TDoV 2018

[Colleen_definitely]

I'm getting my face assaulted by my friendly neighborhood electrolysist and then running errands.  Being a just shy of 6' tall woman who looks like she went bobbing for apples in the deep fryer is plenty of visibility for me.

[Michelle_P]

Well, technically I am visible every day...

I'm helping to put together an event in the Walnut Creek Civic Park at 1PM til 3.

We will have several speakers from the local LGBTQ center, the Unitarian Universalist church, and Interfaith, a cooperative council of local religious groups.

I'll be speaking on the importance of visibility, and how love conquers hate. (Thank you, Martin Luther King, Jr.)

We should have our program nailed down later today.

[Laurie]

Do you just hang a sign around your neck?

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She better be careful what she puts on that sign.  Don't want the little Devyln picked up for soliciting now do we? She's cute enough for it.

  Just kidding hun.

Hugs.
   Laurie
 

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[Bari Jo]

I will be out, but I'm a bald beauty right now, having just gotten hair transplants.  No wigs, hats or anything either, boo.  I'm tempted to wear makeup and jewelry just to see how crazy I look to others!

Bari Jo

[Northern Star Girl]

I don't think I will hang a sign around my neck, but every day is TDoV day for me...  perhaps I need to get busy with a magic marker and make sign to hang in my office and/or home window today.

[Laurie]

I will be out, but I'm a bald beauty right now, having just gotten hair transplants.  No wigs, hats or anything either, boo.  I'm tempted to wear makeup and jewelry just to see how crazy I look to others!

Bari Jo

You can try a sign too hun but you may want to do it in a different location.

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[Devlyn]

  She better be careful what she puts on that sign.  Don't want the little Devyln picked up for soliciting now do we? She's cute enough for it.

  Just kidding hun.

Hugs.
   Laurie
 

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You're not tricking me into violating the  new sex work rule. 

<wandering off muttering> ...Whippersnappers! You gotta get up earlier than that to fool old Devlyn...

[Laurie]

You're not tricking me into violating the  new sex work rule.  [emoji23]

<wandering off muttering> ...Whippersnappers! You gotta get up earlier than that to fool old Devlyn...

Who you calling a whippersnapper, youngin?

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[KathyLauren]

I know it's two days early, but I put my flag up already.

[Bobbie LeAnn]

I know it's two days early, but I put my flag up already.

OMG I love your flag. I always wondered what it would look like. Now I have to get one. It's purdy.

[Lilith.lupe.tamayo]

I have a confession to make, although I have been a student activist for a while and a pretty militant one I may add I have chickened out of visibility day, I don't think I can do it until I deal with my own situation at home.

[Northern Star Girl]

I have a confession to make, although I have been a student activist for a while and a pretty militant one I may add I have chickened out of visibility day, I don't think I can do it until I deal with my own situation at home.

Dear Lupe:  Not to worry... you are the one that has to personally deal with your own personal situations at home, at school, and at work.  Please don't feel bad about this.  Perhaps next time you can join in, but only if it is the right time for you.
Danielle

[Lilith.lupe.tamayo]

Dear Lupe:  Not to worry... you are the one that has to personally deal with your own personal situations at home, at school, and at work.  Please don't feel bad about this.  Perhaps next time you can join in, but only if it is the right time for you.
Danielle

Thank you for your support, and soon sisters I will join in!

[steph2.0]

Sorry for the cross-posting - I didn't know this thread was started, so this is more or less duplicated on my own thread.

I kind of surprised myself by posting this on my FaceBook page:

I don't consider myself an activist. Lately I've been posting only everyday life stories and adventures here, with no special emphasis on my transition. But today has been designated "Transgender Day of Visibility." I have changed my profile picture to reflect that. Today, despite the fears most of us harbor, we are making ourselves visible to the world instead of hiding, staying beneath the radar.

The intention, as I understand it, is not to "get in people's faces," hold rallies and marches, and make a lot of noise. It is specifically to show the world that people who are going through the same thing I am are just that: people. We deal with the same stuff that everyone else does, with the added complication of the possibility of rejection and hatred - all based on flawed stereotypes perpetuated by sensationalistic press, politicians pandering to whomever will keep them in office regardless of their prejudices, and organizations with their own agendas that are dependent on catering to the base fears and ignorance of those who pay their bills and keep them in power.

Here's all we ask: Understand that we are human beings. We struggle with something nobody who has gone through this understands - or are even capable of understanding. Let us be. We aren't freaks. We aren't out to hurt anyone. We are out to not be hurt ourselves. We are in much more danger from the rest of the world than it is in danger from us.
Don't know what I'm talking about? Talk to me! I will answer nearly any respectful question, as would just about anyone else in my situation. I have gotten to know many many people who are going through transition, or are non-binary, or are anywhere within the LGBT+ spectrum. I knew very little about any of this before I finally addressed the health issue that had been torturing me my entire life, and without exception every one of them are thoughtful, kind people, who just want to get on with life.

We are your friends, neighbors, business associates. All we really ask is the same respect and peaceful coexistence that every other sane human being on this planet wants. If you've read this far, thank you.

A year ago today I was still six weeks away from coming out to my wife and really getting started on my transition. I hadn't heard of TDoV, and knew very little about what was coming, having only watched a ton of YouTube videos, dropped in here from time to time, and dabbled in herbal HRT. All I knew was I was scared to death. Yet here I am, eleven months or six months into living full-time, depending on how you count it. I had seriously considered staying under the radar for this one, but recent events in my personal life have given me a little courage to be out and visible this time.

So this is my first TDoV as my true, authentic self. While it's still a little scary, I've also never been happier.

Stephanie

[KathyLauren]

Being visible is my main form of activism.  While I think I look presentable, I have no illusions about passing, so every day for me is a day of visibility.  But today, for TDoV, I upped my game and made myself more visible: I wore my trans triangle pendant and a trans flag pin.

My wife and I went to a major local farmers' market, where we interacted with lots of vendors: the bread guy, the coffee guy, the soap lady, two jewelry ladies.  Then we walked around town window-shopping, and talked to people in the gift shop, bookstore and health food store.  All with my pendant and pin on display.  Nothing bad happened.

So, the report from here is that being visible is all good.

I should have snapped a picture of me at the market, but it didn't occur to me at the time.

[Michelle_P]

I went to an event in downtown Walnut Creek, CA at Civic Park (across from the police station).  I gave a little speech on visibility and love vs hate. 

The event went well.

[LizK]

There was nothing official that I could find here in Adelaide so I went out to the local café and had coffee and cake with my daughter and her boyfriend...not that much of a statement(although I am obviously trans)but a great excuse for coffee and cake!! LOL