This is a piece which is certainly peripheral to the interests of the Archive, but that I thought enough readers here would find interesting. The cover story on the rotogravure section of the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle was a fascinating article on Female-to-Male transsexuals. The article, titled Straddling Sexes: Young lesbians transitioning into men are shaking the foundation of the lesbian-feminist world, can be found on their web site at

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 254728.DTL

If you click on the thumbnail on the upper left, it opens to the photo which was the FULL page cover of the newspaper section.

I want to thank Christina, Sherry, Kelly, and the others for all they have taught me about MTF. I have learned a great deal from their posts about what it is like to be trapped in a body that seems absolutely wrong. How difficult our society makes it to change that error. I thought I had understood, but they have shown me so much more.

This article adds the FTM dimension with several brief case studies where we see real people struggling to make their adjustment. Fascinating and enlightening.

Two of the other three major articles in the issue (the fourth was a restaurant review) were on lebian parenting. For any of the gays on this site who are thinking of parenthood, they provide some fascinating insight:

The Big Question: What does having two moms mean when you're 3?

with one of the best opening lines I’ve ever read in journalism: "In the backseat next to me, Benjamin and his preschool buddy, James, are singing rhymes about dinosaurs pooping as we barrel across the San Francisco Bay Bridge…."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... CM1398.DTL

Who's the Real Mom? The law lags in custody battles between lesbians

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... M80990.DTL

Jesus,

I've had the pleasure to chat, in depth, with several female to male transsexuals in the past. Althought we seek to change our physical appearance to match our inner identity in a direction opposite to each other, we share the same feelings of incongruity and dispair. Maybe I could call myself lucky for not having to deal with raising a family, but many have made the desicion after the fact. Your links in the above post shows just a glimpse of the truely tremendous undertaking any gay, lesbian or transgendered parent goes through when raising a family. Just dealing with the issues of being GBLT is hard enough. I find it easier, as I journey through my transition, to feel comfort in knowing that I am living the desire I had always thought unobtainable. It's a struggle some days because there is still a lot of bigotry and hate in this world we live. I would hope to believe that we can make a difference and show those who think we are evil and sinners that we are kind, caring and compasionate people, just like they are.