Ask a trans person!

[The Oopster]

Originally Posted by MickMan

Hey guys,

I have been with Stroheckers for about 5 years now. First with IM and starting in 2009 cream. The first few times I ordered from them, I got 3 months or 90 grams and following the directions of 1/4 tsp. After a few months I got a shipment in that was only one jar instead of two. I called and talked to Brett, who is now no longer there and he said they started shipping out only 2 months because everyone was complaining that there is too much meds. I thought it was fishy but just went along with it thinking they were ploying for more money.

With the new laws on meds in FL, I now have to see the doc every time I need a refill so I asked her to be sure to send in a script for 3 months, not the two they have been sending. When I got it in, it was the same amount and when I called Strocheckers, they said that they have not changed anything and that it was the same three month supply that I have been getting.

They gave me dates where the first 3 orders were 3 months apart and then it went to two, but there is no record of me calling in and now they are saying it is my fault. I am having issues with them and my doc now. I have a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon to be sure I am using the correct amount.

I am curious if anyone else is having issues with Strocheckers? Is anyone else on the cream and did the amount go down? Any input would be appreciated.

Sorry I have never gotten my creme through them and have always had good experiences with them. However i do tend to use less of mine then prescribed so mine is always lasting way past the time to renew.

[MickMan]

Originally Posted by The Oopster

Sorry I have never gotten my creme through them and have always had good experiences with them. However i do tend to use less of mine then prescribed so mine is always lasting way past the time to renew.

Thanks man. Yeah until now I ahve had great experiences. Not sure whats going on.

[Logicaly]

I don't use the cream, but I do get my prescription through them as well. I haven't been using them that long, and have only had to refill once in the time I have been on T and for the most part, they have been good. The only issue I have had with them is when it came time for my refill they only sent me needles for injecting, not for drawing the T into the syringe. They promptly sent me more, which was great, and I have not otherwise had any issues. For me, with my current dosing level mine easily lasts for 3 months.

I wouldn't mind going with a local company, but honestly so far, this has worked for me, and its not too expensive either.

[MickMan]

Got it taken care of. I went to my doc and talkd to her about it and she said that there was indeed an issue with the cream. She gave me another script to take to a local compounding pharm that she recommended and I got 4 months for a savings of about 50 bucks off of what I was paying for 2 months and they put it in pre-measured syringe type dispensers.

Super great service and better price and LOCAL!!

Atkinsons Pharm on Kingsley Ave, in case anyone is interested. Talk to Kelly. He is a super nice guy.

[Martina]

What do you think of the glitter bombing of Dan Savage?

[Linus]

Originally Posted by Martina

What do you think of the glitter bombing of Dan Savage?

I thought it was a very sparkly moment.

That said, I don't know if he realizes that the very things that he doesn't like that happen against the GL community he may be very well doing to the trans community. Terms (at least for me) like "shemale" or "tranny" doesn't sit well with me. Granted it was 2003 in one piece in particular that he did this but I don't know if he's really acknowledged it or what he's done.

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Martina

What do you think of the glitter bombing of Dan Savage?

Honestly, the whole "glitter bombing" thing is not something I really understand. I'm not really sure where it came from or why it seems so popular now. In many respects I feel like it detracts from the seriousness of the forms of discrimination that people are speaking out against. On the other hand, it attracts more attention to it, where people would have otherwise ignored it.

From everything I've read, Dan Savage is an unapologetic transphobe, and I think it's important to point out why since he's a popular public figure. A lot of people espouse similar beliefs to his on trans folks, while still claiming to be "trans allies," just as he does. Whether glitter bombing him will help raise awareness or not on why certain behaviours and statements are transphobic remains to be seen.

I liked this take on it, though: http://www.bilerico.com/2011/11/dan_..._transphob.php

Yesterday evening Dan Savage visited the University of Oregon campus in Eugene as a part of his tour filming his show Savage U for MTV. While the details are not entirely clear, apparently a representative from the "Dan Savage Welcoming Committee" rushed the stage to glitter bomb the celebrity sex columnist along with the statement "Dan Savage is a transphobe!"

As they turned tail, they added, "Glitterbomb courtesy of the Dan Savage Welcoming Committee," and just before they got out the door, "He's a racist and misogynist and a rape-apologist, too!" The operative then fled the scene.
--Statement by Dan Savage Welcoming Committee

Dan Savage has made it clear that he intends to be an ally to trans people, but he's certainly been a very inconsistent ally. Sometimes he apologizes for his transphobic actions, such as when he was criticized for saying that a Republican politician was trans as a way to insult him. Other times, he ridicules those who point out his transphobic actions, depicts them as over-sensitive, irrational, and so forth. He occasionally uses the power of his popularity to bring attention to important trans issues, but he refuses to listen to trans people when they tell him what he is doing is causing harm.

It's interesting to see the response to all this in a public glitter bombing. Savage has yet to release any statement on the matter, but it's likely to be pretty similar to his statement in an interview with David Badash last month.

"How do you disprove a charge like you're transphobic? I'm not afraid of trans people." Savage then goes into a mimicking voice, knowing not to say, "One of my friends is trans," but does say that he has a friend who is trans who comes to his house for Christmas. "We hang out all the time," Savage says. "I certainly have had a journey in the last 20 years--as have we all--on trans issues. When I started writing Savage Love 20 years ago, and you can yank quotes 15, 18 years ago and flat them up today and say, 'You know, that's transphobic,' I'd probably agree with you. 15 years ago I didn't know as much as I know now--nor did anybody."

The problem I see here is that an ally in any anti-oppression movement should not be focused on disproving the fact that they are influenced by prejudice. In doing so, he paints himself into an adversarial relationship with the trans activists who he tries to discredit in order to prove his worth. I would argue that it's probably impossible to avoid internalizing prejudicial messages. The best thing any ally can do is take responsibility for those influences and seek to be accountable for them. Yet Dan Savage is too busy dodging responsibility to actually internalize an understanding of what he is doing that is wrong.

Because while it was 8 years ago that he titled a column "Bad Tranny" where he admonished a trans woman for coming out, it was only two years ago that he used the term "shemale" to refer to trans women. Just one year ago, several weeks in succession, first when a caller discusses watching trans porn, he admits that he knows he shouldn't use either derogatory term, but declares that it's okay to do so when referencing porn and proceeds to joyfully sling around the word "tranny" ten times in about two minutes and tosses in "shemale" a few times for good measure. Then repeats his previous assertion that men who are attracted to trans women cannot be considered completely straight. A week later he verbally thrashes a trans person who got upset at being mispronouned. Then finally, he reassures a man who likes women with strap-ons that he is 100% straight as long as the cock that he's attracted to is attached to a woman - which apparently means he doesn't consider trans women to be women, or else he would have said the same thing to the guy who watches trans porn.

I have to wonder, with all that Dan Savage claims to have learned in the past 15 years, has he learned how to be less transphobic or has he only learned how to sound less transphobic while still putting out equally damaging statements?

I could go on, but his behavior has already been well documented by other bloggers, such as Masculine Toast, Bi Furious, Greta Christina, and FuckNoDanSavage. The bottom line is that when challenged on his various prejudicial influences, Dan Savage tells his critics to patiently wait for him while it gets better. This glitterbomb is one of many responses that demand, "Make it better."

[girl_dee]

Hi there,

For the transmen,

I've seen many of you for a long while now on the boards, through your journeys, and I've always wondered about something.

If you are transitioning or already transitioned, what affect did it have on your relationship if you were, or are in one? I recently watched a documentary that showed the femme deciding she could not stay with her partner because he was going to start T, and transition. She truly loved him, but felt she would lose her lesbian card and truly did not want to be with a man. In the end she did stay, but her fear was that the change would change her partner so much, she would not be able to stay.


Someone earlier asked if anyone has dealt with being questioned as to why a lesbian would date a transman. I was just wondering if this happens often.

[SelfMadeMan]

I am married to a queer identified woman... she knew I was transitioned when we met - I had been transitioned for years, so even though she didn't have to deal with the person she loved changing genders in the relationship, she did have to deal with how it affected her own identity. She still IDs as queer, she still thinks women are hot, she just happened to fall in love with a transman

As for why a lesbian would date a transman... I don't think we necessarily choose who to love, sometimes love chooses us.

[girl_dee]

Originally Posted by SelfMadeMan

I am married to a queer identified woman... she knew I was transitioned when we met - I had been transitioned for years, so even though she didn't have to deal with the person she loved changing genders, she did have to deal with how it affected her own identity. She still IDs as queer, she still thinks women are hot, she just happened to fall in love with a transman

That's quite a woman ya got there!

[msW8ing]

*snipped*

Originally Posted by SelfMadeMan

As for why a lesbian would date a transman... I don't think we necessarily choose who to love, sometimes love chooses us.

So very well said..everyone should be so blessed to find what you and your wife have.

[SelfMadeMan]

Originally Posted by Cajun_dee

That's quite a woman ya got there!

Thank you so much for that.... she is incredible, she is one of the most - ok, the most, honest person I've ever knowm. She's genuine, she's generous, she's funny and she's my whole world

[The Oopster]

Blows the dust off here!

Hey thought I'd throw something out there!

In a week I'm going to meet up with an Aunt and Uncle and their son and his family.

As far as I know they have no clue of my trans status! Right now I'm just figuring to just show up and make no big deal of it! I don't foresee any issues with them or I would address it before hand. In this case it just seems easiest to handle it as it comes.

When I came out as gay 10 years ago they were very very excepting! Even my tough navy officer uncle!

I'm staying with the cousin but I have hotel reservations for that night that I can cancel up til 4 pm that night and will hang onto them til that day. That's also partly due to health issues my uncle and aunt have. Figure it's just easier to hold onto it and cancel it when i'm sure I don't need it!

any thoughts?

[Linus]

Originally Posted by The Oopster

Blows the dust off here!

Hey thought I'd throw something out there!

In a week I'm going to meet up with an Aunt and Uncle and their son and his family.

As far as I know they have no clue of my trans status! Right now I'm just figuring to just show up and make no big deal of it! I don't foresee any issues with them or I would address it before hand. In this case it just seems easiest to handle it as it comes.

When I came out as gay 10 years ago they were very very excepting! Even my tough navy officer uncle!

I'm staying with the cousin but I have hotel reservations for that night that I can cancel up til 4 pm that night and will hang onto them til that day. That's also partly due to health issues my uncle and aunt have. Figure it's just easier to hold onto it and cancel it when i'm sure I don't need it!

any thoughts?

I'm always amazed at how well my family receives me. The biggest challenge with distant relatives (my aunts and uncles live in Canada so I only see them maybe once or twice a year) is that they forget pronouns. Personally I don't make it a big deal because I see them so rarely. They try and still love me for who I am (the more important fact, IMO).

I think you have a plan and if things don't go well, you have an out if need be. Just be positive and open to any questions. Do you think they know? (say from other family members)

[Nadeest]

It sounds like a good plan to me. I'd also have a way to get out of there quickly, just in case. Then again, I'm not particularly trusting, either.

[The Oopster]

Originally Posted by Linus

I'm always amazed at how well my family receives me. The biggest challenge with distant relatives (my aunts and uncles live in Canada so I only see them maybe once or twice a year) is that they forget pronouns. Personally I don't make it a big deal because I see them so rarely. They try and still love me for who I am (the more important fact, IMO).

I think you have a plan and if things don't go well, you have an out if need be. Just be positive and open to any questions. Do you think they know? (say from other family members)

They possibly could but the only people the would hear it from would be my parents and I just don't see my parents having said anything because they are pretty private.

Certain people get passes on the pronouns and name game, that's really not an issue for me, I just really try to be sensitive to the other people involved and the best way to deal with it for them. Some of my other relatives I would definitely deal with it before hand but this side of the family is pretty laid back.

[Nadeest]

When I started my transition, I didnt expect my family and those that had known me for large numbers of years to automatically start calling me by my new name. Mind you, these people are few in number, but I do have to try to cut them some slack. It has got to be hard for them to adjust to referring to me by my new name, and thinking of me as a different gender then what they are used to.

[pajama]

So I hope this is the right place.

The Boy and I are watching Girls will be Boys. And we started discussing something that I have noticed before and wondered about.

While I understand that trans people feel/look/genitally are one gender, chromosomaly they are of another gender. So I would think chromosomes are what determines hair pattern. But obviously this is not so.....

How is it that FTMs end up with male hairlines, i.e. male pattern baldness? Is it the T that causes hair loss because of its steroid nature?

Thanks for any feedback.
A

[Liam]

Originally Posted by pajara2

How is it that FTMs end up with male hairlines, i.e. male pattern baldness? Is it the T that causes hair loss because of its steroid nature?

Thanks for any feedback.
A

A male hairline does not necessarily equate to male pattern baldness, and yes, usually its the T that makes the male hairline. A female hairline is generally rounder than a male hairline. As for male pattern baldness, the general response is that genetics determine that, just like it does for female pattern baldness.

[Linus]

So I've run into an odd situation at work. First a bit of background (for those unaware): I started my transition back in 2007-2008. I've been on T since 2008 and had top surgery last year. I have not had my I.D. gender changed yet because of the whole visa/green card stuff (the US gov't doesn't seem to care so that's fine). For my company I'm a technical trainer and sometimes we do what are known as "onsites" where a customer pays for a trainer to come and train their employees at their facility.

Recently, we had one customer who wants me (specifically) to come and teach. They happen to be an airline and they wanted to book the ticket on their airline. That, in itself, isn't an issue. However, the person organizing it (and likely to be a student) wanted the necessary info, which (as per TSA), means name and gender being given out. This made me go "no, not doing it" and told my company that. The airline company finally agreed to let me book the ticket myself (it then ends up with some random stranger rather than the person booking the course) and I still book the flight with them.

I'll say it again: I love the company I work for. They protected my privacy while still meeting the needs of the customer.