Texas Changes Transgender DL Policy

Texas Quietly Issued A Policy To Stop Trans People From Updating Their Driver’s Licenses

The new policy comes two years after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sought to gather information on the number of trans Texans who'd requested sex marker and name changes. 

By Lil Kalish
Aug 21, 2024

My Note: This could impact Voting! 

Transgender Texans are no longer able to update the sex marker listed on their state driver’s licenses, even if they have officially updated their birth certificates or other legal documents, according to an internal policy issued by Texas’ Department of Public Safety this week.

“Effective immediately, August 20, 2024, the Department will not accept court orders or amended birth certificates issued that change the sex when it differs from documentation already on file,” Sheri Gipson, the chief of Texas’ Driver License Division, wrote in an email reviewed by HuffPost. The Texas Newsroom, Austin’s NPR affiliate, first reported the policy change on Wednesday.

“For current DL/ID holders, the sex established at the time of original application and listed in the driver record will not be changed unless there was a clerical error,” the policy stated. Texans who have already changed their gender marker will still be able to renew their driver’s licenses and IDs.

In an email with the subject line “Court Order Notice to Employees,” Gipson also wrote that all documentation about requests for court-ordered sex marker changes will be scanned and sent to the department via an internal email address, along with the customer’s name and driver’s license number.

“This email address is for internal reporting only and should not be shared with customers,” Gipson’s email stated.

Until Tuesday, the Texas Department of Public Safety had a “gender change” policy that allowed residents to update their sex marker with a court order or updated birth certificate. That policy is no longer available on the state’s website.

The new guidance creates a new set of barriers for trans Texans who need correct IDs to participate in areas of public life like voting, going to airports and banks and applying for jobs.

The new policy could affect many of the the 92,000 trans adults in Texas, Brad Pritchett, the interim CEO of LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Texas, said in a statement to HuffPost.

“This new policy from DPS denies trans people the minimum respect of having a state ID that reflects their identity,” Prtichett wrote. “Now DPS has created a system to log every request for a gender marker change. Texans will now be subject to involuntary surveillance for simply trying to update a government document. There is no clear reason why this information would be useful to the DPS nor is there a legitimate reason to deny gender marker updates on driver’s licenses.”

Read More...

Political Cartoons 9-29-2024

 

It's A Good Time To Revisit What Project 2025 Would Mean For Hurricane Forecasts

HuffPost:(Sep 26, 2024,): Project 2025 ― the sweeping policy blueprint that GOP operatives, including dozens of former Trump administration officials, compiled to guide a second Trump term ― calls for a future Republican administration to “break up” the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA is the parent agency of the 154-year-old National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center.

“The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be dismantled and many of its functions eliminated, sent to other agencies, privatized, or placed under the control of states and territories,” reads the 920-page manifesto. 

My Note: The reality of climate change is too "hot to handle" so, kill the messenger! 

While Trump has attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, claiming he has “no idea who is behind it,” A CNN review identified at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration who played a role in its creation.

Court filing: 'Lies' about Haitians, Springfield merit 'immediate arrest' of Trump, Vance

Trump says he will ‘protect’ women. Many don’t see it that way.

Washington Post: At 11:42 p.m. [September 25th), Trump took to social media blaring in all capital letters that in a second Trump term, women will “NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION.” Trump wrote.

“I WILL PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE. THEY WILL FINALLY BE HEALTHY, HOPEFUL, SAFE, AND SECURE. THEIR LIVES WILL BE HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL, AND GREAT AGAIN,” 

____________________

Wikipedia: Donald Trump has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, including non-consensual kissing or groping, by at least 25 women since the 1970s.

In November 2022, [E. Jean] Carroll filed a suit against Trump for battery under the Adult Survivors Act. On May 9, 2023, a New York jury in a civil case found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll, but found him not liable for rape. They awarded Carroll US$5 million in damages. A September 2023 partial summary judgment again found Trump liable for defaming Carroll. On January 26, 2024, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages.

Just Because...

 

Is There Anyone Left...

 That believes Climate Change is a Hoax?

 Why was Hurricane Helene so bad? Fossil fuel pollution.

From Angela Fritz, CNN Senior Weather & Climate Editor

My Note: Simply put, I had been watching the global models (mostly the GFS) for the last 10 days. On several model runs the predicted central pressures were off the charts. Had there been categories 6 and 6.5 that is what the computers saw. Hurricane Helene was bound to be a major disaster. The early tracking ran close to actual; even 10 day out. Have our extreme climate chances become that predictable? 

________________

 

CNN: The atmosphere, warmed by more than a century of fossil fuel pollution, is hotter now than it was in pre-industrial times. That means it can hold more moisture, which wrings out as torrential rain in storms like Helene, triggering deadly flooding not just in Florida but across the Southeast.

Helene also rapidly intensified twice before it reached Florida, because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is off-the-charts warm — much like the rest of the Atlantic. More than 90% of warming around the globe over the past 50 years has taken place in the oceans, and it’s making storms more likely to undergo these rapid intensification cycles.

Sea levels in Florida are as much as 8 inches higher than they were in 1950. The speed of that rise is increasing too. This translates to higher storm surge.

Across the board, Helene was a hurricane supercharged by climate change.

“For decades now, scientists have been warning us that extreme weather events will be exacerbated by this blanket of carbon pollution we’ve been wrapping around our planet,” said Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy. “But as a human, it is shocking to see the devastation occurring in front of our eyes, affecting the people and places we know and love.”

Hurricane expert Jeff Masters tallied up some numbers last night that speak for themselves:

There have now been eight Category 4 or 5 hurricane landfalls on US soil in the past eight years. That’s as many as the entire 57 years that came before it.

 

His cult still believe that.

Nine West Sandals - If The Shoe Fits...

      Nine West Wantit Flat Slide Sandals

I live in a strange region where sandals, like the ones above, are a year round foot cover. I love people-watching at the mall and without question 75% of the shoppers have on a flat flip-flop of one type or another. I have always called flip-flop the "Official Shoe of Florida". 

This was not a "If the shoe fits - buy it in every color" scenario. However, close. Just for the record there are seven colors. These are part of the Nine West NUDES COLLECTION.  I purchased one pair at a great discount and then the other two colors at an even better price; ($19.00 - always watch for sales and 9W discounts).

These are not shoes that will last many seasons. On the hot Florida parking lot asphalt, the rubber bottoms will likely not hold up well.  However, they are stylish and cute for the price. A great casual look with jeans and shorts.  

Check out the other shoes in the 9W Nudes Collection.  Cute Shoes!      

A collection of natural shades
 that compliment a range of skin tones.

         

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

 

Why Robert Pirsig’s 1974 Book Still Resonates Today. The author’s meditation on technology treads a whole new path in the modern, digital world. A modern discussion on the book's reverence today.

By :Matthew B. Crawford October 2020

My Note: I have enjoyed motorized 2 wheel riding since I was 14.  My neighbor in VA. at the height of "You Meet The Nicest People On A Honda" wave, bought a Honda 90.  It would do 50mph going downhill with a tail wind.  He needed a place to store it and he worked a second shift job.  I traded my grandfather's, now unused chicken house plus gas, and maintenance  for riding it while he was at work.  I was hooked.  A Honda 350, 500 and 750 followed  along with other manufacturers two wheel beauties. All of which demanded customization and maintenance.

Riding has been an dangerous trill every since. More later on my latest iteration and the upgrades I have install myself.  Yes the "“metaphysics of quality”. Working on the bike, then joying your efforts on the open road. Truly "open".   

__________________

1974
Still Available on Amazon

Reading Robert Pirsig's description of a road trip today, one feels bereft. In his 1974 autobiographical novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, he describes an unhurried pace over two-lane roads and through thunderstorms that take the narrator and his companions by surprise as they ride through the North Dakota plains. They register the miles in subtly varying marsh odors and in blackbirds spotted, rather than in coordinates ticked off. Most shocking, there is a child on the back of one of the motorcycles. When was the last time you saw that? The travelers’ exposure—to bodily hazard, to all the unknowns of the road—is arresting to present-day readers, especially if they don’t ride motorcycles. And this exposure is somehow existential in its significance: Pirsig conveys the experience of being fully in the world, without the mediation of devices that filter reality, smoothing its rough edges for our psychic comfort.

If such experiences feel less available to us now, Pirsig would not be surprised. Already, in 1974, he offered this story as a meditation on a particular way of moving through the world, one that felt marked for extinction. The book, which uses the narrator’s road trip with his son and two friends as a journey of inquiry into values, became a massive best seller, and in the decades since its publication has inspired millions to seek their own accommodation with modern life, governed by neither a reflexive aversion to technology, nor a naive faith in it. At the heart of the story is the motorcycle itself, a 1966 Honda Super Hawk. Hondas began to sell widely in America in the 1960s, inaugurating an abiding fascination with Japanese design among American motorists, and the company’s founder, Soichiro Honda, raised the idea of “quality” to a quasi-mystical status, coinciding with Pirsig’s own efforts in Zen to articulate a “metaphysics of quality.” Pirsig’s writing conveys his loyalty to this machine, a relationship of care extending over many years. I got to work on several Hondas of this vintage when I ran a motorcycle repair shop in Richmond, Virginia. Compared to British bikes of the same era, the Hondas seemed more refined. (My writing career grew out of these experiences—an effort to articulate the human element in mechanical work.)

In the first chapter, a disagreement develops between the narrator and his riding companions, John and Sylvia, over the question of motorcycle maintenance. Robert performs his own maintenance, while John and Sylvia insist on having a professional do it. This posture of non-involvement, we soon learn, is a crucial element of their countercultural sensibility. They seek escape from “the whole organized bit” or “the system,” as the couple puts it; technology is a death force, and the point of hitting the road is to leave it behind. The solution, or rather evasion, that John and Sylvia hit on for managing their revulsion at technology is to “Have it somewhere else. Don’t have it here.” The irony is they still find themselves entangled with The Machine—the one they sit on.

Anyone else remember the book?

  

Feminine Differential - Statement Shoes

 

Red Pumps 

What is a statement shoe?

For statement shoes, a factor that could be considered is that of the bold use of colour throughout the shoe. To ensure a clean incorporation of the style, try and match the colours in the pattern of an outfit to that of the shoe to bring together the look in an effortless way.

AI Overview:  A statement shoe is a shoe that is eye-catching and stands out from everyday footwear. Statement shoes can be characterized by: 

• Bold colors: Statement shoes can feature bold colors or patterns that match an outfit. 
  
  
• Embellishments: Statement shoes can have embroidery, cut outs, or other embellishments. 
  
  
• Height: Statement shoes can be outrageous in height, such as with heel height, boot shaft length, or platform.

ACLU - Freedom To Be

  Joy, Family, & Transgender Rights

Read individual Stories here

Support Transgender Youth

With a landmark Supreme Court case on the horizon, transgender people and their families speak out about the freedoms at stake.

The “Freedom To Be” campaign shows transgender people and their families from across the country finding joy and community, grounded in the basic principle that we all deserve the freedom to control our own families, bodies, and lives.

In the last three years, politicians across the country have put themselves between transgender people, our families, and our doctors. This fall, the Supreme Court will hear from families and doctors challenging a state law banning hormone therapy for trans adolescents. For many trans youth, this medical care gives them the freedom to be who they really are.

The freedom to be loved, to be safe, to be trusted with decisions about our own health care. That’s what we are fighting for. Learn more below about our storytellers, their families, and how they are advocating for their freedom to be.

The Con Man...

Trump, Once The Man Who Couldn’t Be Bought, Is Now Up For Sale

By Kevin Robillard

Sep 22, 2024

The Republican presidential nominee is openly handing out favors to big donors in an unprecedented fashion.

In June 2015, former President Donald Trump infamously came down a golden escalator and declared himself the man who couldn’t be bought.

“I’m using my own money

Trump said in the opening speech of his presidential election campaign. “I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich.”

Trump, who did self-fund large portions of his 2016 primary campaign, would return to this theme again and again. He would run against a field of more mainstream GOP politicians, each backed by super PACs filled with million-dollar checks from wealthy donors, and then against Democrat Hillary Clinton, who many voters saw as the embodiment of a moneyed class of Washington insiders.

Now, almost a decade later, he is running as a candidate who is openly for sale. He has said he’ll offer plum jobs to major donors like Elon Musk, promised favors to oil executives, bragged to the wealthy about the tax cuts he can deliver and has even taken time away from his campaign to pitch a cryptocurrency project for his sons.

Americans can even buy DJT on the stock market, in the form of shares in the publicly traded holding company that owns his social media site, Truth Social. That company’s revenues are meager, with the share price hitting all-time lows, but it’s still being propped up by the former president’s loyal political fandom.

“He just thinks he operates in his own world,” Fred Wertheimer, a veteran of decades of fights over campaign finance and government ethics, told HuffPost. “What he’s doing is incredibly brazen in both asking for large amounts of money and telling people what he’s going to do for them in return.”

“Bottom line, I’ve never seen anyone do what he’s doing,” Wertheimer said.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.

His new strategy may have created an opening for Democrats, if Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign can seize it.

In a survey released before the presidential debate, the Pew Research Center found the presidential race tied, 49% for Harris to 49% for Trump. Buried in those results, Pew noted one area where most Americans said they had little faith in either presidential candidate: Just 37% of Americans thought they could trust Trump to get money out of politics, and only 32% said the same of Harris.

‘Always Will Be A Con Man’

Despite his rhetoric, Trump did little to “drain the swamp” upon taking office. He failed to follow through on a promise to divest his business holdings. His hotel quickly became a gathering spot where those hoping to win Trump’s favor could also line his pockets. He appointed lobbyists to key government positions overseeing defense, trade and environmental protection. He took in up to $160 million from international business deals while he was president.

“He has and always will be a con man who’s really only looking out for himself and whatever helps him to obtain power,” said Tiffany Mueller, the president of the Democratic campaign finance group End Citizens United. “All his promises went out the window. Instead of draining the swamp, he brought the swamp to him and his properties and cashed in.”

Trump’s corruption was not a central issue for President Joe Biden’s campaign in 2020. Once Biden was in office, Democrats pitched their signature government reform legislation mostly as a way to protect voting rights.

Trump, meanwhile, has continued to intermingle his political and business interests since leaving the presidency, even though he sold his hotel. Beyond the crypto project and Truth Social, Trump is also selling Bibles, NFT trading cards, sneakers, and as of this week, silver coins. It’s enough to make even some of his allies uncomfortable.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), one of the Senate’s biggest crypto advocates, told HuffPost this week the crypto project made her “a little uncomfortable.”

“If I were a Trump adviser, I’d say, ‘Mr. President-elect, put it in a blind trust,’” she said.

Four years later, as Trump runs to reclaim his old job, he has faced a consistent cash crunch. His legal costs diverted huge amounts of money from his campaign in 2023, and Biden began the general election with a significant financial advantage.

Trump closed the gap after winning the GOP nomination, in the wake of Biden’s disastrous debate performance. But Harris’ selection as the Democratic nominee set off a massive wave of enthusiasm and fundraising, significantly setting Trump back. And Trump’s small-dollar fundraising is not close to the levels it was in 2020.

While Harris has raised about 42% of her campaign cash through July from donors who gave less than $200, according to the campaign finance website OpenSecrets, Trump has raised just 32% from small donors.

Read More...

Political Cartoons 9-22-2024

 

Who will be next on the hate wheels of misfortune. 

New Life...

ETSY 

 

Outside My Comfort Zone - 2

 

Almost too girly?

Campaign Stop - Converse and Pearls

ETSY - Kamala Harris Madam President Sneaker

Fashion News

Kamala Harris Campaigns In North Carolina Wearing Chucks and Pearls

By Jaden Thompson

 

My Note: I like this woman for President!

Two days after debating Donald Trump on the national stage, Vice President Kamala Harris returned to the campaign trail with her go-to Converse in tow. The Democratic presidential nominee held a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina on Sept. 12 wearing black platform Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers.

One never knows when Harris might ditch her pumps for her trusty Converse. The vice president has been sporting the popular canvas shoe for years now, with followers noticing her sneaker streak as she campaigned with Joe Biden for the 2020 presidential election. Now vying to be head of state and commander-in-chief, her platform Converse are helping her through the high stakes process.

On the spectrum of formality, this is one of her looks that falls closer to the casual side, though still generally exuding a powerful, sophisticated aura. Of course, her pearl necklace — of the Chucks and pearls trend — also contributed a graceful air to her aesthetic.

Susan Sarandon Proud to Have a Son Who Wears Dresses

Oscar winner says her son Miles "colors outside the lines" of gender roles.

Susan Sarandon and her son Miles Robbins
"DJ Smiles" attend the grand opening
of The Scarlet, March 9, 2012, in New York City.

 By ABC News June 17, 2015,

In 2015, [Susan] Sarandon mentioned in an interview that her son sometimes performed in female clothing — a comment that prompted a slew of headlines about Robbins’ sexuality. So he decided to respond by writing an op-ed in the Huffington Post: “Is It Really That Strange for a Guy to Wear a Dress?”

Sarandon recently told Oprah Winfrey how excited she is by the;

"fluidity of gender that's happening" now.

 

By  Miles Robbins  Jun 23, 2015

It has been very strange to see the small comment my mother made about me wearing dresses with my band appearing in all sorts of Internet publications around the country (accompanied by photos of me and her that I didn't know existed). I don't know why anyone would care for my statement, as they were ready to sensationalize my dress-wearing based on a single sentence, but in case this becomes even more sensationalized, I would just like to put this out there: Is it really that strange for a guy to wear a dress?

So, so, so many people, especially musicians, have done this before me. I wear dresses on stage and to occasional fancy dress events because I do not enjoy neckties. I wear dresses to embrace femininity (adjective) but not to re-assign my gender to female (noun). I think that it is absurd to think that there is a rigidity to the identity of CIS and Heterosexual males and females -- that for a man to wear a dress or for a woman to wear pants must mean that they are LGBTQ. Of course, I don't mean to step on the toes of the trans community, because I think that they are incredibly brave, and I cannot imagine how difficult it is to be born in the wrong body -- especially in the brutal and unforgiving age of Internet bullying. I wish that gender didn't have to be assigned on public documents like driver's licenses, passports and such... that is the pressure that society puts on trans people. I was really bothered when an ex-coworker of mine forwarded one of these articles to me, because I don't deserve a discussion about my gender identity. I don't have a struggle with my gender identity. I feel more male than female. And I am mostly heterosexual (and white to boot!).

At Zoolander 2 Premiere

That being said, isn't it possible to distinguish between the adjectives of "feminine" and "masculine" and the nouns "female" and "male"? Is it not reasonable for a female to embrace masculinity (like female athletes) or for males to embrace femininity (like male jewelry designers)? I do not identify as LGBT, but I don't think that I am anywhere close to being the most traditionally hetero guy in town. I don't enjoy watching football very much, I really like small animals, I cook and bake a lot, I listen to Joanna Newsom, I know how to sew, I have watched the VH1 reality show Daisy of Love about six times in its entirety. and it surprises my friends that I enjoy hockey as much as I do. As for sexuality, I've never had sex with a man, but I have kissed a few. I really do find women to be the most exciting to my... parts. But I did develop a serious loin-stirring crush on special agent Dale Cooper (while watching Twin Peaks in bed with my girlfriend). I guess the point is, no, I am not LGBTQ, but I do identify with the concept of allowing yourself to be interested in the things that you are interested in, despite what the external influence of the world around you encourages you to pursue. If you are born into a hunting family and want to make music about My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, then you should. If you are born into a hippie commune and want to be a UFC fighter... go for it.

Trans History at The Emmys

Laverne Cox, 'Baby Reindeer' star Nava Mau tear up over making trans history at Emmys

By: Patrick Ryan

Nava Mau at the 76 Emmy Awards

USA TODAY:   Laverne Cox was all smiles before Sunday’s Emmy Awards, idly chatting up icons including Billy Crystal, Reba McEntire and Jodie Foster on the red carpet.

But the normally bubbly TV host was brought to tears as she embraced "Baby Reindeer" star Nava Mau, who got similarly emotional as they shared a long hug. Both actresses have made Emmys history as trans women: Cox, the first trans person to ever earn an acting nomination for Netflix's "Orange is the New Black" in 2014; and Mau, the first trans woman to be nominated for best supporting actress in a limited series for "Baby Reindeer" this year.

"I'm so proud of you,” Cox told Mau, wiping away tears. "This show is so incredible and the work that you do is so amazing. Ten years ago, I became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an acting Emmy, and 10 years later, I'm not the last. You're the fourth (person), and the first in this category. How special is that for you to be making history and to be part of such an amazing project?"

Mau responded by saying that the trans community has been "fighting" to tell stories like "Baby Reindeer," which show trans people in all of their humanity.

That's who we are as trans people: We are humans, first and foremost," Mau said. "Yes, it's an LGBT show, it's a show that has a trans character on it, and it's also just a really good show. Ultimately, I hope we get to be all that we are on screen."

Cox continued by emphasizing the importance of nuanced depictions of trans characters, at a time when they are "dehumanized in ways that are unimaginable, and there's so much misinformation out there about us." She also reminisced with Mau about working on the 2020 documentary "Disclosure," which looked back at trans representation throughout film and TV history. Cox was an executive producer on the project, and Mau was a production fellow behind the scenes on the movie.

"It changed my life," Mau told Cox. Walking onto that set, "I saw trans people in positions of leadership; I got to sit and watch interviews with trans people talking about their lives, their histories, their studies, their craft. I got to see you walk in all of your grace and all of your power.

"I saw that I could dream bigger than what I had dreamt for myself before that," Mau continued. "It changed me forever."

Feminine Differential - Life Imitating Art

ETSY - "Beautiful Day"  Female T-Shirt,

My Note:  I ordered this from ETSY and will wear it!  The photo is from my Mall a few weeks back and the t / light sweater was purchased from a boutique in Stuart. I got so many complements that day. Quite the attention grabber. One woman stopped me and said,  "Life imitating art".  

.  

What Is a Graphic Tee?

According to Roxy.com:  A graphic tee is any t-shirt with a logo, image, or other design element printed on the front of the shirt. Graphics on the back, sides and arms are also common. Popular graphic t shirt styles include merch tees, slogan t-shirts and logo tees.

 

Political Cartoons 9-15-2024

 

Florida county restoring dozens of books to school libraries after ‘book ban’ lawsuit

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A central Florida school district this week agreed to restore 36 books that were challenged and previously pulled from campus libraries in a settlement of a federal lawsuit fighting how local officials carried out the state’s policies for shielding students from obscene content.

As part of the agreement, Nassau school officials acknowledged that “And Tango Makes Three” — a kids book about a penguin family at New York’s Central Park Zoo with two dads — contains no “obscene” material and is suitable for students of all ages.  See my post "And Tango Makes Three".

The Washington Post: Arizona’s Republican Party announced Tuesday that it had designed about a dozen of the billboards in the Phoenix area in response to false claims shared by some top Republicans that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating Americans’ pets. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who plans to visit Arizona on Thursday, amplified those claims at an ABC News debate on Tuesday, despite police telling local news outlets that there was no evidence of anyone eating pets.

Never Say Never...

 

6 Fall Fashion Tips ...

 For Trans Women In Transition

From someone who's gone through it. 

By Corey Rae

As fall weather is (almost) upon us, we begin to refocus and change our wardrobe for the cooler times ahead. Fashion trends today come and go just as fast as summer does, and it can be hard to keep up with what to wear—especially if you’re transgender and beginning a physical transition. And as a transgender woman who can’t get enough of fashion herself, I’m here with some fall fashion tips for trans women in transition.

Of course, becoming so confident with fashion and honing my personal style didn’t happen overnight. In the fall of 2009, I began transitioning when my mom kindly offered me her clothes to wear. She and I have very different body types; she’s shorter with a beautiful hourglass figure, while I’m a bit taller and lankier. Her clothes on my body made me look androgynous, which was a great first step for me because I lived in a cookie-cutter town where no one even knew what “transgender” meant—yet. At first I wore her jeans (which were baggy on me) and her long-sleeved shirts and cardigans (most of which were too tight, too small in the armholes or didn’t flatter my undeveloped chest.)

While my hair grew longer over the course of the next seven months, we bought androgynous shoes, I donned a simple necklace and eventually wore mascara. That spring, I also started wearing a bra stuffed with pads I took from a high school fashion show I walked in. By May, I felt validated and seen for the first time by my classmates when I wore a dress to prom and became the first openly transgender girl to be voted Prom Queen.

During that first year of my transition, there was so much going on for me socially, emotionally, mentally and physically. I had started hormone blockers that winter and the next year I started estrogen. I learned a lot about my body and how hormones can affect your everyday life then. I was excited for the changes happening, but finding clothes that suited how I felt on the inside became uncomfortable and difficult.

I already hated dressing a body I didn’t identify with, and now I had to dress one that also got hot flashes, chest and back acne, easily greasy hair and oily skin. Eventually those side effects subsided, but during the first few years of transitioning, this took a toll on my confidence and general state of well-being. 

My friends made me feel better by giving me their old clothes and shoes—but none of those pieces reflected my own personal style. Looking back, I was lucky enough to have my mom there to help style me. And now, after having learned the importance of developing your own unique sartorial identity, I’m paying it forward by helping you navigate your own transition, too.

Here, my top fall fashion tips for those transitioning, plus tons of street style inspo.

See each of these with descriptions and photos:

Outfits Can Be As Androgynous, Masculine Or Feminine As You’d Like

When in Doubt, A Long Top Over Leggings Is A Great Go-To Outfit

Maxi Dresses Are A Great (And Effortless!) Fashion Staple

Have Fun With Stylish Pants In Different Textures And Silhouettes

Autumnal Colors Are Always Flattering

Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize

Sarah McBride’s for US Congress

Delaware Democrats back Sarah McBride’s bid to become first openly transgender person in US Congress

Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride

 CNN: Dover, Del.

 — 

State Sen. Sarah McBride has won the Democratic primary for Delaware’s lone seat in the US House of Representatives in a bid to become the first openly transgender person elected to Congress.

“My heart is filled with hope and gratitude,” McBride told The Associated Press. “I’m grateful, I’m hopeful and I’m motivated.”

McBride said Tuesday’s results reflect the “goodness” of Delawareans who judge a candidate “based on ability, not identity.”

“I’m not running to make history,” McBride said. “I’m running to make historic progress for Delawareans.”

“The only identity I want to be known for is my identity as a proud Delawarean,” she said, adding that she wasn’t saying her identity doesn’t matter. “It’s just one part of who I am.”

McBride won Tuesday’s primary over businessmen Earl Cooper and Elias Weir, neither of whom reported raising any money for their campaigns. Cooper is a political newcomer, while Weir finished dead last in a 2016 congressional primary with less than 1% of the vote.

McBride, meanwhile, raised almost $3 million in contributions from around the country. McBride achieved national recognition at the 2016 Democratic National Convention as the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention in the United States.

McBride will face James Whalen III, a retired state police officer and construction company owner from Millsboro, who won the GOP primary race against Donyale Hall, a Dover businesswoman and a Gulf War-era veteran of the US Air Force. Democrats have held the seat since 2010.

The House seat is being vacated by Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who has no primary opponent as she seeks the US Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Tom Carper. With a victory in November, Blunt Rochester could become one of only two Black women in the Senate next year, joining Angela Alsobrooks of neighboring Maryland if she is also victorious in her campaign.

Non-Binary Outfits, Gender Neutral Clothing and Androgynous Style Ideas

What do your clothes say about you? How do they make you feel? 

Our clothes are important. Or rather, they should be. They should make us feel good about ourselves, or protected or safe. They’re central to the visual narrative that defines us. Saying who we are, what’s important to us, whether we’re style conscious or we prioritise function or comfort. They can tell whether we’re extrovert or introvert. They make us feel part of a community. They’re the way we express ourselves. 

And for centuries they’ve been a visual marker of our gender.

So as more of us define our gender as being outside the binaries we’re finding that traditional styles and fits don’t necessarily work for us any more. And while society, led by Gen Z, is changing quickly, the fashion world is taking longer to reflect the needs and wants of consumers. 

So we have to work harder and be more creative to find a look that matches our gender expression. 

The idea that you need to look a certain way if you're non-binary is a harmful misconception propagated by the media. Although the world is still grappling with the idea that gender identity is different to gender expression. It’s really up to you how you express yourself. 

Of course some people are happy with gendered clothing, and that's completely valid. But generally Enby people seem to have three approaches to expressing themselves outside of the binaries. The first is to cover up any sign of gender, the second to avoid gendered clothing entirely, and the third is about not being bound by any gender norms and breaking out to wear whatever feels good.

Of course these are not prescriptive. You can take a single path or mix it up. How you express yourself is down to whatever matches your personality and feels good, because it really depends on who you are and how much you want to draw attention. 

So here we’ve put together a few fashion and styling ideas to help you look good and feel good wherever you go. But remember, you might not get it right on your first try. This is very much about experimentation and it’s your style to define.

Read More

The word androgynous refers to the quality of possessing both masculine and feminine traits. So androgynous fashion incorporates both feminine and masculine. Wearing androgynous clothing is much more of an act of resistance, it says “I refuse to comply to what you consider socially acceptable.”

Feminine Differential - The Cami

 

A camisole is a sleeveless undershirt typically worn by women, extending to the waist. The camisole is usually made of satin, nylon, silk, or cotton. Wikipedia

Historically, camisole referred to jackets of various kinds,[1] including overshirts (worn under a doublet or bodice),[2] women's négligées, and sleeved jackets worn by men.

Modern usage

In modern usage, a camisole or Cami is a loose-fitting  sleeveless undershirt which covers the top part of the body but is shorter than a chemise. A camisole normally extends to the waist but is sometimes cropped to expose the midriff, or extended to cover the entire pelvic region. Camisoles are manufactured from light materials, commonly cotton-based, occasionally satin or silk, or stretch fabrics such as lycra, nylon, or spandex. 

A camisole typically has thin "spaghetti straps" and can be worn over a brassiere or without one.

My note: I love the look or the cambric shirt shirt and a Cami underneath allows for button to left open. This past week at my lingerie store, Soma, I purchases one with a bra built in that has small seamless pads and no bra structure; just basic . It is described as the "EnblissTank With Built-In Bra"

Definitely a feminine (sexy) differential.

My Son To Be A Flower Boy

 Why Did It Take So Long?

BY MEG KEENE*

PHOTO BY CHRISTINA MCNEILL

The other day, in the car, my gender nonconforming six-year-old brought up a family wedding that happened two years ago. “You made me wear a suit,” he said. “Why did you make me do that?”

The truth is, I didn’t want to make him wear a suit, to that wedding, or anything, ever. I’d done everything I could, given the situation. There had been serious late-night discussions, and later a lot of late-night tears. But, in front of our kid, we tried to sell it as a compromise. His sister got to wear a dress, but we got to dye his suit purple, which is his favorite color. Those compromises came at a cost: a little boy in a bright purple suit and a flower basket was not what anyone had been planning for. But in the end, the compromises weren’t enough. Wearing a suit he didn’t want to wear was painful enough that two years later (that’s a third of his life), he was still upset about it.A family at a wedding

“You should have told them we wouldn’t go to the wedding if I couldn’t wear what made me comfortable. I never want to wear a suit again.”

He’s six. That (tragically) is old enough to know that the world doesn’t accept who he is. But it’s not old enough to understand all of the thought and negotiation that goes into keeping him safe, emotionally and physically. He doesn’t know, because as his parents, we try really hard to hide that from him, because the world is a terrible enough place for a gender nonconforming kid. So he didn’t know about the arguments over the suit, the same way that he didn’t know that I was trying to keep the macho Texan (who wanted to talk to the “cute little girl”) on the airport shuttle from finding out he was a boy before I was able to rush him off at our terminal. My job is to keep him feeling as safe as possible, with his relationships to adults as intact as possible, while still being able to be himself. It’s not always an easy task.

But I did make a promise to him: I would never make him wear a suit again, no matter how many fights I had to get into.

I work in weddings, and while my kids don’t totally understand what that means, it does mean they are more familiar with tying the knot than the average kid. Which means that when family weddings happen, my oldest knows enough to ask to be flower girl… without anyone calling him a girl. He just wants a big beautiful dress like his sister’s, and for nobody to make him feel bad about it. And up until late last year, that had not been in the cards for him.

But then my longtime friend Gina got engaged. She asked me to be a bridesmaid, and I was overwhelmed and delighted. I didn’t expect her to ask my kids to be in the wedding, because while they’re almost family (her niece and nephew are my kids’ informal cousins), she had a lot of actual family under the age of six to account for.

But then, I got a text from Gina, where she asked not one, but both of my kids to be flower children. My six-year-old was over the moon. Turns out, Gina had always wanted to be a flower girl as a child but never had the chance. So, when it came to her own wedding, she wanted to have a group of flower children that included any kid who wanted to be one. And for once, that included my son.

Instead of endless fighting and negotiating about suits that might be acceptable to him, this time he got to pick from a bunch of dresses that made him happy. Instead of arguing over what kind of shoes he’d be willing to wear with a suit, he got to pick from a ton of sparkly shoes where each delighted him more than the last. And when the flower crowns got passed out, there was one for him, and you could see the pure joy that swept over him in that moment.

Read more of Meg's comments on GENDER AND WEDDINGS

So I’m so grateful to Gina for creating just enough safe space at her wedding that my kid was finally able to live his dream of being flower child. Because all that worry and toxic mess aside? He fit right in with the other kids. And all you could see was the glow on his face—how damn happy he was to get to be his true self at the wedding.

*Meg Keene  - Meg is the Founder of A Practical Wedding (APW) and has been the sites EIC for the past twelve years. She has written two best selling wedding books: A Practical Wedding and A Practical Wedding Planner. Meg’s work has been referenced in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Jezebel, and Refinery29. She’s also written hugely viral wedding articles for Buzzfeed. She lives in Oakland, CA with her husband and two children. For more than you ever wanted to know about Meg, you can visit MegKeene.com.