American football is modern-day bullfighting. Athletes are killing themselves for fans’ entertainment and their teams’ profits. It’s not a secret that the majority of former NFL players have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – brain degeneration from repeated head trauma, such as concussions and subconcussive hits.

I’d love to see the NFL shift from tackle football to flag football, and create a cascading effect through every level of play. Unfortunately, teams are making too much money off their players to make such a drastic change that could risk alienating their audience. From a business perspective, I understand their logic, but…
Continue Reading High Schools Are Cutting Football due to CTE Concerns  

I use an LGBTQ-friendly doctor’s office. They even provide trans-specific medical care, including prescribing hormones for trans men and women. Their website says, “We strive to provide judgement-free, affirming care that allows our patients to live healthy, authentic lives.” If anyone understands how important it is to address patients appropriately, it’s my doctor’s office.

But even the most gender-affirming medical practice can fall short of providing quality care to all its patients because they can’t overcome the fact that health insurance forces non-binary people to lie about their gender to maintain coverage.

Photo by Terry Ross (Creative Commons)

Here’s What…
Continue Reading Misgendered for Medical Care

Last year, two of my cis-hetero friends told me that their college-age child recently came out trans. I immediately shifted into protective Oggy Ruth* mode and wanted to protect all of them and make sure they had the resources they might need.  

Photo by Ted Eytan (Creative Commons)

Free Mom Hugs

Free Mom Hugs was started by Sara Cunningham who is the mom of a gay son. Her advocacy started by offering to stand in as anyone mom if their biological mother refused to come to their child’s same-sex wedding.

Now there are Free Mom Hugs chapters throughout the…
Continue Reading When Your Adult Child is Trans

Did you know that there are no health insurance options for non-binary people in the U.S.? Whenever you apply for health insurance, the application asks for your gender/sex, and every application only has male/female options.

When I corrected my birth certificate to state that I’m “non-binary,” I called my health insurance provider to update my account. They said they could not do the update because their insurance plans are specifically and only for males and females.

Photo by Ivan Radic (Creative Commons)

Health Insurance Broker Claims They Could Help

In the summer of 2022, I received an email from the…
Continue Reading Non-Binary Americans Can’t Get Health Insurance

2022 was a crazy busy year for me. The best moments were the ones I got to share with people I love. Here are some of the highlights:

I’m an Ironman!

I will never forget how it felt to run across that black and red carpet and raise my arms as I crossed the finish line while Mike Reilly said, “You are an Ironman!”

The first 7 months of 2022 was centered around training for Ironman on top of training throughout 2020 and 2021 when my race was cancelled due to COVID. It was a bit surreal to see this…
Continue Reading Undeniable Recap of 2022

A few months ago, I did a photo shoot with Joe Abbruscato and two of my looks required a chest binder. For fun, I jumped in front of the camera to document the struggle and hilarity that comes with getting this garment on. This is what I go through every time I wear a chest binder.

What’s a Chest Binder?

The easiest way I can describe a chest binder is it’s like a sports bra on steroids. It’s a must-have for trans men and non-binary people who have dysphoria about having an estrogen-generated chest (aka boobs). It works by flattening…
Continue Reading How Does a Chest Binder Work