5 Ways to Celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility in Self Quarantine

5 Things You Can Do to Celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility in Self Quarantine

     March 31st is Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV).  It is not intended to be a day of mourning and quiet reflection, like Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is a day of to bring attention, loudly, proudly and publicly, to the living presence and amazing contributions of trans folk. To spread understanding and fight cissexism and transphobia. For trans-persons and their allies to bring to bear the combined power of open visibility and collective action. 

    But if TDOV is all about public visibility and group communication, what do we do during the time of COVID-19? We cannot safely get out in the streets, come together in the public square. How can we be seen? 

1. Learn About Trans History

Study up during the quarantine! Trans people have a long and proud history.  Did you know that Transwomen of color were the spark of the Stonewall riots that established LGBTQ rights as a civil movement? That a transgender woman exposed the U.S. government’s war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan? That a transgender man helped fund the New Age Movement?  Our history is full of interesting facts and events!

2. Support Trans Organizations

    Less than 10% of grants going to LGBTQ organizations go to trans ones. Many trans organizations run on donations from people like you! The following are five trans organizations run by and for trans people that you can donate to:

1. El/La Para TransLatinas
2. Sylvia Rivera Law Project
3. Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project
4. Trans Justice Funding Project
5. Trans Women of Color Collective

3. Learn to be a Better Ally

Learn the do's and don'ts of effective support for trans-rights and your trans-friends. And remember, don't out your trans-friends and family unless you first make sure they want you to! It may be Transgender Day of Visibility but sometimes trans folk don’t want to be or aren’t safe being visible.

4. Learn the Differences

Gender identity, gender expression, sex assigned at birth, sexual and emotional orientation: these are real and important differences. Peruse this chart:

Trans Student Educational Resources

    Gender identity is as different from sexual or romantic orientation as Gender is different from sex.  Learn more here.  Trans language is always changing and important to know. You can learn some trans terminology here.

5. Recognize, Call Out and Act in Consideration of Intersectionality


Trans Student Educational Resources


While trans is an identity, it is not a person's sole identity, nor the only issue a human being struggles against. This includes race, religion, ethnicity, immigation status, class and other factors. When trans awareness means vocal recognition of these intersections, it also means acting upon them, including always centering and never forgetting the plight and challanges of transfeminine persons of color, by far the group at greatest physical and social risk.



As we spend more time online and communicating verbally and electronically, we can still work this day and every day to expand awareness and create safer and more inclusive spaces for our transgender friends and family. 

Via noflowershere.tumblr.com

PantryRaiders: Top NY Chef and Standup Comics Team Up to Demo Quarantine Cooking Tips

Hilariously raunchy.  Deliciously amazing. See it here. 

Full Recipe: 

Risotto:

1 cup Arborio or short grain (any rice will work)

2 cups water

Onion garlic powder

1 Packet of ramen noodle flavoring (save the noodles for another recipe)

Two strips bacon (more if its in your nature)

Chop bacon into small bits and sauté over medium low heat until fat rendered but not crisp. Turn heat to medium, add dry rice, toast in bacon fat 2-3 mins. Add half the water, onion garlic powder and the ramen seasoning, stir as water absorbs (9- 10 mins). Add remaining water, repeat until rice is tender but not mushy (9-10 mins more) Place pan in fridge uncovered until fully cooled.

Arancini:

1 cup bread crumbs (finely crushed potato chips will work)

Cajun seasoning or whatever you have, to taste

2 egg yolks, beaten

Cooking oil

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour in enough oil to fill the pan about 1/3 of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 350 degrees F. (If you dont have a thermometer, a cube of bread will brown in about 2 minutes.) 

With clean hands roll 1 1/2 to 2 inch balls of the cold rice, roll in egg yolk until well coated, roll in mixed spice and bread crumbs or chip crumbs until well coated. 

In batches, fry the rice balls, turning occasionally, until golden, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve.

Time at Home? Upgrade your Bread Making

Time, boredom and a kitchen are a magic combination which should be taken advantage of. There is a bewildering number of excellent rustic bread recipes online, but genuine sourdough bread requires a wild yeast starter, which can be hard to find or take weeks to grow yourself.  Here is a quick-start peasant loaf recipe that is easy to put together with store-bought yeast. But because it features long rising times and many of the same shaping and handling techniques as the best sourdough recipes, it produces a deliciously similar result.  If making it gives you the bug to notch up your game, you can find a full sourdough starter and bread recipe here. Be patient and have fun!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour

1/2 cup barley, rye or spelt flour

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

All-purpose flour, for dusting

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Directions:

1. Whisk all dry ingredients in a  large bowl. Add water and mix with your hands or a spoon until a “shaggy” dough just comes together (wet and sticky). Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap. You may stop and refrigerate at this stage for up to a day.
2. Let the dough rise, covered, at room temperature for about at least 12 hours, or longer in cooler weather, until at least doubled in size, bubbly and jiggly.
3. Generously dust a work surface with the all-purpose flour. Turn the dough out onto the flour, then sprinkle flour on top. Fold the top and bottom of the dough into the center, then fold in the sides to make a free-form square. Use a dough scraper or a spatula to turn the dough over, then tuck the corners under to form a ball.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and generously dust with flour. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet, seam-side down, pick up the corners of the parchment paper and carefully drop the loaf (with the parchment still under it) into a bowl about the size of the dough. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 2 to 3 hours.
5. Position a rack in the bottom of the oven and place a 2- or 4-quart cast-iron or enameled Dutch oven (without the lid) on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F for at least 30 minutes. When the dough has doubled, carefully transfer the hot pot to a heatproof surface. Uncover the dough, lift up the parchment and carefully drop the dough into the pot with the parchment still under it. Be careful not to touch the hot pot with your hands.  Spray the interior of the pot with water to create steam. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes, then uncover, give the inside of the oven a spray of water, close the door and bake until brown and crusty, 15 to 30 more minutes. Turn onto a rack to cool.

BOOK REVIEW: Happy Independence Day by Michael Rupured

Happy Independence Day

BY MICHAEL RUPURED

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This is a gritty and well-researched vision of gay life in New York City during the famous Stonewall riots of the 1960s. Multiple perspectives add color to the historical event, ranging from closeted tourists to local drag icons, mafia nightclub owners to the police personnel assigned to harass gay bars, an unfortunate fact of New York law-enforcement policy during the era. Terrence Bottom, a young student at Columbia, falls for a handsome but tragically exploited street hustler named Cameron McKenzie. The Stonewall is the seedy focal point of the story, both snake pit and refuge for West Village street life during a time when real danger existed in LGBT expression. The novel’s realism is a well-timed reminder that there was little nobility in the establishment itself – among the edgiest dives in the Christopher Street neighborhood – but rather in the unprecedented riots named after it, a spontaneous resistance which arguably did launch gay activism as a recognized civil rights movement.

The novel’s use of dialogue is among its strong points, although the reader needs to squint past a self-indulgent sarcasm and toney dramatic that at time borders on stereotype. Even some of the character names are cheapish one-liners. That aside, the reader who commits does not go unrewarded, as good use of tension and pacing keeps the pages turning, and the many little-known historical factoids give a compelling impression of firsthand witness accounts drawn from primary research.

Review first published in The Historical Novel Review

BOOK REVIEW: Frozen Voices by Lynne Heinzmann - BONUS RECIPE: Pan Seared Scallops with Wild Mushrooms

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This is a crisp and readable novelization of the steamship Larchmont disaster, which claimed the lives of 137 people off the Rhode Island coast in February 1907.

The best historical fiction often simultaneously relates little-known or forgotten events while breathing life into the people affected by them. Frozen Voices is in this category, despite its occasional lack of dimensionality. Heinzmann’s cast of historical characters, while small in number, all speak in a closely similar inner narrative voice. Her rendition of spoken dialog is better, if a little stereotypical in spots, and conveys the Yiddishisms of young seamstress Sadie Golub alongside the Swedish smatterings of Anna Jenson, an older and more well-to-do immigrant to the U.S.

Locksmith’s apprentice and aspiring magician Millard Franklin is among the livelier personae, despite a certain “gee whiz” enthusiasm which may appeal more to a YA reading audience. Perhaps her most fascinating character, the magician Harry Houdini plays a relatively minor but pivotal plot role as Millard’s prospective employer.

Realism asserts itself, however, in the tragic and dismal climax, and the starry-eyed quality of the story’s beginnings serves as a stark contrast to this poorly understood event. Contrast is the book’s strongest suit. Well worth reading.

Review first published in The Historical Novel Review


BONUS RECIPE

Pan Seared Scallops with Wild Mushrooms

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. sea scallops
2 cups raw assorted mushrooms (cremini, straw, shitaki - mix it up as you like)
2 cups butternut squash puree, (peel, cube and steam squash till soft and process with salt and white pepper to taste)
1/4 cup toasted pepitos
Dash balsamic vinegar
Dash extra virgin olive oil

Sear scallops over high heat with a dash of olive oil until brown and  just cooked through.
Remove from pan and add another dash of oil and the mushrooms. Lower heat to medium and cook mushrooms until almost dry (about 15 mins). Deglaze with vinegar. Plate scallops over pureed squash, top with mushrooms and garnish with pepitos.  Serve immediately.

Where did the Minoans Come From? Where did they Go?

Europe's First Bronze Age Civilization

The captivating mystique of the culture of Crete is growing stronger every day, as new evidence of the depth and reach of this first and greatest of Europe's Bronze Age cultures is brought to light. But who were the peoples we have come to call the Minoans? Perhaps more importantly, what happened to them?

Sumptuous palaces and artwork have been unearthed on Crete, including at Knossos, Phaistos and Mallia. Although we have their Linear A writings, they remain untranslated to this day. The civilization's heyday was between the 18th and 16th centuries B.C.E.  Sir Arthur Evans, who excavated Knossos in the late 19th century (and named them "Minoans" in honor of the later Greek legends of King Minos) theorized they came from North Africa. But in light of recent DNA evidence, the Minoans appear to have originated in a European people who migrated to Crete during Neolithic times, perhaps 10,000 years ago. See  May 14, 2013, Nature Communications, “A European population in Minoan Bronze Age Crete.” Neither is an eastern origin probable, although some relationship to the Phoenicians seems likely.

Evidence from Canaan

Both traditional Biblical testimony as well as modern archeology show a clear, and possibly quite early presence of Minoan culture in Canaan and the Levant. Minoan frescoes have been found in Israel at Tel Kabri, and the Bible specifically identifies the origin of the Philistines as "Caphtor," a close variant of the Egyptian word for Crete. The Philistines are later identified from Egyptian and other sources as one of the "Sea Peoples" responsible for the downfall of nearly every Mediterranean empire but Egypt around 1200 B.C.E. Indeed, evidence suggests that the Minoans may have been in Canaan at the beginning of the Bronze Age, or even earlier. Much of what we know of the Sea Peoples has likely been influenced by this traditional connection.

A Seafaring People

The Minoans were a seafaring society, possibly the most advanced of their era. It is still in dispute whether their trade network can be called a nautical "empire," as there is little direct evidence of their being a military power, rather than a peaceful mercantile bureaucracy. That their navy was capable of defense however, is evident in that fact that their Aegean cities required no walled fortifications for protection.

While we have no direct evidence that the Minoan culture "ruled" the seas, the development of port cities and harbors throughout the eastern Mediterranean as far back as the early Bronze Age exhibits strong similarities to Crete in both their design and technology, as well as their basic purpose of supporting what appeared to be a robust maritime trade relationship between the Aegean, Egypt and the Levant:

Where did they go?

The well known eruption of Thera (modern Santorini) no doubt contributed to the downfall of the Minoans on Crete and the nearby Aegean. But in addition to the ones we know of in the Mediterranean, could the culture already have had long established trade colonies beyond the Straits of Gibraltar by the time of the cataclysm?

Fascinating but speculative evidence from the new world suggests that Bronze Age Minoan traders may have been responsible for Meso-American "Copper Culture" artifacts, and the evidently extensive and unexplained copper mining in the North American and Canadian Midwest.

Great care must be used in evaluating any new world evidence as the "archeological" record has been subject to intense competing interests, not the least of which are Mormon beliefs in early advanced civilization in North and Meso-America, and fraught with numerous frauds, both pious and mercenary.

Perhaps the Minoan culture survived both the Theran eruption and the later Aegean Apocalypse outside the Mediterranean. Stretching our imagination even further, could the Sea Peoples have been the descendants of the pre-Theran Minoan culture, come back to claim their heritage?

We look forward to further findings.

***

J.P. Jamin is the author of The Seas Come Still, a metaphysical novel based upon the fall of the Minoan culture.

Book Review: The Painter's Daughter by Julie Klassen - BONUS RECIPE: Cambodian Red Curry Bean Curd with Peppers

This is an intriguing if somewhat predictable love story with religious undertones set in 19th-century England. Captain Stephen Overtree, a responsible elder son, marries the daughter of a famous artist. The girl, Sophia, became pregnant by Stephen’s free-spirited younger brother, Wesley, before he ran off to the continent.

The strife between proper “moral” behavior and Bohemianism plays out in the extended Overtree family, and Sophia struggles to fit in. Sophia’s secret love for Wesley and the need to keep secret the circumstances of her pregnancy is a focal conflict of the story, and Wesley’s climactic return makes a good plot point. An interesting cast of characters includes Stephen’s old nurse, a woman with a propensity for predicting the future. While historical in setting, the novel’s values and voice have a somewhat modern feel.

The novel will appeal to those Regency romances readers who may also like faith-based novels. The story has it all for the romance fan: unrequited love, loss of innocence and two men battling for the heart of one woman. It is an easy read, although improbable at times. Fans of Bethany House’s other offerings will enjoy it.

Review first published in The Historical Novel Review
 

BONUS RECIPE

Cambodian Red Curry Bean Curd with Sauteed Peppers

Ingredients:

1 block of firm Tofu, cubed
2 TBS Kroeng Cambodian red curry paste
1 Large shallot sliced
1 hot green pepper cut in rings
1 yellow and 1 red sweet pepper sliced in rings
I clove elephant garlic cut in thick slices
I tsp minced fresh ginger
3 TBS cream of coconut
1 cup chicken stock mixed with one tsp cornstarch
dash soy sauce
dash salt
dash lime juice
3 TBS peanut oil
1 TBS sesame oil

Saute tofu with Kroeng and salt in the peanut oil in a very hot wok until tofu is beginning to brown. Add stock, cream of coconut and cornstarch.  Toss and let cook down until the sauce is thick and coats well.  Set aside in a warm bowl.

Reheat wok and add sesame oil and remainder of ingredients.  Saute 4-5 mins until peppers are seared.  Cover and let steam over low heat for 5 mins more.  Serve over jasmine rice, veggies first, then top with tofu.  Pairs well with Champagne.