cowboycrustation

So what are we supposed to do?

It's odd because I've never had this happen to me before. I wonder if it's just the specific airport I was at.

Nope, I've submitted multiple pior authorizations and get the same response every time. They know exactly what they're doing.

They wanted two separate full psychological assessments, one from a doctor that I did not have a previous patient relationship with, and one of them had to have a doctorate degree. They also wanted "proof" that I had been living as my gender for at least a year.

Welp, not much different for me. My insurance has insane requirements to cover HRT so I've been paying out of pocket this whole time. You'd think the big pharmaceutical companies would be lobbying against this because it makes them money.

At this point in my life I am content with the good friends that I've made in college. I find that I have the closest friendships with queer men because there's less of an atmosphere of us both constantly trying to signal and prove our masculinity and more of a "whatever make you happy, I don't care" attitude. Less repression and insecurity, essentially.

I think that is likely. I notice myself doing the same thing subconsciously where my pitch is higher around women and lower around other men. I wonder if it's a way to seem less threatening. I'm definitely not the only guy who does that.

If you're perceived as a woman people tend to be friendlier and more polite towards you. My expierence with transitioning into a man is that people are generally more indifferent and cautious towards me now. I have to be a lot more mindful of coming across as "creepy" or "dangerous" than I used to be specifically with women who are strangers. I'm neither of those things, but the expectation of men being inherently threatening still prevails.

Genuinely baffled by her behavior.

Honestly, just existing is a part of the fight. If people know a queer person personally and see that they're human too just like them then they're a lot less likely to dehumanize them and are more likely to help protect and fight for them. It's easy to dehumanize and be cruel to a group that you've never interacted with. But if it's your neighbor, friend, or colleague then it's no longer just some abstract concept.

That's good to know. I'm definitely gonna rush to get all of my docs changed after I get my certificate of name change in the mail. Unfortunately can't get my birth certificate changed because of the state I was born in.

Southern culture is not what you just mentioned. It is most definitely not a monolith as you're describing it.

There are a lot of sub regions of the south (such as southern Appalachian, south Atlantic, Cajun, etc). They are all very different from each other and while there are some similarities, there are a lot of differences too. One is in the way we speak. There are even varieties in southern accents. Lotta times you can tell what social class and region someone is from in the south based on their accent. Another is in the widely differing southern culinary practices. It's not the monolith the media likes to paint it as.

And culturally the south is also very different in a lot of ways. There is a strong culture of respect to elders and using your manners compared to most other places in the US. Despite what you see on the media, people tend to be non confrontational and being direct is not considered polite. If someone has an issue it's usually talked about when the person is away or in a quiet tone. People are a lot less scheduled and regimented, as well as being friendlier with strangers even in the cities. I had genuine culture shock after I moved to rural new england for the first time. It was such a contrast. I could go on and on about the specifics of southern culture if you're interested in that.

I encourage you to read up on just how rich and diverse southern culture is. You didn't say this directly, but by associating it solely with far right (presumably white) cishet MAGA Americans it actively diminishes the queer, people of color, and leftists who also are southerners and are proud of their culture. There's a lot more of us than the media and Hollywood likes to portray it as. There is also a lot more cultural baggage to being a southerner when outside of the south because of history and media portrayal and people have a myriad of assumptions just because someone is from there. I've definitely experienced it.

I would encourage you to visit and see for yourself but yeah, it's getting unsafe right now. The government is shitty, corrupt, and bigoted. I don't know if I'll be able to return home and visit my family and community (that I cherish) after trump takes office because I am trans. That doesn't make me love my home any less. My point is, southern culture is not defined by being a rural, lower class MAGA person.