What Not to Say to a Trans Person Unless, Perhaps, You Are Trans?

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

This past weekend I attended a transgender conference and several different trans people, independently from one another, asked me if I was taking testosterone.

Now this might seem like a perfectly reasonable question for a trans person to ask a trans man.  After all, that’s what some trans men do, right?  Some transsexuals take hormones.

Heck, we might even get together as a group and talk about it, or some folks will blog about it, or make videos on YouTube about it.  All this hormone business is out there in the trans-o-sphere and no one thinks twice about one trans person asking another whether they’re taking hormones?

But what if a non-trans person had asked a trans person that question?

If a non-trans person were to ask me personal questions about medical treatments, such as whether I was taking testosterone, I might put that question in a blog post, with a list of inappropriate things that non-trans people say to trans people.

Or if a non-trans person asked me whether I was taking testosterone and that person happened to be a dental hygienist, I might write a blog post about inappropriate ways that health care providers treat trans people.

But in this case, it was trans people who asked me whether I was taking hormones to medically transition.  And so now, I ask you —

Is it any more (or less) appropriate for a trans person, rather than a non-trans person, to pose these sorts of questions to someone about their medical treatments?

Is there a double standard?

Readers, what do you think?

Posted in Uncategorized | 33 Comments

The Human Ovary: Steroidogenesis & Ovulation

Posted on January 7, 2012 by

When we last considered the human ovary, we were discussing a bit of anatomy and a lot of folliculogenesis. We learned about the different steps and changes that ovarian follicles undergo as they develop or become atretic.

With the information from that previous post in mind, we will now consider the functional aspects of the ovary, those being production of steroids and ovulation of a mature egg.

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Posted in Science/Biology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

2011 in Review – from the fine folks at WordPress

Posted on January 2, 2012 by

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 26,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Happy New Year everyone!
–ATM

Posted in Stuff About This Blog | 4 Comments

Holiday Greetings Manhattan-Style

Posted on December 24, 2011 by

Times Square

I had the chance to go to New York City last weekend and I took advantage of the opportunity by checking out the holiday lights, mainly at Rockefeller Center.

To say that I was blown away would be an understatement. Not only were the lights and decorations absolutely stunningly beautiful, so were the people!

There were lots of them!, entire families, parents and children, from all over the world.  And they were happy and enjoying themselves, and laughing and talking and smiling and taking photographs, and handing their cameras to complete strangers (like me) and asking them to take photos of their families.  There were no arguments or snippy remarks or people losing their patience. People didn’t even seem to notice that it was a cold 29°F.

Radio City Music Hall - Home of the Rockettes!

The entire atmosphere was so pleasant, that I cannot adequately put it into words. Even the cops were in a good mood!

And so for my holiday greetings this year, I will post some mediocre photos I snapped with my Blackberry in Manhattan and wish you all the happiest of holidays in whatever way you celebrate them and a healthy and prosperous New Year.

–ATM

Atlas - at Rockefeller Center

The statue of Atlas in front of Rockefeller Center, taken from St. Patrick's Cathedral, across 5th Avenue

Rockefeller Plaza from W. 50th Street

The huge Christmas tree and ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza

Angels at Rockefeller Plaza

Posted in Narrative | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

What Not to Say to *This* Trans Person

Posted on December 11, 2011 by

There are myriad posts and letters on the internet that were written to educate and enlighten non-trans people on how to (or how not to) speak to trans people.  For example, Matt Kailey has a post on his blog Tranifesto, “Ten Things Not to Say to A Trans Person.“

I don’t want to reinvent the wheel here; however, some of the things that people have said to me recently have me wanting to inform the uninformed what not to say to a trans person when they meet one for the first time.  Or even the second or third time.

But then I considered the possibility, however small, that something I might suggest not to say to trans people might be the very thing that another trans person might want to hear. (It’s not likely, but I can’t rule it out 100%.)

So with that in mind, I decided to address this from a more personal perspective and changed the title of this post from, “What Not to Say to a Trans Person,” to what you have already read above, “What Not to Say to This Trans Person.”  I will frame my comments in the form of a letter…

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Posted in Rants | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

The Human Ovary: Anatomy & Follicular Development

Posted on December 2, 2011 by

Time flies when you’re having fun.  And commuting (which is not fun).

Well, time flies like an arrow but fruit flies like a banana…

(By the way, that doesn’t look like a fruit fly on the right.  To me, it looks like a common house fly. But I digress.)

Seems like just last week when I wrote a post about the embryonic differentiation and development of ovaries and testes, the genes that control these processes and what happens when the genetics go awry.  But actually, it was almost a year ago.

Now, it’s finally time to talk about normative functioning of the human ovary which is, hopefully, a prelude to a discussion about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in trans men.

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Posted in Science/Biology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Giving Thanks

Posted on November 24, 2011 by

Is it cliché to talk about giving thanks during the Thanksgiving holiday?

I had a post all written about disrespectful and/or annoying questions that people have asked me when they’ve learned that I am trans.  But just before I posted it, I remembered the Thanksgiving holiday that is upon us and my cranky rant just didn’t seem appropriate.

And so let’s work with the cliché — what am I thankful for?

I am thankful for many things, but one of the biggies has to be the ability to finally live as my true, authentic self.  Stuck in that female persona for over four decades …  the word “prison” comes to mind.

Well, sure, that experience helped to make me what I am today, but I would not — could not — go back.  The genie is out of the bottle and he’s damn glad about it.

And so, in being thankful about being out, I thought that rather than windge about some of the negatives, I would focus on the positives and tell you about some of the best reactions I have seen, heard or received in writing when I have come out to people as trans.

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Posted in Narrative | Tagged , | 2 Comments