What (Goe)s in(to Choosing) a Name?

Because I'm two weeks away from my one year anniversary as Jacob, I thought I'd post some of the other names I considered:

1. Harry. As in Harry Potter...yes I am a freak. Given my last name I think this wouldn't have worked. Plus as my twin pointed out it makes you think of "hairy" which I have become, but that's not quite what I was going for. She still gets a laugh out of thinking I might have been Harry/Hairy Lau.

2. Scott. I've always really liked the name. But I'm not a Scott.

3. Judas (Jude for short). Let's just say Jesus Christ Superstar really made an impression on me. In high school I hated how much Judas Iscariot was demonized, both in classes and in the Bible. I tend to side with the underdogs. My EDS friends voted for Jude and (surprise, surprise) were not thrilled with Judas. This was my third choice for a name.

4. Gabriel. Ok these are sounding ultra Christian, but for the record this was what my best buddy/hall mate April really wanted my name to be. She thought I could have been a Gabe. I was a bit apprehensive about being associated with an angel. This was my fourth choice for a name.

5. Gene. This was the spelling of my grandmother's version of my birth name. Ironically it's also traditionally the "more male" spelling. I seriously debated this name more then the others. I thought I could both keep and reclaim my birth name. But the history of abuse tied to this name got to be too much for me. I wanted a name of my own with a narrative that didn't have so much historical victimization. I thought somehow I could transform Gene...but it seemed better to leave that with the memories of my Grandmother.

6. Elwood. I know this makes most people think of the Blues Brothers. I pondered this one because it's a family name and I liked that it means "old forest."

7. Robin. A gender neutral name and I liked Robin Hood growing up. ;) But I wanted a clearly male name in the end. Plus my middle name begins in a similar way and that would have made my full name sound weird.

Others considered very briefly: Thomas, Moses.

Mass HB 1722

Today is a huge day for Trans Equality in Massachusetts. If you are in the Boston Area come to the state house at 1 pm and show your support for House Bill 1722 "An Act Relative to Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes." This is just like changing the non-discrimination code at Harvard except much, much bigger.

Coming from California where I didn't have to think about basic non-discrimination issues at all, I think it's about time that Massachusetts had gender identity and expression covered.

In other news healing from surgery is going well...I have a sizeable hematoma under my right nipple that hurts (and unfortunately looks like I'm growing a breast)...but I was told that this should vanish in about four more weeks. If it doesn't by then I'll have to get a revision (which will be a few years out since it's expensive).



Some pics of healing thus far:
1/30/08























2/22/08