Transphobia and You, Part II

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For the first part of my series talking about transphobia, click here!

Even before I was openly trans, transphobic statements have always bothered me. I'm not talking about the blatant name like trap, tranny, shemale, lady-boy, or anything like that, I'm talking about those insensitive jokes that people think are funny when they chuckle about how a straight man, who believes they are only attracted to women, get confused by a trans-woman. You may be wondering why I've picked this very specific example and the reason why is because I probably see this more often on places like Twitter, Reddit, and Google+.

Specifically, last month someone, (@GuyThe_Guy) who I did follow decided to post these highly insensitive comments.

@julie2at is me and I'm sure you know who the other person is. (Just want to shout out
mad respect to @stuxnetsource, while we disagree on many aspects regarding
transgender culture, her heart is always in the right place.)

Look, I can understand that some people like to joke around, but even after a friend and myself decided to educate these types of jokes can really hurt people, much like racist or sexist jokes, he just shrugged it off. This is a completely different sort of transphobia. This is not transphobia in which a person may be simply scared of transgender folks, but this is the type that is just a lack of empathy. Would this user feel the same way if he posted a racist joke? Unfortunately, I could not find out because I was promptly blocked for simply expressing my concerns. This seems to become a trend more and more as society grows, becomes more accepting of gay culture but I feel that understanding transgendered men and women is going to take at least another decade or more before we can feel accepted in society as much as anyone else...

So please, for this Transgender Awareness Week please be very mindful what you say in public or online because words are very powerful and can be very hurtful.

Thank you.

Before Julie, Part II

You can read Part 1 of "Before Julie" here.

The earliest I remember in feeling I was wrong was when I was a little boy around the age four or five during my Kindergarten year.. In fact, I think I remember the exact moment I had a female experience. As a young boy, my dad was in the Air Force and during the first experience was when I was living on Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas and it was one of the days that my dad had to drop me off at the base's Day Care Center and like all of the usual things that are done at daycare, such as watch movies, play with blocks, draw, take naps, etc, it was this one particular day that I decided to play dress up with some of my friends that I knew from the time I spent at this daycare. What I wore wasn't really that strange I guess for little kids to wear and at first I just wore a really over-sized jacket which was more of gender-neutral clothing, but as we continued to play I decided to dress like a girl! I put on a big feather boa, some big pink sunglasses, a yellow shirt, a pink tutu and some red high heels on... I felt amazing; I saw myself in the mirror and I just knew it felt right!!

I was a cute little boy, huh?

I swear I must have stayed dressed like that for a good 45 minutes before I took them off and I only did so because at that time my dad decided to pick me up from daycare and to say he was not pleased is an understatement... of course, I'm sure he doesn't even remember this incident but I distinctively remember him being angry with me for "dressing like a girl" and yelled at me the way home explaining to me how wrong he felt it was... I know this is not only wrong because there is no reason at all to be so harsh on a young child, but it also sets a precedence for discrimination against gender roles and responsibilities.

Some people might think this is just kids being kids, but it was much more than that. This exact moment impacted my whole life on who I am now... I'm not saying this is the only moment in my life that defined my transgenderism as there are probably ten key different experiences I've had that define who I've become. Now, I'm not trying to say that every boy or girl who does this is transgendered, because that simply isn't true but what I am saying is that parents should never discourage a child on being who they want to be unless it puts their lives in some sort of physical harm or legal trouble. I would never expect my own children to be someone they wouldn't want to be and would never pressure them to conform to some sort of image that I think they should be.


Julie Schippnick

G+eek Things - The First One!

A few weeks ago, I attempted to do a Google Plus Hangout Show, and well, here is the first official one... ignore the pre-alpha test from before!

Big thanks to Anthony Ramos for putting 

up with my annoying banter. 

Check it out, let me know what you think and if you either have suggestions for topics or would like to chat with me on a future installment of G+eek Things, just leave a comment here or let me know on my G+ profile!

Julie Schippnick

Working Girl, Part II

You can read Part 1 of 'Working Girl' here.

It has been two months since the last time I've talked about this particular topic and I can say without any sort of uncertainty that things have gotten better. Co-workers don't openly call me a he or him to my face (and hopefully not behind my back!) and I swear everyone in that building knows me as Julie now. I find it quite funny that the two people who interviewed me back on April 24th, 2012 (which later I found out one was the top sales manager in my company and one of the two managers in charge of my whole department) knew me only as my male name now know completely about my transition and are proud to talk about myself to others.

Let's take a trip back to April: I was at the end of my medical disability from AT&T and I just simply had to get away from that place for their transphobic attitude towards who I became. When I started working there in 2006 I was fully male and didn't come out until the second quarter of 2011 and they simply were not having it with me, in their words "suddenly showing up to work as a woman." When I interviewed at the company that now proudly has me as an employee, I still hadn't decided on what to really call myself so I went under my male name but I had my nails done, hair made up, wore a brand new beautiful pants suit and walked in my new heels with pride... during both portions of my interview I let them know that while Oklahoma has no legal rights for transgendered workers, I read their company policy online and they specifically mention that they do everything they can, even above what the law requires, to be an equal opportunity employer... I think it impressed them that I actually did research on their policies and I guess it was no surprise that I was offered the position on the spot.

I will admit that I was worried that when I wrote my last post that things would never improve but things have really turned around for me; sure, I'm not the best performer at my job (even my supervisor admitted that'll get better as I get used to the still very new environment my position requires) but even those who point out some of my flaws commend me on my persistence, my attitude, and my ability to adapt and tweak my approach at what I do every single day either with internal or external customers. Of course, I still have to use a special bathroom which my lovely HR department head said would probably no longer be required of me once I get my name changed or when I finally start hormones and they take control of my body (I literally get wet just thinking of that last part), but it's all good as the bathroom is still very much private and exclusive only for myself.

I'll let you know what's up again in another two months and hopefully things will only get better! :)

Remember you can follow my blog by clicking "Join This Site" at the top, checking me out on G+, or you can follow me on Twitter, @julie2aT :)

Julie Schippnick