GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

Be thankful for the many blessings in your life.

~Genevieve

Thanksgiving Wish

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

~Genevieve

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles at it.


~Margaret Fuller, journalist & critic, (1810-1850)

Transgender Day of Remembrance

Last night I attended Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremonies at the community center. There was a candlelight vigil as about 150-200 people walked around a square block. Later there were speakers from various organizations. Persons from the audience shared their experiences.

I met a minister who attended for the first time. Mary and I talked about all the oppresion transgender people suffer in part from the religious community. Much of the vitriol against transgender people come from many pulpits. I shared with her that many people just don't know about transgender people because of what they hear from their pastors.

Reflecting on the evening, I am grateful to be transgender person. This is how I was created. I am saddened by many who have been lost to suicide. I related to Mary that I want to relate to people's spiritual needs as well as their physical needs. With each passing year, I see the advances we've had. I also see the struggles and setbacks. That won't stop me from doing what is right. We will be victorious!

There are Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremonies going on around the world at this moment. In my spirit I feel as if I'm there. As we remember those we've lost, let us love and appreciate those we have with us. Let's look out for each other, encourage one another, and tell them that they mean so much to us. By us demonstrating our love and concern for each other, the walls of injustice will come tumbling down.

~Genevieve

TDOR Ceremonies

Tonight I will be attending TDOR ceremonies at the community center. The purpose is honor transpeople who have been lost to violence and suicide. As my sister Monica Roberts so eloquently states in her blog, it's not the time to party.

I enocourage folks to attend a ceremony near you. It's a sober and and sometimes sad experience but it's also reality. Trans people are murdered every day just for being who they are. I love my trans brothers and sisters and do whatever I can to educate the public about us.

~Genevieve

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

Be thankful for the good things in your life.

Holiday Giving and Sharing

As the holiday season approaches, there are people who will be alone. This is a lonely time for folks who are estranged from their families. Many have lost family and friends through death. This is more evident in the LGBT community.

I am reminded that my mom always invited someone to her home who would otherwise be by themselves. if you know of some one who will be in this situation, invite them over for dinner or go out together. This is the season of giving and sharing and what better way is there to share it with someone who may feel depressed, lonely or unloved. They will be grateful.

~Genevieve

GENEVIEVE'S GEMS

Perserverance has everything to do with staying the course.

Fulltime Living

I'm looking to live fulltime as Genevieve in the future. It's always been my desire to do so and I can vision myself doing so in the next year or two. I wear skirts and camisoles around the house so it's not an issue with my spouse. My journey has been a progression of small steps. In a sense it has been a good thing because I'm still discovering much about being gender variant. I haven't shied away from what comes my way and living fulltime is one thing that I will embrace.

~Genevieve

Elections Recap-The Battle Has Just Begun

There were some gains for LGBT people in the elections but the House is in the hands of the Republicans now. While I believe we held our own in many instances, there's the national elections in two years. The fight has just begun!

There are two things I see that we as LGBT need to do. First, we need to respond to whoever is in office and share our concerns. This needs to be a consistent effort because our opponents aren't backing down. Neither can we. Second, let's not settle for incremements of equality which is no equality in my opinion. However we choose to address our concerns, let's keep working and keep educating.

I do believe that many people were educated about LGBT issues. Many really didn't know what we are about. I also believe that much of the religious dogma people see about GLBT people is bogus. This is an area that I will be heavily involved with.

Now is the time not to give up. One of the strengths of opponents is their persisitence. We need to match it with informed and intelligent presentations and facts. I certainly do not want them to beat me in the knowledge and information area. I'm going on the offensive! We need to do the same.

~Genevieve

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