So, why didn't I transition into a dude? I did try taking Testosterone. Too much of a good thing for me. I was happy with the amount I had naturally. But the Estrogen...? Damn! If I knew about Estrogen Blockers, I might have taken them before Menopause. Less E made me a happy camper -- like before I hit puberty. Just saying. One size does NOT fit all! And we don't need #GenderFascists telling us what WE NEED! #FuckGenderFascism #BornThisWay

My supervisor pointed out that my choice of pronouns (they/them) *might* make me a target. I replied, "Someone needs to stand up against #GenderFascists. I'm not changing a thing!"

"Swyer syndrome is a condition that affects sex development. Sex development usually follows a particular path based on an individual's chromosomes; however, in Swyer syndrome, sex development is not typical for the affected individual's chromosomal pattern.

"Chromosomes contain the genetic instructions for how the body develops and functions. People usually have 46 chromosomes in each cell. Two of the 46 chromosomes, known as X and Y, are called sex chromosomes because they help determine whether a person will develop male or female reproductive structures. Girls and women typically have two X chromosomes (46,XX karyotype), while boys and men typically have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (46,XY karyotype). In Swyer syndrome, individuals have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome in each cell, which is the pattern typically found in boys and men; however, they have female reproductive structures."

https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/swyer-syndrome/
#SwyerSyndrome #GenderFascists #NoneOfYourBusiness

Between Two Worlds: Gender Non-Conforming Deities

March 27, 2019 by Brianne Raven Wolf

"As a transwoman, I have often wondered if there were others like me in Ancient Mythology. Were there ancient deities who were trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming? Turns out there were. Ancient Greece had a prominent culture of gender fluidity, as did many other ancient societies.

"#Aphroditus was sometimes referred to as the male form of Aphrodite. Statues of him showed him with a female figure, breasts, narrow waist, long hair, women’s clothing, but also with a penis and testes. He is said to have originated on the island of Cyprus, and arrived in Athens in the 4th century BCE. He was sometimes celebrated there in #transvestite rites. It is said the festivals allowed 'women to act the part of men, and men to put on woman’s clothing and play the part of women' (from Wikipedia). He was definitely gender #NonConforming.

"Hermaphroditus was the son of Hermes, messenger of the gods, and Aphrodite, Goddess of love. His name is a combination of both of his parents. From Wikipedia: 'According to Ovid, he was born a remarkably handsome boy with whom the water nymph Salmacis fell in love with and prayed to be united forever. The gods granted the request, so that he and the nymph became united in such a manner that the two could not be called a man or a woman, but were both' (Metamorphoses IV, pp. 274-388 , 8 AD). Hermaphroditus is the god of hermaphrodites and effeminates. I believe in today’s society, Hermaphroditus would be a modern day pre-operative transwoman.

"#Loki, a Norse god, also called the trickster god, would many times disguise himself as a woman. Some myths said that Loki was bisexual. Loki was an accomplished shape-shifter and according to legend has also appeared as a salmon, a mare, a fly, and of course a woman.

"Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Met. 9, pp. 666-797) mentions #Iphis and #Ianthe. Iphis was born a girl, but her mother passed her off as a boy so that she wouldn’t be killed. The name was fitting for a boy and a girl, so that wasn’t too much of a problem. According to the myth, Iphis as a 15 year old boy, fell in love with another girl, Ianthe. Iphis’s mother appealed to the Goddess Isis for help. Isis transformed Iphis into a male before Iphis and Ianthe got married. I believe this may have been the first sex change. At least they ended up happily ever after according to the myth.

"#Ikapati was a #GreatMother Goddess of the Tagalog society in the #Philippines. She was a protector of crops, animals that were domesticated and, according to myth, gave mankind agriculture. It was said that she appeared many times dressed in male clothes. This would have made sense as she was frequently seen in the fields. In many indigenous cultures, including in the Americas, it was accepted that more than two genders were socially and spiritually accepted. These gender non-conforming individuals were seen as people who were very spiritual, and many became leaders and healers in their societies. In Native American culture, many who were called #TwoSpirit became shamans.

"#Ometeotl was an Aztec God of duality. He was considered both male and female, using the names Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl. He had an equivalent god in Mayan mythology, #Itzamna, who identified with #HunabKu, an invisible god. Both gods could be considered self-created gods according to myth. Ometeotl was to the Aztecs the idea that their Universe consisted of dark and light, night and day, order and war, and things like that.

"I’m of the opinion that if more people would understand that there are more than binary people in this world, it would be a better and safer place for all. I think the ancients got it right in their beliefs. People were just human beings, and not judged only on their biological sex. A good book to consider reading is this excellent book by Gerald N. Callahan, PhD., Between XX and XY: Intersexuality and the Myth of Two Sexes. From the book: 'On October 10, 1970, the day she was born, she was named Dorothy Maree Alaniz–a baby girl. Curiously, though, no one filled out a birth certificate that day. When the certificate was finally filed on November 5, the name on it was Rudolph Andrew Alaniz. Within less than one month after her birth, this girl became a boy.' The book is available from Amazon and other book sources."

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2019/03/between-two-worlds-gender-non-conforming-deities/
#WorldHistory #Histodon #WeExist #Fascism #GenderFascists #GenderFluid #TwoSpirit #NonBinary #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransPeople #AncientHistory #TransAndNonBinaryRightsAreHumanRights

LGBTQ+ in the Ancient World

by Joshua J. Mark
published on 25 June 2021

"What is today referred to as '#NonBinary' gender was recognized over three thousand years ago as a #ThirdGender created by the #DivineWill."

Read more:
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1790/lgbtq-in-the-ancient-world/
#WorldHistory #Histodon #WeExist #Fascism #GenderFascists #GenderFluid #TwoSpirit #NonBinary #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransPeople

Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Histories

There are rich histories of people crossing gender throughout English history that resonate for trans and #genderqueer identities today. Gender-crossing people appear in court records, popular broadsheet ballads and newspapers. In most cases they were tried and punished for crimes such as theft and fraud, rather than for cross-dressing. Men arrested for passing as women were often assumed to be prostitutes."

Read more:
https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/lgbtq-heritage-project/trans-and-gender-nonconforming-histories/
#WeExist #Fascism #GenderFascists #GenderFluid #TwoSpirit #NonBinary #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransPeople

"Non-binary people in history have always been around. They are people who identify as neither male nor female. In this article, we explore the various cases of historical figures who may have been non-binary.

"They may have been somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum, have had a fluid identity, or not have had a gender at all. In fact, non-binary doesn’t describe a single gender identity. The term describes a vast range of identities that don’t fit into a binary gender structure of male or female."

https://www.gendergp.com/non-binary-people-in-history/
#WeExist #Fascism #GenderFascists #GenderFluid #TwoSpirit #NonBinary

[Thread] Just because #TrumptyDumpty says we don't exist doesn't mean we don't exist!

A Brief History of #Nonbinary Gender: From Ancient Times to the Early Modern Period

By Ahmed Kamran
July 8, 2021

"Despite some claiming the contrary, the concepts of a tertiary gender identity or an identity outside of the gender binary is not new. While it is certain that people on average have become much more aware of the existence of these identities, they have been recorded for millennia. In fact, they are mentioned in some of the earliest written records of human civilization. To understand gender as we know it today, it is important to see how it was viewed yesterday and beyond, as it shows that a variance in identities is a part of humanity.

"Mesopotamian myths, which contain religious beliefs of the earliest human civilization, featured many references to individuals that were neither male nor female or were not what we would know today to be cisgender. One of the most powerful deities was known as Inanna (and later on as Ishtar) and had a particularly strong relationship with gender. Inanna was the goddess of sex, war, and justice as well as the queen of heaven. It was believed that she had the power to change a person’s gender, something noted by a follower as early as the 23rd century BCE. Thus, individuals with nonbinary identities were often involved in religious practices surrounding her, with 'her cult members and priests were known for their androgyny and blurring or destroying the gender binary' (Academus).

"One such group referred to its members as pilipili, or individuals who played roles in celebratory festivals honoring Inanna. The pilipili were originally raised in society as women (ki-sikil) but were then blessed by Inanna, who handed them a spear 'as if she were a man' and renamed them (Academus). It is debated whether the handing of a spear is literal, with the pilipili becoming warriors and as a result defying traditional binary roles or if the spear refers to a physical transformation of the individual.

"Another segment of Inanna’s followers was the gala or her priests. Priests were recorded to have been cisgender women, married or unwed, or women with children, but there were gala that were biologically male as well. In these cases, these individuals adopted women’s names and became women 'for all intents and purposes' (Academus). They even sang in a Sumerian dialect known as eme-sal, a pattern of speech solely reserved for women to deliver the words of goddesses.

"Other relics have been found showing the existence of individuals who were outside the gender binary, suggesting that it is possible that ancient Sumer recognized these identities in ordinary society and not in just religious spheres. Of course, this is speculative because the Sumerian language did not use gendered pronouns, but it is a common interpretation of these ancient texts and remaining art.

"Another gender variant recorded all of the way back to before the common era (BCE) was that of hijras in the Indian subcontinent. These individuals were noted in the Kama Sutra and other ancient Hindu texts, and the term included eunuchs, #intersex people, and transgender people. Despite attempts to wipe out this identity by the British following their passing of the Criminal Tribes Act in India in 1871, #hijras are still present today and are legally recognized as a part of a third gender category by the state. Sadly, the efforts of the British during #colonization have had an impact on society’s view of hijras, being the beginning 'of a mainstream discomfort… [with] transgender people and hijras' (New York Times).

"Around the same time of the Kama Sutra, approximately 385-380 BCE, Aristophanes detailed a creation myth revolving three sexes or genders. Males were believed to be 'born of the sun', while females were 'born of the earth' (Diogenes). A tertiary category, androgynos (now translated to androgynous), was believed to have been born from the moon and androgynos individuals had combined male and female traits. Aristophanes claimed that androgynos no longer existed. Today, it is often suggested that Aristophanes was solely referring to intersex individuals, explaining the different physical and biological traits of males and females existing in one person, but it is interesting to speculate on the potential for the features to represent the individual’s understanding of the gender expression as well.

"Finally, it is necessary to highlight the history of the #TwoSpirit identity in different Native cultures. More than 150 Native American tribes recognized third genders in their communities prior to colonization, with many of these identities having unique names and cultural significance. Most tribes considered two-spirit individuals a third gender, being neither men nor women, and the same terminology was used in reference to them. Other tribes, however, had a distinct word for two-spirit females, making them a fourth gender variant. What is apparent, however, is that the concept of gender had much more fluidity in Native American society than its European counterpart.

"Two-spirit people in some tribes held special roles in their communities, sometimes as healers or religious leaders. Unfortunately, many traditions in Native communities have been lost due to colonization, and 'two-spirit roles, in particular, were singled out for condemnation, interference, and many times violence' (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Much of what is known has survived by being passed down orally through generations.

"All of these examples scratch the surface of what is known in regard to gender expression prior to the early modern period. It is difficult to truly measure the scale because the further back one goes, the harder it is to find a wide array of text and relics from the period. What can be said for certain, however, is that individuals who identified outside of the gender binary have been a part of civilization since its infancy and have played valuable roles in a wide array of societies. This knowledge should help bring understanding that overall, human gender is quite fluid, and being aware and accepting this is part of long-practiced human traditions."

https://clouddancers.org/a-brief-history-of-nonbinary-gender-from-ancient-times-to-the-early-modern-period/
#GenderFluid #GenderFascists #USPol #Colonialism #Fascism #Androgyny #WeExist