Teen shares father's horrifying response to his coming out: 'I'm going to puke'

‘You are trying to ruin me. This is worse than death’

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darrenw

www.gaystarnews.com/article/teen-shares-fathers-horrifying-response-his-coming-out-im-going-puke160315

Jessica Lange Confirms She's 'Done' With 'American Horror Story'
Jessica Lange is officially leaving the “American Horror Story” franchise. The actress, who’s starred in all four seasons of Ryan Murphy’s anthology horror series, previously said that the most recent season of “Freak Show” would be her last.

During Sunday’s “AHS” panel at PaleyFest in Los Angeles, Lange confirmed the news. “Yes, I’m done,” she said. “We’ve had a great run here. I absolutely love doing these four characters, and in all madness, I love the writers and Ryan and the insanity of shooting it.” Let that sad news sink in.

While Lange may be gone, the “AHS” gang announced a new cast member who will star alongside Lady Gaga in the upcoming season of “Hotel.” Matt Bomer, who made a guest appearance in one episode of “Freak Show,” will co-star in “Hotel.” The actor was quiet about who he will play, saying only, “I can’t confirm nor deny that there will be a romantic relationship [with Lady Gaga’s character].” Cheyenne Jackson of “Glee” will also join the new season, but wouldn’t spill anything else about his character.

No further details have been announced about “Hotel,” but there are fan theories about a real-life hotel it could be based on. We also finally learned what those “Freak Show” top hat clues were all about.

“American Horror Story” returns in October on FX.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/15/jessica-lange-american-horror-story_n_6873892.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Kiss Me, I'm Gay Irish

My family are all proud of their Irish roots, and they should be. We were Irish cops and firemen on my Dad’s side. Also, train people who worked the railroads outside of Chicago, then New York. We were fighters. There’s a great black and white tin-type of the boxing ring my ancestors set up in the backyard one summer, my uncles and their handle-barred mustaches, fists raised. We were also vets. When the German’s called, we enlisted. On my Mom’s side, we were politicians and businessmen out of Boston. Lace-curtain Irish, we earned money and political favor in Boston. And it didn’t take long — we emigrated from the potato fields of Ireland around 1854. And like many Irish families, we lost a lot during the wars — and in the barrooms.

There was prejudice. But when the Irish formed a community, and stood up against oppression, they earned their stripes. They worked hard, they made their own beer, and eventually they folded into the great American batter like warm Irish butter. Growing up, I felt no prejudice for being green.

I remember my Mother, like Joan Leslie in the 1940’s, playing and singing Irish drinking songs on the piano. With a high, lilting trill, she sang ‘Harrigan’:

‘H, A, double R, I, G, A, N spells Harrigan.
Proud of all the Irish blood that’s in me.
Divvil a man can say a word agin’ me
H, A, double-R, I, G, A, N you see
Is a name that a shame never has been connected with
Harrigan, that’s me!’

I can draw a line to Tammany Hall, and place my great-great grandfather and several uncles on it. The trouble makers, the Molly Maguires, the drunken bums and their wounded widows. It was said my great-great uncle died in a tugboat fire — he was drunk. His wife, my great-great aunt, would have to collect his last paycheck alone. The Irish curse. My mother, on the other hand, rarely touched a drink. She loved Ireland so much, she died on St. Patrick’s Day. It was perfect — the best day of the year for her. There was corned beef and cabbage on the stove, and Irish soda-bread in the breadbox. Not even death can stop the Irish.

In 1992, I was 27. I lived in New York City, and this was the second year of the great St. Patrick’s Day Parade protests. A large group of Irish-American queers were marching north on Fifth Avenue. So, I packed up my little box video camera, Hi-8, analogue tape, and I marched with them. I didn’t expect much, but the crowd grew. And as it swelled, I videotaped the rising Irish-American, LGBTQ army of protesters. There was a drunk, older gay man there — he told the cops they were going to get AIDS. A feekin-eejit man on the sidewalk gave us the finger. A lesbian shaved a triangle in her terrier’s fur, then dyed it green, then put a sticker on top of that. The sticker read: ‘Kiss Me, I’m Gay Irish’. There was a green line up Fifth Avenue, and it matched my green and white sneakers, so I filmed them. Along the route, a mostly older, white crowd held signs declaring homosexuality a sin. It felt, like many days and nights during the height of the AIDS crisis in New York City, a little too biblical.

We paused in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I was baptized Roman Catholic, so the most powerful doors of my faith, locally I mean, were now before me. The Cardinal, John O’Connor, a homophobic, mean-spirited, white, patriarch — who would not condone condom use in the face of a plague — and who worked tirelessly to ostracize the LGBTQ community, made this his nest. Basically, on this day, my rage was as red as his robes.

And then I felt it. What it might feel like to come to America and be hated. What everyone might feel once in their American life — to feel yourself an outsider, because of a trait. To have the largest doors of the institution that fostered my spiritual growth shun me now for my sexual orientation — it was a powerful moment in my Irish American life. Just then it started to snow. The wind was at my back, and the sun shone brightly upon my face, while a moment of silence was observed by the crowd. Because of the light dusting of snow, it really was silent.

They say two LGBTQ groups in Boston were invited to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year. Progress is measured in years. We can’t always see it. It moves too slow at times. But this year, I can certainly attest — with the changes on parade, the long road to equality has dutifully risen to meet me.

www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-ebert/kiss-meim-gay-irish_b_6866682.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Trans teen Jazz Jennings gets a TV show and commercial

‘Jazz’s story is universal, yet unique, and we’re proud to partner with her family to share it with TLC’s audience’

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Jamesw

www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-teen-jazz-jennings-gets-tv-show-and-commercial160315

Gay Groups Make History By Marching In Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade: VIDEO

John Wright

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/gay-groups-make-history-by-marching-in-boston-st-patricks-day-parade.html

Catching My Breath — Teaching My Transgender Son to Drive
I was told I may never live on my own, work full-time, have children in essence I may never live independently. I had learned early in life the value of proving others wrong. Driving was among the list of things in which I would far exceed others expectations. I was told driving might be too difficult due to my severe disability. I may want to rely on public transportation or continue to have my parents drive me around. I grew up in a wheelchair and having others transport me had tired me long ago. I longed to be independent and driving would be a way to begin my journey of independence. I had been working since age 14, another obstacle overcome, so I had been saving money. I would have obtained my drivers permit at age 16 but I had knee replacement surgery then so I put it off to age 18. I took driving instruction and my parents and driving teacher worried I may need expensive adaptive equipment to be added to my car but I disagreed. I drove without equipment and I managed to do well and pass my drivers test on the first try. Independence was within my grasp.

I purchased my first car — a White Dodge Aries K car. I will never forget coming home after passing my driving test and driving my car to work on my own. I smiled from ear to ear and felt as if I was flying. This is what freedom felt like I thought. The obstacles I had overcome to achieve this victory were not lost on me. I could have focused on how difficult the road before me had been but instead I focused on the wonderful road ahead of me. I drove to work the entire way catching my breath knowing my road to independence had begun.

My son is now 16 and looking forward to his day of independence. I wish I could say I had the normal angst any parent has when their child is learning to drive but I face so much more. My son is not just any young man learning to drive; he is transgender. My son would join me in a life of overcoming obstacles which is something I never imagined when I overcame the obstacle of having children. Transgender people face much ignorance and one constant obstacle is in changing their identification. My son and I had already faced this when we legally changed his name to Christopher years ago. We faced it again when convincing his high school to change his records to all list him as male. We succeeded in our mission even though his birth certificate still listed him as female. Every agency has their own regulations as to how someone who is transgender can change their gender. The Department of Health thankfully last year amended their regulation to now say that with a doctor’s letter affirming their gender they can change their gender on their birth certificate. This sounds great but not for transgender children this amendment only applies to those over age 18. I have attempted to fight this with the Department of Health to no avail. So my son and I will head to The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) soon with letters from his therapist and endocrinologist affirming his gender as male and his birth certificate listing him as female hoping for yet another victory.

We had done this very same thing years ago to obtain his non-driver ID and we were successful but not without incident. I clearly remember the look of disgust on the clerks face and how she had to call her Supervisor in order to list my son as male. I believe it helped that I brought a friend who was a lawyer and who had completed my son’s legal name change. The supervisor agreed to list him as male but kept his old name and gender on file just in case as many others had claimed “my child might change their mind.” People still don’t seem to understand that your gender identity is formed at a very young age and that children know who they are and parents are just supporting their children.

I wish in the future that the media would cover transgender teens more so people can still the daily struggles they face and that they are indeed just like everyone else and should be treated that way. I am thrilled that our close friends Jazz and her family will be helping to replace ignorance with compassion in their new TLC docuseries TV show: All that Jazz. Jazz has also been chosen as the Clean and Clear model for young teens to look up to. I believe the more we see transgender kids as normal kids the less parents and transgender children will see that look of disgust my son and I had to endure.

I am hoping the day I bring my son to DMV to get his driving permit it will happen without incident. I look forward to having the normal angst other parent’s face when teaching their children to drive. I look forward to the normal fear when I get in the passenger seat as he takes the steering wheel for the first time. I look forward to complaining about how much my car insurance is going to increase. The irony is not lost on me that instead of switching to GEICO my car insurance would have been less if my son had identified as his assigned birth gender of female. I have learned to laugh at life’s ironic moments instead of becoming bitter. I am looking forward to this awesome journey that awaits my son and I.

As I take my son to obtain his permit I laugh to myself remembering the scene in Taxi when Jim attempted to get his permit. I only hope that my experience with my son learning to drive is full of only laughter and no tears.

As I look back on my life full of obstacles, I vividly remember the moments of overcoming them instead of the strife they caused. I hope as my son grows he will feel the same. The moment of pride and joy received when achieving a goal especially when others doubted your success can never be duplicated. Those very moments took my breath away. I hope for my son that when he catches his breath many times in his life ahead that I am there to witness it with pride.

—

Mary J. Moss is a feisty single mom to a terrific 16 year old boy who just happens to be transgender. Email her at: [email protected]

www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-j-moss/catching-my-breathteachin_b_6873220.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Dolce & Gabbana Backtrack on Same-Sex Parenting Comments: 'We Believe in Freedom and Love'

Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/dolce-gabbana-backtrack-on-same-sex-parenting-comments-we-believe-in-freedom-and-love.html

Cisplaining, Mind-Reading and Other Mystic Powers of Anti-Trans Experts
Some people who are not transgender seem to have a lot of ideas about what it means to be transgender. Some of these people are cisplainers. These are the people who claim to have more knowledge about someone’s gender identity than the actual person who has a gender identity outside of the cisplainer’s personal experience.

“Cisplaining” is taken from the term, “mansplaining,” which has been interpreted to mean many things. My chosen utilization of mansplaining is when a male person assumes to have more knowledge about what it’s like to be female than a female person does.

In the same way, cisplaining is when a cisgender person (someone who is not transgender) assumes to have more knowledge about what it’s like to be transgender than a transgender person does. Thus, the connection to mind-reading and other mystic powers. It stands to reason that a cisplainer must have the ability to read minds. Otherwise, how in the world would they know another person’s gender identity?

Not all cisgender people are cisplainers. Most of the cisgender people I know have taken the time to learn about transgender identities and the obstacles that are faced by people who are transgender. In fact, most of the people I know understand that people experience their various identities in different ways (i.e. everyone is not the same).

The ones who cisplain often say that a person’s gender is defined by their biological birth sex. They sometimes say that transgender identities are not natural. They sometimes select certain verses from the bible in an attempt to support their ideology. Regardless of their sources, cisplainers must still rely on the idea that they are able to determine another person’s gender identity.

These people have been known to do some research on the topic. They search the internet until they find something that supports there espoused ability to read other people’s minds and ignore the bothersome opinions of organizations like the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association.

Of course, when a person has determined that they are able to assign a gender identity to everyone in the world, it is necessary to push reality to the side. You can’t let little things like science get in the way when you are telling other people who they are and who they have to be.

Also of course, the real problem with cisplainers is not so much that they think they know who you are, but that they often try to tell you who you are and who you have to be.

It is perfectly okay with me if someone wants to believe that they know more about my gender than I do. However, I kind of have trouble when they try to tell me that I have to take their delusional daydream and create my own personal nightmare.

As I have shared many times, when I tried living as a man, my life was filled with horrible turmoil. I wasn’t able to function. I couldn’t participate in society. I wasn’t able to pursue higher education. I couldn’t make it work no matter how hard I tried. And I did try. For almost half a century, I tried.

In the last several years as I have stopped pretending to be male, and I have embraced my authentic female self. Not surprisingly, my life has been filled with amazing joy. I am able to function. I can participate in society. I have achieved two college degrees and I am working on my third. It works. I don’t even have to try. It just works.

There is more. I have been told not only that I am not truly a woman, but that as a transgender person I can not be faithful to my authentic self and also be faithful to God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now, I know that part of being faithful to God is being faithful to my authentic self.

So, you might imagine that I get concerned when I become aware of cisplaining people. Cisplainers be like trying to tell you who you have to be. I be like trying to keep transgender teenagers from committing suicide.

There are a couple things I would like to say to the cisplainers. If you would like to know more about what it’s like to be transgender, I will be glad to sit down with you and share. I am not that hard to find.

If you think you know more about who I am than I do and you want to try to do some cisplaining, there isn’t much I can do to help you. But I do know some really good doctors who might be able help you with that.

Finally, I think it would be cool if we had some mystic ability to tell whether or not people were kind. I guess we will just have to settle for being able to listen to them.

www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-mott/cisplaining-mindreading-a_b_6869912.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

New Film 'Owning Our Faith' Shares the Stories and Struggles of LGBT Catholics: VIDEO

Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2015/03/new-film-owning-our-faith-shares-the-stories-and-struggles-of-lgbt-catholics-video.html

Elton John Will Boycott Dolce & Gabbana Over Anti-Family Comments

The Grammy-winning father of two was incensed about the gay Italian designers’ comments which called children born outside a male-female parent family ‘synthetic.’

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Sunnivie Brydum

www.advocate.com/fashion/2015/03/15/elton-john-will-boycott-dolce-gabbana-over-anti-family-comments