Go B-O-Y-S! Ra Ra!

Quick and I hope sweet n sour post here about boy cheerleaders. Don’t think it is or was something for me but hey, each to their own. Saw this so tiny snipped in the London Metro last Wednesday and thought I’d put it out there.

Google is your friend too, so just hit return and get some more info. So as usual for me the BBC had an interesting, if older, article and quote which seems more evidence of the males of the world being boxed in to a ridged role.

"When the men went away to fight in the first World War, women took over cheerleading and claimed it for themselves,"

Pat Hawkins, president of the UK Cheerleading Association 2010.

Sparkle 2015

What can I say about Sparkle… Wow.

It’s perhaps the biggest little thing on the planet. Sparkle is the largest free trans event in the world. There are a number of workshops and many surrounding events as well as the focus of the event, the main stage where lots of great entertainment really brought the park to life. I won’t go into the program as you can see that on the Sparkle website. I’ll just give my impression.

I cannot state enough how that small area of Manchester known as the Gay Village, around the main Sparkle site at Sackville Gardens is such an amazing place to be. Sackville Gardens itself was a really lovely location and the weather last weekend was thankfully great too.

In the gardens (a small park) there were loads of stalls. Many selling things like wigs or make-overs but also a stall with the Greater Manchester Police campaigning to abolish hate crime and the Beaumont Society all supporting and promoting the Trans cause.

Sponsors were many but ASDA was a particular stand out if not in visual presence but in terms of importance, at least for me. Mainstream companies getting involved are crucial and the announcement that the National lottery is awarding money to help in the cause is very welcome and a sign that some of the wrongly placed negativity towards Trans’ people is hopefully changing. Similarly whilst I’m not a Corrie fan a big shout out to Kym Marsh who came along and support the event too.

Sparkle seems such a beautiful and yet fragile event. For me personally the big thing other than the main event, was how in the village bars and clubs there was such a mix of people. Trans, Lesbians, Gay, straight - even a few hen parties passed through. Everyone just having a great time. Sparkle was not only about a Transgender celebration but a celebration about empowering each of us to be free to be us without worry regarding usual restrictive gender binary labelling.

Thank you Sparkle ;)

In a word - Progress

It’s so nice to see a positive article posted on the BBC website, 27 May 2015. A large step for Manobi Bandyopadhyay and another small step for human equality.

Feel Good

Sometimes being Trans / CD / Tgirl whatever can feel a little like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole. But you know falling can be fun. It's the landing you need to worry about...

Okies so let's think of starting 2015 Feeling good. As I say, it's often not the best feeling to be Trans or whatever as we aren't the norm' and don't always appear to fit-in, but I like to look at the flip-side of this. In what is becoming a trademark I'm stealing bits of other things to put my point over. The first is taken from one of my regular emails from,

Steppingoutsecrets

Lucille Sorella gave ten benefits to being Transgender but I've whittled it down to five as I thought the others, whilst valid could easily apply to say, hiking or aerobics ;)

Five very good things about being Transgender

1. It allows you to integrate the best of both genders into your personality.  
2. It motivates you to stay in shape and take care of yourself. (A girl’s gotta look good, right?)
3. It makes you more empathetic towards women.
4. It makes you an interesting person. (Normal is boring!)
5. It gives you more compassion towards others who don’t fit the norms of society. Important one that!

My second piece of inspiration comes from Avril Lavigne's "Anything but Ordinary" track. You can hear it on You tube here,

Avril Lavigne - Anything but ordinary

But it's really the lyrics that make it. Here is the main section and it describes very well how I often feel and in some way I'm proud of being and well, it makes me feel good!

To walk within the lines
Would make my life so boring
I want to know that I 
Have been to the extreme
So knock me off my feet
Come on now give it to me
Anything to make me feel alive

Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.

Let down your defences
Use no common sense
If you look you will see 
that this world is a beautiful 
accident turbulent suculent 
opulent permanent, no way
I wanna taste it 
Don't wanna waste it.

Sometimes I get so weird
I even freak myself out
I laugh my self to sleep
It's my lullaby