Calie's Chronicles

It's been kind of an up and down time for me, so about time for an update....starting with my time with the Gems. Eleven years ago, I joined a new trans group called the River City Gems.  The group evolved from out of the ashes of a Tri-Ess group that faded away, primarily due to their discrimination against transsexuals.  I never joined the Tri-Ess group for that reason but I did end up being the 17th member of the Gems, a group that now numbers into the hundreds. About a year after I joined, I began exchanging emails with Sharon, another Gems member.  We decided to meet for lunch and I must admit I was scared to death.  Although I had been a member of the Gems for a year or so, and was a member of their email group,  I don't believe I had attended any events or even met another transgender person face-to-face until I had that lunch with Sharon.  I was scared because I didn't want to out myself in public but I was also scared because I feared that Sh...

It’s been…..well….like forever since I’ve done a blog post. There are reasons.   Looking back at my blog, much of it is superficial.   I’m a pretty private person and there is much of my personal life and my friend’s lives that I just don’t feel comfortable sharing.   Also, I tend to blog when I’m down or when I'm riding some sort of trans high and neither has been the case as of late.   There are other things that have kept me of blogging including the loss of a dear friend (the result of a blood clot that may have been HRT related) and the loss of a good friendship with a close trans friend for reasons I really don't want to discuss at this time.  The loss of this friendship really hit me hard. While this is not meant to be a book review, much of this post is going to be about a book I recently read, by Janet Mock, called Redefining Realness.   Have any of you read it?   It came out in 2014.   I read the audio book version, ...

I have felt, for years, that here is a certain, nearly indestructible, unspoken bond that exists between anyone who is trans.  With me, this is especially true with anyone who is identifies as transsexual and accepts my current status as a non-transitioning transsexual. This bond is, indeed, powerful and is something that exists in the background, but I'm sure many of you will agree that it exists.  The bond supersedes virtually everything, including religious beliefs, ethnicity, where you live, income status, rank, job status, and political beliefs.  It supersedes looks and appearance, meaning that you can look like a Victoria's Secret model or a linebacker; you can present as male or female; you can sound like a deep voiced male while presenting female or you can have a voice that absolutely passes.   I would go so far as to say that this bond can in some cases be stronger than a bond between siblings or perhaps equal, but in a totally...

www.gopixpic.com It was a bedroom filled with dolls. Blood was splattered all over the room. The body was on the floor. One self-inflicted bullet wound did the job. His life and his pain had ended well before he hit the age of 30. The suicide note and the dolls were lovingly protected from the blood splatter. It has taken me some time to finally write about this.   The holidays can bring on suicides, and this was one more for the fact book. This was a transgender suicide.   The note left behind made this very clear.   The parents didn't know, nor did I.   He had a good job.   He was a good boy and had become a good man. She's finally happy. This all brings to mind the recent suicide of 17 year old, Leelah Alcorn. The stories are different, however.   Leelah had been out to her parents, who refused to accept the fact that she was trans.   That, ultimately, led to her self-inflected death. The young man...