Do we have a Trans-Gender Asst. Secretary of State? Sure sounds like it.

[Up2Late]

Maybe this is nobody's business but his own, but if true, it sort of bothers me that they (the current administration) are hiding this fact from us, but more importantly from their base in order not to validate the "trans-gender issue."

I heard this man speck (on NPR) at a press conference, and immediately thought, "That sounds like a woman," or more accurately, a man who was formerly a woman. My goal is not to "out" anyone, but I would love a second opinion on this from you folks.

Here's the link to the audio and below is the link to his Bio, please listen to the audio first, so as not to bias your opinion:

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4952171>

Rice to Push Democracy in Central Asia

Listen to this story...(at link above)
by Michele Kelemen

All Things Considered, October 9, 2005 · Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice heads to Central Asia Monday on a trip to promote democracy. She'll visit Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, nations where autocratic leaders prevailed after the Soviet Union fell.

<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/46525.htm>

Daniel Fried
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Term of Appointment: 05/05/2005 to present

Daniel Fried took the oath of office as Assistant Secretary of State on May 5, 2005. Before taking the helm of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Ambassador Fried served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council since January 22, 2001.

Ambassador Fried was Principal Deputy Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for the New Independent States from May 2000 until January 2001. He was Ambassador to Poland from November 1997 until May 2000.

[IndianaGreen]

1. Sorry, but testosterone lowers a woman's voice quite a bit

There are many men, biological males, with high pitched voices. I think you are hearing things.

I saw this special on the Health Channel about transgender people, and it seems to me that it is easier for a female-to-male to pass in their new identity than it is the other way around.

Now, speaking of Anne Coulter's Adam's apple...

:hi:

[Kailassa]

2. Notice the scalp?

I wouldn't expect a man who used to be a woman to have such obvious male-pattern baldness.

[Up2Late]

4. Doesn't mega-doses of Testosterone sometimes do that?

I heard it starts a lot of those processes. Then again, the audio could have been screwed up too.

[goclark]

3. Does Fried know Victor Ashe

Fried was Ambassador to Poland right before Best Pal Victor Ashe --interesting.

>Ambassador Fried was Principal Deputy Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for the New Independent States from May 2000 until January 2001. He was Ambassador to Poland from November 1997 until May 2000.

[maddiejoan]

5. Anything is possible I suppose.

Speaking as a transgendered woman (and professional voiceover artist), however, and a gender rights advocate for 25 years, I don't see the relevance here.

Generally speaking F2M transsexuals voices drop much lower than that or develop a more unique sounding low pitched nasal quality, as they tend to have more testosterone in their systems than a male with intersex history or even a more common form of hypogonadism. I've met many f2Ms with "male-pattern" baldness --though in general again, it is the result of extremely high doses of Testosterone.

My guess from both appearance in the photo and sound of the voice would be some hormonal imbalance due to cryptorchidism (undescended testes), but as I am not Bill Frist, I'd need a lot more to go on for a true diagnosis.

Oh --and Ann Coulter does not have an "Adam's Apple" nor is she a transsexual --she's too fucking skinny.

[hlthe2b]

6. LOL... I thought you were talking about Karen Hughes!

just from your subject line....LOL

[Ally McLesbian]

7. F2Ms are above right-wing politics

There is no f'ing way F2Ms can indulge in such hardcore right-wing politics and jump up the Republican ladder like that. It simply doesn't happen.

F2Ms carry one good thing from their former female upbringing - the ability to care for others, which predisposes them against Republicanism.

Now, as for M2F's they are a completely different story... the most virulent right-wing a-holes I've ever known are M2F transgender "women." I wouldn't be surprised a single bit if Ann Coulter were one of them as the rumors say. And I say this as M2F myself.

[mockmonkey]

8. While it is true that

I have never met a republican F2M, how would your theory explain all the republican women in general? Is it because of religion or perhaps it's Battered Wife Syndrome? I've never met a republican M2F either but I'm sure they exist. Caring for people is not exclusive with the female although I'm sure they have the majority in that area.

[Ally McLesbian]

9. F2Ms

I am making a wide generalization here, but F2Ms sometimes spend years in the lesbian community, trying to fit in as butches, before coming out as transgender. In fact, there is no clear-cut line between the butch lesbian community and the F2M community, I even dare to say; it's more of a spectrum. This makes their politics similar to the lesbian community's - and lesbian Republicans are EXTREMELY rare. Virtually all Log Cabiners I know of are, or once were, men.

As for straight Christian white Republican women, the white privilege, and the fear of being sent to hell by an angry patriarchal God, are probably too powerful, which could explain their Republicanism. But I just don't see the same dynamic in lesbian and F2M communities.

As for M2Fs, the Republican ones are also the ones who tell other M2F's that they are not "woman enough" because they haven't suffered as much, or whatever. It's the same dynamic you see among men, who often tell other men that they are not "man enough." Genetic women just don't go around telling other women that they are not "woman enough." Even when you hate your birth gender so much to the point of switching, your birth gender characteristics are so hard to lose.

I am surprised that you haven't met a Republican M2F. About one-third of M2F's I've met, mostly older whites, were Republicans - and very hardcore at that. A few more were "Libertarians" but really Republicans in philosophy.

[UncleSepp]

10. FtMs - voice drop, muscle add, hair falls out...

Skin tends to thicken up and sit differently on his face, his hairline may recede if that's what happens with the men in his family, his eyebrows may thicken, his voice will drop, his muscle mass will tend to increase and his body fat will tend to redistribute from thighs and hips to belly and back. Trans men after hormones usually end up well within the perceived range of "normal" male gender expression. About the most significant difference you can see about a fully transitioned FtM with his clothes on and without an X-Ray machine is that he's more likely to be short.

This is kinda off topic, but... In my opinion, FtMs are some of the most beautiful men around, especially older ones. I never imagined that a bald spot and a beer belly, a particular pattern of wrinkles, or a patch of gray in a beard could be so gorgeous, but when a guy's gone through such trials and shown such strength and bravery to get those hallmarks of maleness, they're all decorations of valor. :-)