Friday 23 December 2011

Yo Ho Ho!! Mary Chrimbo


 
Christmas!!! It’s that time of year when everyone gets all excited and stuff and forgive me for being a bit bah humbug but each year I just don’t get what all the excitement is about… See, I was raised in a very religious family and we never celebrated Christmas so it wasn’t until I was seventeen that I had my first proper Christmas and that was spent in a pub lock-in with my then girlfriend and the only festive thing we did was get really drunk…
I guess over the years I have learnt to enjoy it more and my favourite one was when I was in Amsterdam for a couple of weeks. Maybe it was the ‘local’ cigarettes I was smoking but for the first time in my life I actually felt festive! The air was cold and crisp and every where I looked there was tinselly decorations with the odd Dutchman cycling past whistling Christmas songs. My friend and I were staying in a dingy hostel on some dodgy street until some more friends arrived and we got to share their hotel room. On the big day we ate pancakes and did some sightseeing.
The point I’m rambling towards though, is, Christmas is what you make of it. For me it means enjoying time with friends. Each year my friends back in Jersey would all get together for a big meal and to get nice and drunk and I will miss that this year but my life has started a new chapter so it’s time to look forward and enjoy what I have achieved these last few months.
So whatever you get up to and whoever you spend it with, I hope you enjoy it. :)  

Friday 16 December 2011

Government Ministers and Lesbian Pubs (My Week)




Its been a while since my last blog and I’ve been slacking a little in the online part of my life… I’ve just had such a lot going on recently, when I sit down at home I just want to chill out…
What a few days it’s been though! Last week I was woken up by a phone call from someone who said they were from the Home Office!??!! All kinds of thoughts flashed through my mind, what did they want with me? Were they going to deport me back to Jersey for crimes against fashion? Did they want to nominate me for Prime Minister?
As it turned out the Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone was launching the first ever government plan for transgender equality and had asked for someone from My Transsexual Summer to help promote it. So there I was at 6am having not slept because I was out with the others from MTS the night before and I knew that if I went to sleep I wouldn’t wake up in time, downing Red Bull in the hope that I would be able to appear awake on breakfast TV… It all went really well in the end and I was asked to the actual Home Office building to have a meeting with the minister herself. Who would have thought, me, a girl from a tiny island near France, having a natter with a top government minister!!! Lynne seemed like a really nice lady and was clued up on trans issues. Here’s a link to the actual paper the government produced. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/equalities/lgbt-equality-publications/e-bulletin/e-bulletin-4
Although it’s great and all that the government are taking steps for the progress of transgender rights, from what I understand from this paper, it’s not actually agreeing to do anything. It just seems like they’re saying “let’s start thinking about doing something” It seems a bit of a cop out to me.
Why are they not doing something to promote gender variance in schools? Discrimination and bullying comes from not understanding and there should be more done to educate people.
Why do trans people feel they have to fight to get treatment on the NHS? Failure or a long wait for treatment is seriously detrimental to the wellbeing of people who are transgendered.
I could go on but I’m trying to keep this post short.

In other news, I have got myself a part time job!! I now work behind the bar at the Marlborough pub in Brighton. Apparently it’s a lesbian bar? I had a shift there last night and it went really well, luckily I remembered how to pull a pint and the night flew past in the end. I really enjoyed getting out there and meeting some new people and I hope it’s the start of more shifts and maybe a proper job.
I’m also over a quarter of the way to my target of £2000 on my fundraising page to fund my hair removal. Yay!! A huge thanks to all those who have donated, I have booked my first consultation for Monday and I’ll know a bit more about the treatments I’ll be getting after then. I’m really looking forward to starting, I hate having to shave my face every day, its ripping up my skin and if I haven’t shaved on a particular day my confidence takes a real hit if I have to leave the house. It costs a fortune in razors too!! Heres a link should you wish to donate <3 http://www.gofundme.com/anfyg
I’m off to go and see Karen tonight for her birthday so I’ll leave you with that. J