You Can't Shave in a Minimart Bathroom

Please allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Shauna.  I am a middle-age Male-to-Female (MTF) transgendered individual on a voyage of discovery about who and what I am. 

The idea of someone’s gender being different from their birth-sex is a pretty serious concept.  And if you feel confused and in shock over this concept, try being in the shoes of someone who is in the midst of questioning their gender!  The universe suddenly makes no sense.  It is as if you are holding a spherical object only to find that it has sharp edges.  Imagine colors that have aromas, or light that sings in your ears when you see it.  It simply isn’t … normal!

Nevertheless, here we are.  Thousands upon thousands just like me. 

Maybe just like you.

People who know me will be the first to say that I tend to take a more light-hearted view of the world.  Given the choice between laughing and crying, I will laugh almost every time.  This is how I am wired.  It’s a good thing too, because there are times when laughing is the only thing that has kept me sane – maybe even alive. 

If you are visiting this website, odds are that you or someone close to you has questions about gender identity.  Questions are good.  Answers can be hard to find and, sometimes, even harder to swallow.

Regardless of how our paths crossed, I’m glad that they did.  Pour yourself a cup of coffee.  Let me share my story with you.

Definitions that might be useful.

From the Wikipedia and personal experience:

Transgender: People who were assigned a gender at birth, based on their genitals, but who feel that this is a false or incomplete description of themselves. Non-identification or non-presentation as the gender one was assigned at birth.

Cross-dresser:  Any person who wears the clothing of a gender other than that to which they were assigned at birth, for any reason. A cross-dresser may have no desire or intention of adopting other behaviors or practices common to that gender, and particularly does not wish to undergo medical procedures to facilitate physical changes.  Contrary to common belief, most male-bodied cross-dressers prefer female partners.

Transexual / Transsexual: People who desire to have, or have achieved, a different physical sex from what they had at birth.

Birth Sex: The biological role a person has in reproduction.

Gender: The psychological perception one has about their sex. 

 

For a printable PDF file of definitions from the National Center for Transgender Equality, click here.

Biography:

Shauna Marie O’Toole earned her Bachelor of Science in Earth Science, minor in Chemistry and her teaching certification from the SUNY College at Brockport.  While working at the Eastman Kodak Company, she earned her Master of Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology. 

She is a self-professed science geek/nerd who fell in love with science while watching Gordon Cooper’s Mercury/Atlas flight.  She considers herself a generalist, but prefers the physical sciences to life sciences.  The exception is medical sciences as it pertains to transgenderism / transsexuality. 

Her background includes digging holes in cemeteries, having a laboratory a thousand feet underground, and assisting with a project that flew on the space shuttle Atlantis. 

Ms. O’Toole has an instrument pilot’s license and held the rank of Captain in the Civil Air Patrol.  Her last duty assignment was as Moral Leadership Officer.  Members of Wing and Group Command were present for the appointment ceremony as endorsed by the chaplain of the United States Air Force.  She considers this the highlight of her career in the Civil Air Patrol.  She left the CAP only because it was outside of her budget.

Ms. O’Toole presently teaches Earth Science in Western New York State and coaches the Science Olympiad Team.  She hopes to get a Gay/Straight Alliance started at her school.

She has two children.  They are her strongest and most important allies.