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Eve, glad you saw the twin thing, several people at the gathering said the same thing. I was going to mention it but was not sure myself.

You look like twins! So glad that you're "fitting in" so well. Males, on the whole. do seem to be more "anti" than cis females in my experience. However, not exclusively.

Dear Karen and Eve, Noticed from the beginning the two of you DO look like twins! Last summer went to my first family reunion in decades (a bunch of homophobes) and regretted it. Many said snarky comments to me. As I was going home, I said to myself, "I don't know why, but I feel really lousy right now." It really hurt when, only ten feet away, a relative said, "what is SHE doing here?" Had I had my own transportation, I would have got up and left right then. Actually, I DID get up right then, and walked around the park, looking for a TLGB gathering, but no luck! My TLGB family is my REAL family! Hope you can find that life time love soon, that will accept your best friend, as her husband accepts you. Seems like the west coast is calling . . . Your friend, Monica

Dear Warren, Always a pleasure to hear from you, and I certainly love the background! Please allow me to comment on beastiality (and while I am at it, pedophilia). These DO NOT BELONG in ANY sexual orientation. The reason why is that animals and children do not have the capacity to make informed decisions, especially potentially life changing decisions. Adults are supposed to be GOOD STEWARDS of both animals and children, striving for their ultimate good. About depression, I would like to comment. As I understand it, one out of three or four will have battled depression in their lifetime, from mild to severe. Also, there are several kinds of depression, often treated differently. Have had feedback from several friends of mine who stated that anti-depressant medication CAN be addictive, and should be used cautiously. There is a difference between "situational depression" and "organic depression." Situational depression will lift as soon as the stressor that caused it is removed, such as a homeless person obtaining housing, or an abused person being removed from an abusive situation. Organic depression usually has no clear "cause." Be aware that we ALL have blue days, but we should be concerned when it stretches into months. Also, choose your doctor carefully, and be aware of situations where your doctor is chosen for you, especially by hostile family members. Have witnessed the mental health system be used as A WEAPON by hostile families and societies. Warren, I am proud of you for dealing with your depression and other issues forthrightly. Please reassess when your SITUATION improves, as some, if not all, MAY be situational, as you are presently living in a TOXIC SITUATION. Thank you for reaching out to others . . . Grateful for your friendship, Monica

Ben, Lots of excellent points here. To focus quickly on the point about media representation, I recall the early years when I had come out as gay (mistakenly as it turns out!), and finding even the LGBT rights movement trying to focus people on "mainstream" or "normal" lesbian and gay people. Can't say LGBT for that part since they definitely did not want attention focused on the BT part! Long before I realized I was trans I was really pissed about that - it was trans people who rioted at the Stonewall back in '69 after all. Your talk about setting standards made me think of a Barney Frank quote (bear with me, I will connect this!) - back in 1993 when people were arguing over whether LGBT people were 1% or 10% of the population I saw him in a debate - and quite brilliantly he didn't engage in the battle of the numbers, he just said "how many of us do there have to be to be entitled to civil rights?" The connection that I would add here is this - how perfect do we all have to be to be entitled to civil rights? The answer of course should be "NOT AT F***ING ALL!" - many, many imperfect cis-people get rights after all. xoxo Christie