The Boards are now fit & working again.
Month: May 2007
In the Meanwhile
Posted by – May 31, 2007
Here’s a nice photo of us from the event at Bounce, in Cleveland. I really do feel like an idiot for not having brought our (albeit crappy) camera, at least.
Boards Down
Posted by – May 31, 2007
Our community forums seem to be down temporarily. We’ll get them back up just as soon as we can.
Women & Children First
Posted by – May 30, 2007
I read a few years ago at Women & Children First, and I’m happy to say I’m going back to do a reading from She’s Not the Man I Married, since it became one of my favorite bookstores in the few hours I got to visit last time around. (They’re the women’s bookstore that has a shelf of “Men’s Books.” The idea still kills me.)
- When: Thursday, May 31st, 7PM
- Where: 5233 N. Clark Street
Being the cool & groovy bookstore they are, they even have a list of places you can eat dinner nearby beforehand.
Chicago Be-All
Posted by – May 29, 2007
The Chicago Be-All starts today, although I/we won’t be presenting until Saturday.
At 2PM Saturday, Betty will join me in talking about our experiences with transness & the media:
- Trans Visibility & Media
Author Helen Boyd and her partner Betty have been on The Dr. Keith Ablow show, PBS’ In the Life, and Betty was one of 7 trans people who appeared on a recent episode of “All My Children.” They will talk about their experiences working with national media and the experience of being visible – to friends, family, & the larger trans community.
Then directly after, at 3:30 PM, I’ll be doing a reading from the new book:
- She’s Not the Man I Married
Author Helen Boyd reads excerpts from her recently-published book, She’s Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband, & discuss why she wrote it and what it means to be an ally & partner to the trans community.
While we’re in Chicago, I’ll also be doing a reading at the Women & Children First bookstore on Thursday night, May 31st (especially useful if trans events aren’t your bag).
Amancio Corrales Update
Posted by – May 28, 2007
An arrest has finally been made in the murder of Amancio Corrales. We’ve been waiting nearly two years for this news.
Amtrak, Pt. 2
Posted by – May 28, 2007
We depart Cleveland tonight, or this morning, at something around 3am, depending on if the train arrives on time or not (it is, effectively, the same train we got off of Friday morning), and around 10am we’ll be in Chicago.
We went to a lovely fundraiser today for a group who are putting together a diversity conference here in Cleveland the first week of August, and I was so impressed with the idea I have to share it: it was called “A Movable Feast” and three different hosts each served a meal: one appetizers, one the main meal, & the third dessert. You sign up, pay something, the hosts provide the meals, & everyone has a good time while money is being raised for a good cause. At the third house the local City Council member was the host – an out gay man named Joe Santiago, who served in the Navy to boot. It could be a very useful way for people to host for trans issues, since you could provide safe/less public spaces to gather for those who are closeted/private/stealth, but while still providing money for a good cause & getting people to have a good time.
Thanks to all those who met up with us while we were in Cleveland, and a special thanks to Diane Frank and Alpha Omega for organizing our stay in Cleveland, for being fantastic hosts, & for coming to the many events we did.
We’re looking forward now to seeing our Chicago friends.
Wow.
Posted by – May 28, 2007
I had a great, “full circle” kind of moment tonight, getting a chance to hang out with a couple who were on the original CDOD list back in 2000. Amazing to be with a couple who not only survived but thrived with transness in the picture. & Thanks to you both – you know who you are.
& To everyone else who showed up at Bounce tonight – I won’t name you because I don’t now if any of you want to be named – thanks: I had a really great time. (& Do send me copies of whatever photos you took, pretty please!)
Book Lists
Posted by – May 28, 2007
I was just poking around amazon.com to see if Julia Serano’s Whipping Girl is listed yet (it is), & happened to find Jessica Valenti’s favorite feminist book list. Of course she has her own book listed as one of them, but considering what Feministing has done, she’s got that coming.
There’s a nice list of transgender memoirs (25 books), too.
Welcoming Cleveland
Posted by – May 27, 2007
I was a little surprised when our host sent me some of the information about events we’d be doing this weekend, among them a visit with Lutherans and another with a UCC congregation. Neither Betty nor myself have been involved with an organized religion for many, many years. But I’m pleased to say that two of our best experiences here in Cleveland were at those meetings: first the Lutherans Concerned on Friday night, where we had a lovely discussion about the book and trans lives, and then today at Pilgrim, where really wonderful questions were asked about how be more welcoming to trans folks & their partners.
So, if you’re Christian & trans in the Cleveland area, I can personally attest that there are people within these congregations who know from trans.
At 8PM tonight, we go to Bounce, which is a bar/nightclub, and thus much more familiar territory.
Update: Trans Partners Group
Posted by – May 27, 2007
Just to let people know, the Trans Partners Group at the Center on 13th Street will be ongoing this summer. We’ll be meeting June 13th (since I’m doing a reading on 6/6), July 11th (in order to avoid July 4th) and August 1st.
On the Borders
Posted by – May 27, 2007
Yesterday, while buying a cup of tea at the Borders I was about to do a book signing in, I heard the announcement for me and my book over the store’s loudspeakers. Quite surreal, and made me realize that Betty & I didn’t bring a regular camera, much less a video camera.
June 6
Posted by – May 26, 2007
Next week I’ll be doing a reading with a few other Seal Press authors at the McNally Robinson bookstore here in New York. I’m pleased to get to meet both of my fellow authors: Jessica Valenti, of Feministing, and author of Full Frontal Feminism, and Audacia Ray, who wrote Naked on the Internet.
Do come.
Checking in from Cleveland
Posted by – May 25, 2007
So far, we are having a lovely time in Cleveland: our host is as gracious as we could want, & the two events today were interesting and enjoyable. Other than our train getting in 1.5 hours late (which meant a 5am arrival!), things are going quite smoothly indeed.
For all of you who have come to events, thanks for attending. We’re looking forward to meeting the rest of you in the Cleveland area sometime this weekend.
The Right Profile
Posted by – May 25, 2007
Looking to the future, or just to the seat Endymion is occupying that she’d rather be sitting in.
Later today I’ll be doing a reading at Loganberry Books in Cleveland, from 4-6PM. If you’re in that neck of the woods, do come.
Tomorrow I’ll be at the Borders in Westlake, if that’s a better fit for you, at 2PM.
Book Stats
Posted by – May 24, 2007
According to the June Harper’s Index:
- Minimum number of different books sold in the U.S. last year, as tracked by Nielsen BookScan: 1,446,000
- Number of these that sold few than 99 copies: 1,123,000
- Number that sold more than 100,000: 483
They don’t really indicate if they mean these books sold that many copies only in 2006 or if they sold that many up to & including 2006. That said, if these stats stay relatively stable from year to year, My Husband Betty and She’s Not the Man I Married are two of the 322,517 books which sold between 100 and 100k copies.
Personally, I’d like to know how many fall into the between 100 and say, 20k copies, instead.
Hello, Cleveland!
Posted by – May 23, 2007
We leave on Thursday and will be on the train until very early Friday morning. Our first stop in Cleveland is Loganberry Books in Shaker Heights, Friday night, 4-6PM. Do come if you’re in that neck of the woods.
In the next couple of days we’ll be doing a few other things in the Cleveland area:
- Saturday, May 26: Westlake, OH: Borders Bookstore, 2PM
- Sunday, May 27: Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Congregational UCC, after 10:30 service
- Sunday night, May 27: Cleveland, OH: Reception and Book Signing at Bounce Nightclub, cosponsored by the LGBT Center and Transfamily. Time TBA.
Baltimore Gig
Posted by – May 22, 2007
It looks like I’m going to doing a reading at a sex shop called Sugar, in Baltimore – lesbian owned, run by women & trans. How cool is that? 7Pm, June 13th.
The Greeks* & Now the English
Posted by – May 21, 2007
Hey, it works in the UK:
Since the British military began allowing homosexuals to serve in the armed forces in 2000, none of its fears — about harassment, discord, blackmail, bullying or an erosion of unit cohesion or military effectiveness — have come to pass, according to the Ministry of Defense, current and former members of the services and academics specializing in the military. The biggest news about the policy, they say, is that there is no news. It has for the most part become a nonissue.
and
“The boss said, ‘I think you will be surprised that in this day and age it will be a complete anticlimax, because as far as I’m concerned, homosexuals in the military are yesterday’s news.’ â€
* The Ancient Greeks used homoerotic and homosexual bonds to boost the morale of their military.
That One Clause
Posted by – May 20, 2007
Some disturbing news about the currently pending hate crimes bill, which passed the House and is waiting to pass the Senate (& then, likely as not, will face veto from the president), is now possibly being stripped of it its gender identity clause, and once again, only a few groups (The Task Force, NOW, & PFLAG) are saying outloud that they will only support a bill that includes gender identity. Notice who’s missing? HRC. Again.
& I just got a call from them yesterday wanting me to donate, when I told them years ago I wouldn’t until they backed trans inclusion without caveat.
Thanks to Marti Abernathy for posting about this on the transadvocate.com blog, as I’d heard unofficial word from several trans activists that this was once again the fact but was awaiting confirmation.
