Didn't see that coming. This would make good document film... but Ed Wood already did it :) Anyway, I respect your decision and courage.

Hey Shian,

I give you credit for coming forward with who you really are. I know that this must have been a very difficult decision for you.

I will take a step back into my own life experiences. About 27 years ago when I was 18 I had a nephew that liked to play with dolls and women’s hair. He did not want to hang out with the men or boys only females. He was about 5 or 6 years old at the time and did not exhibit any type of feminine behavior other then that. My girlfriend at the time now my wife, both looked at each other and discussed that his behavior was very abnormal and that more then likely he will be gay when he gets older we just knew it at the time.

As he got older around 12-14 he still did not fully come out of his shell and continued to act like a regular male. Then at around 16 years old he started to come out of his shell and start to carry pink back packs etc. Then at around 18 he full came out of his shell and now dresses like a woman with makeup and everything.

Honestly speaking culture/society play a big role on what is acceptable and not acceptable. That being said how I grew up gay people were frowned upon and generally speaking kinda looked at like a black sheep. This is the sad but the brutal truth. I grew up believing that marriage must be between a man and a women and anything else is just totally unacceptable.

Fast forward to today. One day I had a conversation with my son and the topic of gay marriage came up. I was absolutely steadfast against men marrying men or women marrying women then my son told me that I was being prejudice, that statement that I was being prejudice changed my whole perspective.

I bring this up because my next door neighbor who is this older white guy probably in his mid 60’s was really prejudice. One day while he was drinking his whiskey on his porch he called me over and said that white people should marry white people and that black people should marry black people and that they shouldn't intermix.

WTF in this day and age we still have people that have this kinda mindset? Well even though that really pissed me off the sad part about it is that I was prejudice towards gay people and didn't even realize it. My son who was only 16 at the time told me that I was being just as prejudice as the white guy across the street. This was like a light switch for me and I have forever changed my mindset.

Who am I to decide what makes somebody happy? Who am I to decid whom somebody can love or hate. And finally who am I to decide if someone should be able to marry the person that they love? Thats right its not my decision at all it is up to the individual.

Honestly speaking if I were a transgender I am not sure that I would have the courage that you have. I congratulate you for coming forward with who you really are. This takes a tremendous amount of courage, and do not for one instance feel ashamed for who you really are.

Best Regards,

Azo

@maxr nope not a stunt, this is just my life... I just thought the thread heading sounding catchy.

My ethos in life and filmmaking is be who you wanna be; don't worry about what other people think, especially the tossers in Hollywood. I've limited my funding and distribution opportunities by speaking out about Israel's war crimes. Like I give a shit. I don't wanna be associated with people who've traded their humanity for fat stacks anyway. I'd love to have you working on my film gamma-movie.com @shian if the union and budget allows it. It's the 'normal' people who scare me; conformity is the real crazy.

Thanks mate. I just hope I can raise enough cash to make every shot look a lot better.

Props @shian.

Props @shian +1

I hope your freedom brings you all that you hope for and thank you for all you have done here and hope it will continue.

I had a gay roommate my freshman year of college, who had just come out of the closet and was convinced the whole world was gay, it just needed him to give a little push to get everyone to come out of their shell. His best friend was an organizer for ActUp and the 2 were a handful to deal with. Especially with my live-and-let-live attitude that was a way to sidestep the confrontations and challenges they subjected me (at times) to. I survived and he learned the whole world isn't gay.

Then there was a male college friend, from the Mid-West USA (conservative) who dressed up as a woman for Halloween, we were in NYC, so it worked. At his wedding to his 1st wife, in a more conservative part of the country, he dressed as a woman for his bachelor party and went out to a strip club. He lives far from me and I have no idea what state he is in today, but, on social media he is dressed as a man and working in the film biz. You have given me some food-for-thought.

When I was a camera assistant I worked on "Devil's Advocate" on some stunt scenes. We did some camera pin registration tests (analog film days) during prep, for the VFX supervisor, who called us with the results. She had a deep voice and her name was Stephanie. I heard later from a DP on another shoot, that he had worked with her when she, was a he, I recollect, named Stan. I remember seeing Stephanie on set and thought how brave she was, with a deep voice, dressed as a woman on set.

I just looked her up for you, as she has blazed this trail before. Sadly IMDB says she died of a heart attack in 2001, but, know there have been others, maybe with a lower profile than The Matrix, before you who were doing well in their career. Maybe in LA, in some VFX circles you may already be in, someone you know will remember and can recount the story of Stephanie. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0694320/reference

@kurth

With development of society tolerance is much better. You need to learn to live with it.

Tolerance is better, but to not have an opinion about peoples lives can be even better still. Shian be Shian, in trousers or dress makes no difference.

I would work with her if given the opportunity because her work is top notch, thats all

...I don't have to live with it. I can point out it's flaws and hypocrisies. Of course, the people that just learn to "live with it" can line up for their rfid chips implants.

I just think that this topic is not best place :-)

I also congratulate you with intention to become communist. As if think that you can change any similar things while keeping capitalism - you are wrong.

@squig

Let's keep it good here, no fights and personal stuff, ok?

@kurth , as you're normally a quite informed and researched person it comes a bit as a shock not that you've got your prejudices - we all have, I have a bunch of them too and ( also as yourself) I try not to hide or sugarcoat them - but that your mind's output is so linear... and that total BS manipulative video you've shared. Not attacking you, you're entitled (see I do not use the word "free"... anywhere :P) to defend whatever values are core to you, but at least step out of Nasrudin's streetlight. For those lazy in the head you can switch the "light" in the parable by ideas, values, experience, philosophies, politics, knowledge, truth, etc.

@squig normalization (homogenization) and common sense are two bureaucrats that at night go as lyle and margot; I despise bashing... not because its intolerant nature ( and doesn't matter if it hides behind a majority or minority, that's also more crap) or any other liberal bullshit; but because its the lowest and many times most coward way of defining a stand point, taking sides... going to war... ah ohh uhh it's okay now to kill the other guys 'cause they're in the opposite side of the fence...eating same hard boiled eggs and mandarins, piurghh!!

Everything has to be defined, divided, categorized, I'm so lucky to be so sure 'bout my manlyhood, good for me; now I can fuck many women and brag about it, maybe love a woman and our fruits ONLY and latter also a big obedient dog. Life's so reassuringly clear... wow and almost everything that surrounds me increases that reassuring feeling, I'm so lucky... but hey my neighbor Robert has a great ass, wait a sec!!! I cannot do that, I'll lose everything... that fear there, thats the mind's nurture for the worst hypocrites. Not saying anyone's a closet gay 'cause of that, but that's forbidden territory, a grey uncharted zone, so instead of dealing with whatever reasons trigger my curiosity, I'll better make triple sure to show everyone else how not gay I am; now I'm ready to embrace handsome Jesus and that thick black book I'll never really read and start making bonfires.

As much as I personally didn't quite go along with Shian, I cannot but imagine how fucking hard must be the process... adding to that the cradle of human gender's stereotypes machine, aka hollywood, ufffff The Crying Game; + 1 on Robin's (and Vitaliy) healthy attitude =)

There's a saying I like "love choses with its own eyes"

@maxr ...you know that "bs manipulative" video....I look at those kids and say....what the fux is happening to young people ? Look at their faces. They are so lost. They have no ideas, about themselves, nor about the world. Gay...I couldn't care less. My sister-in-law is gay and I love her. She's completely comfortable in her body. And as for cross-dressing, well, it's as old as humanity itself. But surgical alteration of ourselves is crossing the line.

I reread your 1st post. Maybe you should reread it yourself before you throw stones. Pity doesn't convince me to not look at the larger issue....which is transhumanism. The line crossed is the surgical incision, and the resultant social confusion. Where does it stop ? We can't allow man/science/society to change what nature created so well, over millions of years. If we start, we're doomed as a species.