Hello all.
My name is Rebecca Lynn Cross. I hail from San Antonio, Texas. I have been living openly for two years, have been on hormones slightly longer, and have SRS scheduled in Thailand in July. Actually, I had an invitation to present a paper at the first Asian transgender conference in Bangkok and figured, "What the heck! As long as I'm there. . ."
Using the expression "heck" is awkward for me. I spent twenty-two years in the U. S. Army, mostly in Special Forces and developed an impressive repetoire of colorful expressions, in several languages. "Heck" seems very tame; still, I have read the rules and will subdue my developed inclination to be "colorful."
I have been in over 35 countries and six continents. I am currently working on my PhD in Latino/a literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio where I am completely out and largely accepted. I am the vice chair of the board of directors of the Diversity Center, the GLBTQI community center in San Antonio. I am still married, have two grown children and am grandmother to the most darling talented grandchild on the face of the earth!
While all this sounds like I'm bragging (and I am, except for my grand daughter), I have dark places in my life as well. I am severely dyslexic (thank goddess for spell check), suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and am subject to periodic bouts with depression. The darkest places I will leave unlit for now.
I am very political in gender orientation. I believe that "the personal is political" and that we don't do anything as transgendered people that doesn't affect our struggle, either adversely or positively. For example, I didn't choose either "male" or "female" in my profile because I feel that more options exist.
I cannot guarantee that I will contribute regularly, but just wanted to go on record so that no one would need to ask, "Who is that masked, er, person?"
Becky
