Catching Up (almost) As Promised

Greetings friends,

Wow, suddenly, my life got very busy and only now am I able to start catching up from where I left off with last month. On Feb 27th representatives from the Transgender Law Center met with about 15-20 TG-folk and their allies from all over California’s Inland Empire and the High Desert area. The meeting was organized by Transgendered Soul (an I.E. TG support group) and was held at Redlands United Church of Christ. We discussed changing laws regarding name change and other areas of transition – including some of the problems I and others are having now that we are the new person on our driver’s license and still remain under the old identity with National level social services like Medicare. Thanks to the legacy of the Bush years and his goose-stepping puppet masters (like Cheney and Ashcroft) we are stuck with the confusion caused by the ill-planned Real ID act and other so called "security" measures. So things are more complicated for those that want to change their gender here than they used to be, but the Transgender Law Center in California is a great resource that is accessible on a personal level to help you navigate the system and to help you get on track again. Here are a few pictures from that event:

Then on March 4 at 7PM in Riverside we had a turnout of around 300 people for a candlelight vigil on the eve of the State Supreme Court’s opening of hearings on the validity of Prop 8. A relatively new group in the Inland Empire of which I am glad to be a part of tentatively called the “Inland Equality Steering Committee” organized this event. Since we are very new we have not formalized our name or logo or even a mission statement, but we are a very diverse group of representatives from the TLBG and ally community formed after the passing of Prop 8 and hopefully to bring greater awareness and cooperation throughout the inland LGBT community. I am expecting some very good things to start developing as a a result of the inter-community cooperation. This Vigil had great suport from people of faith too - the Pastor of the First Congregational Church in Riverside and many of the members turned out. Equal Rights, Marriage Equality and Faith are not mutually exclusive in Downtown Riverside!

And one visual commentary on recent multiple births – this costume seen at Mardi Gras – need I say more?

I hope you all are doing well. Shortly (whatever that means) I will post about my week-long trip around the Southwest. There were some amazing things found in what I had thought to be the least likely places... Stay tuned.

Hugs and Blessings,
Eva-Genevieve!

Pasadena Meet-up Pictures

Hey all,
Finally I have a couple hours at home and so here are some pictures and a video of the afternoon in Pasadena as promised. Thanks to the gals in the Los Angeles Exclusive Transgender & CrossDressers Group and to Randy DeTroit (http://www.cameramanforhire.net/) for being our personal Paparazzi for the outing.

(sorry the "Blogger" HTML editor is too lame to keep the pictures neatly lined up and I don't have time to keep trying - maybe someday they will make it simple and working well at the same time)

And the video too:

This was a lot of fun - thanks for coming out and thanks for watching too!

Pictures of other stuff to come in another week or so.
Hugs and Blessings,
Eva-Genevieve!

Things and Stuff

I just knew that shot would get your attention!

(Though I actually like yellow frilly underwear better).

I hosted an outing last Saturday to Pasadena for lunch and window shopping with some of the gals in the Los Angeles Exclusive Transgender & CrossDressers Group and this shot happened to be taken by my trusty cameraman Randy while we were at Victoria's Secret. Soon I will post more pictures from that event once that other people in them get a chance to approve them.

Meanwhile, I am not actually going to be ignoring my blog over the next few weeks, but I will be out of town a lot and very busy doing all this stuff with no car. For anyone in So. California’s “Inland Empire” there are a few happenings that may be of interest.

First, I know it is short notice, but tomorrow (Friday Feb 27) Transgendered Soul is hosting representatives from the Transgender Law Center for an information packed meeting at Redlands United Church of Christ (RUCC) form 7 to 9 PM. Come and find out about your rights and what you need to do to navigate the legal system properly during transition. The address is: 168 Bellevue Av, Redlands CA 92373 (Corner of Bellevue Ave and West Olive). The meeting is free but we do request a sonation if possible to help with the costs. Contact TG soul Int’l at tgsinfo@onekate.com for more info.

Next Wednesday the 4th of March - on the eve of the opening of the Calif Supreme Court hearings to (hopefully) overturn Prop 8 - there is a Candlelight vigil on the steps of Riverside City Hall an 7 PM - 3900 Main Street, Riverside, CA. Bring candles and appropriate signs and come out to support and help establish equality under the law.

Coming out to this vigil in particular will also help put the Inland Empire’s GLBT rights efforts on the map – this part of the State is often passed over by the organizers of the Marriage Equality movement and we want to change that.

Then, on March 9th, Chaffey College's GSA is hosting an "Ask a GLBT person" day on Campus starting at 10 AM. Contact Phillip or Corrine at chaffeygsa@yahoo.com for more details - I know they would love to have some more volunteers to come out and spend a day as part of a campus-wide panel of GLBT folk. The schools web site is www.chaffey.edu/ .

In closing I have to share this Commercial with you all - it is so amazing!

See you all in a couple weeks – play nice!
Hugs,

Eva-Genevieve!

Focus on the Family Is Not Our Friend!

We were all outraged by the reports of how the Mormons spent so much on lies and propaganda to win Prop 8 in California last year, but then there were the "Christian" groups. As a Christian of over 28 years I have come to see so called Christian morality based groups like Dobson's Focus on the Family as the kind of people that do the most harm to Christianity. They bring the opposite of peace and goodwill to humanity in general. What they teach sounds good to the simple minded but in reality it is full of prejudice and archaic dogma. It is the traditions of men simply rehashed and it is not of God to us in this age. Sometimes I dread to tell people that I am a Christian because of the shame these people have brought upon that name. As a Transgendered Christian girl I get very tired of being caught in the middle or having to hide a major part of the stuff that brings me joy in my life (I.E. being a Christian - yes a born again one in spite of what my detractors on both sides might say).

I have to presume people and groups that believe much like Dobson and company actually believe that what they do and stand for is good but they trample on so many good people in the process of pursuing their small minded agendas. I know that Jesus weeps over the damage they do to many of his "little ones". They have such a narrow view of the all inclusiveness of God and simply refuse to see anything in Scripture (I refer not to a specific translation but to the original content of the Scriptures) that allows for God to love all of His created ones just the way he created them like many of us in the TLGBQI community.

Another clear example of the results that come from the narrow "christian": view is seen in the excerpt below - copied from a post by the Human Rights Campaign:

"While there’s been much outrage about how much the Mormon church contributed to Prop 8 (almost $190K), it turns out that James Dobson’s Focus on the Family group and its supporters contributed over seven times more money to Prop 8 than the Mormons.

(And, ironically, it seems that FOTF was more focused on spending the dough to break up our families than in helping their own workers to take care of theirs. The group announced that it would let go 20% of their staff shortly after Prop 8 passed)."

(For the full article Click Here).

I spent many years in such a group in LA and I watched the damage we did to so many people happen right in front of my eyes - much like Paul did as he held the cloaks of and watched the "good" religious people stone Stephen. If there is anything I would do in my life it would be to somehow right those wrongs and reach out to the members of my community and to everyone around me and show them the true love of Jesus Christ for them. It is not a judgmental love at all, but one that encompasses all that a person is, all that was done in that person's past and all that that person will ever do. I have learned in my transition that God really is love and He (or She if you prefer feminine references) really is there for any and all that simply trust him - even with the tiniest bit of shaky trust at first.

So remember, when some so called Christian comes at you with judgment to offer about who you are, that this is not the Spirit of Christ at all but likely one of false religion. Whenever I encounter these ideals I must speak out against them. What we all can do about countering these groups is be as vocal and visible as possible working peacefully and side by side with each other and our straight allies to counter their propaganda. They have a right to believe what they want but we have a right to not be hassled or discriminated against publicly by those that do and it is time we claim that right as a community.

OK so much for my two cents tonight - have a blessed evening and day tomorrow.
Hugs,
Eva-Genevieve!

Breaking News - GLASS files for Chapter 7

See the following article on "Pam's House Blend".

I think you will be as appalled as I am this morning.
here's the link:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=FAC285379A07BCD30B81FAC4FB8FA365?diaryId=9533


More than ever I believe that we all in the TBLGQI... community start to pull together on supporting each part of the "community" so that more disasters like this don't happen. I hear this same sort of sentiment a lot these days and I believe it is this fragmenting of community effort that lost us the battle for Marriage Equality this time out. Some say "I support only Marriage Equality issues" and others say "I won't help on that cause because of how we got left out of ENDA" and so on, but the end result is we all get sold short. Don't you see that we are all in this together whether we like it or not.

We are all important and our issues are important, so we all need to stand together, especially for our children!!

Regards,
Eva-Genevieve! Scarborough

Valentines Day wishes

I hope Valentine's Day was as nice for you as it was for me today. This picture was taken tonight after I got home from a nice dinner with a very nice lady I met recently. I never did get any pictures from last weekend so I can't keep my promise to show the Dickens Festival this time around after all, but I had a very nice time away from my usual routine.

I also would like to welcome my new blog followers and say welcome ladies! It's nice to have you tagging along.

Hugs and blessings to you all
Eva-Genevieve!

Transgender or Intersexed

Hi all,

In one of my on-line support groups someone posted about an NPR interview with the author of a book about being Intersexed. I did not hear the article, but the idea of how we label ourselves seems like blog fodder to me, and I was sitting here thinking I had been too quiet since I got home, so...

I personally believe that being born with the emotional hard-wiring typical of a female and a body typically male would count as "IS". I believe that the term Intersex encompasasses transgenderd individuals or at least those that are transsexual as I believe myself to be. I had no control of my physical and emotional form at birth and both are equal parts of who I am - at least I have been unable to isolate or seperate the two halves (and trying for many years was tantamount to insanity), so now I attempt to live with the two parts in harmony rather than in opposition - this is another way of describing the self-acceptance and self awareness I have found in transition. For the most part this works and my life now makes sense to me. One can't seperate the physical from the emotional either in the description of a person's life or in the living of it, so therefore I claim to be IS. Those that would say otherwise don't live in my head (thank God, because it is already too cramped in here) or my body and obviously they do not know how I was built or what it is to be me. However IS is a label that many people do not understand so I commonly refer to myself simply as a trans-woman - it saves a lot of tedious explanation to people that really don't care about who I am.

Hugs,
Eva-Genevieve!

Outrage and a necessary break from routine...

Monday past I got some bad news. Medicare has decided to quit paying for my hormones because they believe me to be a man and in spite of my doctor's prescriptions I guess they feel it is their duty to protect me somehow from the prescribed and relatively tried and true solution to my life-long conundrum. They also refuse to accept California's laws under which I am legally considered to be female even though while I reside in Calif. I am required to conform to the state laws. Why is it so f-ing difficult for people to get past such arbitrary and archaic issues as gender!

I get so tired of people that do not even know me telling me what I can and can't do and what is proper and healthy. Why do they even care about my gender - my doctor is quite capable of determining what is proper and necessary for my health maintenance and for corrective medical measures. I am so angry at these fools that I can't even think clearly about what I should or even can do to fight this new battle right now. With even fewer resources now that I will have to pay out of pocket for my monthly needs - obviously I am not going to stop transition, but it sure will make my goal that much harder to reach. Maybe I should start begging for donations.

I will also be spending a week in Riverside, away from my computer and e-mail (and trying to calm my outrage at Medicare and idiot "gatekeepers" in general by doing something totally new for me) so things will be quiet here in my corner for a while. If anyone happens to come into Riverside for the Dickens Festival, please come around to the First Congregational Church (on the corner of Mission Inn and Lemon in downtown Riverside) especially for Sunday service at 10 AM or maybe "The Queen's Tea" or one of the other events in the olde English style held there over the weekend and ask around for me - I will be around somewhere (maybe even in period costume serving tables) would love to say hi to you in person. Hopefully I will have a bunch of new pictures to post when I get back too

Have fun but don't get caught. (And play nice)!
Hugs,
Eva-Genevieve!

Asserting Ones Self

Some of you that know me know that I am always encouraging transgender folk to come out into the open and participate in important local and national social issues like the Marriage Equality Movement here in California. Many of us either in transition or before developed a tendency to stay hidden, and that is understandable because the beginnings of transition for many are a very traumatic time. I am a strong believer in being assertive for our rights and for those of others and of living our true lives right out in the open so others get used to our presence, but it does take a change in mind-set to get out here.

I myself in the years approaching transition began more and more to be nervous and withdrawn because I felt so uncomfortable with myself and the final few before I finally began to change in earnest were very dark days. I had accepted that I had to incorporate the feminine aspects of myself into my daily life and those days were very strange and certainly not very pretty ones and much of the old me had to be shed or unlearned to make room for more appropriate things - this covered everything from personal hygiene to poise, appearance and speech and even included a complete change in the people and activities I allow into my life.

I had, in effect re-invented myself. This was a necessary part of my growth. Soon after starting transition in earnest on April 24th 2006 I discovered that I had redefined my personal boundaries and I realized that who I was becoming was worth every effort to protect and nurture into wholeness, so I began to actively watch and patrol these personal borders I had discovered.

I discovered who I am and what I want and hope for in this life and now in ways that press me towards that goal I assert myself. I stand my own ground and I direct my life when I can rather than just letting it happen - I am not a victim of circumstance unless I let myself be one. This has freed me from a lot of unnecerssary stress and frustration and gives me the ability to simply enjoy being me.

A couple days ago I read a great post and commentary along the same lines of assertiveness and defining ones self called "Reinvention and Recurrance". I think you might find it very interesting. The blog is TransCanada and often Véronique is quite insightful. This one is well worth a read:

“One of the side effects of transition doesn't have anything directly to do with gender. Transition is an opportunity to reinvent yourself. I've gone through the reinvention process several times in my life already (which is why I sometimes say I've crammed several lives into the one I have), but transition affords a particularly good opportunity for change.

Often, people who are close to us don't allow us to change, at least not much. They are used to us the way we are. Even if we do change, sometimes friends and family don't see it, and in not seeing it, or in seeing it and objecting to it, they exert pressure against the change, sometimes to the point of sabotaging it.”…

For the rest follow this link:

http://tgnotwhatyouthink.blogspot.com/2009/01/reinvention-and-recurrence.html

Hugs and Blessings,
Eva-Genevieve! Scarborough

Activists and wannabe activists - Check this out...

Camp Courage - hosted by The Courage Campain - is a golden opportunity to learn how to become more effective in promoting GLBT Equal Rights.

These videos pretty much tell the story:


Cleve Jones is perhaps best known for working closely with Harvey Milk after Milk's election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the 1970's, highlighted in the film MILK. Cleve is the founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and is currently working for UNITE-HERE, leading their "Sleep With the Right People" campaign, which aims to convince LGBT tourists to stay only in hotels that respect the rights of their workers.

This clip includes excerpts from Cleve's remarks at the Camp Courage Kickoff Reception on Saturday night, January 24, before Sunday's training event:


To sign up for a future Camp Courage follow this link:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/CampCourageArmy

Hugs and blessings,
Eva-Genevieve!