he “heartsong” in this, - characteristics of both sexes,
poern is my transness, and I do use the label “man”

’ 1 that part of my being and the pronoun “he,” but I am
Where rn_y's"ex/gender and . ‘ not meant to do this from With-
'bodylmind do not match. What in a female body. My female
dol  ‘ transness? The body feels completely wrong to
 twofold. v. ’ ' -

I Fir_st,’l:niean‘trarissexual,
or, the -fact that my body-and - '
 feel completely
 transsexualityis the ' 
feeling that I was “born in the .
Wrong body.” It is the Way my

- that my  does not feel like

_ but underrieath I see a male
' body waiting to crawl out fiom

u'ndé.meén‘=h- .
' My transsexuality is What

 me tostart T (testoster-

glilfi i1I‘3$(:11:tl;1:er;.pv::’eS;ll;t:rI Tobias Novak
biweeklyfortherest ofmylife- « ‘ - , ,  . ,  .
to make my brain chemisuy me. I desire-to express varied ’
mirror that of a biological male. gender attributes from within

It is why I plan on getting top a male body While identifying
surgery, or removal of breasts _ as a man. This is why I am tran-
and creation of ‘a male'-appear- sitioning, or, changing my sex

I nIIt_lnt|iemnuIIt_Iiins I SEPTEMBER 2006 I MOUNTAINPRIDEMEDIIAORG

POETRY  I I I m "I I   

Reflections on ‘,‘He That Once Seemed Invisible”

  
 
  
 
 

’bre'ast's~h_uri; When I notice or
 them; it is the -‘fact

my own; It is that I look in the
rnirjrpnand see a female body,

    

ing chest Bottom surgery refers from male to female. ’I‘ransi—
to genital surgeries. For l_?'l‘M’s tioning includes T‘, binding (flat-
(female-to-male transsexuals), tening my chest with a special
bottom surgery is expensive, V“binding shirt"), name change,
takes several surgeries to create top surgery (and bottom sur-
one set of genitalia, and does not gery if one chooses it), learn-
create a fully frmctional penis. Its ‘ing to pass as a man (passing
risks and costs make me want to refers to society vievvingyou
waitlfor a better surgery to come as male; people saying, “that
along. That’s only my opinion; person there - that’s a man’_’)
many FI‘M’s get bottom surgery and wearing male clothing on a
and are happy. My transsexuality daily basis (though I do pla.n on

is everything female about me wearing drag occasionally once
that does not match my male I pass). . ' « 4
self-image. I am a transsexual, two-spir-
Second, I am transgen- ited, transgendered man. This
dered. This is an umbrella . is my heartsong, and Without it
term that covers many types .I would not know how to find

of non-gender-conforming my way home.V
behaviors and ways of be— ~ '
ing. Some are: transsexual; ’
transvestite (cross—dressing for
sexual purposes); cr_oss—dresser
(dressing as the opposite sex
for fim; drag queens and kings
are examples); genderqueer (a

Tobias C.D. Novakis a writer,
singer-songwriter-pianist
and artist, and is a co-orga- 4
nizer of the Transcending
Boundaries conference this‘

broad term that usually refers October in Worcester, MA.
to people who dress or act in T°bl3-5 VeC9"tlY Started 3
ways “atypical”‘to their birth ’ magazine and Web" C0?"-

munity called MGQM that
explores issues of gender,
sexuality and other forms

of identity (www.mgqm—

sex); and two-spirit, like myself.
What is a two-spirit‘? By certain
Native American beliefs, and, in

other cultures by other words’ magazine com) He lives in

twwspiflts are people who Burlington with his beloved.

have Ghaiactefistics of both Bengal cat, Jean-Paul Sartre '
sexes and don’t identify com— ’ ye Deuxieme_ _

pletelylaslone sex or the other. . . ' _

- . Yéu may ask, how can you  Photographer Dok Wright's
be both transsexual and two- website can be found at ~ l ' .5
spirit? My answer“. I embody dokwright.cor_n. ”