Trannymaniacs

I miss the Animaniacs.  I used to love watching that series of cartoons, as well as Tiny Toons.  Well, I encountered a group of bloggers who have recently appeared who might well be called the "Trannymaniacs."  Yeah, I hate that word, but they seem to embrace it, among other bizarre things, so, why not?  The other name I thought of using was "Bat Sh*t Crazy Trannies," but I really don't care for profanity.

I encountered them after I read an article they had posted through the "Transgender News" mailing list.  I read it as a possible source for article ideas.  Entitled "The Transgender Hierarchy of Evil," it was a diatribe about the "imaginary" transgender hierarchy.  You know. the one that supposedly ranks people and goes something like:

Post-Op Transsexuals

Pre-Op Transsexusls

Non-op Transsexuals

Pre-Transition Transsexuals

Crossdressers

Fetishistic Transvestites

Drag Queens

Of course, never mind that most transsexuals do not even identify as being member of the transgender community, nor do many drag queens.  And some have started excluding crossdressers, fetishistic transvestites, and drag queens because, well they are just too darned embarrassing.

Well, I read the post, and left a simple comment…

Sorry, but no…I am a post-op transsexual. I am not transgender. I reject that term and the political silliness it represents. I changed my sex, not my gender. One is "transgender," if, and only if, one identifies as such. Otherwise, it is a meaningless term. The hierarchy is meaningless, because transgender is meaningless.

And, well, I set off a fire storm of controversy… A little over an hour later, I got a reply from some kook who calls himself "Jessica Lynn Cummings."  Mr. Cummings' post was followed about 3 minutes later by a post from his wife, "Mark Angelo Cummings."  Yes, you read that correctly…you see, Mr. Cummings claims to be a "post-op transsexual," as does his wife…  Now, this sort of thing happens, but they are not remotely transsexuals.  Not judging by the insanity that followed….

Right off the bat, Mr. Cummings went full-blown gender fascist, telling me that I am not allowed to not identify as transgender.  Worse, as things went on, they basically let it be known that transsexualism (remember, they claim to be transsexuals themselves) is not legitimate.  Their rhetoric sounded more like the sort of crap spewed by Blanchard, Bailey, and Lawrence (and yes, Lawrence also claims to be transsexual) than anything else.

Things went down hill from there…I'm not exaggerating when I say this bunch is seriously insane.  All told, there are six members of this bizarre little cult.  The more I went back and forth with this bunch, the stranger it got.  Apparently Mr. Cummings and his wife (not remember, Mr. Cummings is "Jessica" and the wife is "Mark") fancy themselves some sort of transgender messiahs, who are going to "take their show on the road."  Or, to put it a bit more accurately, they have bought a motorhome, and are going to become traveling grifters.  It appears that neither is employed, though Mrs. Cummings claims to be an "Occupational Therapist, Nutritional Consultant and Master Personal Trainer."

I'm really not completely sure what is going on with this bunch.  On the one hand, a lot of their stuff, including the attacks on transsexuals, is straight out of the classic transgender playbook.  It sounds a lot like old school Arnold Lowman (you may know him better as "Virginia" Prince), or classic Phil Frye (aka, "Phyllis," Mr. "Cristan" Williams' role model), but there is also almost a hardline, right wing tone to it.  It makes me wonder if Mrs. Cummings, who on at least one of her numerous websites, speaks of her "faith" might be trying to balance involvement with fundamentalism with his lifestyle?  She would not be the first person to have issues with this.

Her attitude almost comes across as, "You can be a transgender, but don't think there is any real legitimacy to your identity.  You're not "really" a woman, (or a man in her case) but as long as you accept that, and identify as a transgender, it's okay.  But if you get uppity, and think you're really a "woman," or really a "man," then you are delusional.  It would also be consistent with her being married to a man in a dress.  That way, she can be the "husband" but not have to deal with being in what would be, in the eyes of some religious people, a "same sex" marriage.  On the other hand, they can let lose with profanity that rivals that of most sailors, so I don't know.

Whatever the source of their beliefs…fundamentalism, or just extreme transgender, they are clearly some of the most insane transgender kooks I have run across in some time.  They spend a lot of time accusing anyone who disagrees with them of "self-hatred," "shame." "arrogance," "transphobia," etc.  But that seems to be exactly what they are suffering from.  They are clearly dealing with some serious mental issues, and are taking them out on anyone, and everyone who dares question their views.  But, they also spend a lot of time parroting the same tired crap you get from the usual mindless transgender types.

In any case, the whole thing deteriorated into them posting a series of articles attacking me, and violating the copyright on this blog site.  I have contacted Google to complain (they also use blogger) with them threatening me with the "Streisand Effect."  I am sure this isn't over, especially when they see this article…but, I admit, I don't suffer fools, and especially bigoted fools well.  Sometimes it is fun to see just how badly they will get when they fall apart.

Madly Spinning….

I don't remember which presidential election it was, but I do recall, after a debate between two candidates, the news commentators started talking about "spin doctors."  "Spin" had entered our lexicon to describe a type of propaganda that is attempted by providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to sway public opinion in favor or against a certain organization, idea, situation or public figure.  It usually involves a heavily biased portrayal of an event or situation.  Sometimes it is just plain lies.

There has been more than a bit of spin being tossed out in the wake of Janet Mock's appearance on the show Piers Morgan Live on CNN.  Mock, who now apparently openly identifies as transgender was the victim of an attempt by Mr. "Autumn" Sandeen to co-opt her experiences as a transsexual when she chose to participate in Dan Savage's It Get's Better video series.

At the time she went public, I expressed the hope that she would return to being a private figure, but unfortunately, she seems to be embracing the role of being publicly "trans."  I do note that she prefers the term "trans" over "transgender" or "transsexual."  For myself, I reject the term "transgender" completely, preferring to simply refer to myself as a woman.  I recognize that "transsexual" is the medical term for the condition I was successfully treated for, but I don't wear it as my identity either.  But the fact remains, Mr. Sandeen has no business giving anyone advice, and he certainly does to need to be, again, trying to, again, puff himself up by association with someone who has become something of a celebrity.

In his recent attempt to spin things regarding her appearance on CNN, Mr. Sandeen refers to himself as "being a minor public figure – a 'sublebrity…'"  That is more than a bit of an exaggeration.  At best, Mr. Sandeen is the perfect example of my mother's advice that "fool's names, and fool's faces are often seen in public places."  Mr. Sandeen is the epitome of a "wannabe."

Sadly, Mock seems to have chosen a very public, and political, path following her decision to  participate in Savage's video series.  I am not going to judge her motivations, though it does make me wonder about her.  Granted, she chose to live stealth for a period, and perhaps, having made that first choice, found it difficult to undo what she had done.  Once the genie is out of the bottle, as they say, it can be hard to put it back.

I will grant, Mock did not start out choosing the path that Mr. Sandeen has, of openly being a clown, imagining himself the transgender Martin Luther King, Jr.  On the other hand, Mock did create the silly, and rather offensive "#girlslikeus" that was immediately, and enthusiastically embraced by the "men in dresses" crowd.  Mr. Sandeen doesn't use that one quite as much, but still does occasionally.

I have no reason to think that Mock is not truly transsexual, but she has clearly decided to follow the transgender "party line."  That is a shame.  She is not only hurting other transsexuals like herself, but is also, ultimately harming her own interests.

As to how Janet Mock was treated by Piers Morgan, well what did she expect?  Well, of course, the answer to that is clear…she expected to be pandered to, because she was there as a transgender, which is the current hot item in "identity politics."  The expectation is that they will be given special treatment, and not asked "hard questions."  Look at the silliness about Katie Couric's interview with "Carmen" Carrera and "Laverne" Cox.  Now, here were two men, who claim to "really" be women, with Cox referring to the two them as "possibility models" (I don't even want to think about what possibility she has in mind…), and they went ballistic because Couric asked them about their bodies.  I guess reality is off-limits when you are a "possibility models."  The facts are simple.  They put on nice dresses, and they may look like attractive women, but as Austin Powers said, "It's a man, baby."  And in this case, it's the truth…  These two have penises, and like the vast majority of "transgender women" (i.e. men in dresses) they want to keep their penises.  But they insist that they have to be accepted as "female."  Uh, "females with penises…"   Uh, no…

Now comes Mr. Sandeen, who complains that Mock is being defined by her transition.  One problem that Mr. Sandeen is so quick to ignore…Mock is the one defining herself by her transition.  In the article he wrote at the time, Mr. Sandeen predicted:

"Among those new realities she will experience will be a partial loss of membership in the ‘club’ of women.  There are now going to be a large number of women who will forever now look at her not as a woman, but as a man in a dress. Those will include less than accepting coworkers who will smile to her face, and then viciously rip into her behind her back. And, members of the religious right will likely soon be calling Mock a ‘mutilated man’ too, and identify her relationship with her boyfriend as a ‘homosexual’ relationship.”

There is a measure of truth here.  Of course, a lot of this is caused by people by Mr. Sandeen serving as the public face of 'transgender."  When you have kooks like Mr. Sandeen, and Mr. "Cristan" Williams, and such as the public face of transgender, and insisting that they are "just like transsexuals," or worse, that they are actually transsexuals themselves, that is going to lead people to thing that is what being transsexual is about.  And by identifying with "transgender," Mock is basically associating herself with the men in dresses crowd, not with women.  She can protest all she wants, but she has made her bed, and has no business complaining that she now finds it uncomfortable.

The transgender crowd, including any transsexual insane enough to align with it, needs to realize that once they go public, their history becomes fair game.  They have no right to demand to have it both ways.  If they want privacy, they need to keep their private life, private.  If they want to be be exhibitionistic, and that seems to be a major part of being transgender, they need to accept that people are going to ask questions they may not like.  And if someone is a transsexual, but decides to join the transgender crowd, they need to be ready to accept that their are, perhaps permanently, forfeiting any chance of being truly accepted as a member of their true sex.  Like Esau, they are selling their birthright for a "mess of pottage."  And no amount of spin will ever really change that.

Another Example of Transgender Extremists Just NOT Getting It

Recently, I learned about the suicide of someone named Essay Anne Vanderbilt.  Vanderbilt was the developer of a rather bizarre looking putter that was apparently quite revolutionary.  It could help golfers sink putts, and it had attracted the attention of a golfing writer who became someone obsessed with tracking down the inventor.

As he investigated the story, he found more and more inconsistencies.  Suspecting some sort of possible fraud, he dug deeper, but what he eventually found was that Vanderbilt was a post-op transsexual who was quite stealth.  When he made it clear that he planned to expose her, she committed suicide.  Naturally, a few transgender kooks have jumped on this to cluelessly blather about how rough it is for transgender people…mostly completely missing the simple fact that she was almost certainly not one of their ilk.

Another author, again completely missing the point, has taken a slightly different approach…but still misses the point entirely.  "Dana" Beyer, one of several transgender extremists who have found a home at the Huffington Post, has written an article whining about  Vanderbilt being in the closet.  Of course, Mr. Beyer is quick to point out that Vanderbilt had a history of being suicidal, and had a history of "emotional struggles."  He also makes the obvious error of referring to her as a "trans woman."  Vanderbilt was nothing like Mr. Beyer and the rest of the cadre of kooks who pontificate at the Huffington Post.  Vanderbilt clearly had no desire to be anything other than simply a woman…something the transgender crowd blanches at the thought of.

This is one several things that are lost on the transgender crowd in their rush to force transsexuals under their umbrella.  We are not the same.  Transsexuals have an absolute need to correct their bodies, and an equally absolute need to simply live as the women (or men, in the case of FTM transsexuals) that we really are.  Transgender people have a need to be, well, "transgender."  For them, the idea of not being "out, loud, and proud" is as equally offensive as the idea of being such is to a true transsexual.  They want people to know their history.  It is central to their identity, just as being simply a woman is to mine.

And that brings us to the core of what this article is about….Mr. Beyer's clueless drivel…  For example, he utters this ridiculous bit:

When any life is lost, it is a tragedy. When it is lost because of unbearable social pressures, it is an unnecessary tragedy. Her story is, unfortunately, still way too common.

Obviously, this poor woman killed herself because she feared something kooks like Mr. Beyer embrace with total enthusiasm.  While I believe that Vanderbilt overreacted to the situation, I can understand what she felt.  She would have been outed in, at least from her view, a very public manner.  Now, in truth, the situation might well have been ultimately manageable, it would have been difficult.  She no doubt had a lot invested in the product she had invented, and her future income probably depended on building on that success.  Simply picking up and moving somewhere she was not known would not have been an option.  

How one deals with being outed depends, in part, on the nature of the outing, and on where one lives.  For some, it can be hard to escape public scrutiny.  For others, it can be as simple as packing up and moving to a new town, or even a new part of town.  What she was threatened with (as best I can tell, she was not actually outed until after her death, but she should have been assured that her private life would remain private.  And, it is possible, if she had simply explained her situation to the person planning the article, that would have been respected.

But, I suspect that kooks like Mr. Beyer, and a long litany of others I won't bother naming, contributed to her death by pushing the concept that "transgender" people have no problem being "outed."  After all, I suspect some of them should probably be more likely to be suicidal if people didn't know their history.  After all, where is the fun in bullying people into ignoring reality and referring to you as a woman, if they are not fully, and unquestioningly aware that you were, and in many cases, still are, a male.

Some of the crap spewed by Mr. Beyer is just incredible…  For example, he exhibits both the cluelessness of a man, and a complete disregard for the safety, perhaps, of those who don't share his love of the spotlight:

Leaving the closet of her pre-transition male life, she created a new closet, with a narrative that clearly was flawed when she presented as a highly successful engineer and inventor. I'm amazed that her story didn't immediately raise eyebrows, as she was a middle-aged 6-foot-3 woman with a low-pitched voice, degrees from MIT and Penn, and a résumé of work on the stealth bomber and Bluetooth technology. Maybe we've progressed sufficiently that many are no longer aware of the profound sexism that infected the realm of science and technology back in the '70s and '80s. Few women received those degrees and worked on those projects. The ignorance evinced by the author and his editor tell me we still have a long way to go.

First off, Mr. Beyer would have kicked Vanderbilt right back into that first closet, where he still resides.  Mr. Beyer continues to, effectively exist as a man.  He may demand, and even force people to "acknowledge" him as a female, but they do it only by suspending reality.  He continues to exist as, in effect, a man.

Second, he ignores the fact that, yes, some women, not many, but some, did manage to have careers in those fields.  But he also makes sure to emphasize things that might clue his readers in on how to play "spot the tranny."  Yes, folks, that tall woman, with a voice that is perhaps not quite as high pitched as you think it should be…she just might be a man, so don't hesitate to make that assumption.  Especially if she has the "wrong" degree…  Talk about ignorance…Mr. Beyer exhibits it in bulk.

Worse, Mr. Beyer goes on to not only absolve the author of any guilt, but to actually suggest that he was justified in what he put Vanderbilt through…

The LGBT community pounced on the writer and his editor, blaming them for causing her death, even though she had killed herself before the story had been published. There were complaints that she should never have been outed, even though her gender history was clearly pertinent to the mystery that was her life. It was implied that there was no compassion for her, a claim we have no way of evaluating. Causation was implied where there was only correlation, and the trans community lashed out at what it saw as a miscarriage of justice and vicious cyber bullying.

After all, how dare she choose stealth.  She must join behind those like Mr. Beyer, in transgender lockstep.  Anything else is unacceptable.  Besides, what Vanderbilt was subjected to was not unlike what many, including myself, have been subjected to by transgender extremists seeking to punish those who refuse to be assimilated.  One blogger was literally driven into hiding because she dared speak out.

The question that haunts me is how we, as trans persons, can become full and equal citizens as long as we keep our true selves from our friends and neighbors. How can we overcome the need to reinvent ourselves in a manner others might consider deceptive when those others create such pressures that some trans persons see no way out? How can we be free as long as we stay in the closet or create new closets?

What Mr. Beyer really wants to do is force people into the closet of being what they are not, because, quite frankly, he can never be what they are. Mr. Beyer would deny to those who are truly transsexual the life they seek, because he finds it "deceptive."  What he actually demands is deception, not the other way around.  What he really means is, if the truth gets out that transsexuals are not transgender, and that the idiocy spewed by the extremists is, well, idiocy, then he might not be able to successfully bully people into ignoring reality.

My answer is that we simply must come out. The risks may be great, and the act of coming out may be fraught with peril, but as our gay allies have learned, the only way to acceptance and affirmation is to first accept and affirm yourself.

Mr. Beyer is a classic "gender fascist."  He thinks he has a right to dictate what is right for me, and those like me.  I do accept and affirm myself…as the woman I am, not a man in a dress like Mr. Beyer would have me be.

"You can't handle the truth!"

When I saw that the Toronto Star had, unsurprisingly, confirmed the likely veracity of the incident involving a naked (and quite erect) transgender man harassing a woman in a YMCA locker room, I wondered how Mr. "Cristan" Williams would react.  After all, Mr. Williams has frantically tried to deny that the story happened, labeling it as a lie, a hoax, etc.  Oh, he had to admit, somewhat reluctantly, that there was a possibility that the story was true, but even then he buried it under so many "weasel" words, it could easily be missed…

The Toronto Star has published this claim – without noting that the claim is a hoax, or at the very least is an anonymous and unverified claim – twice now. 

This is actually a repeat of what is said in an earlier paragraph that referred, quite contradictorily, to the entire story as a HOAX, in a story that repeatedly used the term "hoax" to refer to the entire claim.

Of course, this came after I pointed out that Mr. Williams had no real basis to show that the story was actually false, and was simply making them claim without any real basis.  Now, it turns out that the Toronto Star has been able to contact the author…that the YMCA has admitted receiving complaints…and that, it is much more likely that the story is true.

So, how has Mr. Williams reacted?  Has he admitted his error?  Has he admitted engaging in what basically amounts to a cover-up?  Has he faced reality, and dealt with the very real likelihood that a transgender male was parading around a Toronto YMCA, with a full erection, harassing females?

Are you kidding?  Of course NOT!

To use his own words, he has "doubled down" on his attempted cover-up.  

Of course, Mr. Williams, along with his comrade in lies, Mr. "Autumn" Sandeen, know that the truth is not their friend.  They have to hide the truth.  They have to perpetuate the illusion that "transgender people" never act in improper ways.  Because, quite frankly…

They can't handle the truth!!!!

Gagging on Gnats and Swallowing Camels

Those who have been following the strange tale of AB 1266 might remember that I pointed out, back in October, that places like San Francisco and Oakland had actually addressed some of the more extreme problems that might occur with AB 1266.  In fact, over at LGBT Weekly I confronted Mr. "Autumn" Sandeen about these issues, and strongly suggested that the transgender extremists might want to urge the state legislature to amend AB 1266 to include such provisions in an effort to head off the possibility of that law being overturned.

Well, it is now January, the petition to overturn AB 1266 is still very much alive, in spite of overly optimistic predictions by transgender extremists (and some clearly underhanded efforts by the Secretary of State to stop it) and, well, things have taken a slightly surprising turn.

The extremists from Pacific Justice Institute have embraced the approach taken by San Francisco.  

Think about that for a minute.  We were told, over and over, by kooks like Mr. Sandeen, and his fearless leader, Mr. "Cristan" Williams, that there was nothing wrong with AB 1266, that is only implemented the polices already in place like San Francisco, and that there had been no problems.  Of course, both of them were, as usual, lying through their teeth.  AB 1266 was intended to do exactly what was feared, such as allow students to arbitrarily choose what gender they feel like on a given day, and force female students to put up with males parading around nude in girl's locker rooms.

It seems that Mr. Sandeen is now eating his words, and is actually upset that PJI is taking the reasonable approach to dealing with this issue….

Mr Sandeen is straining out a gnat over the fact that not everyone on the right is willing to embrace "San Francisco" values, and swallowing the camel that, well, transgender males have superior rights to females.

And he is, as has become his practice, badly twisting Scripture to do it.

The article at Transadvocate is laughable, at best.

The whole thing started because PJI has suggest that Florence High School, which is at the center of the controversy over the "Jane Doe" case, adopt the San Francisco Unified School District's approach to dealing with transgender students.

How could Mr. Sandeen possibly find fault with this?  Well, simple…Mr. Sandeen latches on to the fact that another, separate, group that is part of the Privacy For All Students coalition that opposes AB 1266 does not share exactly the same view as PJI.  That group, Capital Resource Institute, apparently takes a bit more of a hard line on the issue.

Hmmm, so, rather than show a shred of common sense, Mr. Sandeen digs his heels in and has a hissy fit because someone actually is willing to compromise, and well, take a position that Mr. Sandeen should fully accept.

Mr. Sandeen tosses out a bit of Scripture…

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. Proverbs 11:3 

I think he might want to think long and hard about that one.  He is the one being duplicitous here.  But then, who would expect anything different?

We Don't Want Special Rights….Except When We Want Special Rights

I've been wondering when one of the extremist transgender bloggers would take on the case of the transgender boy at a Bay Area high school who got himself in trouble for attacking a group of girls he claims were bullying him.  Of course, Mr. "Cristan" Williams decided to weigh in, and as might be expected, he is demanding "special rights" for this fellow….

The case is really a simple one.  A student, who claims to be a "girl" but who is male, and who is well known in his high school, claims he was bullied by female students for years.  (And here we have been led to believe that female students have no problems with boys invading the girl's room in school…whoops.)  The boy, who calls himself "Jewlyes" Gutierrez, physically assaulted the girls, leading to a rather nasty altercation that was caught on someone's cell phone.  And because Gutierrez decided to use violence in response to verbal harassment, he was charged with battery.

Those are the simple facts.  A male student, who claims to be transgender, is verbally harassed, and uses physical violence against the female students who object to his presence in their bathroom.  Pretty simple.  Now, of course, in the eyes of the extremist transgender crowd, the girls have no rights, and Gutierrez has all the rights.  He gets to force himself on them, and when they react, he gets to use violence to "correct" them.

But, he cry will go up, "No, we don't want special rights!  We just want to be treated like everyone else…."  But when push comes to shove, no, they want special rights.  When they are treated like everyone else, they cry foul.

No one should be bullied, but being bullied does not justify violence.  That is the real issue here.  A male (sorry, but he is) physically attacks females who are calling him names.  Sorry, but no, that is not excusable.  If he was defending himself from a physical assault, it would be different.  But they were not hitting him.  He is the one who resorted to violence.  And he was a male, hitting a female.  Reality may not suit the transgender extremists, but it is past time for them to be brought face to face with it.

Transgender Extremism's Second Favorite Tactic

Obviously, as previously discussed, the favorite tactic of transgender extremists is to simply accuse anyone who questions the right of men to claim to be "women" and then wave their penises in front of actual women, of hatred.  Their second favorite tactic is similar, but slightly different.  It is to obfuscate and avoid the real issue.

Mr. "Cristan" Williams, and his comrade in deception, Mr. "Autumn" Sandeen have both had a complete meltdown over some transgender man in Toronto "ogling" a woman in a YWCA locker room.  Their issue?  The reporter did not do the impossible, and verify that the story was true.  So, of course, Mr. Sandeen called YWCAs in Toronto, who stated that no such incident had been reported, and also called the police, who stated the same, and then both he, and Mr. Williams, declared the story a "HOAX!"  You can read their silly diatribes here, and here.

The problem is, the journalist in Toronto did nothing wrong, while both Mr. Sandeen, and Mr. Williams are, again, lying through their teeth.  Calling this a hoax is a lie, as they have no evidence of that.  The lack of evidence proves nothing.  In this case, they are claiming that the fact that this was not reported to the YWCA, or the police proves it did not happen.  That is simple ignorance.  The simple fact is, at best, it would be an open question.

Why do they do this?  Because they know, deep down, it almost certainly did happen, but they can't deal with that.  So, they make it go away.  They hide it.  As they always try to hide these things.

They want to create an illusion that all transgender people are good, and pure, and innocent.  Because let's face it, the truth is not their friend.

Did a transgender male, parading around in the nude, with a full on erection, really ogle a woman changing in YWCA locker room in Toronto?  Possibly, even probably.  Do such things happen?  Yes, though Mr. Williams and Mr. Sandeen wish to lie and claim that they NEVER happen.

Perhaps a more important question is, why do perverts like Mr. Sandeen, and Mr. Williams want to force women to have to face even the possibility of such things being forced on them?