Cassie has a 360 moment with Anderson Cooper
Hello, my lovelies. I have to share with you the latest celebrity sighting we had in the Rose Room. It started out just a normal fabulous night. We had opened the show with a new production. Lots of sequins and big feather fans. I did my monologue, then my number and then walked around and kikied with the crowd. Then one of the floor guys that work at S4 (I refuse to learn any of their names until they have been there at least a year, and this guy has only worked there for about 11 months) walked up to me and says Anderson Cooper is in the back of the Rose Room.
I immediately grabbed my phone and ran back. Sure enough, the silver fox was standing there in a black baseball cap. He looked adorable. I walked up and said hi, he said, “Great show, you are very funny.” I said thank you and batted my eyelashes. I asked him if I could get a picture with him and he said, “I’d rather not; I’m trying to stay low-key.”
I totally get that. I know I am nowhere near Anderson Cooper famous and somedays you just wanna be left alone. As he is telling me this, a drunk girl stumbles up to us, pushes The Coop out of the way and says, “Oh my Gawd, Cassie Nova! I love you! Can I get a pic with you?” Before I could even answer, Anderson says, “I will take it for you,” and snatches the girl’s phone with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. He makes a big production out of taking the pic. “Get in close, and smile!” While taking the pic, I look at him and say, “You are an asshole!” He just laughed and took a few more pics like we were doing a freaking photo shoot. At one point in our impromptu photo shoot I look at him and say, “Sorry, but I am very famous!” He just laughed and said, “I see that.”
Cooper was a nice guy with a great sense of humor. I’ve always loved him for being the voice of reason in this messed up world, and his ability to show compassion in difficult situations. I love that he “goes there” when he is interviewing the most awful people and a lot of times says what we are feeling. But now I adore him for just being a nice guy with no ego. He was friendly to everyone that approached him. He later came backstage and met all of the girls in the show. Krystal Summers fangirled out. (She keeps her television on CNN.) We would have loved the obligatory selfie with a famous person but I prefer to have a great story instead and I totally have that.
Now let’s see if I can help a few folks out.
Dear Cassie, I am a trans woman who is 66 percent out. The other 34 percent is mainly my day job, where there is no possibility of coming out, and a very few distant relatives and friends. My problem is my older brother, who knows all about my transness. When he found out, he seemed really cool with it all. Recently, however, he has become a member of Facebook (late bloomer) and friend requested me on my old “boy” account, which I accepted and then sent him a friend request from my regular female account, which went unanswered. A couple of times I deleted the request and resent it, to make sure he got the notification. Still no response. I tried “liking” a few things on his account from my female account, but a couple of days later I found that he had closed that loophole by making his account friends-only.
I would like to remain in contact with my brother. He is pretty much my only remaining blood relative that I grew up with, but it makes me pretty pissed that he would be this way. How do you think I should handle this going forward? Love, Heather.
My dearest Heather, This is a tough one. First I want to applaud your bravery to live your life, for the most part, the way you choose. Coming out as trans can be hard but also completely liberating. The brother thing is rough but I will tell you what someone told me years ago about coming out as gay. How long did it take for you to accept that you are trans? It was probably something you wrestled with for a while. You should give your friends and family at least that much time to accept the new you.
It won’t be easy and it will probably hurt but give it some time. Your brother is going to have to know that you are still the same person and hopefully he cares enough to want to keep you in his life, but if he can’t eventually wrap his head around the new evolved version of you, then let him go.
Another bit of advice I can give you is don’t let likes and Facebook requests be the only way to judge how your brother feels. Pick up the phone and talk to him. Let him know that you know that your transition might be hard for him but you are still the same person you always were. The ties that bind us to our blood family are strong but sometimes the best thing for you to do is step away from them and let them come to you. Good luck, Cassie.
Dear Cassie, I don’t have a question for you, exactly. Rather, I’d like to ask you to share my story.
I have syphilis. Hopefully, I’ll be cleared up by the time this is printed. I was stupid, thinking it would never happen to me. I tend to, umm, get around quite a bit. Bottoming. I usually use condoms. I always ask my hook-up if he’s HIV and disease free. On occasion, if he claims to be “clean,” I’ll play bare. I’ve been good the last few months, using protection all but twice. On those two occasions, the other guy was hot and hung, and in both instances, he had no visible sores.
One day, I noticed a couple of sores under my tongue. They didn’t hurt at first. A couple of weeks later, I noticed a pimple on my balls. The pimple turned into an ulcer, and within a day, the single ulcer turned into open ulcers covering my whole scrotum. I was encouraged to see a doctor, but I wasn’t in any pain or discomfort, and I was so embarrassed by the thought of explaining to a doctor how I, a married man in an open relationship (that’s a whole other area to be judge for), got syphilis. So I never got tested and let the sores clear up on their own. When they did, I was relieved and believed that it must not have been syphilis after all. And then it all came back, along with rashes on my hands.
I finally went to a doctor and found out that I was in a late stage of syphilis. It was still curable, but required more medical care than it would have if I had just gone to the doctor when the sores first appeared.
The point of telling you all of this is to ask your readers to please know your status, but not just your HIV status. Know your STD status. And don’t think it won’t happen to you. It will. It’s just a matter of time. When it does happen, for heaven’s sake, go to a doctor. Don’t be embarrassed. Get over it and go to the doctor. The longer you wait, the worse it will get. Thanks for listening, Cassie. I appreciate the chance to make others aware. Signed, Stupid Syphilitic.
Dear SS, Thank you for sharing your story. Now use a fucking rubber every time! Sheesh!
Remember to always love more, bitch less and be fabulous! XOXO, Cassie Nova.
If you have a question of comment, email it to AskCassieNova@gmail.com.
