Continued from Part I.
In 2012 Mark met his second wife, Jessica Lynn (1974 - ), in a transgender show girl bar. Jessica transitioned in her 30s with the help of a therapist after two failed suicide attempts and a few years as a gay man. She took Mark's surname even before they were married. They had each others name tattooed on their bodies.
In 2013 their relationship was featured in both The New York Post and The Daily Mail.
In 2014 Mark was interviewed in LGBTQIA where he spoke about how he felt
Mark's third wife is Lynna Lopez who also took his surname when they married in June 2015.
Transition Radio featured DirtyWhiteBoi, who in return published an interview on her blog with Matitza:
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While Mark affirms his strong Catholic faith, some may wonder how that is consistent with repeated divorces and re-marriages, astrology, tattoos, and of course gender change.
With each wife, Cummings discovers love for the first time!! A gentleman would not take that attitude to his previous wives.
"And it’s usually a Munchausen by proxy-driven mother and it’s always a kind of wimpy dad-kind of thing going on, mom wears the pants in the family.” This is of course a return to Robert Stoller, the 1950s and the sexist idea that homosexuality, transgender and many other psychoanalytic conditions are caused by a weak absent father and a dominant mother.
Whether or not Cummings is racist, to denounce him as prejudiced against 'persons of color' is problematical as he himself is Hispanic.
Whilst not aligning with Cummings' position, some of the issues that he has raised should be getting more discussion within the trans community:
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Dawn Ennis' article on the Cummings includes "Brennan’s statement, however, contradicts a February finding by researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine who concluded 'there is increasing evidence of a biological basis for gender identity'." As Gender Identity Watch was delighted to point out, this sentence is not to be found in the journal article in question. The claim was not needed for Ennis's article, and it was a sloppy error to make.
In 2012 Mark met his second wife, Jessica Lynn (1974 - ), in a transgender show girl bar. Jessica transitioned in her 30s with the help of a therapist after two failed suicide attempts and a few years as a gay man. She took Mark's surname even before they were married. They had each others name tattooed on their bodies.
"In spite of our differences, Aries and Cancer, I have never loved anyone as much as I love her".They started the internet program Transition Radio, which featured extensive video interviews with various US trans persons and others. Jessica and Mark purchased a recreational vehicle, set up a new blog Transgender Highway and traveled around the US. Mark published a health guide for travelers.
In 2013 their relationship was featured in both The New York Post and The Daily Mail.
 |
| Mark and Jessica |
In 2014 Mark was interviewed in LGBTQIA where he spoke about how he felt
"honored to be part of the many great inspirational Trans men that [Lynn Conway] has showcased on her site. Success is a very personal word and means many different things to many people. I personally believe that being successful means being happy with who you are and what you have accomplished." and "“I believe being transgender is a gift a Spiritual awakening that is manifesting in physical form … We as transgender individuals have a major responsibility to enlighten the world. Instead we are blending in and doing much of the same, this solves nothing and that is why we continue the hamster wheel".Later that year, Mark was told that he had been selected for the 2014 GLAAD Trans100, (a list that seems to have been removed from the internet). However he made critical statements about Janet Mock and her interview by Piers Morgan. He was then deselected. On his Facebook page he wrote:
"I am seeing a very strange twist in our community, and why are we all of a sudden admiring individuals who have recently come out as advocates with little to no experience in that role. One is an actress, the other stealth for many years working at Peoples magazine behind a cubicle and now decides to write a book and is identifying as a fierce advocate? Both trans woman of color, which seems to be a very prominent twist these days as if they are the only ones in the trans community who have suffered and constantly harp on how bad they have it, leaving behind the rest of us. Separating themselves, creating their own groups and associations and hijacking the community at large."For this he was denounced as prejudiced against persons of color. In July Mark and Jessica sympathetically interviewed Cathy Brennan, the Maryland attorney associated with antagonism towards trans persons. Shortly afterwards they broke up as a couple.
Mark's third wife is Lynna Lopez who also took his surname when they married in June 2015.
“Falling in love for the first time in my life has allowed me to feel my true nature, whichLynna is now co-host on Transition Radio, which has changed its message. Mark now denounces the therapist and surgeon who enabled him to transition:is my feminine self".
Lynna and Mark
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“I went on Testosterone, and 5 months later, I had my precious breast and my amazing reproductive organs ripped out of me, all in a quest to be a ‘man’. What sane person does this, and what medical professional who swears to do no harm goes along with this diabolical plan? I am sorry but now that I have come to my senses and see what this vile community has become, I see the reason for the vileness and the darkness in its intent.”Transition Radio lost all its sponsors, and Lynn Conway removed Mark form her Successful Trans Men site. Mark/Maritza is also now speaking out against supporting trans kids and especially against prescribing puberty blockers to them. The New York Times gave him a platform where he argued that no-one should transition before their mid-20s. He has said: "And it’s usually a Munchausen by proxy-driven mother and it’s always a kind of wimpy dad-kind of thing going on, mom wears the pants in the family.”
Transition Radio featured DirtyWhiteBoi, who in return published an interview on her blog with Matitza:
"I always felt different but never the typical programed response the community harps on. In my opinion there is no such thing as being born in the wrong body. It’s a neurological impairment, behavioral and mental issue, nothing wrong with the body. … I think much different now. But unfortunately, the changes are so deep, that it is hard to go back. I do identify as a female, I will never deny my truth. … I regret all my surgeries, they are butchery and not necessary. Hysto and top surgery. … I got sick of the trans community and how they badger people. I saw the vile behavior, the lies, I could not longer be part of that. They have deeper issues than gender problems and are in denial about it. Its time the gender specialists stepped up and did their job and looked at the deeper issues."When Dawn Ennis writing for The Advocate asked Mark to nominate a sponsor or well-known public figure to speak on his behalf, he suggested Cathy Brennan. Mark still chooses to be addressed by male pronouns as that has been the case for the 12 past years. He says that he and Lopez now identify as “two-spirit” or “gender-variant,” saying, “We all have this duality".
- Julia Reischel. "See Tom be Jane". The Village Voice, May 30, 2006. www.villagevoice.com/news/see-tom-be-jane-6427828.
- Mark Angelo Cummings. The Mirror Makes No Sense. 79pp AuthorHouse, 2006.
- Herb Sosa. "Mark's Transition". Ambiante, May 2006. www.ambiente.us/506MarksTransition.html.
- Mark Angelo Cummings. "Mark's Story". TSsuccesses, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20150322222057/http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TSsuccesses/FtM/Mark's Story.html.
- Letter in response to Debbie Schlussel. "Raising RuPaul: Parents Who Should be SUED for Malpractice". www.debbieschlussel.com/2071/raising-rupaul-parents-who-should-be-sued-for-malpractice.
- Carla A. Pfeffer "Bodies in Relation—Bodies in Transition: Lesbian Partners of Trans Men and Body Image". Journal of Lesbian Studies, 12:4, 325-345, 2008. PDF
- "Married twice as a woman, once as a man! Real life story!". 5Perc Angol, 09.Dec 29. www.5percangol.hu/reference/married_twice_as_a_woman_once_as_a_man_real_life_story.
- Father Tony. "Mark Angelo Cummings - Songs in the Key of F2M". Bilerico, April 06, 2010. www.bilerico.com/2010/04/mark_angelo_cummings_-_songs_in_the_key_of_f2m.php.
- Bob Fredericks. "Lovebirds to marry after both changed genders". New York Post, November 26, 2013. http://nypost.com/2013/11/26/lovebirds-to-get-hitched-after-both-changed-genders.
- Matt Blake. "'Our relationship is the kind that people dream of': Love-at-first-sight couple get engaged... after both undergoing sex change operations". Daily Mail, 26 November 2013. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2513765/Florida-couple-engaged-undergoing-sex-change-operations.html.
- Mark Angelo Cummings. The Healthy Travelers Guide No More Excuses. Lulu, 2013.
- Jaye Johnson chats with Mark Angelo Cummings. "Trans* Man on a Mission". LGBTQIA, Apr 14, 2014. https://medium.com/lgbtqia-im-ru/trans-man-on-a-mission-62ce9b0519d3.
- Kelli Busey. "GLAADS Trans100 the slickest trans assimilation scheme ever, or just a great thing?"Planet Transgender, May 7, 2014. http://planettransgender.com/glaads-trans100-the-slickest-trans-assimilation-scheme-ever-or-just-a-great-thing.
- "Cathy Brennan interviewed on radical feminism and 'transphobia'". Deep Green Resistance, September 24, 2014. http://deepgreenresistance.blogspot.ca/2014/09/cathy-brennan-radical-feminism-transphobia.html.
- Mark Angelo Cummings. "Transitioning Is for Those Who Can Vote and Drink". New York Times, June 18, 2015. www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/06/18/is-there-a-right-age-to-change-ones-sex/transitioning-is-for-those-who-can-vote-and-drink.
- Dirt. "Some questions for Transition Radio's Maritza (Mark) Cummings". The Dirt from Dirt, June 23, 2015. http://dirtywhiteboi67.blogspot.ca/2015/06/some-questions-for-transition-radios.html.
- Dawn Ennis. "'Ex-Trans' Activists Exposed: The Big Name Behind Their Fight Against Gender Transition". Advocate, July 17 2015. http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/07/17/ex-trans-activists-exposed-big-name-behind-their-fight-against-gender-transit?page=0,0.
_____________________________________________________
While Mark affirms his strong Catholic faith, some may wonder how that is consistent with repeated divorces and re-marriages, astrology, tattoos, and of course gender change.
With each wife, Cummings discovers love for the first time!! A gentleman would not take that attitude to his previous wives.
"And it’s usually a Munchausen by proxy-driven mother and it’s always a kind of wimpy dad-kind of thing going on, mom wears the pants in the family.” This is of course a return to Robert Stoller, the 1950s and the sexist idea that homosexuality, transgender and many other psychoanalytic conditions are caused by a weak absent father and a dominant mother.
Whether or not Cummings is racist, to denounce him as prejudiced against 'persons of color' is problematical as he himself is Hispanic.
Whilst not aligning with Cummings' position, some of the issues that he has raised should be getting more discussion within the trans community:
- The issue of the increase in numbers of trans persons over the last 50 years as due to the toxic chemicals in the environment has the virtue of being the only theory that explins the increase in numbers. The classic account is by Christine Johnson, 2004. PDF. It is summarized in Deborah Rudacille's The Riddle of Gender, 2006, Chp 7.
- the increasing practice of adulating trans persons when they step out of the closet or from stealth and shunting aside the activists who have been working for years or decades. Cummings was rather careless in naming only black celebrities. He should have paid more attention to what happened to Peter Tatchell. There is no shortage of white celebrities who could have been mentioned: Bono, Beck, Maloney, Jenner.
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Dawn Ennis' article on the Cummings includes "Brennan’s statement, however, contradicts a February finding by researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine who concluded 'there is increasing evidence of a biological basis for gender identity'." As Gender Identity Watch was delighted to point out, this sentence is not to be found in the journal article in question. The claim was not needed for Ennis's article, and it was a sloppy error to make.