OutServe Screws Up

So OutServe canned their executive director and the entire senior staff resigns in protest over the firing.
http://www.bilerico.com/2013/06/outservesldn_exec_dir_fired_senior_staff_resigns.php

Obviously she had the hearts of the staff and that is the most vital thing an executive director can have. Now whoever comes in will have to fight upstream for anything. The staff will resent any new ex. director and the queer community is looking on and shaking their collective heads. OutServe is in a very piss poor place right now.

This is a good time for the OutServe board members and staff that have stayed on to say 'mea culpa' and the Senior members of the board of directors need to fall on the sword so to speak and vacate their positions.

You screwed the pooch OutServe.

One comment I saw on facebook sums it up rather nicely I think: "Founders Syndrome".



Oh and one more thing OutServe: You canned a transsexual woman over personality conflict. She was doing her job and by the response of your senior staff she was doing it well.
You no longer have the good will of the trans* community.

An open letter to the Spokane Trans* Comunity

An open letter to the Spokane trans* community:


I am asking everyone to re-unify and put aside differences.

Consider the troubles that have drove us apart over the last year. Every one of them is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. Not a single one of the issues has been of the magnitude of a really serious issue. We never needed law enforcement to interfere and we haven't gone to blows. Nothing like those things has happened. Mainly we have had personality conflict that was informed by misunderstandings and hurt egos.

We can fix this. The rifts are repairable as they are not based in any major betrayals. Sure there has been some petty infighting, gossiping and back biting, but that is minor stuff.

I want to point out that it has been said many times (and it seems very obvious): You don’t go through life trans* and not come out with some amount of PTSD. Just the trauma of living in the wrong body, or in a society that does not accept us will result in PTSD. You don’t have to even transition to have this problem.
A large amount of us have issues with boundaries. A large amount of us have issues socializing in groups.

Every one of these things that we have issues with can cause friction. We are all dealing with varying levels of personal issues. We are a fragile community and as such we can break. But when you have something beautiful that breaks, you try and glue it back together and treat it better.

Also, we have to take into consideration that people tend to have trouble dealing with others who have the same flaws they perceive they have themselves. 

These things do make for a tough battle and have for us. But we can prevail and stay a strong force for the community.

 ~~~~~~~
Proposal:
We come back together and get back to the mission of supporting each other and saving lives, which I can assure you, we have saved lives.
We work with the understanding that most of us are flawed. There will be disagreements and issues in the future. But we have to work past those issues. Lives are literally on the line.
 ~~~~~~

I own my part in the troubles. I am not perfect and I do not fight fair at all. It is one of my flaws.
But nothing happens in a vacuum. I had my own reasons and I felt pretty passionate about them and my feelings were hurt also a few times down the road this last year.

I am totally committed to letting that go and moving forward for the community. My precious and tender ego will just have to get over it as I move on. I do not have time to let my hurt feelings take over my mission. Not over small shit. I can't stay mad over small shit. Can I talk you into letting bygones be bygones so we can move forward?

Now that Pride week is over we have a simple easy summer ahead of us. Due to Pride we will see a number of new people trickle in over the next couple of months. With visibility we attract more of our own.


In two weeks we will have our standard issue get together. I hope to see you there.

Have a great day and a better tomorrow,
Cynthia Lee

PRIDE in Spokane!!!

This is PRIDE week in Spokane, Washington. Come on out and celebrate your LGBT PRIDE and have some fun!

A Buddy update.

Buddy is doing well. Thanks again to all who helped him last year.

For those who may wonder about Buddy, he is doing wonderful for the most part. He only limps when he has over done it or it is really cold. His operation on his leg was a good idea and we are still very grateful for all the help we got when he needed his operation. Since his operation, he has slowed down and started to display old dog tendencies. For instance, it used to be that when morning showed up, he would be the first to insist on going outside. Now when Lilly our Rat Terrier gets up first thing Buddy stays in bed.
He still likes aggressive play on occasion, but not as often as before he hurt his leg. Tug of war used to be his favorite sport, but it has been replaced laying down/siting and being 'aggressive', which is rather silly looking. You can't be all big and badass laying down and barking. Play fights only last about half the time they used to when he was younger. He no longer try's to bolt into the forest when he gets the chance. He seems to know I can catch him now. Which is good anyways. The last time he bolted into the forest he came home with the injury that required surgery.
So what I am saying is he has grown up and become an old dog. But that is ok. He is 8 years old and we believe he has some Great Dane in his ancestry. He just ended up slowing down a couple years early.
He is a very happy dog still. You should see how silly he gets when he gets his favorite treats. He parades them around all the while doing that happy dog prance/dance thing they do. He loves to play fight with the Rat Terrier, just not as often as he used to. (Which is pretty awesome to watch giant Buddy play fight with tiny Lilly. He actually lets her think she stands a chance and she is in charge. Rather adorable.)

Have a good day,
Cynthia Lee

A good forum.

This is a great forum for transitioning transsexuals.
http://forum.beginninglifeforums.com/index.php

Outer boards are moderated, inner boards are not moderated but may only be accessed by members of the group. It is relatively small compared to most forums and has a homey atmosphere.

A response to Cathy Brennan and her recent attacks on trans* lesbian females.

I posted this in the comments section of Cathy B's blog Pretendbians recent post.
http://pretendbians.com/2013/03/31/dear-ok-cupid/
I doubt it will make it past moderation so I will post it here:

Hi Cathy,
It seems to me that your main premise is that transgender people are delusional and not in their right mind.
OK…
If we go with this premise as a statement of fact then the trangender population is mentaly ill. (I do not believe this, but let us go with the thought experiment.)

If transgender people are mentaly ill and unlikely to ever let go of the delusions they are under then trying to get them to change is an exercise in futility.

What other mental illness is it politicaly correct to shame a person for haveing the mental illness?
Would we abuse a psychotic for being psychotic? Or a person with multiple personalities?
We do not abuse the mentaly ill for their illness. It is inhumane. We can not say to a mentaly ill person “just get better! You are a terrible person for being mentaly ill. I hate you for your mental illness”. To do so would garner the ire of society.

Society at large sees the transgender as a mentaly ill person.
Is this the Cathy that you want the world to see you as? The woman who abuses mentaly ill people?


Have a good day,
CPB

PS: I do not believe or support the notion that transgender people are mentaly ill in any way shape or form. But I do believe that if someone genuinly believes that someone is mentaly ill, then that person who sees mental illness should be humane and not abuse the person they view as mentaly ill. It is just common human decency.

Respect for my elders.

 You gals who managed to transition before the internet have my total respect. I was incapable of doing it back in those days. I knew the path but there was no support. I couldn't do it. The internet made it much easier for us. Support is available in spades and we have actual support groups and networks in every large city.
My hat is off to you veterns of the pre internet days, you gals were the warriors who made it possible for the rest of us.
hugz