A Welcome Message

In high school, I considered myself a young queer activist; I helped start my high school gay-straight alliance and ran it for two years, and fought with school administration to allow National Coming Out Day and Day of Silence programs to run in our 600-student rural school- no easy feat. The day I started thinking about what the “T” in GLBT really meant was just before graduation, when my partner at the time asked me what I’d think if she cut off all her hair.

Today, I’m an official “transgender ally”; I’ve co-facilitated several workshops on the topic and have attended several transgender community events, including the Transgender Health and Law Conference and, tomorrow, the first ever Transgender Pride Parade in North Hampton. There was a time, however, when I did not know what MTF, FTM, or PGP stood for, and when I could not define pansexual or intersex. Although I have greatly expanded my vocabulary, there are still times I don’t know the answers- like when my transgender best friend confesses to me that he is afraid to go to work tomorrow because of what he overheard today.

This site is for everyone who is, or has ever been, there; anyone who has some answers but needs more- or who has no clue what’s going on, but wants to help. The blog is intended for parents, friends and partners of transgender people, so that we can share our disappointments and our victories, our hopes and our fears, our smiles and our tears- openly. It is a chance for all of us to share what we know and understand, and question what we don’t- to grow together and support one another in a safe and respectful place.

If you’ve ever had a question or concern, but not voiced it- because you were afraid of offending someone, because you were afraid of showing your loved ones your weakness or confusion, because you didn’t want to sound silly, or any other reason- this is the space to voice it.

Please be aware; because this is a hate-free zone discussing a too-often-targeted subject, all comments and blog posts must be approved by a moderator before they will appear on the site. ANYONE can comment on a blog; only approved bloggers may post new topics. To become a blogger, simply email missythepoet@hotmail.com- it’s that simple!

Moderator’s note: “transgender” is an umbrella term that loosely covers those who identify as transgender, transsexual, drag artists, intersex, genderqueer, gender-bending, and much, much more. For the purposes of this site, the word “transgender” is used to include all of these overlapping identities- but that doesn’t mean that we can’t discuss, explore and debate what these different words mean!!!