Lions and Tigers and Bears

Last Thursday my best friend Daisy drove her girlfriend, Kai and I to Port Lympne reserve park. It took us a few hours to get there, but it was amazing to get out of Brighton for the day.
There were no actual bears, except this hairy thing

The first thing I would like to say is that, as a grown adult I love going to see animals. I also highly enjoy going to zoo’s when its not the school holidays. If you don’t have kids, I recommend you do it then because its so peaceful. You occasionally have to deal with a crying baby from time to time, but it’s worth it. Secondly, the place is 600 acres. Yes you heard me right 600, and no you cannot walk it all.
The cost is £20 and it includes a 2 hour truck drive round the park. They have set times when the trucks go round, so I suggest you arrive there early. The last time to enter the park in is half 2.

The first thing we did was look around and investigated the walking areas. The area is so big that we managed to walk round about a quarter of the area. You don’t realise how big the place is until your legs are aching and you feel like you might die. So yes, this is also an amazing.
We also got to see so many different types of animals. I think Kai will be also doing a post on this place, and he has so many photos, so please read that when it goes up. The animals looked so happy (apart from when it was feeding time and you then remember how dangerous some of these animals are) and they all had so much space to run around.
The plus side is also when visiting places like this, you do get to see animals that are probably going to be extinct soon. The thought is depressing as hell that in a few generations people would never see Rhinos or Lions unless its in a video or a text book. Please if you can, get out there and visit places that have these animals, before its too late.

Our slot for the truck ride was at 2:30pm and it was really good. It took us around the rest of the park that we couldn’t see. Its also a really fun ride. Also, Giraffes are really fucking friendly. When you drive past, you are probably going to have one pop their head into the truck. They had a baby giraffe and it was so cute.
Towards the end, we heard some scraping and the truck had to make an emergency stop. A tire had come of the actual truck and we were driving on its rim. The driver was both professional and a total gentleman. Even when a really rude couple (and their elder son I believe) were really rude to him. We were told to wait 20 mins / half hour for the truck to get fixed or you could start walking up the hill. We had already walked the same hill already and decided to stay with the truck. The couple then got arsey, complaining that the driver wasn’t doing his job and that they could handle it better. They then got really stroppy when they saw that a pregnant lady and her small child were given a lift up the hill and complained that they had to walk.
We apologised to the driver on their behalf and explained that they had already been giving everyone dirty looks before the ride had even started, and that personally they were looking for something to complain about. This was proven when we got back to base and we saw the woman of the couple complaining. We then told the staff what actually went on, and that she was clearly lying through her teeth. She even had claimed that the driver said the truck would take 40 mins to fix, which was total bullshit. The staff were so grateful that we came to them, we honestly were so shocked with what she was saying.

Honestly, if you have a free day, I highly recommended that you go visit, its so good. I would like to go again soon so I can see the dinosaur exhibit they are building at the moment. Not only are the animals so cute, but the views are amazing.
If you want to see more photos of the day, find me on instagram. My username is @tylercharlesausten

Trans Pride 2015

By now you are probably thinking that I’m going to blog about the acts, my experiences and how the parties went…… Well you will be wrong. What I saw of trans pride was about 30 mins -1 hour of acts.

What I can tell you is the run up though. It was started a week ago with a photo shoot. It was hot, I was sweaty but I can tell you now that the photos were AMAZING.

These photo’s were to be displayed on Brighton town hall the day of trans pride.
The Friday before trans pride I was out, and ready to go to the resource centre. It chucked it down, so I had to have my hair protected for the day (not vain, had just dyed my hair). If you haven’t had the chance to go to Brighton’s resource centre , its like Santa’s grotto of the equipment and office supplies. FtmBrighton hired a giant genga. I also spent the afternoon making stickers and badges (pins for American readers). That day was also my testosterone shot day and that was my 2 year anniversary shot. Needless to say my arse still hurts.
In the evening I made a picnic for the Saturday and finished of making my order for the Brighton Brawlers Roller Derby team. I had managed to super glue my finger to the tube of super glue by the midnight.

The Saturday morning, we finally woke up and arrived at the park. We set up the FTMB stall and Kai’s lover Vince attended to help with set up. I sat at the stall whilst there was the march between the Marlborough and Dorset gardens. Photos here are from the wonderful Kai (HariboHeart here)

SO MANY PEOPLE ATTENDED OUR STALL AT FTMB. We ran out of badges pretty quickly because we didn’t think that many would be needed. So many of our members past and present turned up and a couple of people broke me during the day, one being Sabah, who is on the FTMB blog roll and you really should check them out. I was truly thankful for him speaking to me, and I will always remember his words. Although you made me cry you little puppy!!! A few other people turned up and thanked FtmB for all the hard work they had done, and a few kids came and drew some awesome pictures (and some adults too).
We had a picnic and I got to see some of my amazing friends and allies, and I thank you all for turning up to the event . I got some serious cuddles from the youngest FTMB ally Grace. I managed to squeeze in some time for a quick selfie with Kai

I managed to go round a few stalls, got my face painted and was interviewed. I had already signed the petition, but the English collective of prostitutes were there and that was amazing. What wasn’t amazing was that people complained that they were there. Seriously, if you know trans people, are trans or are a supporter, you should know that sex work links up with many trans people, and having a stall to help and to talk about the decriminalisation of sex work was a great idea. I honestly have zero time for people to think its OK to moan at a stall that’s helping the trans community and helping with safety.
The beautiful man was signing all day and I’m so proud of him, I managed to see him for a few minutes.
I also did an interview with Ed, about ftmb and what trans pride meant to us. It was so amazing. We packed up at about half 5 and managed to pick a fight with a gazebo and I lost. I ended up with a small lump on my head. I managed to get home at about 7 and had a little break before I met my other partner Steph (they had been busy running the whole event) for the photo projections. I also saw Ben again – I had seen him at the park , and it was also amazing to see someone else from last years projections and someone i truly look up too.
It took forever for it to get dark enough and there were quite a few difficulties but eventually they came up and it was amazing to see everyone’s beautiful faces. Eventually I left Brighton at about 11 and met up with Kai. He wasn’t there since he had a “family” dinner where his brother proposed to his gf. Turns out I’m family enough to exchange gifts and take care of their Kai for nearly 3 years, be engaged and deal with them, but not family enough to attend a family function. Turns out when you call out his brother for his bullshit (ie copy and pasted the shit he said to Kai), rather then being praised , you get ostracised. Also I don’t think I got the happy tears “oh my god your now really family” when we announced our engagement. We got moaned at. So thanks. Here is done photos of our faces being projected.

On the Sunday morning we had volunteering for doggy pride. We got up early and we got rained on. Doggy pride got cancelled and we went home till Vince and Lizzie picked Kai and I up to go to the trans pride picnic. I got to see the adorable Steph and lots and lots of other trans and queer peeps. A huge shout out to the Marlborough for allowing us all to be there for the picnic. It was an amazing afternoon.
We finally got home at about 7 and totally crashed out. It was a great weekend.
On a different note – several people were attacked during the weekend and I am so sorry that it happened. This event has been going on for 3 years and this is not what we are about. Transphobia in any form is not tolerated and I hope that the victims get justice.