I was a chugger, too.

This video showed up in my Original Plumbing feed today.

It's the testimony of somebody who worked for what I have come to know as a "liberal sweatshop," it's a canvassing contractor used by a lot of large lobby organizations like the Human Rights Campaign.  And I totally was a canvasser for them, so this is a very personal thing for me.

So you're not a dysphoric transsexual. Want a cookie?

We're going to make this I guess an etiquette article as well as a viewpoints article because although it's clearly a viewpoint essay it's also based on etiquette.  And that etiquette lesson has to do with an open disregard for other trans people regarding identity and dysphoria.  Recently it reared its head in a discussion of non-dysphoric trans men.  It started with an honest question and then devolved rapidly into mocking dysphoric trans people.

There were a couple myths thrown around in this discussion I'd like to address, as well as a sort of etiquette warning.

1. Dysphoria isn't what everyone seems to think it is.
2. Dysphoria isn't a failing on the part of dysphoric people.
3. It is not cool to mock dysphoria if you don't have it.

Which I will explain after the jump.

Therapy session five. Also, therapy isn't that bad. Seriously.

Scientologists.

Has it been two weeks since I posted anything?  Wow.  Oh, it was a little less than that because I delayed my therapy post.

So I had my last therapy session until September.  I already planned on postponing to work on the other half of the state through the summer, I had to postpone early because a clinic I went to five years ago decided I needed a surprise bill! for about what one of my sessions cost, and I want to avoid borrowing money.  I'm not in a bad mood about it, though, because I'm excited for the summer, my brother's wedding, and some other stuff and I know testosterone is going to happen anyway.  I told my best friend about this and he said "You've been waiting a quarter of a century, what's another two weeks?"

So today's session was actually devoid of depressing stuff!  But I've also for the past few weeks been thinking about the attitude I've been seeing among trans people with regard to therapy.  I'd like to address that, and we'll see how long it takes for my little hit counter to spike from somebody being angry at me ^_^