Silverton, Oregon, elects nation's first openly-transgender mayor
by: RadicalRuss
Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 14:24:01 PM EST
http://pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=DFBA75F699609C35F49642CDC20682A8?diaryId=8075 (http://pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=DFBA75F699609C35F49642CDC20682A8?diaryId=8075)
It's Friday and this hasn't been posted yet? I held off because I was sure someone else (Autumn?) would've blogged this by now:
This election marked the first African-American President. The first time in 40 years an Oregon Senate candidate beat an incumbent Senator. And in tiny Silverton, Oregon, residents have elected the man who's believed to be the first ever openly transgender mayor in the United States.
Stu Rasmussen served two terms as the Mayor of Silverton in the 1990s. But he hadn't admitted to being transgender. He's not the same man now that he was then. Today he wears a skirt and high heels. He has breast implants, and long red hair. He looks like a woman - but he's not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwD6mjsZveI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwD6mjsZveI)
:icon_joy:
-Emerald :icon_mrgreen:
Sorry Zythyra,
But I saw it and posted it on 11/07. But I had not run across the CNN clip or the one from KGW, which is my hometown new station. Thanks Emerald
Quote from: Janet Lynn on November 08, 2008, 08:42:14 PM
Sorry Zythyra,
But I saw it and posted it on 11/07. But I had not run across the CNN clip or the one from KGW, which is my hometown new station. Thanks Emerald
Hi Janet Lynn,
Nobody had posted this particular link yet, so I did. There are often multiple articles about the same news stories in this forum. Many thanks for posting about it too! Thanks Emerald also! And kudos to Stu for being hirself!
Z
Great! a nutjob gets media attention and makes real transsexual women look like weirdos... im really really pleased ::)
Quote from: Zythyra on November 09, 2008, 11:01:24 AM
Quote from: Janet Lynn on November 08, 2008, 08:42:14 PM
Sorry Zythyra,
But I saw it and posted it on 11/07. But I had not run across the CNN clip or the one from KGW, which is my hometown new station. Thanks Emerald
Hi Janet Lynn,
Nobody had posted this particular link yet, so I did. There are often multiple articles about the same news stories in this forum. Many thanks for posting about it too! Thanks Emerald also! And kudos to Stu for being herself!
Z
HIMself. he identifies as male. He is transgendered, not transsexual.
Quote from: Stealthgrrl on November 09, 2008, 04:03:40 PM
HIMself. he identifies as male. He is transgendered, not transsexual.
I've modified my above post to hirself. I debated whether to use that in my original post. I realize that Stu identifies as male, however to me this is one of those instances in which binary choices of pronouns feel woefully inadequate. I never implied that Stu was transsexual. Regardless of what gender Stu might be, he has my complete respect as being who he wants to be.
Zythyra
And it can create a problem for us who are Transsexual. The general public will view us as being 'just like him'. And that is not the case.
But maybe it will open doors to public awareness that we are not seen as some evil alien creature.
zythyra... why not call him HE?
he says hes a he... not a she, not a hir, a HE. hes a MAN, the binary pronouns are fine... hes a man who wants to look like a girl, hes not between, hes not opressed. hes just a nutjob that doesnt need poloticaly correctness going mad over it and making him into something hes not....
I think there is more to this than what we see on TV and the newspaper. For one, how did "he" get breast implants? I thought if you were male you had to have therapy and a letter to get surgery like that. You would think that for all these years "he" would have had some sort of therapy. Maybe he is just in denial still, about "his" gender. I'm not talking about GRS but who "he" really is. This is only my thoughts and was just trying to dialogue to make it more understanding to me, why a guy would get implants if "he" just like dressing in fem. attire. I wonder if "he" is on HRT, too. I am not trying to down anyone, just trying to make some sense for myself.
uh? breast implants dont require ANY letters or therapy... I remember a piece on tv about a guy who got a pair as a bet, and got free beer for life for it...
Yeah, I personally had a bit of a problem with this story as well. I mean, in general, I support people's right to live as they choose... but quite frankly, a man talking about 'acquiring' breasts just because feels misogynist to me.
Lia
Hi,
Huffpo posted an article on this at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/09/americas-first-transgende_n_142503.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/09/americas-first-transgende_n_142503.html)
I was going thru the comments trying to correct assumptions and answer questions. If anyone else wants to do some, just follow the URL. You need an account, but it's free.
Posted on: November 09, 2008, 10:58:49 pm
Quote from: Sheila on November 09, 2008, 07:18:58 PM
I think there is more to this than what we see on TV and the newspaper. For one, how did "he" get breast implants? I thought if you were male you had to have therapy and a letter to get surgery like that. You would think that for all these years "he" would have had some sort of therapy. Maybe he is just in denial still, about "his" gender. I'm not talking about GRS but who "he" really is. This is only my thoughts and was just trying to dialogue to make it more understanding to me, why a guy would get implants if "he" just like dressing in fem. attire. I wonder if "he" is on HRT, too. I am not trying to down anyone, just trying to make some sense for myself.
I had those questions also.
The implants entirely throw me off on this one. Maybe they just haven't made the entire trip through self acceptance yet?
Posted on: November 09, 2008, 11:02:07 pm
Quote from: Starbuck on November 09, 2008, 07:27:42 PM
uh? breast implants dont require ANY letters or therapy... I remember a piece on tv about a guy who got a pair as a bet, and got free beer for life for it...
If he had a brain, he would have gotten empty implants that he could refill and then spend the day roaming about drinking from his own breasts.
I wonder how a man breast feeding himself in public would be handled?
Quote from: Rebis on November 09, 2008, 10:04:05 PM
Huffpo posted an article on this at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/09/americas-first-transgende_n_142503.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/09/americas-first-transgende_n_142503.html)
I was going thru the comments trying to correct assumptions and answer questions. If anyone else wants to do some, just follow the URL. You need an account, but it's free.
Thanks for doing your part to educate over there. Haven't read them all yet, but some of the comments are doozies!
Quote
I wonder how a man breast feeding himself in public would be handled?
LOL, not too many people would ask this question. :laugh:
Z
Quote from: Zythyra on November 09, 2008, 10:16:47 PM
Quote from: Rebis on November 09, 2008, 10:04:05 PM
I wonder how a man breast feeding himself in public would be handled?
LOL, not too many people would ask this question. :laugh:
Z
It's my job. I'm performing a reality check.
Quote from: Rebis on November 09, 2008, 10:04:05 PM
The implants entirely throw me off on this one. Maybe they just haven't made the entire trip through self acceptance yet?
Why must he be secretly transsexual?
is it so hard to belive hes one horse shy of a derby?
Quote from: Starbuck on November 10, 2008, 03:31:54 AM
Quote from: Rebis on November 09, 2008, 10:04:05 PM
The implants entirely throw me off on this one. Maybe they just haven't made the entire trip through self acceptance yet?
Why must he be secretly transsexual?
is it so hard to belive hes one horse shy of a derby?
LOL Starbuck @ one horse shy of a derby. It reminds me of that old Almond Joy commercial where the jockey is sitting backwards on his racehorse going down the track. Cos "sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don't!"
Quote from: Starbuck on November 10, 2008, 03:31:54 AM
Quote from: Rebis on November 09, 2008, 10:04:05 PM
The implants entirely throw me off on this one. Maybe they just haven't made the entire trip through self acceptance yet?
Why must he be secretly transsexual?
is it so hard to belive hes one horse shy of a derby?
I don't have a problem with him either way.
What does a horse have to do with a hat?
I really don't have any problem with him at all. I think it is great. I do wonder (oh no, wondering again) which restroom he goes in? He claims to be male but he looks like a great looking woman. I know it isn't against the law to use the restroom of your choice but does he still use the mens room? I just remember the last time I used the mens restroom. It was quite funny.
great looking woman?
did you watch the same video as us?
Come now, Rach,
You know every person is beautiful.
Got to love this place! I admire both Sheila's generosity of spirit, and Starbuck's refusal to deny obvious reality.
Quote from: Rebis on November 10, 2008, 04:37:44 PM
Come now, Rach,
You know every person is beautiful.
Not really :)
This is a pandemic on this board... nomatter who it is asks, or is the subject of the question, everyone tells them how beautiful they are, how passable! how womanly!
sorry, but man with boobs in dress and long hair does not = woman.
But im happy for the general public to think thats what transsexuals look like... Gives me a much easier time then,...
Starbuck,
I don't think every woman is beautiful
Either a sly dig... or you were looking at our buddy Stu through beer goggles...
Quote from: Starbuck on November 11, 2008, 03:51:55 AM
Quote from: Rebis on November 10, 2008, 04:37:44 PM
Come now, Rach,
You know every person is beautiful.
Not really :)
This is a pandemic on this board... nomatter who it is asks, or is the subject of the question, everyone tells them how beautiful they are, how passable! how womanly!
sorry, but man with boobs in dress and long hair does not = woman.
But im happy for the general public to think thats what transsexuals look like... Gives me a much easier time then,...
Shame on you!
I'm saying that every human being on earth is beautiful (except me). I'm not talking gender, sex, passing, or anything.
Quote from: Starbuck on November 10, 2008, 02:29:01 PM
great looking woman?
did you watch the same video as us?
OK so Stu's hair needs a little help. So what?
his hair isnt the issue... its trans forums beliving 'OMG EVERYONE AM BEAUTIFUL!' at every disturbed nutjob on the planet... you all seem to be merrily missing the point.
It's called being supportive, helping to develop a person's self-confidence and self-esteem, seeing the beauty that isn't solely based on physical appearance but which also comes from the glow of someone being happy with, and having the opportunity to be themselves.
There's a reason for this... it may help that person when they set foot out beyond the boundaries of this forum and find themselves faced with the tactless, heartless, often cruel ravening hordes who have just that sort of attitude. The support and nurturing they gain here, and through other support based environments, may just be the thing that stops them biting a bullet when the nth person is nasty and hateful to them, it may be the thing that stops them crying those few extra tears at night.
Being flippant is easy, it takes very little effort, but these are people we're talking about. Real people with very real feelings, often fragile, insecure, and definitely not worthy of degredation, however they may look. What does it cost you to help someone feel good about themself rather than laugh at their expense? They may be just words on a screen to some, but to the one who is the focus of those words they can lift up or tear down just as easily as if you were standing there next to them.
That's the point.
I agree whole heartedly Leiandra.... totally agree...
But.... you have the wrong end of an entirely different stick, so different, its a cabbage....
Supportive is all well and good, but bolstering false confidence is often more detremental than not helping at all... I'm all for supporting and helping people, but ill be nothing but honest... this is a clear case. They have no self confidence or self esteem issues. they are happy as a man, and ill say it, They LOOK like a man in a dress, with breasts,and long hair, NOT a woman, they do not pass...
Beauty IS physical... its the dictionery definition.
Inner beauty is an entirelydifferent thing, as is being happy and someone being themeselves. I dont want to hurt anyone, so i tell the truth. I'm blunt. 'yes, you MAY look like a woman if you do x y and z' not 'omg you so pass you're hawt!' when someone clearly doesnt. Letting someone belive the pass and then go out into the 'cruel world' is worse than telling them the truth.
How do we expect people to venture out into the real world when its so cozy and warm and reality denying here? Why go to the real world when you can be a one eyed man amungst the blind? This great big bubble of happy happy blind love stops people from transitioning, or getting over issues because they dont have any drive.
Sure this topic was about something entirely differnet, and wholeheartedly weird, but it raised a good issue.
We say so often that its better to gently break down someones bubble of mistaken self view... someone who doesnt pass adamantly thinking they do. Becasue we can do it more gently than the real world. But when this world tells them so adamantly that they are beauiful and gorgeous and totally pass! how do we expect to be supportive? thats not support. That's ego felatio...
But passing is often as much a mental act as a physical one.
I understand what you're saying, and I can see where you're coming from, but I just think it would be far too harsh and arbitrary to say "I don't think you pass, I don't think you stand a chance so you might as well throw your dreams of being yourself in the bin because the rest of the world is only going to tell you the same thing I am."
I mean, you, I, and everyone here aren't the sole 'Agent Of Judgement For What IS Beautiful'. No one can speak for everyone. Beauty is subjective, both inner and outer. And whilst you may hold one set of views, someone else may hold an entirely different set. And anything you advise someone of is based on what you believe to be true. "You MAY look like what I consider to be a woman if you do X, Y and Z."
I don't believe people to be so gullible that they blindly accept everything they are told. I suspect that if someone doesn't think they pass, no amount of anyone telling them they do is going to suddenly, and miraculously change that. People do have minds of their own.
However, it may let them think "wow, so there are people out there who are kind-hearted enough and caring enough to make the effort to make me feel good and try to help my confidence levels... I'm not alone, I don't have to do this by myself, and those times when I feel down I can turn to my friends for a shoulder to lean on and to feel good about myself again.
It's not so much about what you say to someone, it's why. Motive and intent.
I think that a forum based solely on your model would be equally harmful and detramental to progress because if people got consistently told they don't have a prayer, no one would even try. So, a healthy mix is good.
I think that sometimes everyone wants to, and needs to hear they're beautiful and that they look 'hawt' even if, somewhere inside they know it to be 'ego felatio', as you put it. Support takes many forms.
No, but vulnerable impressionable people come here... i never said we were to say 'you don stand a chance' or be rude or nasty, i said be constructive. Just realistic.
The thing is, a lot of people here ARE that gullible.
Nobody said to say you dont have a prayer.
If you read my post , i made a strong point that if we are to be supportive, we are to be REALISTIC, and CONSTRUCTIVE, offering advice on HOW to fix what isnt perfect.
Rachael,
If the guy is a man. then he's not necessarily trying to pass. If he's not trying to pass as a woman, then the standard definition of beauty as it refers to a woman is not the same.
You don't approve of people messing with the standards for male and female anyway. This man cannot be judged as a female. Nor can he be solely judged on being a man because he is defying the cultural convention. He is is own type of being.
It's okay if you are a strict genderist in terms of male and female and have no patience for in-betweens and mixer uppers. We've been over this one billion times before. And you're right from your side and we're right from ours.
You call it like you see it and that works for everybody.
These comments not only give justification for tossing Trans people under the ETNA bus because why support people who can't even support themselves?
What should be a reason to celebrate, or to feel good breaks down to a catty discussion about hair. Way to miss the big point and confine yourself to trivial nothings. Good job.
Quote from: Starbuck on November 11, 2008, 11:54:01 PM
Supportive is all well and good, but bolstering false confidence is often more detremental than not helping at all... I'm all for supporting and helping people, but ill be nothing but honest... this is a clear case. They have no self confidence or self esteem issues. they are happy as a man, and ill say it, They LOOK like a man in a dress, with breasts,and long hair, NOT a woman, they do not pass...
He doesn't need to pass as either, he's clearly not trying to fit the binary. He looks like a very beautiful, and happy, man in a dress, and I admire his courage in being exactly who he is.
Z
Quote from: tekla on November 12, 2008, 09:10:05 AM
These comments not only give justification for tossing Trans people under the ENDA bus because why support people who can't even support themselves?
What should be a reason to celebrate, or to feel good breaks down to a catty discussion about hair. Way to miss the big point and confine yourself to trivial nothings. Good job.
I've been sitting here saying, "I will keep my mouth shut, I will keep my mouth shut, I will keep my mouth shut, I will keep my mouth shut, I will keep my mouth shut, I will keep my mouth shut." But Tekla, you nailed it in one. Amen, sister, amen!!!!!!!
Beverly
I'm always happy to see/hear major breakthroughs in the news with transgender issues, so I cant completely put this down as these are all small steps to reach the ultimate step of acceptance and equality for all of us.
The one thing that does bother me a little bit about Rasmussen is this more of a lifestyle issue here she/he wants to be noted as a hetrosexual man with breast and dressed as a female.... fine thats cool and everything but remember that last time someone tried to tie the lifestyle bit on you when explaining your GID issue ? ....it didn't sit to well I bet as we all know GID does not equal to lifestyle ... thus this is a very weak to poor example I would say most of us want to be tagged as.
So to sum it up... great she/he was accepted and elected, but to have the tag of transgendered as the media gave it is off base I have to say.
gina
Yeah wow, gen fems would never talk about each other that way. ::)
Transgendered covers crossdressers too. I believe it covers anyone who crosses gender lines in dress (except actors playing a part). Otherwise, us androgynes would not be considered transgendered because a lot of us don't make a very clear or overt attempt at even crossdressing. All we have is our identities and we can't just whip that out for people to see and know us upon sight.
Quote from: Rebis on November 12, 2008, 11:27:47 AM
Transgendered covers crossdressers too. I believe it covers anyone who crosses gender lines in dress (except actors playing a part). Otherwise, us androgynes would not be considered transgendered because a lot of us don't make a very clear or overt attempt at even crossdressing. All we have is our identities and we can't just whip that out for people to see and know us upon sight.
Maybe we need to print up cards to hand to people on the street... "Hi, I'm an androgyne, I would wear dress and beard if I weren't worried about getting discriminated against, killed or worse, and thanks very much, I don't wish to be addressed as either sir or madam, he or she" ;D
Z
Quote from: Rebis on November 12, 2008, 11:27:47 AM
Transgendered covers crossdressers too. I believe it covers anyone who crosses gender lines in dress (except actors playing a part). Otherwise, us androgynes would not be considered transgendered because a lot of us don't make a very clear or overt attempt at even crossdressing. All we have is our identities and we can't just whip that out for people to see and know us upon sight.
Yes you are correct and I am aware of that but the part that just dosn't sit well with Rasmussen is that he is saying he wants to be known as a hetrosexual man which is sort of counterproductive here why not a Lesbian afterall he wants to carry himself as a female .... he seems to be afraid of what his own tag could be. I guess its easier electing a hetrosexual man then a transexual woman.... thats my point.
That all for me on this as its giving me one really bad headache ... :eusa_think: :)
gina
Way to go Stu! I've visited Silverton a few times and have enjoyed that small town. I'm amazed that the people support him. I'm also delighted.
I know that he is not like me. I don't care. But he does represent me in some way. He is different than most folks and is not ashamed to be visible. He dares to shove something baldly unusual into the political environment and his contituency has dealt with it. He obviously has talents in running Silverton. He's overcome the stigma WE often must bear in a small town.
I don't care if he looks good or doesn't look good. That is always subjective. Besides, he is 60 years old. HE is brave to have done this. I almost feel ashamed for hiding in stealth all these years.
Good for you Stu!
Cindi
Quote from: gina on November 12, 2008, 12:16:32 PM
That all for me on this as its giving me one really bad headache ... :eusa_think: :)
gina
I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to give you a headache.