I read these replies with great interest and I am struck by the diversity of the United States of America and thus the prejudices within each of them as if 50 independant nations had a unique view of transsexualism.  Clearrly some states retain a historical link to the pilgrims that initially travelled from Europe and the resultant links to traditional teachings of Rome or wherever, some states are heavily linked to the Spanish/Mexican influences whilst other may just be a melting pot of the planet in miniature as is New York City.

I live within the United Kingdom of Great Britain, this is a group of 4 'nations' i.e England, Scotland, Wales and with the addition of Northern Ireland.  Britain is the first three nations alone but with Northern Irelend we form the UK.  Forget the history lesson, my point is that this small union also has views unique to their own regards to our little community.  Without doubt, I find extreme hostility when in the company of Irish folk. Sad really because I myself am half Irish.  The Welsh generally cannot be bothered. The Scots can be difficult but often, in my experience, only if they have demolished a bottle of whisky.  The English are generally an uptight race, unable to comprehend diffferences in their fellow man or woman and in many cases, remain in the world of Queen Victoria.

OKAY, I am generalising with perhaps a dash of humour thrown into the mixture but this is my experience.  It is not much easier here than it is in the USA.  I have not yet given much thought to how other regions think, Asia, Africa, Australasia, South America...even Los Angeles!!

I am not sure if I care about acceptance anymore. They do or they don't.  Live and let live is a commonly quoted sayinng here, and in most instances, this is how it is here in UK.  It is those isolated cases that hit us hard and then everything I have just written becomes toilet paper.......

as a foriegner in the united kindom i have not really ever seen this uptightness and unable to comprehend differences. everyone who knew me as i began transition was more than undertstanding and accepting with many kind comments.

maybe is where you live again i guess

Quote from: Ms Delgado on March 15, 2009, 04:57:35 PM
as a foriegner in the united kindom i have not really ever seen this uptightness and unable to comprehend differences. everyone who knew me as i began transition was more than undertstanding and accepting with many kind comments.

maybe is where you live again i guess

Yes, in my locale this is the way of life for me. Many old people that retain the values of the pre-war era of the Monarchy, standards, dressing for dinner, servants down stairs and out of sight, the empire etc......these are the souls that give me hell.

I am a resident citizen and can only relate to how life is in my locale, it would be nice if you could enlighten us  further your views as a 'foriegner'....it may just give me an edge against the enemy !!

Quote from: Genevieve Swann on March 15, 2009, 02:54:41 PM
Ogden, Utah. Cindi Jones is a better judge of the area than I. I moved here form the Rep. of Panama. It's not too bad in Utah. An occasional insult. The weather is horrible. But I dislike anywhere more than 1500 miles from the equator. Utah has changed some in the last few years. The federal government does not allow some of the previous activities of the predominant religion. Some may not like the way I am but they'll get over it. I did.

Oh my GOD. I grew up in Evanston, Wyoming... just a stone's throw away from Ogden. I can remember being horrified at the prospect of having to live there one day.

But then I moved to South Carolina, quite possibly the worst state in the US to live in for anybody in the GLBT crowd.

Quote from: luna on March 15, 2009, 07:11:42 PM
Oh my GOD. I grew up in Evanston, Wyoming... just a stone's throw away from Ogden. I can remember being horrified at the prospect of having to live there one day.

But then I moved to South Carolina, quite possibly the worst state in the US to live in for anybody in the GLBT crowd.

Might be beat by certain areas of upstate NY. NY is really two states in one, the City and all points surrounding it, and upstate, which is more conservative than liberal. Needless to say, that's where I live.

Quote from: naomijester on March 15, 2009, 07:59:10 PM
Might be beat by certain areas of upstate NY. NY is really two states in one, the City and all points surrounding it, and upstate, which is more conservative than liberal. Needless to say, that's where I live.

I've heard that, but I don't believe it's worse than here by any means... and SC is the state that tried to legalize GLBT discrimination.

  ow... not cool.

I don't think it matters much, hate is hate, intolerance is intolerance, and bigotry is bigotry. If I were still in Wyoming, I doubt I'd live through transition.

I feel like SC is terrible and the worst place ever, but then I remember how scary people in Wyoming can be about people who are different.

Vancouver, BC in Canada is one of the most accepting places in the world. In our country to the north this province also happened to be the first in the country for medial to cover SRS. My legal name change took a month. A simple note from my Psychologist resulted in my Driver's License reading Female. People are really friendly here. For those unlike me who are straight, you will have no problem finding a date. So, you can pretty much live a completely normal life.

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Post Merge: March 15, 2009, 09:48:49 PM

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Quote from: Ms Delgado on March 15, 2009, 04:57:35 PM
as a foriegner in the united kindom i have not really ever seen this uptightness and unable to comprehend differences. everyone who knew me as i began transition was more than undertstanding and accepting with many kind comments.

maybe is where you live again i guess

I had the same kind of experience. I also think there is a generational difference. The younger the Transgendered that I encounter the easier it is for them to come and have normal lives. All my friends were completely accepting when I came out last year.

I live in a "purple" state in the West. Many religious conservatives; many tree-hugging hippies. I've had virtually no problems.

I think that has to do partly with the Western attitude that you should mind your own business, and partly because of my confident yet non-confrontational attitude. It's hardly a paradise for trans people (nowhere is) but I have virtually always been treated with a perfectly normal level of respect and dignity.

I think Utah and other Mormon areas are something of an exception due to the close-knit nature of Mormon culture where personal business is much more public; it's more like the Southeast.

I live in Iowa, but in a college town... it is surprising the level of support in Iowa for as conservative as most in the state tend to be...

Not sure I fully agree with England being uptight... I live in London and would certainly say that London in general is fairly tolerant. Wales which I know fairly well is certainly less tolerant although being English is probably a greater sin than being transexual in their eyes!

As for Northern Ireland and Scotland - God Forbid I shall ever have to go there!

I've lived in UK, Italy, West Africa and Indonesia and would say the UK is the most tolerant. Indonesia is pretty homophobic but as a generally very polite people (I'm talking Java here) they tend not to express it blatantly like the Italians do. West Africa, what can I say? Some places are safe, others not.

diversity of the United States of America and thus the prejudices within each of them as if 50 independant nations had a unique view of transsexualism.

Very true, and within that there are still differences, like Austin Texas, very liberal, but surrounded by Texas nonetheless.  And no matter how darn tootin liberal Austin gets, it continues to have no effect on the surrounding areas.

And the size is a big deal too.  California is a lot larger than England and Wales (93K sq. mi. vs. 164K sq. mi) but with only half the population of England and Wales (about 30 million, vs, 60 million) so you have some pretty liberal areas like the Bay Area, but the big valley is farmland, and pretty midwestern in outlook. 

I am also in Portland OR, N.E. up by Alberta st. (if you are familiar with the area) an "Alternative Art District" aka the hood. It is a very understanding accepting area, I am not the only FTM in my neighborhood.
Myles

My one kid and ex live in Portland, and my other kid goes to Eugene and graduaded from Cleaveland High, I like Portland myself.  But while Portland and Eugene are pretty liberal, other areas of Oregon, not so much.

Where I live it depends on what it is you're expecting them to accept.

TG/TS doesn't seem to be a huge problem. Far as I know no one's been lynched or beat up yet. -- Well, not in the burbs, in Philly some have been murdered.

If you're talking about child molesters or people that sneak in purple loosestrife then they don't look kindly very often to those things. And we seemed to all vote pretty forcefully against Republicans and John McCain back in November. Yep, even here in the former north-eastern-part-of-the-wall-around-Philly 'pub-burb. So it goes, minds change. I suppose about whether what we thought we wanted 8 years ago we still want today.

And, of course, no one wants prices or rents or unemployment or mortgages to go up.

Nichole

I've gone out numerous times, Once dressed en femme sans hairpiece and makeup, but with a purse. The only derogatory comment was by a couple of old ladies: "I can't believe they'd let a guy wearing women's clothes in here". Everyone else treated me like a lady. Including a gas station attendant who called me "miss" and helped me pump gas....Central Ma. is VERY trans-friendly.

I'm also in counsiling at the local rape crisis center. Their first transgender client. They are also very supportive

Though I'm no big fan of universal sweeping declarations I do think that the places that are more trans-friendly, or open, or don't care have some common characteristics they share.

They tend to urban, not rural.
They tend to coastal places, and port cities in particular (there is a reason for this, but it's way too involved to get into here).

They tend to have major liberal arts colleges.  Places with Ag/Tech, or Bible Colleges, not so much.

They tend to have both a thriving arts deal, and a more new line economy.  Their economies tend above the average.

And, be that as it may, a lot of this has to do with the individuals involved.  Nothing is written in stone.

Must agree with Tekla, the individuals have a bearing on it.

But I think where I live is very accepting of the LGB society (Trans doesn't come into it coz there arent enough of us to be spotted by the general public). People will talk bout you behind your back but are never incredibly rude to your face, unless they're brainless skangers, but they would probably have a go at me for having long(ish) hair and not drinking dutch gold on the bus at 12 in the afternoon

I've also lived in Warrington in Northern England and even though i was much younger at the time I felt it was rougher than Dublin in general.

Claire xoxo

Warrington is rough!