly expressed acceptance and acted upon that acceptance. Don't take my word for it, look it up. Google on "Caitlyn Jenner" and "Trump Tower"
"Transgender activists have different ideas, Gender queer, Gender Fluid, Gender F*ck... are all about tearing down the perceived tyranny of enforced Gender Norms and how they damage people's free expression."
See my first comment. Also, in "tearing down" the norms, they endanger me and my wife and my kids if they are with me and alienate and separate me from society. I don't want to be separate from society. I need to live in society and work at my job and go traveling and enjoy life. I didn't transition as a social protest, I did it because that is who I am. I want to live my life and I DO NOT want someone else telling me I how I should act, especially some smarmy Social Justice Warrior who is crusading for some misunderstood idea about how society should be. Those are really the people who "decide they are a man" in the parlance of the right. Ok, let them prove their point - they are professional rebels. but I and the real transsexuals shouldn't have to suffer to let them get there endorphin high from "doing the right thing".
"Its easy to criticize these people if you've made a life about conforming to those norms (in either direction.) Moreover, the near reflexive need to shout out "I'm not the droid you looking for... to the threatening Imperial Storm Troopers" to make certain they get, you are no threat, seems less than throwing them (the new transgender) under the bus and more like making certain that the huge target they've painted doesn't somehow get on you."
Horses**t. See comments above.
"tilt at windmills". You picked out essence of it there. They (the gender what-ever-the-f**k) people are just latching on to me like remoras and feeding off my life. If they are so bent on reforming society, great, but don't let them use me and my transsexualism as their platform. One last reference: Blaire White. She is a transsexual woman. She is female through and through. Yet she (according to one of her vids) still has the male bits and isn't (at this point in her life) going to get surgery. BUT, I can guarantee that she will never go into a ladies room and pee standing up. never go into a women's locker room and change in full view of the other women just so she can make a statement. She has her head screwed on tightly and correctly.
"Guide them with love and wisdom. You are 70, you've seen life, you know things. Be generous."
Just what the F does my age (now 71 BTW) have to do with this. Don't condescend to me or treat me as if I were some fossil set in my ways. FYI Blaire is about 50 years younger than I am and yet I know we are on the same intellectual plane. Not you I am afraid - you are somewhere in the SJW stratosphere. And yes, I do know things. Apparently many more than you. Aw damn, now I've fallen into the ad hominem trap. you're probably a lovely person, but I think misguided. I gotta quit.
+Petra
Apparently I've inadvertantly stepped on your tail and for that I apologize, my intent was not to make you defensive, but to simply cut the loud and noisy youngn's a bit of slack.
I turn 60 in August. I've been living in the gender of choice for nearly 25 years and been postop for well over 20 years. I grew up and lived as a feminine androgyn before transition and had a number of physical anomalies causing me to be taken for female often enough that it was clear I was squicking people just being my day to self since I was a child.
I repeat, I empathize with your position completely. No... I am not an SJW. No... I am not a special snowflake expecting anyone to do anything to make me all warm and fuzzy. Like you I survived the bad ol' days when society felt absolutely justified in smacking the unholy crap out of people who were gender nonconforming, just as a matter of fact. So I appreciate the depth and breadth of your concern for your safety and that of your family... I have the scars both physical and psychic to give me every reason to treat you with kid gloves, I do understand.
I've never had problems with children, but then when I transitioned in my mid 30s, the first question my therapist asked was "Are you FTM or MTF?" That sort of encapsulated my entire life prior to transition. By 6 months on hormones I couldn't pass for male in a 3 piece suit and crew cut (I began RLT shortly after that.)
I've made many of the points you state here speaking to many of the same loud and radical young folks. So I again understand your position, your concerns and your perfectly valid reasons for not wanting to be anywhere near the front where this battle is being waged... its not your war. ;-)
I can also understand you frustration at people who would bring this fight to your door... what part of "Its not your war..." do they not understand. Yes? Being true to oneself is deeply personal endeavor and nobody has any right how to do that. I'm certainly not telling you how to do that... I would never dream of imposing on you or your family that way.
My only suggestion was that you have life experience these children do not. You have access to wisdom and experience they simply haven't had the requisite life experience necessary to acquire. This is an acknowledgement to your knowledge, not a slight regarding your age. I have a number of trans friends your age and older. I do not consider you old. Whatever Blaire's choices are, they are her choices and less than none of my business... she is indeed a lovely young woman with her head clearly screwed well on her shoulders. My only thought is that being older and wiser, we can speak to young people and try to gently impart some of that wisdom. You can't force change, in fact the harder you push the more likely you are to seize the social machine and make further progress impossible.
You can only empower change. Grease the wheels with compassion and social responsibility. It has always been my assertion that the greatest opportunity to make a difference only arrives an bringing your best self to the service and contribution of others.
Anyway, I had no intention of getting you up on your hind legs (a Dr. Philism... ;-)
I hope you accept my apology for leaving you any other way than respected.
Rick N I would say more gender fluid than a cross dresser But she is a wonderful person❤️ and a great writer. Her blogs can make you laugh and cry and are always so insightful. she is a great advocate for the trans community. We love Cici 💋
Own it! 💖💖💖