Month: February 2017

Trump Administration Rescinds Obama Rule On Transgender Students’ Bathroom Use

by Hannah

Just in case anyone still thinks that Republicans don’t hate the LGBTQA community.

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From NPR:

The Trump administration is rescinding guidance issued by its predecessor on the rights of transgender students to use bathrooms based on the gender with which they identify.

More here

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Transgender students on Wednesday lost federal protections that allowed them to use school bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities, as the Trump administration stepped into a long-simmering national debate.

More here

This is the beginning and it will not end with this.  But we can fight back.

Love, Hannah

What’s in a Name?

by Hannah

unnamedIt was such a small thing, but seeing my name written on a Starbucks cup was one of the most memorable moments of my life.  Seeing ‘Hannah’ written under a lipsticked kiss coffee cover was such  a thrill.

Our names are important.  They have power, they give us power.  Usually our names are something we chose.  Sometimes they are the names we would have been given had we were identified as female at birth.

Sometimes someone else gives them to us.  But the power comes from us having a name, a real name to this side of us that is usually a secret to almost everyone else in our lives.

It’s funny, when I talk to other t-girls, we chat about shoes, makeup, shopping…but we also talk about deeper things, like our family, whether or not this side of us works in our relationships, or politics.  But our names are rarely discussed.  How did you get yours?

Love, Hannah

Minneapolis establishes Transgender Equity Council

by Hannah

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Group will advise the City Council and Park Board on issues such as disparities, employment and access.

Minneapolis city leaders created an official group Friday to advise the City Council and Park Board on matters related to the transgender community.

The new Transgender Equity Council is part of an ongoing city effort to identify disparities and work more closely with community members. The city launched an annual Trans Equity Summit in 2014 and formed a transgender issues work group that same year.

The council established Friday will continue that work but be subject to the city’s open appointment process and open meeting laws, said Council Member Elizabeth Glidden, who sponsored the measure.

More here!

Love, Hannah

Saturday Nights are T-Girls Night!

by Hannah

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Yesterday the MN T-Girls had our monthly outing.  Every few months we get together at the Townhouse, Saint Paul’s oldest LGBTQ nightclub.   When a t-girl is ready to go out, the Townhouse is usually one of the first place we go…it certainly was one of mine!

It was a small group, just six of us and we had a nice evening enjoying some drinks and girl talk, chatting about everything from makeup to shoes to family.

As I looked around the table I reflected about although it was small group at the moment, I was amazed at how many of us are out there and how alike we are.

We all go through the same experiences, whether family members not quite understanding or accepting us, or the challenges with finding heels or the thrill of an amazing makeover.  We are lucky to find others like us.  I know many of us have felt like we are the only ones in the world who do what we do, but we’re not.  You are not alone, and never have been.  We all know how we feel, we all know how each other feels,

It was wonderful catching up with some old and fabulous friends.

Love, Hannah

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‘I Am Jazz’ Transgender Doll To Debut At NYC Toy Fair

by Hannah

From Huffington Post: What’s believed to be the first manufactured transgender doll is about to make its debut at a New York City toy fair, and it’s based on Florida transgender teenager Jazz Jennings, star of the reality TV program “I Am Jazz.”

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This is pretty amazing.  If you had told me  when I was a kid that there would be a trans doll, I never would have believed you.  Am I the only who used to dress Ken dolls in Barbie clothes?

Love, Hannah

Kathleen Culhane: The Beer Scientist

by Hannah

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In November of 2015, the MN T-Girls visited Sidhe Brewing Company, a local beer brewer in Saint Paul where one of the owners is a transwoman.  Here’s us enjoying a drink.

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City Pages has written an article about Kathleen Culhane  as part of the their People Issue featuring women and men who make Minnesota a nicer place to live.  I am not much of a drinker but I think it’s  wonderful to see a transwoman on this list.

Cheers!

Love, Hannah

 

 

Anjali Lama: The First Trans Person To Walk An Indian Catwalk

by Hannah

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We live in  complex world that is filled with anti-LGBTQ bills looming and trangender models such as Andrea Pejic, Geena Rocero, and now Anjali Lama.  Huffington Post and Pink News just posted fascinating articles about Lama, the first trans person to be featured in Mumbai’s famous fashion week.  I love seeing articles and girls like this.

I think we live in a world where we go two steps forward, and one step back.

Love, Hannah