Live Event AMA: Transgender Player Kirsti Miller

Nov 21, 2010
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Thankyou Daan fir your question, in my 16 years living as my true self I have never experienced a problem using the female rest or change rooms. I have a female partner and we both lead a very accepting life from the Broken Hill Community for every red neck in Broken Hill their are 10 people that accept people for who they are not what they are. This vilification incident has enabled a paradigm shift in attitudes to take place in the Silver City, I suggest Broken Hill would be better to be called the Rainbow City as acceptance of people of difference has taken a massive shift in the last two years. I get miners, ex inmates, footy players, bikers show their support to myself on a daily basis.

Great to hear, keep up the good fight :thumbsu:

Another thing that's maybe a bit too heavy for a footy forum main board, but I've always struggled to get my head around the concept of gender. With sexuality it's easy because I can identify with it myself. I'm attracted to women, it's instinctual and there's nothing I could do about it. So it's easy to see how someone could be attracted to a different gender or both. But at the same time, I've never really found that my identity was really informed by any sort of 'maleness'. I guess it's hard for me to understand what it would be like to feel female without really having any idea what it's even like to feel male myself. Maybe that's just because my identify fairly neatly aligns with societally accepted 'male characteristics' so to speak, but it's something I can't quite put my finger on. Not that I have any reason to doubt someone would put themselves through what trans people have been subjected to without good reason, I know there's something different about the brain chemistry. Just wondering if you could maybe shed some light on some experiences or feelings you had when you were younger that helped you identify yourself as female.
 
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Thankyou so much for the many respectful and interesting questions, I will endeavour to respond to them as openly and honestly as I can. My first memories of being born in the wrong body were at 3 years of age

That's always fascinated me. I recall when I was 11 thinking a boy was attractive, not just girls, and being shocked, horrified I might be gay. A few years ago, speaking with friends about transgender people, I said that I can't comprehend the thought process - for me, I've had a penis and therefore worked on the basis that I'm male, and not thought about my gender beyond that. And a friend said that by the same token he'd never questioned his sexuality, just always been attracted by women, and the idea that I'd weighed mine up was as foreign a notion to him as what you went through is to me.

I know this is many ways a very broad and ignorant question, but I'm honestly curious as to what that thought process and realisation entails.

EDIT: So I just got jinxed by the comment a minute before mine. Great minds think alike, fools never differ etc.
 
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kirsti

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If we had the capacity to do so, do you believe treatment to correct the incongruity between body and mind in transsexual individuals should be designed around changing the mind to match the body, rather than the current practice of altering the body to match the mind?
wow Spectore I applaud your question. What makes a human?, your brain that is who we are. A transgender person male to female receives a massive amount of estrogen early on in the pregnancy phase of a fetus and conversely a female to male person receives to much testosterone during this same time of the pregnancy. The end result for someone like myself was the gender part of my brain was formed as a female thinking brain and no studies or treatments have ever been able to correct this. I would like to clarify that the gender part of someone's brain is not interconnected to the part of your brain that influences sexuality in a person. The only successful treatment for transgender people is identifying and treating young transgender people with total reversible hormone blockers which delay the onset of puberty to minimise the effects if puberty. I know of many young transgender people that are living a very happy life. If I had of received totally reversible hormone blockers I would of had a better chance of living my life in a stealth mode and would not have to endured the pain and costs associated with the operations I had to undertake to be my true self. Carlotta probably Australia's most well known transgender lady had to suffer electric shock treatment by crazy ill informed doctors that attempted to change her brain patterns.
 
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Kirsti, I must preface this question firstly by saying I have been closely following the trends for a long time in regards to how society is being socially engineered down a certain path of acceptance. I strongly believe after transgender has been normalized the "Furries" are next to put out there by the media as a recognized gender and be pushed to be accepted.

My question is this, did you feel vindicated by the whole Bruce Jenner coming out and have you become emboldened to stand up for your self more from a legalistic stand point ? There is I believe an end game to all this "Minority Acceptance" and you may not like where it ends up but good luck to you with it.
FYI, her name is Caitlyn Jenner.
 

kirsti

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Anyone that is interested both my Partner Nikki and myself appeared on Adelaide's Today Tonight in 2003, if you google "Kirsti Miller Today Tonight" you will see the story, maybe someone more pc savy than me can post a link to this story, you can also hear a podcast I featured on with Tom Harley on the rainbow report.
 

Engimal

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Thankyou borderline for your question, from my personal experience which is vindicated by the Stockholm Consensus, a transgender male to female person has no physical advantage over a genetically born female, my personal experience is that suppression then later on total loss of testosterone on top of estrogen treatment is a performance depressent so top line male to female trans athletes would be the a rarity. Trans athletes that meet the IOC criteria have been able to compete at all Olympic Games since Athens in 2004, to my knowledge I don't know of one transgender athlete that has even been selected to compete at an Olympic Games since the ruling in 2003.

Can female to male people match it with all natural males, athletically? Particularly in terms of natural strength?
 

Engimal

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Anyone that is interested both my Partner Nikki and myself appeared on Adelaide's Today Tonight in 2003, if you google "Kirsti Miller Today Tonight" you will see the story, maybe someone more pc savy than me can post a link to this story, you can also hear a podcast I featured on with Tom Harley on the rainbow report.

http://www.todaytonightadelaide.com.au/stories/trans-footy-dispute

Also saw this:

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...r-is-working-the-afl-says-20130613-2o67r.html

:)
 
Anyone that is interested both my Partner Nikki and myself appeared on Adelaide's Today Tonight in 2003, if you google "Kirsti Miller Today Tonight" you will see the story, maybe someone more pc savy than me can post a link to this story, you can also hear a podcast I featured on with Tom Harley on the rainbow report.
Kirsti, I think this is a fantastic idea and very helpful for young transgendered people who are looking for examples of people who have shared their experiences.
A mate of a mate of mine has a teenage transgendered daughter who has already experienced some BS in terms of being allowed to play on an all-girls basketball team. She started identifying as female as a young child and began hormone treatment as soon as was legally possible. The amount of doctors' appointments, therapy and hoops she's had to jump through in order to receive the basic medical treatment she needs is absolutely staggering (and I thought those of us with mental illness had it hard).
 
Aug 13, 2006
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wow Spectore I applaud your question. What makes a human?, your brain that is who we are. A transgender person male to female receives a massive amount of estrogen early on in the pregnancy phase of a fetus and conversely a female to male person receives to much testosterone during this same time of the pregnancy. The end result for someone like myself was the gender part of my brain was formed as a female thinking brain and no studies or treatments have ever been able to correct this. I would like to clarify that the gender part of someone's brain is not interconnected to the part of your brain that influences sexuality in a person. The only successful treatment for transgender people is identifying and treating young transgender people with total reversible hormone blockers which delay the onset of puberty to minimise the effects if puberty. I know of many young transgender people that are living a very happy life. If I had of received totally reversible hormone blockers I would of had a better chance of living my life in a stealth mode and would not have to endured the pain and costs associated with the operations I had to undertake to be my true self. Carlotta probably Australia's most well known transgender lady had to suffer electric shock treatment by crazy ill informed doctors that attempted to change her brain patterns.
Thanks for answering that question. It's always one I've been interested in.

I have a couple of follow ups:
1. When did you know you were a female and how? And then do you think it's safe for those treatments of children? (I guess that's the reversible bit).

2. I'm not sure if it's trans people, generally progressive types or just annoying new age folk but we often hear these days about how gender shouldn't be binary. Doesn't being transgender support a binary model if people wish to go from one sex to the other with such a transformation?
 

natio

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Wow, what an interesting thread. And I must say, I was a little warmed by the fact the a majority of posts were respectful and inquisitive. And I never knew about the IOC ruling. Very interesting.

Kirsti, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. Exposure to actual LGBTI people in real life and on open discussions in places like Bigfooty is what educates and changes minds and hearts. Great work!
All the best
n.
 

kirsti

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Thankyou Engimal for all of your contributions in this thread and sharing those links. A female to male trans person undergoes massive testosterone treatment and this hormone is extremely powerful and provides massive physical changes very quickly unlike estrogen treatment which in comparison is a very slow working hormone. I can't accurately describe the effects of testosterone treatment as my treatment was the exact opposite but I can say once my naturally occurring testosterone ceased I experienced a massive loss of strength and endurance.
 

kirsti

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Thanks for answering that question. It's always one I've been interested in.

I have a couple of follow ups:
1. When did you know you were a female and how? And then do you think it's safe for those treatments of children? (I guess that's the reversible bit).

2. I'm not sure if it's trans people, generally progressive types or just annoying new age folk but we often hear these days about how gender shouldn't be binary. Doesn't being transgender support a binary model if people wish to go from one sex to the other with such a transformation?
I knew very early on that I was a female trapped in a males body around three years of age and these feelings have never wavered. I attempted to over masculine my life by becoming a footballer, Superintendent of Prisons and other blokey hobbies but my feelings never went away they got stronger and stronger. The treatment of trans children should happen as early as possible as like me no matter what psychological treatment a trans person receives the feelings never go away. Hormone blockers save lives if I could of had them as a child, I would of had a far better chance of leading a stealth life and thus more than likely avoided being the victim of a gang trans related rape. There are many variations of transgender and intersex people a very brave person named Norrie fought and one the battle to have a third gender recognised in the high court of Australia, google the "Norrie Case " for a very interesting read. There are no rules fir gender identity I know many people that are very fluid in there gender expression and feelings fir me I was never in doubt that I was 100% female.
 

YES! YES! YES!

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Hi Iam Kirsti from Broken Hill, I am the woman that this story is written about, I would be happy to answer any respectful questions as I believe a balanced discussion on this subject will assist in other trans people in gaining the dignity at respect that every human being deserves.
Hi Kirsti,

Do you believe that sport clubs should have mixed teams where the best players are selected on merits (rather than sex)?

I am someone who is strongly against gender binomial segregation in society and believe in gender-role transcendence.
 

kirsti

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Hi Kirsti,

Do you believe that sport clubs should have mixed teams where the best players are selected on merits (rather than sex)?

I am someone who is strongly against gender binomial segregation in society and believe in gender-role transcendence.
Your suggestion defiantly could have merit, my partner Nikki a former Australian Soccer Rep and she played in both the men's and Women's competition in Broken Hill as she was one if the best if not the best player in the Broken Hill Competition. Mixed competitions should be by choice I believe. The gap between males and females in sport are closing especially in athletics and swimming, breaking the four minute was an unachievable feat for so long but once achieved many others achieved this once unachievable feat. Once women start breaking barrier and records once held by men others will follow, look at the 100m men's swimming record in the 70,s, women are achieving these times now, it only takes one to break a record and soon others follow suit as athletes realise the once impossible is finally possible, the gap between males and females are closing.
 
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kirsti

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The current 100m Women's record holder Britte Steffin would have finished in 8th place at the 1976 Olympics in the men's 100m swimming final, since 1976 the men have improved the world record by 3.38 seconds and women have lowered their record by over 3.5 seconds the gap is closing
 
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Kristi, firstly, just wanted to say I'm behind you 100% in your push for acceptance. I didn't realise this had become a thing again and only noticed as a post of mine in the earlier thread appeared to attract a lot of new likes. Reading this new thread, I was interested to read the bit about how after 2 years of treatment a transgender patient essentially has lost any "advantage" of their old sex.

I was amazed in the earlier thread that people didn't seem to understand that it wasn't a choice that you made to become a woman. From what I understand, you were a woman in mindset, just had the wrong body to go with it. It is more acceptance of this fact and what to do to "fix" it that you have a choice in. However, I may be off base with that? What do you tell people who say that "you decided to become a woman, what's to stop me doing that to play in the woman's league?"

I want to understand better how to respond to this common argument in the future (the earlier part about the lack of testosterone and it's impact on athleticism responds to it from a performance side, however I'm also interested tackling it from the alleged free choice side).
 
i agree totally Gough, I am very happy to answer any respectful questions as the fear of the unknown is what frightens most people. Since 1999, I have found the real blokey blokes in this world are the ones that treat me best, the people that are comfortable in their own skin usually provide the greatest acceptance, the bigots and rednecks and those hiding flaws in their character are the first to yell abuse or threaten people of difference.

Bravo for standing up and fighting for what you believe in. All the best in your future endeavours
 
Thanks for the insight, kirsti

What's the reason behind you following West Coast and living in Broken Hill (or at least playing footy/soccer for them)? Not that I find that unusual, as I work with a bloke who supports the Eagles, and play footy with a bloke who goes for them. Also, growing up I had two mates who followed them. All born and bred Victorians.
 

kirsti

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Thanks for the insight, kirsti

What's the reason behind you following West Coast and living in Broken Hill (or at least playing footy/soccer for them)? Not that I find that unusual, as I work with a bloke who supports the Eagles, and play footy with a bloke who goes for them. Also, growing up I had two mates who followed them. All born and bred Victorians.
I was first attracted to the West Coast eagles for two reasons, the first being I loved their jumpers and the second being I didn't know of any other West Coast Fans probably because I grew up in country NSW. My partner Nikki is also an avid eagles fan and we also follow Melb V Manchester United, Saint George and the LA LAkers and Melb Tigers.
 

kirsti

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I don't have any questions kirsti but I think you're very brave to put yourself out there in order to educate other people and make the road that you've traveled hopefully a little bit easier for future generations.
Thank you so much for your lovely words of support, I am very proud of the respectful posts that have been posted on this thread they do give me a lot of hope that the times are changing and hopefully transgender children can grow up and lead a fulfilling life which includes playing the sports that they love without the dramas that I have experienced.
 

kirsti

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Kristi, firstly, just wanted to say I'm behind you 100% in your push for acceptance. I didn't realise this had become a thing again and only noticed as a post of mine in the earlier thread appeared to attract a lot of new likes. Reading this new thread, I was interested to read the bit about how after 2 years of treatment a transgender patient essentially has lost any "advantage" of their old sex.

I was amazed in the earlier thread that people didn't seem to understand that it wasn't a choice that you made to become a woman. From what I understand, you were a woman in mindset, just had the wrong body to go with it. It is more acceptance of this fact and what to do to "fix" it that you have a choice in. However, I may be off base with that? What do you tell people who say that "you decided to become a woman, what's to stop me doing that to play in the woman's league?"

I want to understand better how to respond to this common argument in the future (the earlier part about the lack of testosterone and it's impact on athleticism responds to it from a performance side, however I'm also interested tackling it from the alleged free choice side).
Thank you for your question, When I get asked "when did I decide to become a woman", my usual response is that I return the question back with when did you decide to become a man/woman. Transgender people quite often get asked very personal and innappropriate questions like "have you had it chopped off", this type of question is completely rude and offensive
That's what it boils down to, you shouldn't have to be considered brave, just for being who you are.
exactly like the advertisement says if you can play you can play.
 
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