transwomenmatter:

FROM JULY 6TH TO AUGUST 6TH I WILL USE THIS TUMBLR TO PRESENT AN ONLINE ART PROJECT TITLED ‘TRANS WOMEN MATTER’.  THIS IS A COMMUNITY ART PROJECT WHERE TRANS MEN AND GENDER VARIANT PEOPLE ARE ENCOURAGED TO WRITE A ONE TO THREE PARAGRAPH STORY OR ESSAY ANSWERING THE QUESTION: WHY DO TRANS WOMEN MATTER TO YOU?  I AM ASKING EACH PERSON TO SUBMIT A PIECE OF VISUAL ART TO GO ALONG WITH THE WRITTEN PIECE. THE VISUAL ART MUST (I REPEAT MUST) BE YOUR OWN WORK OR WORK THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN PERMISSION TO USE. THIS PROJECT IS ABOUT SHOWING SUPPORT AND LOVE TO THE TRANS WOMEN THAT WE PERSONALLY KNOW OR ARE AWARE OF. I AM A TRANSMALE ARTIST WHO BELIEVES TRANS WOMEN ARE STILL FIGHTING A FIERCE BATTLE TO BE SEEN AS LOVABLE, SMART, CREATIVE….REALLY, JUST HUMAN. I BELIEVE TRANS MEN, IN PARTICULAR, SHOULD SHOW THEIR SUPPORT TO THE TRANS WOMEN IN THEIR COMMUNITY. THIS IS BUT ONE WAY TO DO SO!

PLEASE SEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO: TRANSWOMENMATTER@GMAIL.COM 

With Love, 

Morty Diamond 

emptyslot:

Tobi Hill-Meyer and James Darling. You know you wanna…

Look what I found being passed around.

I like to pass along different IndieKickFunds now and then, and over the past couple of weeks so many have crossed my radar that I wanted to do a short run down on some of the good people and projects out there that could use your help.  Please consider telling a friend about one or two of these, or even give some cash if you’ve got it!

Seattle Trans* Pride - http://www.gofundme.com/transprideseattle
I had to start with this one because I’ve been involved in it.  I put together the video (with some amazing help).  This fundraiser is backed by a city of seattle matching grant, which means for each $1 you give, the city gives $2!  Plus it’s all being put on by a new trans non-profit activist group that I’m very excited to be a part of.

Trans* H4CK - http://www.gofundme.com/31usa4
I was on a panel with Dr Kortney Ryan Ziegler who is doing some amazing work.  This project is all about finding ways to use technology to solve problems around anti-trans bias: “Imagine if there existed a mobile phone app that helps individuals find trans friendly doctors or an app that profiles safe space job opportunities for trans people across the country? Trans*H4CK is a space in which to turn these possibilities into reality.”

ASTT(e)Q’s Shelter Accesss Guide - http://www.gofundme.com/306smk
Scroll down on the page to find their statement in English.  This Montreal group has put together a trans inclusion guide for shelter workers and are looking for funds to be able to distribute it to shelters and other sex-segregated services throughout Quebec.  Simple, direct, and important.

Other Selves: A Collection of Transgender Fiction - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amberneko/other-selves-a-collection-of-transgender-science-f
A trans author seeks to publish (self publish? It’s not clear) a collection of short sci-fi stories with trans and non-binary characters and themes.  The writing sample isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but she’s not asking for a lot of funding for something like this and a little bit could go a long way to helping a trans writer get a start.  Besides, after decades of trans autobiographies, we really need more trans authored fiction.  And this one being kickstarter, she needs to meet her goal - by June 6 - or she gets nothing.

The Personal Transition Cost Fundraisers
I couldn’t finish this list without addressing this staple of the community.  I long for a time when discriminatory health plans are universally made illegal (like they are in Oregon, California, Colorado, and Vermont).  But until they are, there are folks who rely on our community coming together to help provide for their needs.  Here are five folks doing so right now.  Go ahead and read their pages to learn more about them

Ja’briel Walthour - http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a-journey-with-ja-briel-raising-funds-for-transgender-surgery

Diana Tourjee - http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/diana-s-transgender-surgery-fundraiser?c=home

Rebecca Kling - http://www.rebeccakling.com/fundraisers/surgery

Chrys Dewart - http://www.gofundme.com/2bbxog

luna - http://hystericalqueen.tumblr.com/post/47714758779/help-me-raise-money-to-be-a-lot-less-miserable-in-my

Thanks!  I’ve been wanting to write an intro about this for quite a while and will try and put out a comprehensive article sometime soon.  If I haven’t by June 15th, poke me about it again and I’ll get on it.

At first they will be released as three volumes on DVD (Nov, Feb, May is the current timeline).  As you know each scene has at least one trans woman or camab non-binary person, but each volume will have a decent gender spread of partners — the trans volume has trans men and trans women as partners, the cis volume has cis men and cis women, the genderqueer volume has cafab and camab folks.  So you can pick a volume, but there will still be some episodes that won’t fit your criteria.

There will eventually be other ways to purchase the scenes individually.  I am working on plans to launch a website with regularly updating content after the 3rd volume is released in May 2014, and individual scenes will definitely be available then.  It’s possible that they will be available through other websites scene-by-scene, or I might be able to set that up in my own online store.  At this point I can’t say for sure.

I will say, though, that knowing that such an option is important to you definitely makes me more interested in making it a possibility.

I’ve been wading through some of the most hateful things people have said about me on the internet in preparation for a performance piece I’m working on.  It kinda sucks.  I’m realizing I need to include positive things people are saying about me and my work.  I’m also realizing that sometimes I don’t post as often, or I write something but don’t post it, because of depression and fear of cyberstalking and harassment.  I get letters of support now and then and it’s remembering the positive impact I’m having on others that keep me going.  If you’re someone I’ve had a positive impact on, please call and tell me about it!

I’ve set up a voicemail system for the week - after June 1st the number will not belong to me and this post will be taken down.  Call ___-___-____ and leave me a message!  Short sound bites will work best to include in my performance piece, but caring messages of any length will be saved and cherished for those times that I’m feeling down.

Thanks I really appreciate hearing from you and am glad that I’m able to help.

I’ve always felt guilty for enjoying my pre operative state, as though I am some kind of falsely transgender male fetishist. Only heterosexual men fantasize about pre op trans women after all right? A woman with a cock is arousing for some reason, and I’ve felt guilt confusion and self doubt over this for years. On queer porn sites I see trans men enjoying their vaginas and nobody questions their gender. Is something wrong with me? I’m sorry for asking you, but maybe others experienced similar?

—Anonymous Ask

I hear you and know this is an issue many trans folks deal with.  I will mention that there are trans guys who face judgment - both internal and external - about receiving front hole penetration, but you’re right to notice there is a different dynamic than with trans women.  

A big reason for this is the disproportionate focus on trans women’s sexuality that psychologists and other gatekeepers have maintained over the past half century.  Written right into the diagnostic criteria there have always been two diagnostic options for trans women — transsexual vs transvestite, true transexual vs secondary transexual, homosexual transexual vs autogynophile transexual.  In each case, the primary distinction was focused on sexuality.  For trans women, enjoying sexuality too much or in the wrong ways has been justifiable cause for denial of medical care.  Trans men have to face gatekeepers too, but there is no equivalent diagnostic system.

Of course this is all ridiculous and based on the notion that real women don’t desire sex.  But this legacy affects all of us in the community.  It has been so ingrained that many trans women take on this criteria as doctrine and enforce its rules upon others, deciding who is a real woman or not based on your level of sexual desire.  And it is virtually impossible to go unscathed by this messaging.  People may assume that I’m immune due to my advocacy and my work in porn, but before a scene I often think through what kinds of sex I’m willing to do based on how I think the rest of the community might react or how I’ll be judged.  

More often than not, though, I choose to ignore judgment.  I choose to move passed the impulse of shame.  I choose to celebrate healthy sexuality, enjoyment, and connection in all its forms.  I choose resistance.  And I invite you to join me.

I hear you and know this is an issue many trans folks deal with.  I will mention that there are trans guys who face judgment - both internal and external - about receiving front hole penetration, but you’re right to notice there is a different dynamic than with trans women.  

A big reason for this is the disproportionate focus on trans women’s sexuality that psychologists and other gatekeepers have maintained over the past half century.  Written right into the diagnostic criteria there have always been two diagnostic options for trans women — transsexual vs transvestite, true transexual vs secondary transexual, homosexual transexual vs autogynophile transexual.  In each case, the primary distinction was focused on sexuality.  For trans women, enjoying sexuality too much or in the wrong ways has been justifiable cause for denial of medical care.  Trans men have to face gatekeepers too, but there is no equivalent diagnostic system.

Of course this is all ridiculous and based on the notion that real women don’t desire sex.  But this legacy affects all of us in the community.  It has been so ingrained that many trans women take on this criteria as doctrine and enforce its rules upon others, deciding who is a real woman or not based on your level of sexual desire.  And it is virtually impossible to go unscathed by this messaging.  People may assume that I’m immune due to my advocacy and my work in porn, but before a scene I often think through what kinds of sex I’m willing to do based on how I think the rest of the community might react or how I’ll be judged.  

More often than not, though, I choose to ignore judgment.  I choose to move passed the impulse of shame.  I choose to celebrate healthy sexuality, enjoyment, and connection in all its forms.  I choose resistance.  And I invite you to join me.

invisiblyqueer:

hiya,

i wanted to share this out of a few recent conversations about transmisogyny, culturally produced norms around bodies, and community accountability.



Image of a zine page that reads:

(in typewriter ink) i’ve been out for a while at this point and i’m mostly living my life how i want…

I’d love to see this when it’s finished.  It really resonates with my around a similar experience I had.