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!

WTC officially up and running!

An exciting and successful preliminary planning meeting on Saturday, April 2, opened the Wichita Transgender Coalition's schedule of regular meetings. Topics addressed included our mission and goals--watch for an official copy here, in the next few days--and some of the specifics of what members would like to see happen at meetings and group events.

We're also planning our presence at Wichita Pride, and looking ahead to local observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The next weeks will be important in building our group and developing a sense of what our members are looking for--if you're trans and want to be a part of what we're doing locally, we'd love to have you here! Interested? Contact Ash or Susan for weekly meeting locations, and look here for announcements about upcoming meeting topics and group events.