SEPTEMBER 2009 Meeting Report
By Tammyrae Michaels
The annual GPC barbeque went off smoothly thanks to a lot of
prep work by Kristen. Ample food and beverage were on hand and the crowd
was rather light. We suspect that Pride Day in Rehoboth drew a good portion
of the membership south but its only speculation. The cooler weather is upon
us and the day grows dark earlier, nonetheless we will maintain our schedule
and continue meeting monthly as we have in the past.
The meeting fell to a social gathering as the program event was canceled,
we did however see some faces that have been missing for awhile. Overall
the atmosphere was calm and casual. Announcements reflected that our
October meeting will have a Halloween theme, so wear your costume. In November
we will have vendor night with a handful of outside vendors mixed with those
of our membership that are willing to partake in selling or swapping items
amongst each other. For December we will be having a holiday party, which
was slated to be at Shangrilla but since the meeting concluded some issues
have come up and the location is subject to change. We will hear more about
it at the next GPC meeting.
August 2009 Meeting Report
By Tammyrae
Michaels
Hey
all – the
August 2009 Renaissance meeting went relatively smooth with 36 people in
attendance. The program feature was Doctor Michele Angello who
spoke on “Fear” and “What
has you Stuck.” As
usual, Doctor Angello pulls a crowd and the meeting was larger than expected
given the beautiful summer weather and numerous family commitments some of
us have.
Chapter Leader Rebecca announced that Katie Wannabe, former national chapter
director has stepped in to help reformulate Renaissance, which has lost its
non-profit status but will re-file and re-open with hopes of creating a a
larger national presence be introducing at least one new chapter in the northern
Florida area (close to Georgia but in Florida). Katie’s help will be
temporary and many things need to be worked out as the thoughts of the National
Board seem focused on full spectrum support and hopefully a single base for
all organizations to be listed, at least by way of web address and link,
thus making Renaissance a starting point for any and all transgendered people
in the country.
With regard to upcoming events, we have our Picnic coming
in September with October being our Halloween Party, November
being our Vendor Night (bring your goods and sell/barter what you can) and
our annual Holiday Party in December. It has been
decided that the holiday party will be at Shangrilla and details will be
announced shortly but the intent is to have individual bills and a full selection
of their menu.
We will also need help with the monthly newsletter. Rebecca announced she
can assist with content and proofing but needs someone to handle reproduction.
That said we also need you nominations for next year officers. The roles
on which we will be voting are Chapter Leader, Chapter Treasurer, Chapter
Secretary, Chapter Program Director and Chapter Outreach Director. It
has been a long time since we have had competition for any role, so please
feel free to create a ruckus and nominate your preferred candidate. The nomination
period will consist of September and October with votes occurring in November.
December will be our transition month and January will begin the new one-year
term.
Speaking of terms, our annual memberships expire on December 31 so in November
or December, please be sure to fill out your renewal or if you have not paid
for a membership previously keep in mind that a membership helps Renaissance
operate and reduces your annual fee if you attend on a regular basis.
July 2009 Meeting Report
The July meeting,
like most, started with a social hour followed by announcements and the program
event, which featured cosmetics by two talented ladies, Katie Paldino and
another, whose name was not given to the Chapter Secretary, although I did
hear it announced, I just missed writing it down – sorry.
About 40 people were in attendance at the meeting and we continue to have
several attendees that fail to offer the standard meeting fee, which helps cover rental
of the space and snacks provided for consumption at the meetings.
The group has announced that it lost its Tax Exempt Status and that the National
Board is being reformulated as Jenna Meyers left the group some time back.
Former National Director Katie Wannabe is assisting the Board with its reformulation
but no further official statements could be made at the time of the meeting. However
the reformulation will be linked to website updates as well.
We are all reminded that generally meetings will happen every month, however
if the local news by you or the meeting location place an advisory that it
is unsafe or some restrictions are placed on travel, the meeting may very well
be cancelled. We understand that for some the meeting is their venue and they “need
it.” In such an occasion remember the Lehigh Valley and Delaware
Chapters are not that far away, and they meet on 2nd Saturdays, not the 3rd
Saturdays as the Greater Philadelphia Chapter does.
Also mentioned during the meeting, Chapter Secretary Tammyrae, along with former
Renaissance member Dionne Stallworth led a discussion on Women’s Rights
from the transgendered perspective at the 2009 International Women's Day Philadelphia
Coalition. The discussion focused on inclusion of transwomen in women’s
space. Members Jennifer Aston and Nancy were also in attendance and provided
commentary during the discussion.
Other issues of important note brought up during the announcement portion of
the meeting including the verdict of manslaughter in the first degree as a
hate crime for the murder of Lateshia Green by Dwight DeLee who was originally
charged with murder in the second degree as a hate crime.
Coming Up
Upcoming GPC Chapter events include a presentation by Dr. Michelle
Angelo at
the August meeting, a talk given by trans-rights activist Denise LeClair coupled
with our annual BBQ in September, and our Chapter Holiday Party which is slated
for December 19, our normal meeting night. The event will cost about $50 per
attendee and must be prepaid to secure the event date. Venues are being
reviewed by Program Director Cyndi with help of others and will feature dining
in a moderate to upscale environment. Management of the places have been contacted
about our group and our desires, and have thus far been quite amenable to providing
top-notch service as they do for any, and all, other groups/organizations.
As far as our upcoming presenters go it is doubtful that you all don’t
already know Dr. Michele but just in case, Dr. Angello specializes in issues
around gender and sexual orientation and sees people of all ages. Dr. Angello
also runs several groups for young people and adults who struggle with gender
identity or who are gender variant, and also serves as a member at large on
the Renaissance National Board of Directors.
Denise Leclair is currently serving as the Executive Director of IFGE and has
been active in TG-rights for years. In 2006 she represented the community at
the Nonprofit Congress National Meeting in Washington, DC has debated with
State Senators, been back to Washington, DC and continues the fight for equality
on all fronts to this day.
The Delaware chapter announced that Lady Ellen made a presentation on feminine
deportment/transformation services offered by her LaFemme Finishing School
at their July meeting. This presentation will be given again that the Lehigh
chapter meeting in September. Both Delaware and Lehigh Chapters will have their
annual BBQ in August with the Lehigh chapter rolling a baby shower for MtF
and FtM couple, Emily & Cai, during their BBQ.
Outside of Renaissance we can look forward to:
August 16
which is Pride Day in Allentown, and November
20, 2009 has been set aside as a Transgender Day of Remembrance to memorialize
those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. This event
caries forward the energy of the 1999 kickoff entitled “Remembering our
Dead” which started in San Francisco with a candle light vigil to remember
Rita Hester’s murder on November 28, 1998. Her murder like most anti-transgender
murder cases has yet to be solved. Unlike the original vigil, the Philadelphia
version will have panel boards and presentations throughout the day. For those
that can attend, please do and show your support for those that can no longer
join us in our journey toward full acceptance.
We also have a photographic art display focusing on transgendered images by
Kalina Isato starting on November 13 at the William Way Center
in Center City Philadelphia; twice monthly gatherings of Angela’s Laptop Lounge(1st & 3rd
Saturdays), weekly gatherings of Monday Night Tgirls (every Monday), and the
latest monthly event Albert’s 2nd Story Tgirl Party (2nd Saturdays).
It is with some regret that chapter secretary Tammyrae has postponed the once
a month TransDazzle Philadelphia Club Crawl until further notice due to economic
conditions but acknowledges that she is attending as many weekly TransWay meetings
as she can. The meeting are held at the William Way Center in Center City Philadelphia.
Meetings are held the first through fourth Thursday of each month at 7 PM and
are geared toward transsexual support issues. The group is informal and has
been meeting for about a year at this time.
May 2009 Meeting Report
The
Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Renaissance Transgender Association gathered
once again on the 2nd Saturday of the Month at the Wayne Counseling Center.
We had a few newcomers attend to check out the meeting and as usual we had
a social hour/gathering time with munchies provided by the Chapter. Attendance
was strong with about 36 people and announcements moved quickly. Dr. Michele
Angelo gave a brief announcement about a GID Rally she was helping organize
in California. The American Psychiatric Board continues to maintain the term
Gender Identity Disorder (GID) as the diagnosis for transgendered people
and the new Diagnostic Standards Manual (DSM) is being written to
make it more of a pathological disorder. Every member is urged to write to
the congressmen and representative on both the state and local level make
them away that we are real people and that we are responsible caring individual
that are productive members of society and that we want protection rights.
Please look back into history: The DSM once listed a disobedient woman as having
a mental illness as she must have been ill not to listen and obey her husband;
The DSM once listed a runaway slave as being mentally as why would a slave
wish to run away from the plantation – he must be ill. Do you consider
yourself mentally ill? If not then your voice needs to be heard. Fight through
any depression or oppression you may have facing you and join us in supporting
our community for fair and equal treatment. The Pennsylvania Equality
Advocates maintain a listing of state level senators and representative but
more easily they have a pre-written petition that you can simply sign and submit.
If any of you are old enough to recall, or have read about, the Stonewall riots
that erupted on June 28, 1969 in the Greenwich Village section of New York
City then you know that it took a good thirty-plus years for the world to start
accepting gays and lesbians, all the while our community has remained sheltered
in place with the exception of a few.
After announcements, the group broke into three components, newcomers meeting,
transsexual discussion group and primary program meeting.
The newcomers learn basic meeting rules and discuss who they are and why there are in attendance. The meeting is meant to be a light way of breaking down barriers and showing acceptance of all that respect those around them.
The transsexual meeting is often filled with heavy topics with a bit of light-hearted banter and humor tossed in but the discussions vary from month to month and generally gives those in attendance a sense of community and the fact that we are not alone in our struggles.
The primary
program meeting scheduled by our Program Director Cyndi was Dr. Lee
Ann Etscovitz who is a psychotherapist for individuals, couples, and families.
Dr. Etscovits has left us a stack of business cards and pamphlets that describe
her practice and office location so anyone wishing to follow up on her discussion
of relationship — are they real or not — can simply reach out to her
for further information. For those of you that do not know, Dr. Etscovits
is a long time member of Renaissance and has formerly served as Librarian.
We as a Chapter thank her for the presentation and her service to our community.
April 2009 Meeting Report
As spring set in we had beautiful weather
for our April meeting. Some of our members attended Gay Day at the Philadelphia
Zoo, which was a pleasurable experience. We lost our winter jackets, pulled out
our short sleeves and enjoyed the day as well as the evening. Our records reflect
23 paid attendees with 5 also renewing or joining us for the 2009 calendar year.
Just a reminder our meeting dues go toward paying the rent on the space in
which we meet, as well as our telephone which is answered during meeting
times and the food we enjoy at the meetings. Please be sure to stop
by the front desk and pay your monthly attendance fee each month.
Our program was expanded to add Dr. Paul Sedacca to the expected presentation
by Chloe Handler. Chloe Handler is a Board Certified Electrologist with
35 years of experience. Dr. Sedacca is a trained internist with 28 years
of clinical experience who has been working with laser hair removal for 6 years. The
tag team effort presented pros and cons of both techniques and suggested that
there is benefit to utilizing both techniques and that we should not be fooled
by 100% guarantees, as all aspects of medicine is a blending of art and science.
The combination of both techniques can prove more effective than either technique
alone but every person is different and skin tone, hair density, hormone
levels and other personal factors must be considered. The duo also talked
about skin care and the importance of understanding the difference between
moisturizing and hydrating. Hydrating creams do not block pores whereas
moisturizers can cause problems such as pimples, blackheads, whiteheads enlarged
pores and etc.
In May we will be honored with a presentation by Dr. Lee Ann Etscovitz who
is a psychotherapist for individuals, couples, and families. After graduating
from Brown University with Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and American
Literature, including work in creative writing and religious studies, she
then earned her Master and Doctor's degrees from Boston University. Her studies
there incorporated Educational Philosophy, Applied Psychology, and Human
Relations. As part of he doctoral residency she was awarded a two-year fellowship
in Human Relations at the Boston University Human Relations Center where
she interned as a Human Relations Consultant and studied Small Group Processes
and Organizational Behavior. She then completed a post-doctoral internship
for further training as a Human Relations Consultant at the National Training
Laboratories (NTL) of Washington, DC.For twenty years she was a teacher,
primarily as a Professor of Educational Philosophy and Human Relations at
such places as Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pa. and Beaver College
in Glenside, Pa. (recently renamed Arcadia University).She has also published
articles and presented papers on Education, Human Relations, and the Development
of the Whole Person, all emphasizing the need for practical intelligence
and the importance of the human spirit in the face of life's difficulties. Dr.
Etscovitz is also a past Board member of Renaissance National.
Local Conferences
8th Annual Trans Health Conference sponsored by the Mazzoni Center
June 11, 12, and 13. Thursday is for health care providers, while Friday
and Saturday are open Pubic Events. Details can be found at on their website.
Local Parties
Angela’s Laptop Lounge — 1st & 3rd Saturdays each month.
Kalina's Monday Night Tgirls — Every Monday.
Tammyrae's Philadelphia Club Crawl — 2nd Fridays (Next
event is June 12).
March 2009 Meeting Report
Hey
there gang, the March 2009 meeting was rather quiet with only a handful of
people remembering the months theme event “baby shower”;
nonetheless we collected three bags of items and $82 for donation to the woman’s
shelter. The meeting was attended by 21 paid attendees and in general the meeting
ran smoothly with announcements including discussion on Pennsylvania House
Bill 300 which will provide statewide anti-discrimination that includes gender
identity. Members were urged to contact their State representatives to share
their personal beliefs about the bill. More information on this bill
can be found on the Equality Advocates webpage.
Announcements
also included mention of local venues where trans-people receive a warm welcome
every time: Angela’s Laptop
Lounge held
at Shangrila, which is reportedly the longest running monthly events in the
country with the possible exception of Ina’s Silver
Swan in NYC (Note from Angela: Yes, Ina's has been going longer.) ; Kalina
Isato’s Monday
Night Tgirls which is the longest running weekly party in the world;
and Tammyrae’s
TransDazzle Philly Club Crawl (formerly known as SheDazzle).
Also note that The Equality
Forum is hosting its annual week-long rally/festival
from April 23 through May 3. Check out their webpage for more details
about what is going on when and where – and yes trans topics are included.
In addition to the Equality Forum, Philadelphia is home to the upcoming Liberty
Conference, Transgender 2009 which is headed up by Kristine James and a crew
of locals including our very own Program Director, Cyndi. The conference will
run from April 30 through May 2.
In June we have the 8th Annual Trans-Health
Conference whose theme is “Different
Paths… One-Journey.” This conference runs from June 11 through
13 with the 12th and 13th being open days from everyone.
See you all in April,
Tammyrae
Secretary