Advent Calendar XI

 

I note that over on Femulate Stana has been writing about hem lines, now I'm not as tall as Stana, and of course now I am no longer cross dressing I have a rather different relationship with clothes, however I do still find I have the same problem with hemlines. At 5'10" I am no amazon but I am on the tall side, sufficiently so that dress and skirt hems are often higher on me than the designer intended. I hate having anything knee length, it feels neither one thing nor the other, just hanging there indecisively. So I will always go for something that is either short, or long ~ although in all honesty until I lose a few more kilos I will remain mostly in leggings!

My old blogging friend Meg commented that "Speeches should be like skirts, long enough to cover everything, but short enough to hold the audience's attention", this reminded me of an occasion many years ago when I was asked to make a short speech of welcome, I was pretty much out of ideas, and even on the day I didn't know what to say, so I ended standing up and just saying

"If "brevity is the soul of wit" then this may well be the funniest speech you will have ever heard. Welcome!" and then I sat down. They did make me do some more later but I suspect most people who were there will only remember that bit.

Advent Calendar VII

 

We had just started the second half of this evening's concert (my second of the day) when I realised that I had failed to post anything this morning, and as I'm not really set up to do such things on my phone I had to wait until I got home before I could do anything. I had thought about maybe expanding on my thoughts about how we are all different, and in a way that also makes us all the same, but quite frankly I'm not up to any such cerebral work at the moment.

My first gig was playing euphonium with Croydon Brass Band at the Carshalton Frost Fair, fortunately not so cold that we had a frost, but I was still glad that I wrapped up well! It certainly wasn't as cold as this historic picture of one of the London Frost Fairs. Back in the "mini Ice Age" in the 17th and 18th centuries from time to time the Thames would freeze over and the locals would hold a fair on the ice. Read more about them here. It was nice community event with some nice stalls and two stages, I would have liked to have been able to stay a bit longer, but I had other commitments!

Then it was a dash over to Worcester Park to join the Linden Wind Orchestra for their combined Christmas and 40th Anniversary Celebration. Not only did this mean a change of clothes, but also a change of instrument, this one was on Bass Trombone. Although I have never been a member of this band I have played with them on a number of occasions over those 40 years, and feel like I must be a "semi detached member of the family". On one occasion a few years back I even auditioned to conduct them, in hindsight at that time I was not ready for a band of this quality, now? ~ if the chance came again I would still try!

Anyway, I'm tired, I haven't got any photos of the day so here is another gratuitous Betty picture!

Advent Calendar I

 

Yes I am doing it again, this is your Advent Calendar from me, each day we open a door onto my life, my thoughts, my history, or maybe just a Christmas related picture that has taken my fancy.

Mentioning doors made me think of this door, I don't know what lies behind it now but back in 2014 when I wrote about it here, it was the door to the London Gender Identity Clinic. After I was referred to the GIC in 2014 I first passed through that door about one year later in 2015, by December 2018 I had completed all of the medical aspects of my transition, it was just over five years from when I first went to my GP and told him that I thought I might need some help to being discharged from specialist care. During that time I had to go through the process of working out who I am, what I want, and how to deal with it. At no point did I feel rushed, at no point did I feel that I had to convince the clinicians of anything, I always felt that they had my best interests at heart and would only progress at my pace as I came to terms with my new situation. These days I am quite certain that nobody feels rushed as currently the waiting times for a first appointment are in excess of SEVEN YEARS, two years longer than my entire medical process from my first visit to the GP to discharge following surgery.

Back in 2011 when I started this blog Trans People may still have been subject to a few tasteless jokes, but on the whole there was a growing understanding, sympathy and a general desire to help ease our way. Later that year Channel 4 aired their series "My Transexual Summer" this felt like a turning point in attitudes as Trans people themselves started to speak. However just like the GIC waiting time things have got worse, we now have several very vocal well funded anti trans activists groups campaigning to reduce our rights, reduce our access to services and facilities, and to reduce our access to medical treatment.

But today is the first Sunday of Advent! Advent is the time when we look forward to Christmas, and Christmas is the point where everything starts to get better! I believe that what we are going through now is a reaction, a reaction to progress and inclusion in general. Some people have simply found that there is too much progress too quickly for them to come to terms with. Racism, sexism, homophobia are no longer socially acceptable, I think a lot of the transphobia we now experience is truly just a reaction against an inclusive society, I worry that things may get worse before they get better, but I do believe they will get better. Even amongst all the bad news, the legal challenges and the sporting bans, there is always good news, I choose to treasure those and look forward to improvements. 

After Christmas the days start to get longer, we can start looking forward to spring and new growth, because Christ has been born we can start to look forward to Easter Sunday, the risen Christ, and His victory over death and sin. I believe that Christ too will lead the victory over ignorance and hate.