"With the exception of in my workplace, I live a very out and proud life. I may not go around wearing a 'Transexual Menace' T-shirt (though there is one in my closet) or outing myself to strangers (I generally seem to pass pretty well, at least in straight spaces and to some queers), but all my friends know as well as most of the people I do volunteer work with (of course, the lines between those two groups is usually very small). I'm honest and open with people because I refuse to beg for respect like alms. I am a fucking human being and I will goddam well be treated like one or I will fucking lash out!" So begins the last blog entry of Beth Westbrook. Beth passed away earlier this year and tremors continue to ripple through the various communities she touched. Obviously, she was a "very out and proud" transgender activist; additionally, she was a tireless lesbian activist and supporter of the local music scene. Her blog, "Naked Synapses," fired connective electricity between community and personal nerves. Amidst her own life's trials, journeys, and joys, she always had one eye on the rest of us. Manifesting one of the more positive and hopeful outlooks on the community-building potential of the blogosphere, Beth's entire Web site is packed to the hilt with community resources, lively discussion, and one of the finest photo archives of Austin's frisky lesbian cultural scene in recent memory. Rest well, Beth; we bet there's still work to be done, even up there with the angels.
