Grace Anne Stevens: My Transgender Life – The Measure of a Man

Grace Anne Stevens
My Transgender Life

As the month of June 2018 is coming to a close, I am reflecting on my gratitude to have spent half this month traveling, between my 10-day boat and bike adventure in Bordeaux France and a 5-day seminar/adventure in Toronto.   As I review some of my pictures, there is one that captures me and takes me on another one of those time traveling trips I often find myself on.  The picture is of a fruit stand in Bordeaux.

As I am drawn into this scene of a fruit stand on the street, that is still making my mouth water, I find myself tripping back over 50-60 years ago to my old neighborhood on Avenue J in Brooklyn, when each block seemed to have an outdoor fruit stand similar to this one.

If you wanted anything, you had to ask the vendor for what you wanted.  This is a long distance from today, where you pick what you want, bag and weigh it, and probably could not find help when you need it in today’s supermarkets.

I remember one of the early shopping lessons that my mother taught me, to watch the vendor very carefully.  Make sure that he gives you the beautiful fruits that you see and not the bruised or rotten fruits that may be hidden out of sight.  AND…. Make sure that you watch to see he does not put his finger on the scale when he weighs your purchase.   My mother taught me well the art of observation and the actions of people so one can actually measure the level of trust you can have with people.

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Still tripping back to 1964 in high school, when I began a class in AP Chemistry, and the first lesson was again about measurement.  The lesson was on how to use a balance – not a scale. The balance was used to compare a known quantity to an unknown and then be able to measure it.  I found this fascinating.  However, the main purpose of the lesson was to learn the difference between accuracy and precision.

Accuracy being a measure of the truth and absoluteness, while precision is a measure of repeatability of the balance – the measuring device, to see if it measures the same on repeated tries.   Honestly, it took me a while to appreciate this difference, but once I did, it has made an indelible mark on my process of understanding the world.

The bottom line is we may see things in a certain way, over and over again, yet even that repeatability may not ever represent the truth – the “accurate” representation of what we see…..or hear.

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As I am writing this, a loud clap of thunder brings me back to today.  The day after Judge Kennedy has retired from SCOTUS, and the fears present in my communities are rising in every moment. As a trans woman, I sit in communities that are in the crosshairs of bigots and haters that want to deny my freedom to live my truth as I know it.   Whether they are Republicans, or religious bigots, it does not at this moment matter.

The values of the USA are now being controlled by those who are attempting to put their thumbs on the balance of justice and freedom for all.    The rights of women and the LGBTQ communities are at risk.  We see immigrant families being ripped apart as the present administration is lying over and over again.

To be “precise” I think it is easy to expect what they are saying to be either the same set or a new set of lies repeated over and over again.  What is common is that we hear are lies followed by more lies.   Yes, they do this with precision.

But what they say is never the truth, never “accurate.”

I am clear that I know the measure of the men who are running our country at this point.  They will lie, they will give us the bruised fruit and think nothing of it.  They will lie to us each day, each hour, each minute.

The question is what is the measure of each of us?

Can we, will we fight what it happening with all of our strength?  All of our heart, all of our soul.

I hope that when we are all measured, we will not be found lacking.

Grace Anne Stevens inspires people to find their truth and live their authentic life! She is the author of No! Maybe? Yes! Living My Truth, and Musings on Living Authentically. Grace is available for speaking to all groups who would like to learn the values of, and how to live authentically.   

Grace was selected as an Amtrak Residency Writer for 2016; you can share her experiences on the rails on her website  https://www.liveurtruth.net/amtrak-blogs.html. She was also selected as Person of the Year (2017) by New England Pride TV. Visit her website at: https://www.liveurtruth.net/