Hi, Ladies. And you are Ladies all. I have read with great interest a great many posts in many of the forums and am awe inspired by the Honesty, Sincerity and Wisdom presented here. After reading all the posts in the Spirituality forum I am moved to break my silence and stick my two cents (sense?) worth into the arena.
A little intro here. First and foremost I am American Indian. Lakota Sioux. I do not say Native American because, technically, anyone born in the US is native to America. I discovered my Indian roots quite by accident about 12 years ago and have decided to follow that Spiritual path and have felt better about life and myself every since. I started discovering my TS self in Nov. 2000 when I got my first computer and all the worlds knowledge (so to speak) was to be found at my finger tips. In that 6 years I have accomplished what many of our ilk still have as a major struggle; I have learned exactly who and what I am and I am totally comfortable with it. Absolutely no amount of verbal slamming can hurt me because I know my truth. I am a confirmed DRT (dual role transgenderist) and proud of it. I walk both sides of the line equally which gives me insights that many others can't even dream of. I can be the Macho bully (my man) or I can be the teary eyed sympathizer (my woman). My man's name is Gary Runningbear and my woman's name is Michelle Whitefeather. We are different. We are the same. We always get along, no conflicts.
In the Indian community we are known as Winkte-pronounced WINK-tay. Translates to Two Spirit Person. Two Spirits living in the same body, figuratively speaking. We are the brave and strong Warrior and the nurturing and loving caretaker of the home. In the Indian society the Winktes are Honored and highly Respected people. They are frequently sought out for their wisdom and advice and are held in high esteem. So, you see, I have many reasons to feel good about who and what I am.
HOWEVER...
It seems that with all that I know and feel about myself, the dressing up part of Miss Chelle is still stuck in the closet! I have been married to a most wonderful woman, White Fawn, for 34 years last Monday. She has known about me almost since day one. She is some what understanding of it but doesn't want to get too close to it. She is so afraid that one day out of the blue I am going to want to have an operation and become a woman full time. I keep telling her that there is no possible way but I don't think she buys it. I am too comfortable in my current role to ever mess it up that way.
I guess my main point is that (I feel) that we all need a strong solid belief in a Supreme Being, whether we call Him Great Spirit, God, Allah, Yahweh or any thing else, He is still the same Supreme Being. We worship without being shackled by the tenets and dogma of any "organized" religion generated and perpetrated by man for his own gain. We are solid in the knowledge that He loves equally as He created us equally and, of course, we are all perfect in His eyes. We do not discriminate or point fingers because of differences in Spiritual beliefs, gender, color or anything else.
At this point, to be fair, I have to acknowledge that there are faiths that believe that the Supreme One is female, or Goddess. I am comfortable with that. After all, God is both, God is neither (DRT?) Gender is inconsequential in reference to God so use what feels right to you. He/She won't mind at all! Trust me on this.
I guess I've spouted off enough for now. Hope someone finds this informative or at least interesting enough to laugh. LOL As someone once said, "I'll be back"
Love to all,
Miss Chelle
