US House of Representatives has one Republican Congresswoman with a transgender child!

Sorry to let a bit of my political bias out, but how ironic that the only known Congressperson with a transgender child is a Republican?

And before I go on, Cheers to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for what she is saying in support of her child and to other parents! (See excerpt farther below.)

Of course there have been plenty of Republican politicians that we have learned over the years have gay, or at least bisexual sexual orientations. And of course Republicans are targeted and outed in the press for their hypocrisies with respect to LGBT concerns much more than Democrats, but I'd love to know what number or percent of Democrats are identified or known to be a part of the LGBT community vs. what that might be for Republicans (that we've learned about over the years). It would be hilarious if the numbers were more for the GOP :-)

From the article Politician on Transgender Son: 'We're Proud of Him':

The Republican Rep. — and only member of Congress with a transgender child — took to TV on Nov. 17, during Transgender Awareness Week, in a public show of support for her 28-year-old, born Amanda. She urged other parents of transgender kids to have as much pride in their sons and daughters as she has in the eldest of her four children and stepchildren. “We know Rigo as our child, whether it’s Amanda or now as Rodgrigo, he’s our son and we’re proud of him"

...

Ros-Lehtinen is the first House Republican to support gay marriage and the only Republican on the 112-member Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. And she’s supported her son throughout his journey, which began when he came out to his parents as a lesbian in high school and then as transgender during college in 2007. “As parents, we wanted Rodrigo to understand that we’re totally fine with it,” the congresswoman explained. “He’s our son, we’re proud of him.”

Now the mom is asking other parents to stand behind their transgender kids, too. “Don’t freak out,” she advised. “Stay calm and don’t be afraid. And love your child because that person is your child whether it’s the person you wanted him or her to be or not. That’s my advice to parents. Never, never reject your child. That’s unconditional love, no matter what.”

A third of Fortune 500 companies now cover transgender health care

Great to hear about progress in mainstream America for transgender issues!

A third of Fortune 500 companies now cover transgender health care

From the article:

The number of Fortune 500 companies willing pay for sex reassignment surgeries and other transgender-related healthcare has gone from zero in 2002 to 169 this year, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign.

The report, which ranks corporations on their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans employees, also found that more than half of corporations with more than 500 employees that participated in the survey now cover the procedures. That’s 418 firms.

Some of the biggest names in corporate America are among those who have signed up to cover the procedures, at up to $75,000 per employee. Facebook Inc., Visa, Starbucks Corp., CVS Health Corp. and Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. are just some of the firms that decided this year to begin covering the procedures for their workers for the first time.

“The jump in terms of employers adopting transgender benefits has been the most dramatic of any single aspect of the Corporate Equality Index in its entire history,” said Deena Fidas, the director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Workplace Equality Program, which has been producing the report for more than a decade.

Ratings in the Corporate Equality Index are derived from a look at five major areas, including: recruiting efforts, whether firms have explicit gender identity and sexual orientation anti-discrimination protections, and if they have extended health care and other benefits to same-sex partners.

While the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies now have nondiscrimination policies that explicitly protect employees from being fired for their gender identity or orientation, companies have moved much more slowly when it comes to covering transgender health care.

Possible shopping outfits, and new French Manicure technique.

Well there hasn't been too much excitement lately. The day-to-day demands of life are in the forefront for me right now, keeping my free time less than usual.

I've been getting in one dress up night a week, so here are a few photos. I'm trying to figure out good combo's that I can wear out in public, as a lot of my clothes are summery, or a little too racy.

I need to do a little more shopping for outfits to, well...., to go shopping in! ;-)

Floral print with Empire waist

I really like dresses with an Empire waist. With my bit of spare tire, I think they work great with that to give me the appearance that I have some kind of hips and 'figure.'  

With our typical mildly cool California "winter", I would probably need a light sweater to go with this? Going out I'd wear pantyhose instead of thigh-highs.

Pleated skirt

Here I'm wearing  a really light pink pleated skirt (I love it - it's so pretty!), with just the sweater and a lacy pink bra underneath. Nude stockings. I'd like to find some peep toe flats to go with this. Miss gave me a French Manicure which you can almost make out. 

New nail technique

And here is little old me with *not my best looking facial expression*. I have on a see-through lacy black top and pink bra. 

Miss picked up a new nail technique that she tried out on me. We bought white nail tips from Sally Beauty, and she glued them on just at the tip of my natural nails. Then she clipped them to a nice medium length. She finished me up by applying a coat of glue to the top of each nail, which I dipped in a soft white nail powder, and then covered with out-the-door top coat. The look was really great!

Sorry that I don't have a better picture. What was really nice was they weren't too bad to get off the next morning when I had to return to boy mode. So I hope I get a lot more time in nails, especially when we go out!