Cispicious

Part 2 Part 3

I wish I knew about men like these growing up, I wish I knew that trans men could be successful after a lifetime of never seeing anyone ‘like me’ excelling in life. So here are some trans men - some that you may have heard of, some that you may not - that are successful in a range of careers. Never let being trans hold you back, never think you can’t do something, never think there is not a place for you.

Ben Barres American neurobiologist for Stanford University and advocate for women in science. Barre’s research on the interactions between glial cells and neurons changed the way that we understand the brain and opened up a whole new field of research.

Stephen Whittle Professor of equalities law. Founder of FTM Network in 1989 and Press for Change in 1992. Whittle has been heavily involved in trans activism since joining the Self Help Association for Transsexuals in 1979. His research and activism has been instrumental in ensuring the rights of trans people in the UK.

Michael D Cohen Actor, teacher and coach. Making his break in award-winning Nickelodeon sitcoms Henry Danger and Danger Force he was the first series regular actor to publicly come out as transgender. Cohen has a BSc in cell biology and a masters degree in adult education, teaching at his own acting studio and providing workshops.

Chris Mosier American triathlete and award-winning coach. Six time member of Team USA in both duathlon and triathlon, Mosier also won two national championships in racewalking and was the first transgender athlete to qualify for the Olympic trials to compete against other members of his gender.

Yance Ford African-American film producer and director. Ford received an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking and was nominated for an Oscar for his part in producing and directing the documentary Strong Island which follows the death of his brother.

Kael McKenzie Canadian judge. Serving in the Canadian Armed Forces for several years, McKenzie later attended law school and and worked as a lawyer before being appointed as a judge to the Provincial Court of Manitoba in 2015. 

Shane Ortega Native American former flight engineer in the US army, former marine and professional bodybuilder. Throughout his career Ortega has served in Iraq and Afghanistan in over 400 combat missions. He has a long history of advocating for the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the recent banning on transgender service members in the US army. 

Drago Renteria Chicano photojournalist and deaf and LGBT activist. Renteria founded the Deaf Queer Resource and is CEO of DeafVision - a webhosting and development company run by deaf people and the founder of the National Deaf LGBTQ Archives. Renteria has been instrumental in both creating and hosting many online deaf/queer spaces online along with being heavily involved in real-world activism for decades.

I worked as a dishwasher at a dorm kitchen when I was in college. Dishwashing is usually called an “unskilled” job, but someone had to train me to load the machine, how to run it, and what to do with the plates and things when they were clean, and I needed to learn how to do this efficiently so that the kitchen didn’t run out of plates during mealtimes. All of those things were skills I had to learn.

I worked on a sandwich line for a summer when I was in college. Food service is usually called an “unskilled” job, but someone had to train me how to make the sandwiches, how to prepare the salads, and how to prepare the desserts. I had to learn how to work with the folks in the prep kitchen, with the wait staff, and with the other people on my line. I had to be trained how to open and close, because sometimes I would get those shifts. I had to learn how to work quickly and efficiently so that our customers would get their meals in a timely manner, and so that everything was prepped and clean for the next shift. All of those things were skills I had to learn.

That whole “special skills” thing? It’s classist and probably racist.

Unskilled jobs are poorly paid because the employers can get away with it, and that’s pretty much the whole reason. They are permitted by our capitalist society to exploit workers, especially those workers who are most disadvantaged.

“Unskilled” workers make our food, take care of our kids and our elders, stock our grocery store shelves, clean the spaces we use, and do hundreds of other things that make our lives easier. “Unskilled” jobs require a fuckton of physical labor. Don’t those things merit good compensation?

When I sorted bills for my university, I got paid really well cause while I was only part-time, the job itself is not deemed “unskilled”. Despite me literally just sorting stuff by numbers. Look at a number, put it between other numbers. All day every day. I even was allowed to have as much coffee and tea as I liked from the office kitchen for free.

When I worked for Subway for a month, I had to learn within 2 hours:

exactly where and how to cut the bread to make both sides equal

what sauce to recommend with what topping

how much topping to scoop per half

what all the breads, toppings and stuff are called and being able to rattle them down on command

how to use three different vegetable cutters

how to use their oven (that thing has like 9 buttons that all do different shit and none of the buttons got ANY symbol or word on it, all are just black)

what the day’s special was for every day

what the price for stuff was without looking at the sign or being at the cash register

when to change the gloves (all the time, for every little shit)

I also had to go to a 2 hour food sanitary training before hand to give me a certificate so I was even allowed to work at Subways.

The fact Republicans thought this was a good idea shows they're very much ok with pedophilia.

This is a Hanfu (Chinese):

This is a Cheongsam (Chinese):

This is a Hanbok (Korean):

Any questions? 

ao dai (vietnamese)

Kimono:

Hanfu/Zhiju:

Cheongsam:

Hanbok:

Ao Dai:

Just to summarize: the “air freshener” “law” is an excuse, it was written to give cops a legally justified “reason” to racially profile black people. I can guarantee you that if you look at the number of people who have been pulled over for “air freshener violations,” it will be overwhelmingly, disproportionately black people. So let’s dispense with that bs “argument,” okay? It’s a slicker version of stop-and-frisk.

And why on earth was Potter training anyone if she couldn’t even tell the difference between a gun and a taser after 25 years on the job? Okay, and just for the assholes (aka racism deniers) out there who will still cling to the lie that she made a “mistake” because she was under stress, can you imagine trying that same excuse on a Top Chef tv show? “Hi, judges, I’ve been a master chef for 25 years, but when you guys said we need to cook our best steak dinner, I got nervous and grabbed the chicken breasts. Oopsies.” It’s like a firefighter who doesn’t know the difference between a water hose and a can of gasoline. I’m tired of these flimsy excuses from the police. Cops constantly train with their guns, presumably they have to re-qualify on a regular basis, they put their guns on and take them off every day, they’re around other officers with guns all day every day, DO NOT TRY TO TELL ME THAT COPS DON’T KNOW WHAT A FUCKING GUN LOOKS AND FEELS LIKE. I’m exhausted with the, “cop mistook a phone/empty hands/other common object for a weapon” bullshit. Can we all just admit that is a fucking lie? And to answer my own question, Potter was “training” other cops how to be racist cops. Periodt. You don’t need competence to go out and racially harass black folks. That’s why her boss was backing her up.

If you’re white (or not black), please stop equivocating. Stop constantly making up excuses for obvious racists. It is and was a case of racism.

Lastly, I’m sick of the white euphemism, “officer involved shooting.” What kind of bullshit is that? Just call it murder. Or at the very least, manslaughter. If I “accidentally” shot someone, you better believe the police would immediately come and arrest my black ass. And news outlets wouldn’t be calling it “an Odin involved shooting,” they would say I fucking shot somebody. It’s called accountability. Funny how the passive voice is most often reserved for cops and white people.

Kim Potter, the officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright at a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree manslaughter, officials said. Washington County Attorney Pete Orput issued a news release with details from the criminal complaint.