Good morning All. Coffees on.

[Erikka]

Hei alle sammen

i drove down 101 from Eureka to San Francisco today.  Smoke was horrible.  I have a pre op for some oral surgery. After the surgery I will have 6 months of a mostly liquid diet while the bone grafts heal, then implants

[Ivy]

Love those goggles 

Very steampunk!

[JustineM]

Well I did the thing lol. Got my ears done. I don’t have a good picture of them yet. Spent most of the afternoon out shopping and spent WAY to much money. The good (possibly bad?) thing was I got approved for a new credit card at the jewelry store that I got the piercing at. Also managed to snag some new nail polish and a couple other things. 

[Jani]

I'm glad to hear your wife is doing well @ElizabethStar.

 

I hope your back continues to heal @KymmieL.

 

I'm glad to hear you could get back to cycling @Berni.  You've got a great look going!

 

[Ivy]

1 hour ago, Erikka said:

i drove down 101 from Eureka to San Francisco today.  Smoke was horrible.

Yeah.   I saw the orange sun here in NC this morning.  

Yikes 

[Elizabeth Star]

I just finished my weekly session with my therapist. The director of the practice announced that they will not be giving Gender Dysphoria diagnosis's from now through the foreseeable future due to the current political climate. That it may cause some back-lash for the trans community. We were just starting to work on it too. I'm starting to get worried that HRT, gender marker and name change may be as far I'll able to go. Grant it, it's better than nothing but.....

[Ivy]

1 hour ago, ElizabethStar said:

I just finished my weekly session with my therapist. The director of the practice announced that they will not be giving Gender Dysphoria diagnosis's from now through the foreseeable future due to the current political climate.

Dang… This is is messed up! 

[Ivy]

1 hour ago, Jandi said:

the current political climate.

I mean…  how is a diagnosis political?

This is extremely depressing.

Maybe one needs to do as much as is possible, as quickly as possible.  

But is that wise?

I'm so tired of it all.

[Carolyn Marie]

I really don't understand what the clinic director is talking about.  Backlash from who, for what?  Who would know how many or which persons are being diagnosed with dysphoria?  It makes no sense.    

 

Carolyn Marie

[KendraML]

Been thinking about this weekend coming up,will be turning 42 on Saturday.My 16 year old son has been reminded very well to get a birthday card,have him this weekend.Ex wife and I have joint custody and I do pay child support on time.Mom made a reservation at a restaurant to celebrate my 42nd birthday

[Elizabeth Star]

I think it more due to the possibility of trans people losing  their basic rights and by diagnosing them then they're basically on a list of people who can be discriminated against. Also without a diagnosis I can't get treatment. I have fear that GCS may be of the table. This  is assuming things go completely wrong.

 

[Berni]

1 hour ago, ElizabethStar said:

I think it more due to the possibility of trans people losing  their basic rights and by diagnosing them then they're basically on a list of people who can be discriminated against. Also without a diagnosis I can't get treatment. I have fear that GCS may be of the table. This  is assuming things go completely wrong.

 

This sounds terrible Elizabeth. My heart goes out to you and, indeed everyone in the US during these times.

 

One of the reasons, as an Australian, we follow closely what is happening over there is not just a sense of solidarity with you all, but the ever present threat posed by developments in your country being copy-catted by our local conservative politicians.

 

For example the ex-leader of the labor party (equivalent of your democrats) recently attempted to have a bill passed in which it would be illegal for anyone associated with our department of education (including school counsellors) from providing any advice or support to students who present themselves as transgender (under threat of being fired). Apparently this is a matter exclusively for parents to deal with.  If passed, I'm not sure where this will leave me as a transgender teacher.

[Berni]

4 hours ago, Jandi said:

Love those goggles 

Very steampunk!

I firmly believe everyday should be a steampunk day.

[Heather Nicole]

I've alluded to this on a different topic, but I feel it deserves repeating here (and everywhere):

 

When will people finally see...What would it take to get people to finally see, that the #1 key to morality, ethics and justice is, and has always been this:

 

Nobody has any right to have any say or control over anyone else's life, as long as no one is being harmed. "My rights end where yours begin." (And don't even get me started on "Society is the victim": An absolutely pathetic, convenient, hand-waving excuse for making self-righteous intrusions on other people's personal freedoms in the "defense" of a conveniently fabricated imaginary "victim".)

 

"Your rights end where mine begin". "My rights end where yours begin." How hard is that, really? How hard is that??? Is isn't hard at all...until people start deciding they have a God-given right, nay, a moral obligation, to dictate the way all other people live their own personal lives and pervert the laws in favor of that twisted, bigoted persuit.

 

Ugh, forget everything else, just see Woody Allen's film "Whatever Works". Puts it all far better than I ever could. Anything less is just BS.

[Jacqui]

4 hours ago, Heathick said:

"Your rights end where mine begin". "My rights end where yours begin." How hard is that, really? How hard is that??? Is isn't hard at all...until people start deciding they have a God-given right, nay, a moral obligation, to dictate the way all other people live their own personal lives and pervert the laws in favor of that twisted, bigoted persuit.

 

In general I agree, but there is an additional gnarly aspect to this beyond a self-righteous impulse to dictate the way others live, to wit:

 

"Live however you want, but don't try to get a job where you could influence my kids!"

"Live however you want, but don't create a situation where my tax dollars pay for your GRS!"

"Live however you want, but don't demand laws that force insurance companies to pay for surgeries for 'bogus' conditions (like gender dysphoria) that drive up the rates of us 'normal' people!"

 

Bigoted attitudes like that can inspire conservative legislators to pass laws that protect the holders of those attitudes against the situations described (and discriminate against trans people in the process).  And while those attitudes are bigoted, the holders of those attitudes might say that such laws are needed because the situations described impinge on their rights.

 

Sometimes, deciding where rights begin and end CAN get pretty hard when you throw kids and money into the mix, and then view the whole mess through the lenses of different political persuasions.

 

Um, don't shoot the messenger, okay?

 

 

 

 

[Elizabeth Star]

10 hours ago, JustineM said:

Well I did the thing lol. Got my ears done.

Congrats, that so cool. It can be addictive though, like tattoos. I started out with one piercing when I was 15. Now I have 9. Three in one ear and 6 in the other.

[Willow]

@Jacquiat the risk of being tossed into the penalty box again, let me just say I am reading a book, “transitioning” by Austin Harke. John Knox Press, PCUSA bookstore or Amazon. It is written from the biblical perspective (rule ? Violation) so if you aren’t into that forget it but it explains why people are like what you describe.  Austin is ftm so he gets it.   You can also find him on YouTube.

 

Willow

[KymmieL]

One thing, unless the practice is breaking the law by disclosing information about their patients. How is anyone going to know the particulars of what diagnosis someone was given?

Do they put information on a billboard out front, "Joe smith has gender dysphoria"

 

Kymmie

[Willow]

Yes, I’m up very early today.  No sun, no birds.  Something trotted past the house a little while ago.  Our dog alerted to it also.  It seemed tall for a canine, tail too long for a deer, way too big for a fox.  No clue wait it was.  And no, I don’t live out in the country but in a developed area surrounded by homes and golf courses.

[Willow]

@KymmieLthats a good question.  I have a friend who is intersex.  She has fathered a baby with her wife but presents as a very cute young lady.  She and her wife got clocked as lesbians in a restaurant recently.  Mom mom and less than year old daughter. An older couple loud enough to be heard were ridiculing them and their life style.

[Emily michelle]

I love the picture Berni! I’m also into cycling it’s a such a great stress relief.

 

Its sad the state of affairs in this country now. I truly don’t understand why people have to be judged by there skin color, what they identify as, or who they love. Last time I checked we were all created equal. All that should matter is that we’re good people. That’s my rant for the day lol!

[Elizabeth Star]

1 hour ago, KymmieL said:

One thing, unless the practice is breaking the law by disclosing information about their patients. How is anyone going to know the particulars of what diagnosis someone was given?

Do they put information on a billboard out front, "Joe smith has gender dysphoria"

I honestly don't know all the details as to why they made that decision. I was too busy fighting back tears to listen any further. In the end I may need to find someone else. It'll really hard though. I've been seeing them for over a year. It's not like I can just put Liz back in a box until things get better. There is no box anymore.

[Heather Shay]

@Willow @ElizabethStar @Jandi @Bri2020 @JustineM so lovely to hear positive things going on in your lives. 

[Heather Nicole]

7 hours ago, Jacqui said:

"Live however you want, but don't try to get a job where you could influence my kids!"

"Live however you want, but don't create a situation where my tax dollars pay for your GRS!"

"Live however you want, but don't demand laws that force insurance companies to pay for surgeries for 'bogus' conditions (like gender dysphoria) that drive up the rates of us 'normal' people!"

...

Sometimes, deciding where rights begin and end CAN get pretty hard when you throw kids and money into the mix, and then view the whole mess through the lenses of different political persuasions.

 

Um, don't shoot the messenger, okay?

 

Oh, no worries, that really is a very fair, and accurate point. You're right that there are times when the lenses can get muddied. And I can get a little fired up and carried away about that stuff anyway...

[Bobbie Scott]

Good morning everyone.