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.
Dylan “NDR” Edwards is a FTM artist, writer, and cartoonist who lives in Austin, Texas. He is currently working on a graphic novel entitled Transposes about seven transgender men due later (October-ish) this year.
via Northwest Press: "Transposes is a nonfiction graphic novel by Dylan Edwards exploring the fascinating lives of seven transgender men who also happen to be gay, bisexual, or otherwise non-straight. It’s an amazing window into the lives of these men, both the major events in their lives and the day-to-day ones, and paints a wonderfully human portrait."
The Trans Advocacy Network (TAN) is an alliance of transgender organizations that work at the state and local level, coming together to build a stronger trans movement by facilitating the sharing of resources, best practices, and organizing strategies.
Our member organizations are statewide, local, and campus-based trans organizations that work on advocacy, training, and education to help change the climate for trans people in their communities. Member organizations are also LGBT groups who are actively advocating on issues that directly relate to transgender equality through a trans-specific project, committee, or dedicated staff.
Our ally organizations are fundamental to our work as well, and are made up of national transgender and LGBT organizations, chapters of national organizations, international organizations, individual trans activists, trans support groups, and trans social groups.
The ultimate goal of the Trans Advocacy Network (TAN) is a strong, self-sufficient, efficient, effective and sustainable trans movement that works for social, economic and racial justice through leadership development, coalition building and sharing of resources and information.
We define Trans to include anyone whose gender identity or gender expression are different than the stereotypes associated with their sex at birth. We recognize that trans people come from various backgrounds, experiences, and identities.
A couple nights ago I posted a video to my YouTube channel in which I interview my mom about what it was like for her when I came out as trans. I thought perhaps it would be helpful to those who are struggling with how to come out to their parents, or for parents who are struggling with the multitude of feelings they are experiencing after their child has just come out to them.
My mom is quite uncomfortable in front of the camera, but she has a great message and I am really glad she agreed to film this video with me. We are a close family and my parents (especially my mom) had a rough time when I first started transitioning. Though it was extremely difficult in the beginning stages of my transition, in the six plus years I have been on testosterone they have come a long way.
My parents are amazing people and I am not only really proud of them, I am grateful for them as well.
PFLAG is a great resource because it has local chapters scattered throughout the United States and parents can take comfort in the fact that they are not alone in this experience. PFLAG's transgender page has a lot of great information and resources too.
A question I am often asked is how I came out to my parents. There are many ways to come out - in person, over the phone, in an e-mail, or a letter. I came out to my parents in person, but I wrote letters to the rest of my family. The trans coming out conversation was hard enough to have with my parents, so for my large extended family I wrote letters; having that conversation over and over starts to get emotionally wearing.
A letter can often be a good method to use (even with parents) because it allows them time to think about what was said in the letter and unlike a face-to-face conversation or telephone call, there is no chance for the exchange of harsh words or for things to get out of hand - it allows time to process. After all, you have probably thought about the trans thing as long as you can remember, but they just heard about it and are probably entirely overwhelmed. Giving them space and allowing them time to process also means they might do some research for themselves and come into the "follow up" conversation more informed.
Here are a few other videos about coming out from 2009 and 2008, respectively.
Coming Out and Family (April 2008)
Don't Hesitate: Coming Out to Family (March 2009)
My parents and I took a long time to get where we are today - we did it with continuous, open communication, a fierce perseverance, and unconditional love. There are going to be a lot of rough moments, but there will be a lot of beautiful ones, too; it just takes time. Persevere.
Resources for Parents of Transgender Children:
Trans Youth Family Allies (TYFA)
TYFA is a wonderful organization and resource with a special section for parents of transgender children called “TransParent Journeys” with a list of parents' blogs and family stories.
TransActive is a non profit organization that serves the needs of transgender and gender nonconforming children and their families.
TransKids Purple Rainbow is an organization founded by the father of a young transgender girl that is dedicated to empowering trans youth and their families and educates peers, governmental and religious institutions as well as school and medical communities on trans youth.
As the moderator of the FL Transguys Yahoo group, I get a lot of requests from gay or bi non trans males who want to join the list because they are interested in dating someone on the transmasculine spectrum.
While I am all for people being into dating transguys, the list is exclusively for medical, legal, familial, and other sensitive issues that arise surrounding transition, and therefore, is for transguys only. I did a simple google search for FTM dating sites to send the guys who had applied to the group the check out, and I thought I'd share that list here in case it may be of any use to someone.
If you want to skip the dating and go straight to the sex, a new FTM porn site was recently launched called FTM Fucker. Definitely NSFW, so don't say I didn't warn you!
Note: I am not a member of nor do I personally endorse any of the aforementioned sites.
Earlier this week I showed a new friend my five year testosterone voice comparison, and she was absolutely blown away. I have to admit, it still even shocks me to hear the change sometimes. I forget my voice was ever that high and sounded like that. I estimate it has dropped roughly an octave or an octave and a half.
Here are some voice comparison videos from other guys.
To see how testosterone has affected my singing voice, check out this post.
I recently did a video answering basic questions about testosterone, such as how to get on it, who can prescribe it, where to get it, how much it costs, and if it is covered by insurance.
