Letters

Corrine Ahimsa
via e-mail

Gender bender

Re Tristan Taormino's "Lightning Rod, Part 1" [Pucker Up, July 26–August 1]: I know most gays and lesbians have a screwed-up idea of the facts surrounding what is and what is not a transsexual, but Taormino has gone over the edge by writing, "with transsexual porn being a 'fetish . . . ' " We are not fetishists—unless you're referring to the transgender autogyne-philics who have their penises cut off and then go to bed with their pre-op partners as castrated men. Since Taormino is so keen on placing us in the transgender pot with the cross-dressers, why doesn't she eliminate same-sex and call it same-gender, or might that make her out to be the kook she made many of us out to be? I was born with a female-brain gender but a body with erroneous male sex parts. Got it?

Diane Lynn
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Crying shame

Neil deMause's "Out of the Shelter, Into the Fire" [June 21–27] was extremely on point. As an HSP (Housing Stability Plus) recipient, I am forced to live in a studio apartment with my three- year-old autistic son. My rent is $860, and I was expected to pay $180. However my landlord charges me an extra $40. I receive very little from public assistance and have utility bills that are extremely high due to lack of heat in the winter. I want to work so that I can get off of this program. All I can do right now is go to school and try to avoid becoming another welfare-to-work employee. I cry every night; I'm stressed about the unknown. I want to thank the Voice for taking the time to shed light on the problems with this new HSP program.

Tamika Hickson
Bronx

Correction

In last week's issue the photo that accompanied Jarrett Murphy's "Waiting for Reinforcements" was miscredited. The photo should have been credited to Emma Raynes.