Displaying 31 To 60 Of 82 Comments Papers Filed, North Carolina Has First-In-History Openly-Trans Candidate For State Legislature Thanks! I hope you and your family are well…I miss you from the old Yabz. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 9, 2019 @ 1:43 pm To Jondo…and any other detractors that want to focus on my transgender status as something which is bad: Hatred requires no effort, and no bravery. If you want to do something worthwhile, and build something…try love. Love takes both effort and bravery. Do you have what it takes? » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 9, 2019 @ 1:42 pm Good luck. People like him will never learn. Because they don’t want to. We simply have to endure them. Psychology 101 states that most people find it easier to tear down someone else than to build themselves up. I have had to build myself up. From the ground floor. When I transitioned, I lost everything. And I mean I lost everything. But I gained internal peace. Over the intervening years, I have had to rebuild myself. And have had to suffer many people trying to tear down what I was painfully and slowly rebuilding. I have built myself into a woman I am proud to be. And they cannot and will not tear that down. Because I know who I am, and I know what I believe in and what I stand for. My only wish is that more of my fellow citizens would ACT like they live in the Home Of The Brave. The actions and words of those who stand against me and people like me…are the words and actions of FEAR…not bravery. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 9, 2019 @ 1:41 pm Indeed. Read some of John Pavlovitz’s stuff some time. Now THERE is a real Christian. And I love him very much. He is local here even though he is famous across the country. I have him on speed dial and I have hugged him. He truly is a man of God. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 9, 2019 @ 12:17 am You are hurting me by attempting to deprive me of employment, housing, and healthcare…all things required for life. Good day. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 9, 2019 @ 12:15 am I have no need to repent from being transgender. I am what I was created to be. Did you ever stop to think that JUST MAYBE…people like me were created as a test for YOU? Your Lord commanded you to love ALL PEOPLE. So maybe people like me were created to test you…will you REALLY love all people? Incidentally, as I am now seventeen years beyond the surgery…going back would not be possible…even if I wanted to…which I do not. I do not need or want your acceptance, your tolerance or your permission. I need only for you to repent of your hateful ways towards me and to treat me as you yourself would want to be treated. If you find you cannot do this, then we have nothing further to say to each other. And you will answer to your Creator for the way you have treated me and people like me. Meanwhile, I refer you to Romans 12:19 – It is NOT your place to take vengeance against me and people like me in the name of God…and when you do so, you blaspheme against your Creator. I will account for my own life. You should worry more about your own. Have a nice day. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 9, 2019 @ 12:12 am If you do not see me as a demon then why do you wish to hurt me and people like me? We are NOT hurting you. You are the one confused, not me. You see, nobody ASKED me my gender or how I wanted to be treated when I was born…they made an assumption based on visible external features or lack thereof…and then attempted to force me into their ideal of what that meant. The fact that there are those born anatomically male, but who feel and identify as female, because their brain is “wired” in a female way is proved in science; certain brain structures in male-to-female trans people are more consistent with those same structures in female brains versus male brains…and this is true even before hormone therapy. The fact that you refuse to accept this reality, or that you cannot conceptualize this as possible…makes you the one confused…not me. Similarly, it does not change my truth of my reality. I do not require your approval, acceptance, permission or validation. Being trans IS NOT a mental illness, it was de-listed from the DSM as being such, because research proved that it should never have been so classed in the first place. My being trans in no way harms you…outside of maybe making you a little uncomfortable. Sorry, the Constitution does not give you the right to never be made a little uncomfortable. YOU trying to make it possible to deny me a job, a home, healthcare…DOES harm me. And as a citizen, I have a right to the protection of law from harm. Now, it is clear I cannot change your mind…so I ask that you respect me and simply not engage me going forward, because I do not find engagement with you to be worthwhile. You are not willing to countenance any ideas other than your own. So have a nice life. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 7, 2019 @ 5:29 am Who gets to define “moral” versus not “moral?” Why do you get to arbitrarily decide that? My own take would be that…any behavior that harms another person in an objective, measurable way…is immoral. All else is moral. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 7, 2019 @ 1:17 am Let me tell you what we DO seek, Jondo, okay? I really do not even know why I engage you, because it is clear your mind is made up, and that we LGBTQ are all demons in your mind. But we aren’t. We’re just people. People wired a little differently than you are. But, like you…we want to work, laugh, play, love and live. We care about the same things you do..or at least most people do. And those things are that I believe most of us have a desire to see a well-educated and healthy public…who can then be self-sufficient and drive economic opportunity that empowers and enriches all of us. You see, in humans, there is a thing called a bell curve. Those who fall under that bell curve, which is arbitrarily defined…are considered “normal” – and those who do not…are not considered normal. But here is the thing…if we all fit under that curve, it would not be a curve, it would be a straight line…and how boring would THAT be? Also, some in society seem to have the idea that what falls outside the bell curve is BAD. It isn’t. It is just different. Now…with all that background…which I sincerely hope you do read…let me tell you what our agenda as LGBTQ people is: We do NOT seek any person’s permission or acceptance of our authentic selves. We do not feel the need to ask your permission, nor will we allow you to determine our validity or our truth. We also do NOT seek to change any of your “sincerely-held beliefs” – religious or otherwise. We are not into being the Thought Police. As I said, we are into being allowed, without unfair extra obstacles and without harassment or other additional impediment…to live, laugh, work, love and play…just like everyone else. So the only thing we seek is the protection of our government to make that a reality. Because of people like you who will not simply live and let live. We seek only to prevent you from acting on those beliefs you hold…IN WAYS THAT CAUSE OBJECTIVE AND MEASURABLE HARM TO US. Because, like you…we have a right to live. I doubt you have read all this,, but I hope that you have…and that you will consider my words. And I, in all sincerity wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah, or whatever holidays you and yours celebrate at this time. I wish you peace and joy…just as I wish for my entire LGBTQ family…and myself. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 7, 2019 @ 1:14 am I am not even sure how to get to New Yabz anymore, or if I could post there. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 7, 2019 @ 1:03 am Nice. Typical Jondo. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On December 6, 2019 @ 12:52 am The Fate of LGBTQIA+ Americans Lies In the Hands Of SCOTUS I should note, by the way…that when the arguments against us devolve into what bathroom we can use, and what sports we can play…we have already won…because they have conceded the major issues to us – e.g employment, housing, healthcare. Can any person actually make a reasonable argument that a law-abiding transgender person should be denied these things, simply for being trans? Apparently, even those who stand against us cannot. So they make bogus arguments about women’s sport. And they pass laws about what bathroom we can use. And, I might add, they do the latter with NO input from our community, and no member of our community sitting at the table where our fate is decided. My own candidacy is partly about changing that dynamic. We demand to have a say in the laws that are passed to govern our lives and our bodies. And we find natural allies in others who fight to insure that they have rights to control their bodies and their lives. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On October 14, 2019 @ 8:32 pm Wrong again. The APA has said that Gender Dysphoria is not a mental illness, it has been de-listed from the DSM. Why don’t you take your hate somewhere else? Not that you bother me all that much, I have dealt with the likes of you for a quarter-century now, and I sharpen my claws on the likes of you. I’ve endured far more than you ever would or could, because I am stronger than you. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On September 20, 2019 @ 2:07 pm As usual…your contribution to the discussion is breathtaking in it’s relevance. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On September 20, 2019 @ 12:42 pm Thoughts on The Fourth Of July…from an American Transgender Woman’s Perspective Yes. I have said it before. They do not care if their own house burns down…as long as the house of the black, the Muslim, the LGBT, the “OTHER” burns down more than theirs! If you gave the average Trumper two choices… 1. You can be better off than you are today…but everyone else around you, including those you think of as “other” or otherwise disparage…will be on equal footing with you… OR…. 2. You can be worse off than you are right now…but those you hate and disparage, and think of as “other” – will be even MORE worse off than you are…. MOST Trumpers would take Choice Number 2. Because for them…it is not about lifting others up…or even themselves. They aren’t capable of that. It is about tearing others down, because that is easier. It is about maintaining “superiority” even if it means lower status for themselves…if they can tear others down further…thus maintaining their “superiority.” There ARE those who are only able to walk tall when they have forced everyone else to their knees….those who must blow out other people’s candles…in order to make their own glow more brightly. And that is your average Trumper. They can only destroy. They cannot create, they cannot lift up others or themselves…all they can do is tear down others. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 12, 2019 @ 7:06 pm Indeed. NOWHERE ELSE does that happen. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 12, 2019 @ 7:00 pm I appreciate that support. And I should bear in mind I may not be the only trans here…just maybe the only visible one…and while I CAN take it and stand up for myself…someone less visible than myself, who has not dealt as long as I have with this kind of adversity…may not be as inured to it as I am. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 12, 2019 @ 6:58 pm True. But after 25 years of dealing with people like that, I have come to understand them…and how foolish they are. I only wish more people would see them for what they really are. Ignorant and fearful. Determined to force any square peg to conform to the round hole or die trying, because it never occurs to them to cut a square hole for that square peg. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 12, 2019 @ 6:56 pm To people accustomed to privilege and exalted status…equality FEELS like oppression. Too bad they will never know what TRUE oppression feels like. Not that I’d wish them to know, at least not by experience, as we do…but if they DID know, they’d stop whining. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 12, 2019 @ 7:45 am Frankly…people like Josephine…do a better job of making the argument why people like me should have the protection of laws…than I do. They are a living example of why these protections are needed. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 12, 2019 @ 7:42 am It doesn’t matter. I have fought people like Josephine my entire adult life and I am used to it. She isn’t even among the best I have had to stand against…I eat people like her for lunch. She needs to step up her game, if you want the truth. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 12, 2019 @ 7:40 am AdLib…those who stand against us have ALWAYS used circular logic and convoluted arguments to justify their positions, because they WILL NOT admit their bigotry. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 12, 2019 @ 7:39 am Not sure what HP is. And you are right about claimed beliefs not making a person good, or lack thereof making them bad. ONLY IN AMERICA…can any crank, crook, charlatan…or general all-around horrible person…add the word “Pastor” in front of his name and gain INSTANT CREDIBILITY. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 10, 2019 @ 11:16 pm Precisely. And when we go on Estrogen, we lose about 40 percent of our upper-body strength, by the way. We still can and usually do tend to be stronger…BUT…I can tell you if any perv started messing around in the women’s bathroom…I WOULD BE THE FIRST TO START POUNDING ON HIS ASS. Incidentally…I have never had to…in 25 years. And the only thing I ever saw in the ladies room that interested ME…was the occasional super-cute pair of boots or shoes (I’m a boots girl, personally) – or maybe a really nice blouse…and then all I want to know is where did she get that…and how much did it cost? Because I want it. LOL. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 10, 2019 @ 11:12 pm Well, as you may have noticed, I live in the American South. Like 38 percent of all American LGBT. And living here can be hell. Intolerant Christianity is very commonplace here. I do NOT see the “loving” Christians confronting AT ALL. I wish I DID see that…I wish they WOULD “get a little screechy” and shout down the haters a little. It would do MY heart good. Too often, I believe Christians have the all-purpose excuse to do nothing when they see injustice…”Well, it is the will of God” or “It will be taken care of in His time…” WELL…His time…AIN’T FAST ENOUGH FOR ME!! » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 10, 2019 @ 11:08 pm Why don’t more Christians like you SPEAK UP AND SPEAK OUT…and shout down the haters? I saw what Christians in the Philippines did…and my heart soared…and at the same time ached…that American Christians WILL NOT DO THE SAME AS THEY DID. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 10, 2019 @ 12:52 pm Is that so? You have utterly failed to treat ME with love, respect and dignity!! You have been dismissive, accusatory, judgmental, and downright mean if you want the truth. Your words have been nothing but hurtful. Yet…i continue to respond to you with as much kindness as I can muster…trying very hard not to trade hate for hate. Truthfully, what I feel for you is sorrow. Sorrow that you are so closed minded and hard-hearted. Hopeful that one day, the scales will fall from your eyes, as what happened when Saul became Paul on the road to Damascus. I keep hoping something will open your mind, and melt your heart. I wish those things for you. And I wish you peace. I will let others judge for themselves…in our exchanges with each other. I have done my best to be kind in the face of nearly unbearable cruelty. P.S. If you ask me, God literally smote me from the day of my birth…if what you suggest is correct…since I have always felt as I do. Why would a loving God EVER give anyone this heavy a cross to bear? » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 9, 2019 @ 10:50 pm It is NOT my experience…for Christians to speak up on our behalf…and to speak out against the false “Christians.” It just isn’t. Twenty-five years…I have been me now. I have lived more years of my life openly trans…than my life before transition. And I have had a lot of encounters with people who call themselves Christian along the way. Most of them want to “save me” – as if I needed to be saved because I was trans!! I would tell them…if you REALLY want to save me…then stop trying, because, frankly, eternity spent around people like YOU is my very definition of HELL!! Most of them have been cruel and unfeeling. I was driven from the Christianity of my birth by them. I was born and raised Roman Catholic. I quit the Catholics when it became clear to me that, in spite of what they said about :a sin is a sin is a sin” – there obviously WAS a hierarchy to sin…and my perceived “sin” of being trans…was absolutely unforgivable to them. They had nothing for me but a message as comforting as a crown of thorns. So I left. I became a Unitarian. And now, these days, i am an Agnostic, and self-described Jesusian. Sometime, I will write an article on Jesusianity. I call myself such to differentiate myself from Christians…who, in my mind, are synonymous with intolerance, hatred and bigotry. Sad…isn’t it? Bur that is the name Christianity has earned itself in the eyes of many. I ended up learning a lot of the Bible…primarily because I had to learn how to “fight fire with fire.” I had to learn to throw Scripture in their face…as they did to me. SO…seeing a self-professed Christian as yourself…or as John Pavlovitz…it is truly a breath of fresh air. I credit those like you…with the fact that I am now at least an Agnostic…and not the Atheist I once was. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 9, 2019 @ 10:41 pm deleted, and added to response to you, so that it appears in the right order. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 9, 2019 @ 11:13 am Thanks for the support, Kalima. It IS good to hear a Christian actually speak up on our behalf. It is very rare. I know not all Christians believe as the fundamentalists like Josephine do…that there are good, kind, caring and loving Christians…I know some. But DAMN is it rare to hear one of those kind of Christians ACTUALLY SPEAK UP. So thank you. It seems that it must take a lot of guts for the real Christians to speak up…so I thank you for having them. By the way, have you ever heard of John Pavlovitz? I think you might enjoy reading some of his stuff. Look him up on Google. He is currently a youth minister at NRCC (North Raleigh Community Church) – I know him personally…I have hugged him, and I have him on speed dial. More Christians need to be like him. And like you! Bless you. P.S. Kalima…so you know… No, there are some things of being a girl I will never know…it isn’t physically possible. But some cisgender girls are born sterile, too…and never have monthlies…does this make them any less girls? Because they did not experience that? No…some experiences girls have in their teen years…i did not have…because I was not allowed to be my true self, I was forced to hide…and to put on a facade everyone else expected me to wear…and to live up to things I never could…and feel things I did not and never could feel. Because, in spite of my physical body at birth, I never was a man, a boy, a male…and never could be. It was alien to me. Anatomy does NOT dictate gender, nor does it dictate destiny. MOST people, yes, happen to be congruent…in their physical anatomy…and their gender identity. Those who, like me, were not…have gone through hell. The best way to articulate this to the cisgender (not transgender) – is to say that SEX is found between the legs….whereas GENDER is found between the ears. Gender is a social construct built and enforced…but there is NOTHING inherently genetic that tells a girl to wear dresses or makeup…or adopt coquettish behavior. There is NOTHING inherently genetic that tells a male child that he cannot wear a dress, that he should not cry, that he should enjoy rough and tumble sports. And nothing genetic tells a girl child that she should NOT enjoy rough and tumble activities. Think about it. You, as a girl, likely had to learn…by observation and imitation…or be actually taught…to do things like have good female posture, to walk a specific way, etc. This is no different than what transgender women like me do…though we tend to start this at a later age, because we were not ALLOWED to do so at the earlier age. I have as much experience being female as it is possible for me to have. As I say, some physical things…I never will experience. It is not, at this time, possible to give transgender women those experiences. But, again, there are cisgender girls who also never have those experiences…for various reasons…and nobody would say THEY were any less female for not having those experiences. » Posted By Angela Bridgman On July 9, 2019 @ 11:00 amComments Posted By Angela Bridgman
I have, more than once…been at pains to point out that…ONLY IN AMERICA…can any crank, crook, charlatan, or general all-around horrible person…add the word “Reverend” or “Pastor” in front of their name…and gain instant credibility.
For one thing, we ARE NOT WIRED LIKE MEN. We might have got born with male physiology…but NOT a male brain.
Are you actually suggesting I am Job? For what am I given this cross to bear…the feelings of dysphoria…the cruelty of many of my fellow humans, the deprivation that accompanies discrimination?
No, sorry, I do not buy that. Not for a nanosecond.
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