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Transgender musician, songwriter and music producer, Laura Jane Grace

Aug15

If Janis Joplin was pretty you’d have Laura Jane Grace.

Laura Jane Grace sitting on a sofa

Laura Jane Grace

She has that wonderful raspy voice, earthy stance and deep sensitivity of Janis when she’s singing. Laura began her music career in punk rock.  The genre answered her needs of rebellion against society at large and her portrayed gender in particular.  She freed herself in 2012.  She still leads her band “Against Me” in the recording studio where they record under their own label called Total Treble Music and on the road touring the US in concerts.  Their solid fan base have been buying their 6 plus albums and attending concerts since 2005.

Laura has a colourful back story full of struggle and strife with the “authorities”.  Now that she has released herself from gender bondage she seems to be taking a more positive approach to making it right.  She recently recorded a “back yard session” with Miley Cyrus and Joan Jett to raise funds for Miley’s newly founded charity Happy Hippie Foundation established to provide shelter and other benefits to homeless transgendered youths.

Although Laura’s transition has really just begun, she seems really comfortable with who she is on the outside. Laura continues to be a devoted father to her daughter and works with her wife to raise their little girl with love and support.

I encourage you to read about Laura in Rolling Stone Magazine and other similar publications and hear her music.  Laura Jane Grace is a pleasure to listen to and exciting to watch on stage.   Her songs are meaningful and she’s showing up as a force for good.



Transgender Movie Director, Lana Wachowski

Aug14

“When I was young, I wanted very badly to be a writer, I wanted to be a filmmaker, but I couldn’t find anyone like me in the world and it felt like my dreams were foreclosed upon simply because my gender was less typical than others.”

Lana transitioned in 2002 and went on to team up with her brother to direct the Matrix trilogy of movies which starred Keanu Reeves.

Lana Wachowski and brother Andy

Lana with brother Andy

Attending a Human Rights Campaign Fundraiser, Lana spoke of her life as a child and young boy growing up and the harsh experiences she had that molded her into who she has become today.  The quote above is taken from that speech and you can read the rest of it in the link below.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2222541/Lana-Wachowski-Transgender-Matrix-director-childhood-torment.html#ixzz3iIJ6cXQ7

I encourage you to read about Lana and get to know her and her work.  Because she was able to complete her transition and get on with her life, in addition to her contributions of talent in the world of cinema, Lana is also a productive advocate for the transgender youth movement.



Chelsea Manning: Lest We Forget

Jul31

Remember Chelsea Manning –

legal appeal latest newsChelsea Manning Portrait

I just watched an interview with Nancy Hollander, the lawyer representing Chelsea Manning. In 2013 Manning was sentenced to 35 years in military prison for disclosing classified information to Wikileaks while Manning was working for the United States Military in Iraq.  Ms Hollander says the punishment doesn’t fit the crime and is leading Chelsea’s appeal. 

Who is Chelsea Manning?

If you are not familiar with Chelsea Manning’s story, I urge you to read up.  I have my own opinions of the crime’s she’s said to have committed but that’s not the focus of my blog.  She’s an interesting and valuable human being and worth keeping up with. 

Chelsea Manning

In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Army, Pfc. Bradley Manning poses for a photo wearing a wig and lipstick. Manning emailed his military therapist the photo with a letter titled, “My problem,” in which he described his issues with gender identity and his hope that a military career would “get rid of it.” (AP Photo/U.S. Army)

During the time she served in the ranks she presented as Bradley Manning, a young male soldier.  It was during her ordeal of pre-trial torture and shortly after the trial that she was moved to reveal her true gender.  It was ironic that in the midst of her confinement she exercised her freedom to be honest, transparent and authentic. She announced her name as Chelsea Elizabeth Manning and so began living her truth.

“As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me,” Manning says. “I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female.

According to a memo obtained by USA TODAY, it’s a first for the Army, Chelsea Manning has been approved for hormone therapy for transition to a woman at the Army’s Fort Leavenworth prison.

Chelsea has been confined for 5 years now but she is very active.

Writing in the Guardian last December, Manning set out her view of gender identity as one of the great civil rights issues of modern day.

According to the editor in chief of Guardian US, Katherine Viner, Ms. Manning will write on war, gender and freedom of information.

In addition to being a contributing opinion writer for the Guardian, Chelsea has also given her first full length interview to Cosmopolitan Magazine.

To your kindness-based life.

Stephanie