We're on Facebook!

...that's right, the Wichita Transgender Coalition has finally gotten with the times and built a Facebook group! Membership is invitation-only and invisible, so if you'd like to join, send us a message by way of our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/wichitatranscoalition--and while you're at it, come like our page!

Want to connect with us in-person? Our next closed meeting is this Saturday, May 12--for time and location information, contact Asher at asher.james@rocketmail.com. We'll hope to see you there!

Growing Group; Changing Schedules

The last few meetings have been an exciting time of growth for the Wichita Transgender Coalition! We've welcomed a number of new members, and look forward to seeing more new faces over the coming weeks.

In the interest of better accommodating everyone's schedules, and to hold our meetings a little closer together, we will be slightly altering the timing of our regular meetings. Closed meetings on Saturday will continue to be held the second and fourth Saturday of each month, at our regular location. Our open meetings on Wednesdays, however, will shift to the first, third, and (when there is one) fifth Wednesdays of each month--that location will also stay the same.

If you have any questions about our new schedule, or if you'd like to join us, drop Asher a line at asher.james@rocketmail.com!

Holiday Party!

Hey, everybody--the holidays are just around the corner, and we hope yours are looking to be fabulous! But we know as well as anybody that they're not always altogether kind to trans folks. When it comes to family, well--we've all gotta do what we've gotta do.

But for everyone who's going to be in town, and figures on needing a break from the misgendering, or a recovery from those awful clothes you've been stuck in all day--we're here for you!

In lieu of our regularly-scheduled meeting, the Wichita Trans Coalition's holiday party will be happening the day *after* Christmas, at 7:00 p.m., December 26. If you'd like to be there, talk to Ash and he'll give you the low-down--plan to bring some food, a favorite game, and an optional gift to exchange; and if you can't do any of that--come, anyway! We want to see you there.

Thanksgiving News

Hey, WTC members!

With Thanksgiving coming up fast, we wanted to give members an opportunity to gather, while also leaving time for those of us who will, to spend time with family. We'll be meeting this week at a different location from our usual unofficial gathering place--if you are interested, please contact Ash only at asher.james@rocketmail.com so that we can get a rough head-count.

Also: due to some sudden health issues, Susan will be unavailable for online contact in the near future--she sends her best to everyone, and we look forward to having her back with us as soon as possible! In the meantime, if you need to reach the WTC, please use Ash's contact info, so that we can be back in touch with you in a timely way!

Transgender Day of Rememberance

Just in ... The local ceremony of the Trensgender Day of Remembrance will be
Friday, November 18 at 6:30 PM. It will be at WSU, Hubbard Hall, room 211.
I hope to see everyone there.

Sunday, November 20 is national Transgender Day of Remembrance. There will be a local ceremony, but I don't know when/where yet. Watch this space for further information.

Nov meeting

I hope all members got the meeting notice sent out this past weekend. We don't have a schedule worked out yet for the meetings around Thanksgiving, but we are having the usual open social meeting Wednesday, November 9 at 7:00 PM at the usual place, and the regular meeting Saturday, November 12, also at 7:00 PM, also at the usual Saturday location.

Any transsexual persons not a member interested are welcome - if not yet a member contact Susan to set up an initial meeting.

A couple of activities coming up of note.

On Wednesday November 2 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM there will be a Bias Incident/Hate Crime Forum at Metropolitan Community Church, 156 S. Kansas. This forum is facilitated by Rita Valenciano, Conciliation Specialist, Community Relations Service, U.S. Department of Justice.

Wichita State University is offering a second semester course: Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender studies. The class meets Monday and Wednesday 1:00 to 2:15 PM January 17 through May 11, and provides 3 credit hours. For further information contact Ramona Liera-Schwictenberg at WSU at 978-7166, or e-mail her @wichita.edu.

Meetings coming up next week. As always, members on the roster receive locations.

Wednesday - open meeting (accepting family and friends welcome, 7:00 PM.

Saturday - closed meeting (members only) 7:00 PM

Are you interested but afraid to talk to anyone about this?
Does this sound like something that may be useful to you if only you could?
Do you have things that may be helpful to other transsexual/gender questioning persons?
It is easy to check us out in person.

1. You need to be transsexual, or trangendered/gender questioning. You may resapond for another person, but we will ask to meet with them.

2. You need to contact Susan or Ash to get more information.

3. When you do, we will schedule a short meeting with you in a public place.

This meeting will be to answer questions and to assure everyone's confidentiality.
Your comfort level is important to us, as is the comfort level of all our current members.
Having a cup of coffee or a coke with one of us does nothing to require you go any further.
This is a hard, hard journey to venture forth alone on. Can we help?

Just e-mail Susan at: susankg140@yahoo.com, or Ash at: asher.james@rocketmail.com.
A phone number is helpful but not required. The only requirement is for you to want it.
Do you?

Hopefully cancelling Saturday night's regular meeting caused to difficulties for anyone. Ash`'s Riverside Perk fill-in social meeting at least provided everyone the opportunity to meet. I'm sure understands the need to be at Jennifer's funeral. The next meetings are: An open social meeting on Wednesday October 19, and a regular closed meeting Saturday October 22, both at 7:00 PM. Members will receive an e-mail with the locations.

Trying something new!

Hey, all! So, after some consideration, we've made a group decision to try something a little different with our meeting structure...

At our next closed meeting on October 8, following a brief full-group interaction, we'll be dividing the group into one led by Susan, and one led by me. We've noticed over the course of several weeks that, often, we're moving in disparate directions in terms of conversation focus and style--this will give us some room to explore different topics according to gender identity (MtF/FtM), life experience, and personal interest.

The basic plan, after the large-group meeting, is to move into a men's/transmasculine group and a women's/transfeminine group. At the same time, we recognize that other axes of identity and affiliation--age, relationship status, transition goals, and so on--might affect the group members feel most at home with, over time or on a given night. In the interest of accommodating that--we're going to be pretty flexible about which room folks end up in.

We're also very interested in finding new ways to meet the needs of partners, family members, and transgender youth--we can't be everything to everyone, but if we can offer resources, support, or a way of exchanging contact information, we definitely want to do that! So keep us posted. And--as always--if you'd like to make it to a meeting and haven't been here before, please feel free to contact Susan or me about it. We would love to see you!

Saturday we set the schedule for October meetings. Of course they're subject to change.

Wednesday, October 5, 7:00 PM - open social meeting
Saturday, October 8, 7:00 PM - closed regular meeting
Wednesday, October 19, 7:00 PM - open social meeting
Saturday, October 22, 7:00 PM - closed regular meeting

All transsexual and questioning persons are welcome to join our group. Closed regular meetings are restricted to WTC members. Accepting family or friends of members are welcome to attend open social meetings. E-mail Susan at: susankg140@yahoo.com to schedule an entrance interview meeting.

Other transgendered persons with knowledge of an existing support group or wanting to help establish a support group for their situation, please contact us. We may be able to help, but most assuredly would like to help pass-on information.

She's back!

Hi everyone,

I'm back from Philadelphia; my exam went fine, and my friend Karen gave me a walking tour of downtown Philly. All-and-all I had a wonderful time, including the train trips back and forth. There are some photos on my Facebook page. At the end of the going there trip I got on the wrong commuter train, which took a couple of hours to fix, but no damage - except to my sometimes directional-challenged ego.

We had a good meeting Saturday night, though attendance was again low. We are making progress in extending our outreach, to hopefully serve more of the transsexual community. For those that don't attend or rarely attend our meetings, please take a minute to e-mail Ash or myself what you believe we could do to more interest you and get you to come out.

Susan

Back on the Job!

Many apologizes for falling down keeping this site updated. As many know I went to Philadelphia for SRS on May 31. Recovery there was a couple of weeks, then more at home. As you may know I am doing fine, I have never done anything better for myself and hopefully will continue feeling so. I do not doubt it, but after all, I am sometimes a worst-case scenario person.

We have been meeting regularly, whether I've been here or not. We have two meetings coming up next week - our open social meeting on Wednesday, September 21 at 7:00 PM. All members and supporting family & friends are welcome to attend. We have a closed, members only regular meeting on Saturday, September 24 at 7:00 PM. Members will receive an e-mail on locations. Any one else interested please contact Ash or myself for application meeting prior to attending regular meetings.

It has been three months and a couple of weeks since my surgery. I find that hard to believe, but it has, and I am going back to Phily for a follow-up exam. I will miss the Wednesday social, but plan to be back for Saturday's regular. Anyway, Ash is going to be there.

Again, I'm so sorry about not keeping this up-to-date. I don't think anyone can much object for my reason to not be on the job though!

A great meeting Saturday night! There were only Sarah, Chris, Susan and Melissa there, so a good "girls" only night (sorry guys, you don't come, you don't play). We had a lot of discussion about surgery, and dealing with societies expectations for women versus men, and our own GID community and personal expectations.

I know some people did not come out because Ash's taxi was out of town. I hope we can communicate with each other enough so that no one misses a meeting because of transportation. A good subject for discussion, I think. As facilitators, we're not going to give out our members addresses, but let's see how we can make sure that no one can't get to a support meeting. Support means more than just being at a meeting.

I think every one knows I leave for Philadelphia and SRS Tuesday. Since I don't have a laptop, I won't be talking much for a while. Ash will get updates and pass them on. I think everyone understands that I consider the interuption most important. If the schedule holds, I will be back Monday, June 13, so I will miss the next meeting, Saturday, June 11. Ash will be sending out reminder notices. I assume he will have a full report on his trip to Texas (from his posts, It sounds like it's been a real party time!)

I'll see every one on the other side - I can see it from here!

Susan

meeting - May 28

Hi again everyone. Sending a reminder that the nect WTC regular meeting is next saturday, May 28, 2011 at 7:00 PM. I hope everyone can come. If you know of a transgendered person that might like or need to attend, have them e-mail Ash or Susan. We would love to have them come. Ash will out of town this week so Susan will facilitate. This week's meeting will be 0pen forum discussion of anything you might wish to talk about. Anyone willing to give their life story certainly may do so as well. Always voluntary.

I think everybody knows I am leaving on the 30th for Philadelphia and my life-long completion surgery. I am certainly open to discussing Gender Reassignment Surgery on saturday. I will not be back in time for the meeting of June 11th, but will be by June 25th, so I will have a first-hand story to tell then, with plenty of slides (just kidding!)

I hope you can be there saturday; I can use your moral support - for flying, the surgery is not bothering me a bit.

Reminding everyone of our 2nd Saturday regular closed meeting at 7:00 pm at the regular spot. We hope to discuss transgender safety. One thing I hope to explore is: are transgendered people any more at risk then nons? If so, what can we do to minimize it. I hope to see you there!

Hi everyone. Just got back from the WTC social get together tonight with several members. We had good companionship and talk. We did miss YOU though. We all hope you can make the next meeting, a regular meeting on Saturday, May 14 at 7:00 PM. Remember, we meet the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month.

Susan

Meeting Three: Stealth

This week at the WTC was our most topically focused, so far, with the question of stealth on the table. Members discussed both the movement out of pre-transition "stealth" status--coming out as the gender we identify with--and the issue of living stealth during and after transition, keeping our gendered history to ourselves--or not.

While most of us found some variation according context in our decision-making--what we tell our doctors; what we don't tell some guy standing outside the bathroom--the personal emphasis on transgender identity as opposed, simply, to gender identity, varied widely within our group.

Are we trans women, or just women? Are we trans men, or just men? What makes the difference? Does our self-identification change over time, and over the course of social and medical transition?

Our next official meeting will be the second Saturday in May, the 14th; in the meantime, we have a social gathering scheduled for Wednesday, May 4--interested? Contact Susan or Ash for more details.

Learning Who We Are: WTC's Second Meeting

Our group grew this week, a trend we hope will continue steadily!

At our April 9 meeting, we focused on getting to know one another better. Our activities and discussion emphasized members' identities, experiences, and hopes for the future. It was exciting to see the diversity of experience already present in the group, as well as the many aspects we hold in common.

Beginning next week, we'll be transitioning into a regular schedule of official meetings on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, with a variety of social gatherings in the interim. In the interest of making connection with the Wichita Transgender Coalition more broadly available, social meetings won't be limited to Saturday evenings, so if you'd like information about time and location, please contact Ash or Susan for more information!