GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

Discovering who we are is very liberating.

Carry Yourself In A Positive Light

Presenting transgender people in good and positive way is something close to my heart. We have had enough trouble with false carcitures my those who haate us. The sad thing is much of it is demeaning and insulting.

We need to guard against bringing a negative light to ourselves. It may be that because I'm older I'm sensitive to the way I dress, speak, and present myself to the public. I won't give them any reason to look at me as a joke or a clown.

~Genevieve

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement - and we will make the goal.


~Robert Collier

Another Opportunity

I am studying for a master's degree in mediation and conflict resolution. I have shared with my instructor and classmates that I am a trasngender person. My studies have presented an opportunity to share with my instructor and classmates.

In my textbooks, we have been discussing about different ethnic groups, minorities, and other minorities. GLBT people are placed into the last group. I was excited as I shared what transgender is. I have gotten great marks on the papers I have handed in also. I pray that my professor and classmates have been educated about transgender as well as gay, lesbian, and bisexual people.

~Genevieve

The Journey Continues

My Continuing Journey

I recently read Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road. It is based on the author’s travels throughout the country. It is a trip filled with wild adventure, madness, heavy drinking and aimless activity. I don’t know if I could have survived such a journey without going mad.
As I look back on my life, I have traveled a similar though shorter road. I traveled a bit when I was younger and some when in my thirties. I didn’t drink or engage in wild parties but observed what was happening around me. If I had not accepted Jesus into my heart I would have wandered around the country. Prior to that, I was asking questions about the meaning of life.
The past several years have been a journey of another kind. It is my excursion as a transgender woman. Like Kerouac, my journey started as my trying to make sense of my discontent. Unlike Kerouac, mine dealt with my gender. Questions about what is masculine and feminine is filled my brain. When I admitted to myself that I was a cross dresser, I was relieved. However the journey was just beginning.
Here it is over five years later and I’m still on that journey. I recently came out to myself as a transsexual (non-op). Now I’m experiencing more internal changes. My journey has been adventurous if without the drama. I have discovered many feelings that I never knew that I had. What does it mean is that I need to do is to express my femininity. It’s something that I really want to do.

~Genevieve

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

With each passing day, the joy of being authentic grows stronger.

Suicide Victims

Names of Suicide Victims Should Be Read at TDOR

I downloaded this particular symbol because I like all the colors. I think of all the many expressions of gender and the many diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds represented. That diversity isn’t always reflected in media and in LGBT media in particular.

The term transgender is a broad based term that includes cross dressers, trans-men, transsexuals, transgenderists, and other gender variant expressions. As transgender day of remembrance is approaching (November 20th) I think about the many transgender people who have been lost to violence and suicide. This year when they have the reading of those who died by the hand of others, I believe the names of those men and women who died by their own hand should also be read.

Suicide is very high in the GLBT community. Transgender people have a rate 3 times higher than their GLB brethren. The disproportionate numbers of those killed or who commit suicide are women of color. Not enough coverage is done on suicide and to me it’s time that it is.

~Genevieve

Second Autumn

Second Autumn

French philosopher Albert Camus once commented that ‘autumn is the second spring where every leaf is a flower’. Autumn is my favorite season. The landscape becomes a collage of yellow, red, brown, and orange. It also signals that the weather is getting cooler, which I like.

Thinking about Camus’ comment I can't help but think that the day we became Christians, our second autumn was as a flower blossoming in a warm October day. God gave us another chance to live a life of thanksgiving, praise and service. The apostle Paul experienced a second autumn on the road to Damascus. I experienced a second autumn when I came out as transgender.

As transgender people we are beautiful flowers in a world that doesn’t always receive us or value us as human beings. One may think that life is fading away in autumn but in truth it’s bursting anew like a butterfly out of a cocoon.

~Genevieve

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.

~Marcel Proust

A Book or Chapbook In the Future

Writing is one of my passions. I have been writing since I was sixteen. I've never had anything published but that may change in the near future. Essay writing and short stories are my main genre, with a little prose thrown it. So far I have over a dozen short stories and maybe a half dozen essays written. Though a number of the stories have a transgender theme, I'm not limiting myself just to that.

I'm deciding on self-publishing, a chapbook, or have someone else help me publish. I'm really excited about this because now is the time to express some things that have been inside of me for quite a while now. The theme of the stories will be positive and redeeming.

~Genevieve

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.


~Joseph Addison, English Writer (1672-1719)