NPR Story about Stu Rasmussen from 2008 with update

[Thighbootguy]

Radiolab on NPR reran a story about Stu Rasmussen who, in 2008 very slowly, became a transgender person in a small town in Oregon and wound up being elected mayor for three terms.  I know that hhplace is not a transgender site but many of the things that happened to Stu are applicable to guys wearing heels in public (which Stu did).  The towns support for Stu was surprising and heart warming.  This is a link to the 20 minute original story and  5 more minutes that brings the story up to date.

Radiolab New Stu

By the way, if you are new to Radiolab, the audio quality is top notch and is best appreciated when heard with headphones.

[robbiehhw]

That town is quite close by our own. She sounds like she did a great job as mayor

[HappyinHeels]

Ideally this is the way it should work. Election based upon perception of how well someone will serve the needs of the electorate and re-election based upon their performance to serve that electorate. A tip of the cap, or the stiletto, to the people of Silverton who know a good leader when they see one.   HappyinHeels

[Histiletto]

Our definition of gender was developed by people, in other words it is man-made. It takes things to be true that are inaccurate and actually misunderstood. For instance: sex and gender are synonymously used. Ones sex endowment is defined by that person's organs for their part in the process of human reproduction, while gender is the classification of human behaviors, mannerisms, and personality. These classifications were divided into three groups: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Since neuter is hardly ever used in such considerations of humanity, the two others are the dominant categories. It's obvious the creators of these separations drew their conclusions from the male and female personas as they understood the people in their era or period of civilization. Under these conditions, social ideals were developed to support their conclusions. All the standards, rules, and laws have been crafted to promote their gender concept, so that people would have to comply with the same social dictates. So when any variations of masculine women or feminine men gained social notice, they had to hide who they actually were and learn how to show the type of people society had been programmed to expect or risk being persecuted, exiled, imprisoned, or even murdered.

From what we know of sex and gender now, this traditional way of thinking has caused many people to be unjustly treated just for being who they are. So as an example, when women want to wear the pants and men want to wear the stiletto heels, they are visually expressing their natural human agency, which doesn't make them perverters of society. It's the gender inaccuracies that have been programmed into our thinking that causes people to misunderstand who and what people really are.

[mlroseplant]

On December 12, 2015 at 3:22 PM, Thighbootguy said:

Radiolab on NPR reran a story about Stu Rasmussen who, in 2008 very slowly, became a transgender person in a small town in Oregon and wound up being elected mayor for three terms.  I know that hhplace is not a transgender site but many of the things that happened to Stu are applicable to guys wearing heels in public (which Stu did).  The towns support for Stu was surprising and heart warming.  This is a link to the 20 minute original story and  5 more minutes that brings the story up to date.

Radiolab New Stu

By the way, if you are new to Radiolab, the audio quality is top notch and is best appreciated when heard with headphones.

I finally got a chance to listen to this story, and as I was listening, it struck me that the people in this town are very much like the people in my small town. I heard many people in the interviews say something to the effect of, "Oh...well that's just Stu." I get that all the time. "Oh...well that's just 'Melrose.' "

Of course, my case isn't nearly as extreme, as I am not anywhere close to transgender, but the sentiment is the same. I grew up with these people. They know me for more than just my heels. Also, like the girlfriend/partner, my wife seems to hear more whispers and see more looks than I do. 

Thank you for sharing this, TBG. It made me feel more positive about myself. 

[Thighbootguy]

22 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

I heard many people in the interviews say something to the effect of, "Oh...well that's just Stu." I get that all the time. "Oh...well that's just 'Melrose.' "

The story was from Oregon and even though it was 2008 the response of the town didn't surprise me too much. But your getting a similar response in Iowa floors me.  I guess I have been listening to too much election coverage and have gotten an image of an extremely conservative, non tolerant population.  I'm glad I'm wrong.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

[mlroseplant]

1 hour ago, Thighbootguy said:

The story was from Oregon and even though it was 2008 the response of the town didn't surprise me too much. But your getting a similar response in Iowa floors me.  I guess I have been listening to too much election coverage and have gotten an image of an extremely conservative, non tolerant population.  I'm glad I'm wrong.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

Nah, we're still a swing state. I always like to say that even if people find me odd or distasteful, Iowans are too polite to say anything. Unless it's a carful of teenaged boys, haha. That's the only trouble I've ever had. Fact is, the people I've known and grown up with respect me, and I respect them, even if I disagree with them. 

I have to be careful not to get into a big political discussion, which would cause this thread to be shut down.