Men's Public Restrooms & STPs

 Men's Bathrooms – Pee Shy

Whipping it Out in the Men's Room [Re: STP and its use]

(Standing to) Pee Preferences

 

Q+A: Men's Restrooms, Pee Shyness, an Observation, etc

Top Ten Transgender Friendly Colleges

Campus Pride has published this list of top ten colleges in the United States on their Campus Climate Index that are particularly trans friendly and have pro-trans policies and programs.

The Top Ten:

Ithaca College – Ithaca, New York
New York University – New York, New York
Princeton University – Princeton, New Jersey
University of California, Los Angeles – Los Angeles, California
University of California, Riverside – Riverside, California
University of Massachusetts, Amherst – Amherst, Massachusetts
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, Michigan
University of Oregon – Eugene, Oregon
University of Pennsylvania – Philadephia, Pennsylvania
University of Vermont – Burlington, Vermont

While I am not at all surprised at the selection or the fact they all are located on the West Coast or in the Northeast, I am surprised that Portland State University and UC Santa Cruz and Berkeley did not make the list.

This list is a good starting point, but by no means a complete list of schools that are trans-friendly. Many schools across the country are making strides in the way of LGBTQ folk and are great places for trans* people to go to school, even if they didn't make the list. Even schools in the south (like my alma mater, University of North Florida) are making strides in terms of creating a safe space for trans* students to go to school and are always open to ideas as to what they can do to accommodate transgender students and make their college experience as pleasant as possible.

In locations like the South and Midwest where one doesn't find the same mind-set of the progressive Northeast and West Coast, institutions of higher education are taking to the transgender movement more quickly than their non-university counterparts.

How to Make an STP

Recently I did a couple videos on how to make an STP. You can make the basic medicine spoon/tubing combo for less than $5 and use it by itself or insert it into a packer if you so desire.

Portland Wins Trans-Inclusive Healthcare! [trans news]

Good news, Portlanders! Most of you were probably aware of Mayor Sam Adams' push to get the city of Portland to end discriminatory practices and include trans-related healthcare in its benefits, including surgeries (!), hormones, and other treatments for transgender people. Well, it just PASSED, making Portland the third city in the country to offer "sex change" benefits to transgender people.

via Basic Rights Oregon:

WE DID IT! After nearly two years of working with city leaders, we are proud to announce that today the Portland City Counil unanimously voted to end insurance exclusions against transgender City employees.

This is huge. Portland is now the third municipality in the country to provide trans-inclusive care to their employees, and Oregon is a clear leader in the national efforts to end insurance discrimination against transgender communities.

This victory belongs to Basic Rights Oregon's Trans Justice Working Group-trans and allied community leaders who have worked tirelessly for nearly two years on our campaign to end health care discrimination against transgender Oregonians. It also belongs to the Portland City Council, especially Mayor Sam Adams whose leadership for the LGBT community shone through today.

Why is this care so important? Basic Rights' Executive Director Jeana Frazzini explained it in her testimony today:

The American Medical Association has identified transgender health care as being medically ncessary. Yet many transgender Oregonians are routinely denied the ability to purchase health insurance or are denied coverage for basic, medically-necessary care solely becaust they are transgender. Without health insurance, many transgender people have no access to health care and have nowhere to turn if they develop health problems. This discrimination is all too common and can lead to serious-even life-threatening-conditions.

We are thankful to the dozens of you who turned out to help make history, and countless more helped make this a reality. This victory shows just what can happen when each of us takes a stand, large or small for trans justice.

Thanks for all of your extraordinary work. We'll be working with the City to ensure smooth implementation and continue onward to the next victory!

PS-If you're in or near Portland, be sure to join us to celebrate tonight at Crush (1412 SE Morrison) from 5:30-7:30pm!

Don't Be Shy [transition gives voice]

I created the original "Don't Be Shy" video back in May 2007 because I really felt that the lyrics described what transition had done for me; it allowed me to come out of my shell and gave me a voice. It allowed me a physical presence in this world and a path in which to navigate it, and I finally could genuinely participate in a world I had previously viewed from only the outside.



The song still means a lot to me and much has gone on in my life since the original video was made, so "Don't Be Shy II" is meant to be an update of sorts. I also feel it reflects a new level I have reached in my transition; through medical transition I found my voice, now I am at the point of refining that voice.

In the past four years since the original video was made, my transition has moved beyond just defining my physical place in the world as a male, but evolved on a spiritual and intellectual level; the second video hopes to reflect that.

Transgender Despair & Joy [videos]

Being transgender can be really tough at times, but with despair, there is always eventually joy. The challenges can be difficult to overcome, feel impossibly overwhelming at times, but the transgender experience is one of the most radical transformative experiences any human can go through, so in many ways it is a unique gift as well.

Five Years on Testosterone [2005-2010]

Family, Weddings, and Other Awkward Social Situations.

In this video Charlie (aka localterror on the tube) recounts a story of going to a wedding recently and the awkward situations that entails. I'm sure we can all have a similar "awkward social experience" we can relate to.

Ignorant Questions & Comments about Being FTM.

Meet Joe, aka JoeLikesHisBro on the tube. He is 15 and from The Netherlands.

In this video Joe talks about the ignorant questions and comments all FTMs (and trans people in general) have to endure on sometimes a daily basis.

Some of the things I get asked most often are:

1. Do you have a penis or a vagina?
2. Have you had the surgery?
3. How does your family feel about your transition? Do they accept you?

All of the aforementioned questions are of a sensitive nature and not ones that are appropriate to bring up in most social settings, especially one in which two people have just met. I would never ask someone about their genitals or their family life the first time I met them. Or ever.

It is exasperating that when a non trans person meets a trans person they immediately start asking questions that are inappropriate and would not be asked in the first place had the person they had just become acquainted not had a transgender history.

New & Noteworthy [starting T]

Meet Jo, aka JR6984 on the tube. He is 26, just started testosterone on Father's Day and is married and has a six-year-old daughter.

Joe doesn't allow embedding of his videos, so you can watch his intro video here.

Transgender Love. [beautiful video]

This beautiful video about transgender love is from Warren, aka sillyyetsuccinct on the tube. It is emotional, honest, and raw, and I hope to find a love as deep and fulfilling as Warren and Simon have found one day.

"People find love when they learn to love themselves."

Meet Reuben Zellman, Trans Rabbi [trans & religion]

There is often a preconceived notion that trans people (or LGBT people in general) are not and cannot be religious. While many organized religions still have a lot of "catching up" to do in terms of LGBT acceptance, FTM rabbinical student Reuben Zellman has found his calling and acceptance in reform Judaism.

Reuben also launched TransTorah.org a few years ago, an amazing and comprehensive site for anything Jewish and transgender.

Shaving Techniques.

Here's a video from Jason (JayseBallard) demonstrating his shaving techniques.



Here's a fun video from Marek, aka vanness5 , demonstrating shaving with a straight razor:

pregnant man in the UK

a gay male ftm couple in the UK are having a baby. well, one of them is.

scott moore is scheduled to give birth to a baby boy in february. congrats to the couple!

the holidays

Troy is Getting Lower Surgery on December 8th!

Just a short video I made Troy wishing him good luck with his lower surgery coming up on Tuesday.

Here is a birthday video I made for him a couple years ago:

Here is a photo montage I made of documenting our top surgery experience. We had our surgeries done together on December 12, 2006 with Dr. Beverly Fischer in Baltimore, Maryland.



Good luck, Troy!

changing your name

i was recently asked a question about the emotional aspect of changing your name, and i thought that was a great question, as most questions are concerned with the tangible technicalities of name change: documents, court appearances, filling out complicated forms, lawyers, obtaining funds for legal fees, etc.

changing your name is one of the first and biggest steps you take in your transition, whether you choose to legally pursue a name change or not. there is a complex process involved which includes not only picking a new name to be called for the rest of your life (which causes some great anxiety at times, i can attest!), but social aspects as well like getting your friends and family to actually call you the name you've chosen, which once again i can attest that this is no easy (nor quick) feat.

since i was not yet vlogging at the time i was actually picking my name (and coming to terms with leaving my old name and initials behind), i do not have any videos document that process as well as my nominal social transition.i documented the process wellin my livejournal at the time, because that is where all the transguys documented their transitions until youtube came alone.

that being said, here are still some videos related to name change nevertheless:











i hope you find some of them helpful.