Based on a true story.

A woman walks into a local grocer to purchase apples for an apple. It’s her daughter’s birthday and she loves  mom’s Granny Smith apple pie. Anna likes all kinds of pies but today she wants the apple pie. Mom grabs a cart and happily strolls the isles for all the things she needs for the pies. flour, sugar,  butter, Cinnamon and other tasty ingredients are plucked from the shelves and carefully placed in mom’s cart. She checks her list and heads off to the fruit and vegetable section to get some apples.

Mom walks up to the bins containing all sorts of fruits. Boxes and bins of newly delivered produce are stacked on the floor.  She smiles and her own excitement rises thinking about her daughter’s special day. So many wonderful, colors and aromatic fruits are on display. But the apples are all in bags. No worries she says to herself and skips over to the island of apples. They are all beautiful and fresh. A flash of bright green catches her eye and mom know’s she has found exactly what she is looking for. The sign above reading “Fresh Granny Smith Apples”, “$2.00 a dozen”. Mom is pleased and picks through the bags of Granny Smith apples A puzzled look replaces her smile, something is wrong.

A stock boy walks buy and with  she says to him: “Excuse me I am looking for Granny Smith apples. I seem to have found them but all these bags contain 6 Granny Smith apples, 5 pears and an orange. I see you have lots of bags of Gala apples, oranges, cherries and pears. But the Granny Smiths are in mixed bags.”

“Yes, ma’am but they are all fruit so deal with it. ”

The woman is a bit dismayed at the stock boy’s response. But she is  not one to judge so quickly thinking to herself, maybe he is having a bad day.  She politely speaks to him again. “I’m sorry, I really only want Granny Smith apples today is it possible to get a dozen Granny Smiths?”.

“What you don’t like all that fruit or something. What’s wrong with you lady?. Those pears are green too and that orange is just as much a fruit as the apples. This is a grocery store and we sell fruit in this section.”

The woman is deeply disturbed by this young stock boy’s attitude. She wonders what she has done wrong to deserve such a rude reception. She simply wants Granny Smith apples today. No sooner does she count to 10 and gain her composure when another stock person, a older woman, comes over noticing the discussion. The woman explains her situation as other customers filter into the fruit section. The older woman talks to the stock boy and turns to the mother and asks her what her problem is?

“This is all fruit and these bags are Granny Smith apples. Take the apples and make your pie.”  the older woman proclaims and storms off to the back of the store.”

The other customers in the area are shocked by what they just herd. And come to the mother’s side. They talk amongst themselves wondering why they cannot purchase just a bag of Granny Smith apples. The stock boy hovers near by and berates  the group of customers for for their discussion. Several of the men and she wants Granny Smith apples and you are chastising her for this? What kind of customer service is this?”

A handful of mangers come over. The older stock woman obviously in tow.

One of the managers immediate blurts out. “Fuck you lady and the horse you road in on. We will hear nothing of this. I am going to report you to the police if you don’t shut up right now.”

Another manager chimes in. “What are you some kind of world class chef and think you are better than all of us? You are obviously a bad person and we are sick of you coming into our store and complaining about all f out fruit. You come in here to our store and attack our business and our employees. You are a mean and spiteful person who obviously does not know how to cook or what an apple is.”

The customers and the mother are in utter shock. What have they done? This women only wants to buy a dozen apples. A dozen Granny Smith apples in fact.  And another customer then three speak out saying the same thing. They only wanted to purchase Granny Smith apples at this time. The are fine with the other fruit but that is not what they want or need right now.

Several of the customers again speak out an turn to other customers and other passing managers. There voice is the same. Why can we not purchase Granny Smith apples? Why are they being attacked by these manager and even some other customers who drop in and drop out just as fast as they came. Never knowing or understanding the situation, some of the other customers chastise the mother and call her things she is not.

One customer speaks up proclaiming that she will just take her business elsewhere if that is how they all feel. A group of managers and customers descend on this women like wolves ready to devour her. Calling her crazy, a liar, an elitist even making threats against her. “We will find you and we will destroy you.”

One manager manages to speak out one last stab as more customers come to the aid of the mother who simply wanted to Purchase Granny Smith apples.”Lady this is all fruit. You make you pie with it and be happy about it. Tell your daughter its all the same anyway there is no need for her to know there are pears in her apple pie. She doen not need to know there is any difference between different kinds of fruit.”

The mother did not need or want pears or the orange. She loves oranges and she loves pears. She buys them often for her family. But apparently in this store you cannot buy just Granny Smith apples. The customers talk amongst themselves wondering what terrible crime they have done. And why they are being called names an accused of things they have not done. They wonder why they are attacked by the store and other customers for even asking why they cannot purchase just the one kind of apple without getting all the other fruit too.

Yes the pears are green and they look very similar to the Granny Smith apples. Yes the Orange is a fruit but they are not the same. The store is advertising all kinds of fruit and they are all yummy in their own right and have beautiful qualities that make them different but equally as good. But as far as the store and some of the customers are concerned it’s all fruit and you cannot cannot buy just Granny Smith apples. In fact too even talk about selling bags of Granny Smith apples will earn you the label of being a bad customer and even a hater of other fruit.

As I said this is in fact based on a true story. A very disturbing story of sometimes militant reverse activism in the LGBT community. It is why certain portions of the LGBT community are so divided. They all proclaim their support of each other publicly for the most part and profess all inclusion. This is fine. Its great. There is strength in numbers when we can all work together at the right time.  With the diversity in all things in nature so is true of human kind. We are not all the same even though we do all deserve equality and protections under the law. But to form coalitions or even discussions around these differences is a crime. Yes a crime where you will be attacked and discredited for even mentioning that the Granny Smith Apples though fruit are not Pears or Oranges. This is not an attempt of discluding anyone as some would have you believe.  We tell our kids what the difference between an apple and an orange is and that they are both good. Why can we not do the same with people?

WE Need to Protect Our Children from this Group that Teaches Hate.

I am posting this Email I received in regards to this Hate group coming to San Diego.

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) announced it will be protesting at several locations throughout San Diego County. The protests are scheduled to take place Friday, October 16.

Founded in 1955 by controversial pastor Fred Phelps, members of the congregation commonly protest against homosexuality and often picket funerals of soldiers and those who have died of AIDS. The church’s most high-profile protest came at the 1998 funeral of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student who was killed because he was gay. Congregants gathered outside the church held up signs saying “No Fags in Heaven” and “God Hates Fags.”

Among the list of protest sites is San Diego High School.

“WBC will be around and about because the local High School thinks it is soooo cool to be fags,” reports the WBC website. “And [they] no doubt just love Matthew Sheperd.” The church’s “Quit Telling Kids it’s OK to be Fags” demonstration will take place from 3:20 – 3:50 P.M.

The WBC will also be staging protests at San Diego Jewish Publications, United Jewish Federation of San Diego City, Jewish Family Services, Chabad at La Costa, and the Congregation For Hadas. While WBC members have protested at Jewish institutions over the years, such institutions were not a major focus for the group until April 2009. Since then, WBC has targeted dozens of Jewish institutions around the country, from Israeli consulates to synagogues to Jewish community centers.

Those wishing to participate in the response rallies should register at http://nohate.sdgln.com.
A representative from SDGLN will be contacting each registered individual with further instructions.
For more information on how to get involved email ben@sdgln.com

This is the schedule of places and times WBC will be protesting:

10/16/2009 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM San Diego, CA
San Diego Jewish Publications – 5665 Oberlin Drive

10/16/2009 1:15 PM – 1:45 PM San Diego, CA
Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego – 4950 Murphy Canyon Road

10/16/2009 1:15 PM – 1:45 PM San Diego, CA
United Jewish Federation of San Diego – 4950 Murphy Canyon Road

10/16/2009 2:10 PM – 3:00 PM San Diego, CA
San Diego High School – 1405 Park Blvd

10/16/2009 3:20 PM – 3:50 PM San Diego, CA
Jewish Family Services – Turk Family Center – 8804 Balboa Ave

10/16/2009 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM Carlsbad, CA
Chabad at La Costa – 1980 La Costa Avenue

10/16/2009 7:00 PM – 7:30 PM San Diego, CA
Congregation Dor Hadash – 4858 Ronson Court

The timing at San Diego High School is when the kids are getting out of school.
Their intent for the last 2 locations is to disrupt Friday Night Sabbath Services.

My suggestion is to follow them, carpool and try to go to as many of these locations as possible for PEACEFUL, POSITIVE, PROTEST.

We all want inclusiveness, we all want equality, basic human rights, to be treated fairly and with respect.

If you are a trans-identified person, these thoughts are probably near the forefront of your thinking. We watch the LGB community out in the spotlight fighting for these rights, but how many are actually fighting for the T? Other than a few of our own organizations, not many are stepping up and standing out for the T.

The majority of the LGB community don’t think about or realize that we are people fighting for our rights too. They know the acronym “LGBT”, but the T is, more often than not, overlooked.

Why? Because they don’t know us. Because they don’t understand us. Because we make them afraid. Because they assume we hinder their progress, because that’s what they’ve been led to believe by the Powers That Be, and by their peers.

Will there ever be a true unity between the LGB and the T? Are you one of those people who sit and wonder and wait? Are you ready to do something about it?

TransMentors International, Inc. (TMII) decided to stop wondering and stop waiting. Our volunteers work every single day supporting trans men, women and youth in their daily lives in every aspect of their lives. The biggest issues encountered are the lack of education and awareness about who we are, and the importance of supporting the trans community along with all other groups of people. It’s because of this lack of understanding, lack of education and awareness, that the trans community is generally left behind in the pursuit for equality and freedoms.

TransForm Arizona is the first major step that TransMentors International is taking to bring the Trans community into the open and effecting a change.

The purposes of this inaugural event are to educate and raise awareness within the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community and the broader public on the transgender community, and to encourage unity as we continue the fight for LGBT equality.

The event provides fun & thought-provoking entertainment by Peterson Toscano, an “ex-gay” survivor, and a world-renown comedian and performer. Peterson will open your eyes to the trans community in his unique presentation, “Transfigurations”.

As well as quality entertainment, educational workshops that touch on many of the issues specific to the trans community, are presented by several well-known speakers. Health care, employment, insurance, faith, transitioning, mentoring, SOFFA’s, and more are workshop subjects designed to enlighten understanding for all attending.

TMII is calling on other states to join us in our pursuits. We would like to assist in creating TransForm (Your State) in all 50 U.S. states in the coming years. We will work alongside of you to organize a TransForm event, complete with Peterson Toscano and his zany, witty comedy. Michael Brown, Executive Director of TMII, will be available to travel to your event and participate with you throughout your event weekend.

More information on creating a TransForm event in your state can be found at http://www.TransMentors.org/programs/TransForm

Isn’t it time you stand up and stand out?

We look forward to a TransForm event in YOUR state in 2010!

Seize the Day!
Michael Brown
TransMentors International

"It’s too bad that most of the population never sees the inner peace, the glowing resolution, or the victory of reaching an almost unreachable goal. They never see us land on the moon. "
- Kara Flynn, Road To Venus

I follow many blogs. Sometimes I read things that really touch a very deep part of me. Sometimes as I randomly stroll through the blogs, I end up reading a series that all seem to be reaching out to me with the same message. The words between the lines often speak the loudest, but not always. Sometimes the message is in plane sight.

Life is a series of transitions no matter who you are. Gay, straight, black, trans, short or whatever. Transition is something we all share. Some transitions are common and unnoticed. We transition from baby to youth to adults. We transition from being single to partnered or even married. We transition in and out of jobs and daily routines. But being a transsexual person it is really one of the most amazing and rare of life’s journeys for any human.

I believe myself to be a very intelligent and mostly sane person. I am fully aware of and have a complete grasp of what I am doing. Knowing is the the first step in moving forward. Accepting and believing in yourself is next. Actually going through with it is the ultimate statement of who we are and what we believe and feel in every fiber of our being. In this masterpiece of a lifetime we call transition there are three things unique to the transition a trans person goes through. Well honestly there are more but I only want to mention three for now.

• We pull everyone we know and touch along with us.
• Surgery dose NOT fix everything.
• Our transition never ends.

When we do finally transition it is important to remember that good or bad we affect everyone we know. Mom, Dad, the corner gas attendant, the underwriter who must inexplicably be asked to change the gender flag on you policy and even the neighbor’s dog. They must transition with us. Some people are not capable of dealing with this so they jump ship or even fight against it. Friends and family may reject the very concept of our transition or even our existence. But they still live with it accepting or not. Then there are the ones who walk with us along this path. They may be an active part of our transition or just innocent bystanders that are drawn in through association or circumstance.

They all become part of our transition. They must attempt to change their view of the world we have often just shattered. For many it is so foreign and such a wild fantasy of a concept it may take a very long time to begin to understand, if ever. We have to accept this. We must try to understand the non-transitioners too. We transsexuals beg and plead, blog, chant and sing our song of understanding and acceptance.

"Please god won’t you all please just understand me and accept me for who I am. "

I sing this same song, believe me I do. But this is not always a realistic wish. There are so many reasons why too. Some people say in order to truly understand what it means to be trans you have to be trans. There is a tremendous amount of truth in that. And yet there are people who ride along with us in this journey who are not trans and do have a level of understanding or even empathy for who we are. We must not forget them too. Sometimes even they may trip along our path as we ourselves may do.

Remember we do not transition in vacuum. Toss a stone in the water and the rings continue out from our center of the world touching everything along the way. The bigger the stone, the further the energy travels. I am certain to be a very large bolder in that body of water.

Some trans people really do have it in their heads that surgery will fix everything. I hear the stories as I am sure we all do. I think it is probably one of the skeletons in the proverbial transsexual closet as a whole. It may go a very long way to helping you deal with or solve what is wrong with certain aspects of your life but it will not fix you. I suspect there are trans people that are unhappy before and after transition, not because they are trans, but because there is something else upsetting the balance in there lives.

I have done so much soul searching and asked myself all the hardest questions in my life. I am 100% certain of who I am and where I am going and that yes I need to do everything I am setting out to do in this chapter of my journey. Every surgery I plan to undergo has a purpose. But I know deep in my heart it will not fix everything in my life. It will not suddenly make me a nicer person. It will undo all those years of being too hard on myself. It will not fix my issues with authority. It will not fix my terrible lazy streak. Or even fix the crippling social anxiety I have suffered for decades.

But It will help me deal with those things better. I will help me be more confident because my body and mind will be on the same page. I will be at greater peace with myself. I will physically be the woman I have seen myself to be from a very young age. Or at lease a pretty close version anyway. I know I am never going to be Elle Macpherson or Christie Brinkley. Overall the physical changes will help me to deal with everything else that may be amiss in my head or life by no longer being a major consuming issue.

But then you cannot change unless you really want to.

Lastly. Our transition does not end the moment we have GRS. It never ends really. Like any human we continue to evolve. But some of us just seem to want to start all over. This is not a bad thing. It may be harder the older you are but it is never over.

In reality I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to deny myself the absolute magical place I am right now. I know how special I am. I believe that transsexual people are an amazing and rare gift to this universe. We see the world through eyes like no other can. We live outside the box. Everyday for me is a new discovery about myself and the world around me. It is filled with awe and splendor. Why would I want to give that up?

Yeah I know the dream of probably every trans person is to just live a normal life as our true selves. Many just want to fade away into the fabric of society. No one any the wiser as to who they were in "the previous life". Don’t get me wrong I want that too. It is all I ever wanted. But I don;t think that will ever happen for me. There is nothing wrong with fading into society. Some do it much better than others. But I do know you can never completely disappear.

I know there will be days I wish I truly could.

We do not choose to be transsexual but we do choose how we live our lives. Yes in a away I chose to transition. But it was a choice of living vs. dying. And I chose life to do that I must transition. As I continue to transition I realize I want so much more out of life for myself and for others. I want to help others. I want to help others understand who we are. I want to be accepted not only as a woman, I want to be accepted as someone who did something extraordinary. I know that I can help others. I want to help make sure others like myself chose to live too. And live well. That is why I write this stuff.

April 2008 I "officially" began this transition and I told my good friend Lori , "I will die a woman". I am that woman and on that day my transition will end. Until then my transition is living.

I am Life in Transition.

Original posting at:  Living a Lucid Dream – Life in Transition

Original Posting is at Pam’s House Blend

by: waymonhudson

Thu Jul 23, 2009 at 13:10:14 PM EDT

(Q of the Day for this diary: If your community has an LGBT Community Center, how’s it doing? – promoted by Autumn Sandeen)

The economic crisis is hitting everyone hard. Especially under stress are the charities and other organizations that run off grants and donations. One of these groups in dire straights is the LGBT Community Center of Tucson and Southern Arizona, Wingspan. has been serving Tucson’s LGBT community since 1988 and with the economic downturn has come drastic cutbacks for the organization. The LGBT and straight supportive communities would sorely miss this center and it’s vital services if the door’s close on it, which is a very real possibility. The Center provides vital Anti-Violence Programs, Youth Programs, Health and Wellness Programs, Seniors Programs, and Transgender Support, as well as numerous advocacy and community services. The Center is making huge cuts and changes to try to stay afloat, but those drastic steps may not even be enough if the community doesn’t step in to help

July 16, 2009 by Tania Torres, GLAAD’s Religion, Faith & Values Fellow

On July 14, LGBT leaders in The Episcopal Church proclaimed, ”Amen,” as the decades of struggle of ordination for gay people came to an end. The House of Delegates and the House of Bishops voted to allow ordination of gay and lesbian priests and bishops. All affirmed that God could call to ordination anyone, including people living in a same-sex marriage or partnership.

The Episcopal Church House of Bishops supported inclusion by a 99-45 vote, with two abstentions and it was overwhelmingly ratified by the House of Delegates comprised of laity and priests. The new resolution officially ends a 2006 moratorium on ordaining openly gay bishops. The moratorium was initially meant to halt any further division within the church after the ordination of Gene Robinson but unity was not maintained and no efforts for unity were offered by conservatives.

Earlier this year conservatives, now identifying themselves as the Anglican Church of America and claiming 100,000 followers, abandoned The Episcopal Church while unsuccessfully laying claim to buildings belonging to The Episcopal Church. The group’s leader, Robert Duncan, said that women and gay people are not “capable” of holding the office of bishop. The breakaway group is not recognized by the greater Anglican Communion.

One time LGBT supporter, Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, did not support lifting the moratorium, but delegates voted yes on all inclusive resolutions so far. One delegate from Western Massachusetts told the Associated Press that it was the right thing to do, “I personally believe we had to do this. It’s the way we see the Gospel.” Archbishop Williams met with gay and lesbian deputies while at the convention but expressed regret over the decision.

The bishops will vote on resolutions related to blessing same-sex unions, transgender equality and adaptation of theological resources and liturgies to be more inclusive of gay and lesbian couples.

Original Posting: The Episcopal Church Says “YES” to Ordination for Gays