FoRCC for Friends, part 4

This is the fourth and final installment in a special four part series from an interview with Yvon Steel and June Casad on the Massachusetts transgender social and support group FoRCC, Friends of Randolph Country Club.   To easily reach part 3, please click here.  Please enjoy!

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BECK’S CAFE: So then Randolph Country Club came into the picture?

JUNE: Well that took work. Randolph Country Club, RCC, a premiere GLBT country club and dance club, had a bad relationship with the transgender community up until that point.

YVON: I visited them a couple of times to outline what we were trying to do and what the benefits were to them. They told me that their relationship with the transgender community had soured primarily due to lack of follow through on the transgender community’s part. It was common for transgender women in our community to plan an event with them and then not to actually hold the event or communicate about it. I had to convince them that the community was honorable and could be trusted.

JUNE: And we’ve done just that. We plan events with them for about every six weeks, we communicate with the RCC team, and we have our event. This has resulted in a benefit to RCC, to FoRCC and to the transgender community overall. We had to insure that we would be good patrons and good contributors to the benefit of RCC. The reception that the management and patrons now give the trans community has been overwhelmingly supportive and nice. Even the bathroom is a non-issue.

BECK’S CAFE: So, every six weeks FoRCC has a transgender party at RCC and you’ve been doing this all told for 10 years. What keeps you doing this?

JUNE: I remember what it was like to not have a place to go and in feeling isolated and alone. To the extent that I can provide an opportunity for others to come out and be themselves and really, to lead much healthier lives, that’s what motivates me.

YVON: My personal satisfaction is to produce something and watch it grow and see the results. The fruit is in the smiling faces; they are smiling not because they are drunk but because they are getting a chance to be who they are. It’s my chance to get out and I’m having a great time and I want others to as well. I don’t want it to stop I’m having fun!

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