TPT#216 - Ground Zero

We got Child#0 to sit down with us at the mic, and we discussed their process of discovering their identity as agender. Egg mode made a traumatic childhood more traumatic, but George and his then wife's welcoming home helped them begin to recover. They are still recovering, and as they come to a larger understanding of human gender, the recognition that "there are others like me and I'm not just broken" is something that many of us can identify with. George took a binary backseat for most of the conversation, as the genderqueer folks discussed their identities and experiences.

Dara Hoffman-Fox's book is currently being reissued by a new publisher and is available for preorder at DiscoverYourGenderIdentity.com.

Ivan Coyote has written and performed a number of amazing pieces on the nature of gender and the way it is percieved by western culture, but the ones we referenced today are at dailyxtra.com/vancouver/dear-lady-in-the-womens-washroom-4771 and slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/04/11/transgender_in_public_bathrooms_why_does_our_safety_always_come_second.html.

We used the problematic terms "fag" and "faggy" as shorthand for a stereotype of an effeminate gay male. We understand that as a reclamation term it is generally expected to be used only by members of a minority of which we may not be percieved to be a part. For a fuller explanation of cultural expectations around reappropriation of slurs, check out a great piece by the late Matt Kailey at mattkailey.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/ask-matt-three-criteria-for-reclaiming-harmful-language. We chose to retain this term in today's conversation because it exemplifies the conflation of gender and orientation that is common in western culture and against which we still struggle in our own processing.

The pictures Jess showed Child#0 of presentations they identify with are:



and



We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#215 - Fill In The Rest Of The Letters

George is a gnome, and heteronormativity is weird AF. The human brain has a propensity to fill in gaps in available knowledge with inferences based on prior experience. We categorize things and synthesize ideas to assign meaning to things we don't fully understand. But when someone's entire experience is comprised of only one type of experience, they may apply inaccurate preconceptions to those of us whose existence has been primarily outside of a majority or mainstream.

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#214 - Mill Salsa

TSA PreCheck is a great benefit to people who transition. We highly recommend it, if it's available to you. It made a lot of our recent travel less stressful, as has George's male presentation.

Child#0 is a great benefit to our sanity as we deal with nonsense caused by both the nine-year-old toddler and the seventy-year-old toddlers. And we finally get them onto the mic! (We refer to Child#0 as "her" in this, and a couple more future episodes, but it is worth noting that they have, since the time of recording, expressed an identification with the pronoun "they".) When Child#2 insists on alternative facts, reacting against routine and structure after having had none, subconsciously desiring that sense of safety in boundaries that children often seek through testing and pushing their parents' limits, it's great to have Child#0 as another sane adult with whom to check our reality.

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#213 - I Just Gayed So Hard

When We Rise is a docudrama miniseries, in four double-episodes, that highlights specific leaders in, and key moments of, the American historical struggle for LGBTQIA+ equality. After watching it, we reminisced about our own experiences as we lived through many of the events that were explored in the show, and how George's experiences with the Gay and Lesbian communities in his young adulthood were shaped by his gender, even in egg mode.

You can watch When We Rise at http://abc.go.com/shows/when-we-rise.

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#212 - George's Ambulance Service

The lots-o-travel month has come to an end, and George thought he could finally get back to being productive at work. But he was wrong. Thankfully, his male privilege made life easier when trying to help problem-solve for a family member who was caught driving down the highway in the wrong direction!

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#211 - Interrupting My Moment Of Sanity

When Child#2 went to stay with his mother at Christmas break, we knew there was a possibility that he would be back. We knew that his mother's family were rich, entitled, control freaks. We knew he was a bigger challenge than they were expecting. That doesn't change our disappointment that he won't get the care he was promised. Happy spring break, friends!

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#210 - The Acetate Stuck To My Sandpaper

That new dick we mentioned a couple weeks back? Yeah, George tried it. Medical adhesive mishaps and prosthetic penis shenanigans ensued. Fun was had. And by fun, we mean awkwardness and discomfort.

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#209 - Old Man Swears

Child#2's other mom has asked for him to move with her out of state, and we have no good reason to refuse. But the adventures of raising our most challenging child don't stop just because he's a couple hundred miles away. George went to visit him back before we went to Gallifrey One, and we recap the challenges up to the time he returned, from dealing with controlling ex-in-laws, to informing the kids of the recent death in our chosen family.

Various versions of the Family Circle comic "map" George refers to can be found at http://familycircus.com/comic_tag/billys-map/.

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#208 - Let's Do This And See What Happens!

George's old-guy problems haven't quit, although we get more gendery observations on them. He observes the self-segregation of people by gender, considering his place in one of the two groups that folks tend to segregate themselves into. People who've known George for a long time, but haven't seen him in a while, react to the "effectiveness" of his transition. We consider the struggles of dressing formally by gender.

Oh, and did we mention that George got a new dick? Sooner or later we'll figure out how to attach it!

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!

TPT#207 - Gallifrey Once More

In case you missed it on our social media, we attended Gallifrey One again this year. After the usual three-ring-circus known as "the logistics of leaving our responsibilities behind", we brought pronoun ribbons (pronounribbons.org) and were lucky enough to find some folks to pass them out on our behalf. Then we went on about our merry con-going, to encounter various awkward situations, and as most transfolk have occasion to do, George overthinks the difference between gendery awkwardness and regular awkwardness.

We are here to share our entire intersectional experience with anyone who finds it beneficial, but we want to know what you connect with the most. You can let us know by clicking to a one-question anonymous survey at vote.pollcode.com/32371374. If you have a request/suggestion that isn't listed, comment, or email us at TransPanTastic@gmail.com!