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