The Year of the Unknown

By A. Campbell

In light of the election I am writing to remind you all of who we are.

Yes, we will be faced with many challenges over the next 4 years. We will feel anger, sadness, grief, frustration, and disappointment. I want you all to know that everything happens for a reason. This may not be the person we wanted as our president, but he is who we now have. We must learn to work with him and make the best of what we have. Fighting against each other will not make us stronger, it will break us down. If we fight against businesses and other beings this does not make us more powerful; this makes us weak.

I want you to think of a time when you felt truly happy. It could be anything, the day you met the love of you’re life, the day you won your first sports game, the day you graduated, a day you spent laughing with your family and friends. Now, I want you to take that feeling and hold on to it. Let that feeling of love, hope, trust, warmth and happiness fill you. Use those feelings to fight for what is right. Let it empower you to make a difference in someones life.

Don’t hide behind the fear of the unknown, use it to your advantage. Make the unknown into something great, every step you take will affect what the future brings. We need to work together to empower others and make change. This can be done in millions of ways, it can be as simple as buying someone a cup of coffee or having a friendly conversation to bigger things such as hosting trainings about human rights and equality and so much more. These actions we take in our own communities are so important to build a world and future we want for our children and our children’s children. Let’s stand together and make the world a better place through love and peace not war and violence.

Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil Locations

Transgender Day of Rememberance is approaching, this Sunday, November 20th. This is a time to mourn and remember those transgender individuals who we have lost. There are various vigils around Maine happening. Here are the times and locations:

Portland – 4-7PM – Monument Square
https://www.facebook.com/events/1232937063411377/

Lewiston – 4-5:30PM – Location TBD
https://www.facebook.com/events/114071359057169/

Waterville – 3-4:30PM – Location TBD
https://www.facebook.com/events/1248621091849182/

Bangor – 1:30-3:30PM – University College Of Bangor UMA, Eastport Hall, Room 124
https://www.facebook.com/events/360081214340840/

Belfast – 6-7:30PM – First Church of Belfast
https://www.facebook.com/events/528595064011854/

Damriscotta-Newcastle – 5:30-7PM – Location TBD
https://www.facebook.com/events/1172039069520816/

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Blazing New Trails for LGBTQ Youth in Maine

It was amazing and an honor to see an article written about me regarding the election of my fraternity. It has been an amazing to be a part of the Phi Mu Delta Nu Xi Chapter at the University of Southern Maine. This group of men have shown me acceptance and the brotherhood is stronger than I ever could have imagined. I am proud to be the new elected President of the Nu Xi Chapter for the year of 2017. The world has come along way and I hope to see the acceptance of transgender people in fraternities and sororities grow.

The article posted by OUT Maine is below:

 

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“Blazing New Trails for LGBTQ Youth in Maine

OUT Maine is thrilled to celebrate Aiden Michael Campbell, a trans man and LGBTQ youth leader in the midcoast and Portland, who has just been named to the Executive Board of Phi Mu Delta Nu Xi Chapter at USM for 2017. Aiden, son of OUT Maine’s program director, is the first transgender President of a fraternity in Maine and second in the nation. Aiden is a trailblazer in so many ways and we are so happy and excited for him as he continues to help LGBTQ youth step fully into who they are!

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth like Aiden have so much to give our state. OUT Maine supports, educates and empowers rural LGBTQ youth by providing community safe spaces, changing school climate through education and the building of Gay/Straight/Trans Alliances (school clubs), building a strong provider safety net by training health and mental health providers, school staff, clergy and other youth service organizations, and supporting parents and families of these at-risk youth to reduce homelessness. You can help youth like Aiden change their lives and improve the lives of others. For more information or to support LGBTQ youth, go to outmaine.org.aiden-pic

National Coming Out Day

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It’s October 11th, Do you know what that means? It’s National Coming Out Day!

This year celebrates the 28th year of the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. This is a day that celebrates and promotes the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. Today is a day that allows the LGBTQ community to know that they are valued and can live as who they are.

If you are considering coming out, just know that you are not alone. There are many other people just like you! Explore your resources and connect with others who are facing the same struggles and realities that you are. There are some coming out stories you can find here. You are not alone and you are valued by many. There is always support out there for you.

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Surgeries

Surgeries are crucial to many transgender people who want to fully complete their transition. The importance of surgeries allows transgender people (who want to have surgery) to feel complete and fully comfortable in the body in which they live. The very first step most transgender people take before having surgery is starting on hormone treatment. This is normally either testosterone or estrogen.

Surgeries can cost a lot of time and money. There are also many different types of surgeries. Here are a few:

  • Mastectomy– A Mastectomy (also knows as top surgery) is surgery to remove all breast tissue from the breast.
  • Male to Female Breast Augmentation– this is plastic surgery done in order to have breast implants.
  • Vaginoplasty– this surgery is to reconstruct the penis into a vagina.
  • Hysterectomy– this surgery is to remove all or part of the uterus.
  • Phalloplasty– this is plastic surgery to construct, repair, or enlarge the penis.

    I may be forgetting some surgeries so feel free to comment and I will add them. These are the ones I could think of off of the top of my head.orthopedic-surgeons-omaha-ne

What Can Schools Do?

Schools can have a lot of problems and often students may not feel safe in their schools. There is so much bullying that happens in schools based on peoples sexual orientations and gender identities. Most of the time school administrators want to help, they may just not know how to help. Here is some information that can be passed along to help improve your schools.

LGBT-school

  1. Find out what your schools policy is on bullying, most schools have a no tolerance policy. If the school does have a no tolerance policy make sure that they are doing everything to enforce the policy. It is there for a reason and needs to be reinforced. You have the right to feel safe in your school.
  2. If you are in the process of transitioning and have changed your name in your social surroundings, but have not legally changed it and want it on your school records as a preferred name talk to your administration. Most schools cannot change the name on your record if it is not your legal name, but often schools can add a preferred name or a secondary name.
  3. Have your school bring in outside resources; this can be something as simple as putting LGBT books into your libraries. There is a list of books on our site that can be found here. You can also have your school bring in other resources such as professionals who can do presentations and trainings for the staff and/or students.
  4. Find out if your school has a Gay Straight Trans Alliance (GSTA). Many schools have a GSTA and people don’t even know. If your school does not have a GSTA, you can start one or find a faculty member who may be interested in helping you start one. GSTAs are a great way to make your school a more accepting place and provide resources for other students who may not know where to turn.

These are just a few things your school can do to make it a more accepting and inclusive place. If you have any questions or would like more information feel free to contact us.

FTM Binding

July 14, 2016

Today I was asked about binding. So, what is the proper way to do it?

Binding

The person I was talking to wanted to know my thoughts about binding with an Ace Bandage. My response, “Nooo, please DO NOT bind with an Ace Bandage, it is very bad for your ribs.” Binding with an Ace Bandage can cause more harm than good. It can injure your breasts, which makes it more difficult to operate in the future if you are looking to have top surgery. It can also cause other problems such as fracturing ribs which could potentially puncture a lung and kill you.

You can order binders online, just google it. I ordered mine through www.underworks.com. However, binders can be expensive and some people don’t have a way of getting them, which is understandable. There are organizations around that do binder drives, which means they collect binders from transgender people who do not need them anymore and give them to other transgender people who do not have access to them. If you can’t get your hands on a binder quickly a temporary safe solution would be to wear a sports bra; this is the safest alternative. I highly recommend that you DO NOT use ace bandage to bind.

If you are looking for additional information please feel free to contact us on our contact page or comment on this post!

Orlando Mass Shooting 2016

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Our hearts hurt with the news of a mass shooting in Orlando, FL. This is the largest mass shooting in the United States to date. We stand with Orlando during this hard time. The mass shooting killed 50 people and injured 53 other. The LGBTQ community needs to stand together and stay strong during this time. We need to be there and support each other, know that you are not alone. We are here for you all. For some additional information about the shooting and victims you can go to the following link:

http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/orlando-shooting-victims-edward-sotomayor-died-saving-boyfriend/news-story/7923121e4e7fc5cb6326a2e94c6c4aab

 

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