Would you? Have you?
71 members have voted
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1. Would you have voice surgery?
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Yes I already have
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Yes
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No
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Don?t/didn?t need it
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N/A
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2. Do you feel you need professional voice training-either in person or via the net of other media devices?
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Yes I already have
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Yes
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No
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Don?t/didn?t need it
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N/A
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Posts
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By KatieSC · Posted
Precisely my point. These legal "protections" only go so far. When they actually take the time to find out what we need, and mandate all of the coverages, then we will have something tangible. There are many dimensions to the who issue of being transgender. We live in a society where there is much polarization, and I understand the angst from both sides of this issue. Without question, we need better protections, and there needs to be greater sensitivity by all parties as to how to move along to mutual acceptance. We have been demonized across the country, and it is hard to get folks to pull back when the hair on the back of their neck is raised about our mere existence. I will go out on a limb and say that it is also likely that any "in your face" tactics by us, can have a rather negative effect in getting folks across the country to understand and care about us as human beings. That does not even include the political dimensions. I see examples of politicians that sicken me, not just about gender issues, but basic stuff like worrying about defenseless animals, or letting poor kids go hungry by blocking food aid programs. Given Gov. Noem's proclivity for putting animals down with a firearm, it is likely a good thing that none of her children are transgender (at that we know of). The world is a whacky place at best. The anti-trans sentiments are not only strong in this country, but many countries. Yet, there are places that accept us. I will be dead and decayed by the time they ever figure any of this out. -
By Ivy · Posted
That sux. I'm in a similar situation with my VA therapist. She wasn't an intern, but got moved to a different position. I was really comfortable with her (she was part of the queer community) I'm supposed to meet with a new one in June. -
By Ivy · Posted
True. I currently get my HRT from the VA (with a copay) but despite the talk, surgery is out. -
By Ivy · Posted
There is something to this. Young people I know work, but still can't afford to live on their own. They certainly can't start a family. I don't think Trump actually did much good for the working class. He, like most politicians, took care of his rich donors. Tax cuts always sound nice, but they went mostly to the wealthy. The tax cuts to the working class were mostly an illusion, small, and temporary. I'm going to shut up now or I'll get in trouble. -
By missyjo · Posted
but on a real naive level..isn't my sexuality, who I have sex with, like my genitals .only relevant to those I'm inviting to share my bed? I don't know..but I think he's trying n that's all I can ask. I believe he's struggling to be able to mesh his religious thoughts with somehow still having a sibling..though I'm fairly certain he would pay me, literally, if I'd I would "just act normal."."act like a man"and puz all this "sissy -transgender- " stuff aside..and all those other expressions that erase us n ignore us he asked me not to drag him to any -transgender- bars...like Applebee's? laugh oh well, trying is better than not, much better enjoy Tuesday dears hugs -
By Ivy · Posted
For the most part, yes. But there are some that actually are calling for our eradication - in so many words. That still means what it means. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/cpac-speaker-transgender-people-eradicated-1234690924/ -
By Mmindy · Posted
Both dinners sound great. We had bratwurst, purple cabbage, scalloped potatoes and applesauce. Followed by a slice of carrot cake and cinnamon tea. Mindy🌈🐛🏳️⚧️🦋 -
By Mmindy · Posted
Good morning everyone, I hope you’re ready for a beautiful day. We’ve had several days of rain and this morning was a clear sunrise leading into a near summer like day. My tulips have dropped all their petals so now it’s time to fill in around them with pansies. I’m just finishing up my second cup of coffee and getting ready for a day in the shop putting the final touches on a propane training prop. Simulating a bulk transport tank. Best wishes, stay motivated, Mindy🌈🐛🏳️⚧️🦋 -
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By awkward-yet-sweet · Posted
Last night we had a soup made of sausage, potatoes, spinach, and onions. Also some whole wheat flatbread. Our meals here are often simple, because we have a huge family. We have to cook cafeteria quantities of everything. -
By Mirrabooka · Posted
Tonight we had a couple of thin cut scotch fillet steaks fried in butter, with a tomato/onion/breadcrumb bake, accompanied with peas & broccolini, with instant mushroom & garlic gravy. -
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By Lydia_R · Posted
This is what I've been working on the last few days: 3:38am (the next day) I just pulled up a website to do the arc tangent function because the Windows scientific calculator doesn't do that function. I entered in the .577 number and did an atan on it and it came back with .523 which is what I was expecting. The .577 number is the result of the opposite over the adjacent and the .523 is the circumference measure to 30 degrees and is one of those numbers I memorized in February 2004. That's an interesting story in my book. So, the lessons I learned last night are that .577 is the result of a ratio. The idea here is how to convert that decimal back to a ratio. Andy helped with that last night. He said "just divide by 10!" I was like, oh my, that makes sense! Andy is good for a laugh like that! I had come home from a walk to the store and was hot on the idea of division and the musical connect to Ed Sheeran and Pink Floyd's The Division Bell. I don't know either one of them very well, but I am hot on the idea of writing a function that does division. And that brings up the subject of how a computer does multiplication. I talked with Andy about that and I said that my dad just beat the multiplication tables into me. I remember not getting it. I would tell my dad "why do I have to memorize this stuff?" And he would say "you just do." And ironically, it was the same way with trigonometry on the streets. With trig, the numbers only matter so that you can grasp the concept of it all. They don't matter, but there is the magic of the sine of 30 degrees being .5 and how that points to 12 and the overtone series / cycle of 5ths. That's pretty amazing stuff and then Andy was trying to draw a conclusion to 24 hours a day. I insisted that that application of 24 was man-made and he was not convinced. Then he brought up the year being about 360 days, or perhaps I brought that up. That is not a man-made number (365) and it's really odd having that and the connection to 12. It's just a coincidence, buy Andy was trying to draw some conclusion from it. And then I brought up the thing with the moon appearing to be the same size as the sun. And that got Andy brining up more conclusions. Then I abandoned the conversation and my next thought on the subject was that this whole thing is about ratios and how I was using ratios to do my collision detection before I started studying trig. I then took a look at the calulators on my screen. What is this .577 number? That is not the arc tangent of 30 degrees, is it? I swear that I'm correct about the arc tangent of 30 degrees being .523. I've been spouting that number off consistently since Feburary 2004. So then I got out my Plane Trigonometry book and looked up 30 degrees. Sure enough, .523 is correct. But then from having looked at that row of numbers, I got the idea that if you had any one of those numbers and knew which function it was under, then you should be able to figure out the rest. They are all the result of a ratio and the idea is to convert them back to ratios and cross multiply and divide. And I mentioned that to Andy, or did he bring up cross multiplying and dividing when I was talking about ratios? We basically got to that at the same time and I was impressed that Andy knew about it. So, I think all the keys are here and it's almost time for me to start coding a division function and then a trigonometric function. If it can be done, I should be able to have this coded in the next couple days, although I'm stretched pretty thin with this political stuff. We'll see. It's an interesting project. One of the key things that got me going on this the other day was how the .3333 number came up. I had recognized that as 30 degrees expressed in grads. And that brought up the thought of base 10. All these hard number calculations started off with 30 degrees which is equivalent to 33.33 grads. 90 degrees = 100 grads, 360 degrees = 400 grads. I learned that over a decade ago by entering in some of these numbers into a calculator and playing with the grads button. Anyway. I love triangulation. -
By Lydia_R · Posted
Oh my, here it comes... It looks like there is a half moon out my window... 4:51am -
By KatieSC · Posted
While it is encouraging that they have deemed that they cannot ban the treatment, the bigger question is what treatments they will cover as a result. Speaking as a transgender female, this is a difficult definition. A fair number of insurance plans already cover the basic vaginoplasty, however, for those of us who have a rather masculine appearing face, a heavy beard, a deep voice, and other defining characteristics, attaining a passing feminine appearance is difficult without gender-affirming facial feminization surgery, genital and facial electrolysis, speech therapy and if necessary, gender affirming voice surgery, as well as other body contouring procedures. I view all of these procedures as life-saving in the sense that blending in, and thus avoiding an assault can come down to looking and sounding like you are female. I think the transgender males have a bit more ease with blending in than we do. There will be disagreements as to what constitutes enough surgery to be your truest self. We all pretty much understand that our true gender is locked in our mind. The issue is what can we do to modify our bodies enough to get the congruence between what is in our head, and how we perceive ourselves in the world. Is some of it cosmetic? That is hard to say for sure. I have had insurance companies insist that facial electrolysis is purely cosmetic. Well, most women do not have an Abraham Lincoln beard coming through. Some insurance companies have insisted that speech/voice therapy, as well as voice surgery, are purely cosmetic. I scoured the cosmetic counters for any makeup that would enhance my voice. Being feminine and passing does not mean I get to look and sound like Fred Flintstone in a dress. That kind of weirds folks out, and sets us up to be ridiculed and assaulted in my estimation. My one insurer told me that beyond the vaginoplasty that all of this was cosmetic. In an appeal hearing, I asked the group that if they had a 14 year old daughter who was in an accident that resulted in a large facial scar, would they want the child to receive the best care to remove the scar? Of course they would. I pointed out though, that while she may have the scar, she could live with it. I asked them if the removal of the disfiguring scar in a 14-year old would be difficult for the child when the other kids made fun of her. Of course, they all nodded their head. I explained to the group that for folks like us, it is no different. While it may be cosmetic to a point, these procedures are essential to our well-being, and not something we are doing to be on a YouTube channel. Now some who are trans, or gender fluid, may not want to opt for the procedures. There are quite a few of us that do, but the cost is prohibitive. What also clouds the issue are the surgeons who operate out of large medical centers who participate in the large insurance pools. How many of our sisters and brothers have had to pony up some major dollars to a surgeon who is out of network? Good luck trying to get the surgery paid for by your insurer. They may pay you what they pay the surgeons in network, but you won't get that much in reimbursement. A fair number of insurance companies balk at speech and voice therapy, and many will not cover voice surgery. Then there is the issue of electrolysis. A day at the "spa" for electrolysis with anesthetics will run around 3,000 bucks or so, and you may need many repeat visits. Many of the insurers fail to pay for that as well. Just about none of the insurers will cover body contouring procedures such as a panniculectomy, or liposuction. When the insurance companies will just help us become our truest selves, then we will have progress with gender identity laws. The one good thing that this decision does is preserve the primary care for transgender individuals. I have to wonder how Florida and the rest of the states who have banned having Medicaid cover transgender healthcare are going to act. This should be an interesting fight. When we have the ability to seek care and get what we need for our true needs, without any pre-judgements, then these court orders will mean something. A court order without parameters for the insurance companies is hollow.
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