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Ruby Molina

The body of the transgender woman who was found in the American River in Sacramento last week has been identified by police as Ruby (nee Fernando) Molina. The police are citing it as a “suspicious” death and need more information:

Anyone who knew the victim, the victim’s recent whereabouts, or who has other information about this case is asked to contact the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 443-HELP. A $1,000 reward is currently being offered.

Please, if you know something, let the police know. She deserves to have her murderers caught, as does her family.

(thanks to Angus/Andrea Grieve-Smith for the info.)

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No Maverick

It turns out the word maverick came from an actual person named Maverick who didn’t brand his cattle. His family is still around and has included civil rights lawyers, accused communists, & a member emeritus of the San Antonio ACLU. That is, not people who are voting for John McCain, but they also object to him calling himself one.

Ms. Terrelitta Maverick, now 82, says, about John McCain: “He’s a Republican,” she said. “He’s branded.”

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Fidelities

The NYT publishes a column about Polyamory and specifically about Poly Pride, a celebration being held in NYC this weekend.

Alex Williams, the journalist who wrote it, seems to have come away with the main impression I’ve come away with: too much talking. I can barely manage one person in my life, but I can’t imagine more. I just don’t have the patience.

Toothbrush disputes are the least of it. In the era of safe sex and cellphones, a life that seems to promise boundless sex in fact involves lots of talking. And talking. And talking.

For one thing, they constantly have to explain the way they live.

That last line ring out to any trans people & their partners out there? One of the reasons Betty & I love the various alt.sex communities we’ve run into is that there is a shared experience: you may not be explaining the same thing, but you’re still explaining. Or, as I like to explain in my Uneven Libidos class, the further you are from the socially-condoned relationship – heterosexual marriage with something like traditional gender roles – the harder it is to find validation and support for the way you live.

If you want to know more about poly, I highly recommend Tristan Taormino’s Opening Up, and her website, which lists tons of resources for poly people.

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Felinity

I can honestly say I’m baffled by this New York Times article, because I’ve grown up with men who like cats, from my brother to my friend Peter to many other guys I’ve known over the years, most of whom aren’t gay, if you need to know. I had a friend when I was 20 or so who always said, “Never date a man who doesn’t like cats” (which I found to be pretty good advice, actually, even if I didn’t always heed it).

So have I just been in some alternative universe? (Yes, I know I have. But still. Do people really know guys who won’t admit to liking cats?)

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Marc Bolan’s Extended Family

So here’s a little factoid for you musicheads out there: the song Tainted Love, made famous by Soft Cell, was originally recorded by a woman named Gloria Jones. & Who is Gloria Jones? She was Marc Bolan’s partner.

& When did Marc Almond of Soft Cell decide to become a pop star? When he saw Marc Bolan on Top of the Pops.

There is a DVD of a live tribute show to Marc Bolan that was recorded at The Shepard’s Bush Empire last year which came out Monday- featuring Marc Almond, Gloria Jones, as well as Bolan producer Tony Visconti – which I can’t seem to find anywhere online. If anyone sees one, do let me know.

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Trans for Obama: Ongoing Issues

Goal Thermometer

Kate Bornstein is fired up, and wants our various transgender communities to start working together more, all because she’s dizzily happy about being acknowledged by the Obama campaign. Jillian Weiss is asking similar questions, but more along the “how in hell did this happen?” about the Trans for Obama campaign. I love that she calls me a Transgender Media Empire – that kills me, since I’m really just an underemployed author with a tech-savvy partner. Even on Monday, when I put a lot of energy into Trans for Obama, half the reason was that I had to take the GRE two days later and my best-loved furball was having surgery.

Still, this issue of “community” is one that always frustrates me. Community is about being willing; if you want in, come on in, and if you don’t, please go away. It’s as simple as that, imho: the HBS type are free to do whatever it is they do (and some are active in feminist issues, actually, instead of trans ones), and the homophobic crossdressers, of which there are some, can hang out together by themselves, and – well, you get the idea. I don’t really care, honestly: since my existence as a member of the trans community is always liminal to some people, because I’m a partner & not trans myself, I’m all for defining community by those who want to be there.

But Monica Roberts (in the comments section of Jillian Weiss’ Bilerico post) has brought up the issue of trans POC not being encouraged, or recognized, and I think she’s right that we need to do more. So I’m looking for a trans POC volunteer to take over my blog for a day, to at least raise some awareness.

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WVU

I’ll be speaking at the University of West Virginia’s Morgantown campus on Thursday, October 16th, at 8PM.

Place: Greenbrier Room in the Mountainlair at West Virginia University
When: 8 pm 16 Oct
Open to everyone – the more the merrier!
Sponsor: Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Mountaineers (BiGLTM)

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Biden v. Palin

Found this quote on Feministing:

For many Gen X women like myself (and Palin is Gen X) the primary sexist experience is: “Those men gave the job to that clueless chick instead of me, because the boss thinks she’s hot and/or will be a yes-man with no ideas of her own.”

& While the whole Boomer / Gen X feminist difference is interesting to me, what really struck me was that I DIDN’T KNOW ANYONE ELSE FELT THIS WAY! Really. It is my chief experience with feminism, at least in terms of employment, & it really blew my mind to see it summarized so neatly and talked about as an ur-experience for women in my age bracket.

Or, as I might put it, it’s guys hiring with their dicks. I just heard from an old friend who says he loves her verve. I’ll try hard to still respect him in the morning.

& In the meantime, a wicked Rolling Stone article about Palin that nearly convinced me to forgive them for putting sleazy, non-musician women on their covers for the past 40 years.

& Now, off to the debate! Get your bingo cards ready.