CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

 

MUCH LOSS

2020 has been a tough year in many ways. A number of people I know have lost loved ones. This was the bloodiest year for transgender and non-conforming people with over forty reported deaths here in the US.

 I am mindful of how precious friendships are. Life is fragile as I can personally attest. Wearing a mask, not being able to dine in a restaurant, or go to a movie is minuscule in comparison to not being able to see my friends. 

This year after the Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil in November, I was emotionally drained like never before. Perhaps it was the combination of the loss of life and the way we go about our daily lives. It may have been the disappearance of the many places I used to frequent, some permanently. Perhaps it is the time to support each other like never before. In the end, this is more valuable than what any pandemic can serve up. 

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

BE YOURSELF!

DON'T LET OTHERS DEFINE WHO YOU ARE!

ATTACKS ON TRANS AND NON CONFORMING PEOPLE

 Democratic wanna-be Tulsi Gabbard recently filed an anti-transgender bill that attempts to limit trans athletes from participating on sports teams.  This has been a tough year for transgender and gender non-conforming people. We keep moving forward though. If we are being attacked, mocked, and ridiculed like we are, it means that we are having an impact. 

THIRSTING FOR MORE

Usually from Thanksgiving to New Years' is my time of reflection. This year I had even more time. I have written more, read in greater depth, and discover the need to be challenged. 

I have numerous points in my life where I will pass from one threshold to another. Last year I embraced my queerness though I always believed that I was. Here I am, a 72-year-old trans woman who still thirsts for more from life. If there's one positive from the covid pandemic. it is the willingness to break down more barriers.

I believe as I get older I need to do new activities. I'm thankful for many things but I need to cross new roads. I know that I will in 2021.

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

I like to be a free spirit. Some don't like that, but that's the way I am.

~Princess Diana

ROBERT HAYDEN

 I am reading some of Robert Hayden's poetry. Like a number of authors, he was criticized because he referred to himself as an American author rather than a black author. What I didn't know about Hayden is that though he was married, he struggled privately with his own bisexuality. Whether he acted upon it I haven't found out. I will do more research on his life.

1968

 The year 1968 was touched on during a discussion last night. It was the year I believe a big change was coming to America. Reverend Martin Luther King was bringing together diverse groups of people in an effort to change the course of the country. April, Dr. King was assassinated. Two months later, Democratic presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy met the same fate. All hell broke loose during the Democratic National Convention. America had lost its innocence and its way.

Some may think 1968 doesn't affect us today but I beg to differ. Are there any great leaders with some kind of spiritual or moral values? Is there anyone who is concerned about the poor and middle class and have solutions to the problems that ails them? I left the Democratic Party over a dozen years because they weren't listening to me. The Republican party never listened to me. 

Today I sat in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. I first went there in 1968 where it became a regular hangout. The ideas were free-flowing. People could speak their minds without the threat of being silenced. At times I wish '68 could happen again. There needs to be a BIG change because as I see it if the course isn't changed, then our way of life is headed down the crapper.