I think what struck me about Fran Dalton’s life was what a unique treasure she was to the Newburyport, MA community. She transitioned right where she was “unobstrusively as possible, but also unapologetically”, instead of going to another town. The entire town accepted her for the woman she was. She wasn’t afraid to stick up for what was right (you’ll note the story of her defense of a Newburyport residents new windturbine). She befriended those who had less than her though she didn’t appear to have much. She stayed in her community and, from the sound of things, made a positive difference to those around her. Now that’s what I’d called a successful transition.

You can read all about her at Newburyport Daily News story here: “Port remembers two identities, one unique person | Fran Dalton remembered“

This year, as last, MTPC invites you to march, work, and party with them!  Seriously great folks and fun too.  Besides that they do alot of work for our community on a shoe string budget.   I got an email from Gunner Scott, their Executive Director, with the following info; feel free to use at will fair readers:

Proud to be Transgender, Proud to be an Ally – March with MTPC!

Let’s make it the largest transgender and ally contingent Boston has ever seen this year!
MTPC is looking for members of our community, our friends, family and allies to join us at Boston Pride on June 12th

When: Boston Pride on Saturday, June 12th
What: Marching; we will meet at 11:30 am on Tremont St in South End – Exact meeting location will be  posted on our website and facebook page on Friday,June 11th (that is when Boston Pride tells us). You can just show up and
march with us!

What Else? Don’t like to march or want spend some time with awesome MTPC folks then come and donate an hour or two at our table selling t-shirts, talking up the legislation, and meeting lots of LGBT and allies. Join MTPC’s table at Boston City Hall Plaza, Tremont St. near Government Ctr. You can reach Government Center by the T

Volunteers needed for following shifts:

• 9 am -11 am (set up)
• 11 am – 1 pm
• 1 pm – 3pm
• 3 pm – 5 pm
• 5 pm – 6 pm (break down)

To RSVP to march, or to volunteer, e-mail Rachel at rachel@masstpc.org or call the MTPC office at (617) 778-0519.

Now about them Pride Parties MTPC is at…..

Sat June 12 – Pride Night official MTPC after party.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD: QUEER/TRANS PRIDE PARTY
9 PM-2 AM, Midway Café, 3496 Washington Street, $5 cover, 21+

“Don’t call it a comeback…” Remember when you were dripping with sweat from
dancing so hard? Boston’s only explicitly trans-welcoming queer dance
night, returns just in time for Pride with DJ D’hana and special guests DJ
Sir Loins and Stella.

Sun., June, 13 – JAMAICA PLAIN BLOCK PARTY
JP Block Party with Food Sales Benefitting Network/La Red
12-7 PM, Perkins Street, free entry from 12-1 and $10 after 1 PM
(This event tends to get more women, just as an FYI and the Stuart St block
party tends to get more men, but neither is gender exclusive, but just to
make folks aware.)

This year’s JP Block Party will feature DJ Jodi, DJ D’hana (of The
Neighborhood) and DJ Kristen Korpos. All are welcome, but you must be 21+
with ID to drink. Trans welcoming event!

(MTPC is looking for volunteers to table with us at the Block Party)

Unbound By Body Party at Club Cafe, Boston MA

• What: Unbound By Body Launch Party
• When: June 3rd, 6:30pm-10:00pm
• Where: Club Cafe, Moonshine Room, 209 Columbus Ave, Boston

Funnest part of the party? Their 2011 Calendar featuring trans-identified community members from across the state of Massachusetts.
This event is free but bring some change to get your own calendar!

For those of you who can’t make the party, the calendar will be on sale online and at various events throughout the year after the party. For an idea of who is in the calendar, check out the blog of their photographer, Jess Dugan: http://jesstdugan.blogspot.com/2010/04/transgender-emergency-fund-calendar.html

If you have any questions, feel free to Jesse at jessep@aidsprojectworcester.org

Sat. June 12, 2010 The Neighborhood: Queer/Trans Pride Party
“Don’t call it a come back…”
9pm – 2am at The New & Improved Midway Café, 3496 WASHINGTON STREET JP, MA $5 – 21+
Remember when you were dripping with sweat from dancing so hard?
With Resident DJ: D’HANA (Nu Life//Bona|Fide, Kiki)
Special Guests:

• DJ SIR LOINS (Hot Lunch//QxBxRx)
• STELLA (Gross Anatomy//La Boum)

Visit http://theneighborhoodjp.blogspot.com
Produced by Chubrub Productions and XGender Productions
Always queer/trans/bi/cd/LGBT POC/femme inclusive

Beck’s Café: Brian, we’ve talked about risk behaviors and some of what motivates those behaviors that harm people’s health. And we’ve also talked about peer groups and how those help people to make wise choices and to stay healthy.  Does affirmation (or lack of affirmation) of who we are also play a role in a trans-persons behavior and potentially be a cause of risky sexual behavior?

HES: Well, it’s important for your readers to know that sexual activity is not risky in and of itself. However, affirmation is indeed an important issue and particularly for those who have had some sort of history or abuse for whom they are.  Let’s take a look at something simple like using a condom.

Becki, on the surface of it, using a condom should be a no brainer. But for some, stopping the physical romantic moment is something they won’t do.  Not because they don’t understand the potential risk, but because it would ruin the chance for being affirmed for whom they are as a trans-woman.  The trans-woman doesn’t bring it up so that the opportunity for being accepted is not ruined.  When you are in the moment what is more important? The affirmation or taking care of one’s own health.  For many, the affirmation comes first, not the health.  Sex addiction may also play a part in this, but that addiction is really a symptom of something deeper driving that person.  If you are having multiple partners it’s helpful to examine your behavior in your context: Are you someone who is single, having fun exploring sex; protecting yourself in the midst of that, having conversations with your partners; having fun?  Or is your context more about: sleeping with multiple partners; not using a condom; the physical interactions are emotionless; sex feels meaningless and you keep wondering why are you doing this over and over again?

Beck’s Café: I can see how affirmation is pretty important now.  Brian, what steps should a transgender person take to protect themselves should they decide to be sexually active?

HES: I try not to use the word “should” because contexts are always different and that’s your best determiner of behavior.  So, is a trans-person in a long term relationship and they have trust over 6 months that you are monogamous?  A barrier like a condom might not make sense, if you truly don’t have a risk.  You are both in a safe monogamous relationship then.

Another example; someone is in a relationship that they thought was going to be forever but, did it last a week or a month?  Did the other person betray or hurt you?  How long should you wait till you build trust with the new person your are with?  You need communicate together about yourselves and about your sexual health.  One out of two people who have HIV don’t know their status.

Some people choose to use oral condoms for oral sex.  Oral sex is very low risk for HIV it’s more likely for STD’s and they are alot easier to get than HIV. Gonorrhea of the throat and syphilis of in the mouth are risks with unprotected oral sex.  Many times you don’t have symptoms but you can still pass along these other STD’s!

HES recommends getting your STD screenings once or twice a year.  Just make it a normal activity, around your birthday.  When you don’t know that you have an STD and you are not displaying any symptoms, that’s when very serious damage to your personal health and to others can happen.  But many STD’s can be cured with simple anti-biotics if is caught early.

Normalize this, it doesn’t make you dirty because it is not, you are just taking care of your own health.  80% of women over 35 have HPV, human papillomavirus, for example!!! It’s that common.  I get my STD tests on a normal basis; don’t fear being stigmatized.   At least get tested for the most common STDs: gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV. A general STD test should include testing every place on your body where your sex happens.  If you give oral sex make sure your throat is swabbed.  If you have anal sex, make sure your behind is swabbed.   A urine test for genitals.   A blood test for syphilis.  And we offer a simple rapid HIV test with a finer prick that gives you your result 10 minutes.

Beck’s Café: And it’s really easy; even I got tested when the HES Van came to a Friends of Randolph Country Club Party (FoRCC) at RCC in Randolph one night and I was completely healthy!

HES: Terrific Becki!

Beck’s Café: Brian, any last thoughts here as we finish up this wonderful conversation and pot of coffee here at Beck’s Care?

HES: Yes, NETA and HES would love to hear from the transgender community!  We want to offer our services and be a resource.  It’s important for the transgender community to tell us how to help them, what their needs are, and how they are being met or not being met.  What is working and what is not working? We really want to fill in the gap on health care for transgender people, and complement and collaborate with the services that already exist.

Beck’s Café: Thanks so much Brian for visiting with us.

HES: My pleasure Becki and thanks for the coffee!

Beck’s Café: Brian, we’ve covered a lot of ground in our conversation, and one area I wanted to ask is about how transgender people compartmentalize their behaviors, particularly risky sexual behaviors.  You’ve said that you’ve seen this with other populations that HES has worked with.  Can you help our readers understand this phenomenon better? Is it healthy?

HES:  What we’ve observed in working with gay and bi-men  is exactly that, compartmentalization.  They say they have sex with men and yet do not identify as gay or bisexual.  They may also been in relationships with women.  I can understand not wanting to be labeled.   Many times they see being identified as gay as taking on gay flamboyant stereotypes or what gets sensationalized in the popular press.  But when a person completely splits into two separate identities, they often don’t want to acknowledge that the other side exists.   And sometimes, it’s like what they say about Vegas.   If I don’t talk about it, it didn’t happen, and therefore I don’t have to think about the risks I took last night.  That was someone else.

Our experience working with transgender people is the same: Compartmentalizing risky behaviors, splitting your personality in a sense. The general rule of thumb however is that integration of a person is the healthiest way to live.  Compartmentalization brings about a certain lack of internal authenticity regardless of the outward presentation to the world.  That lack of internal authenticity can catch up with a person and affect them or affect their behavior. Organizations like NETA and TCNE can be a big help allowing trans-people to be who they are.   Many times though, people feel they can’t integrate who they are now as the pain of staying in the closet is less than the perceived risk of coming out and integrating ones self within a helpful peer community.   Those risks can be very real.

Someone might have a lot to lose by “coming out.”    So providing a safe space where transgender people can be validated and respected for who they are, and find community, is a top priority

(tomorrow, In part 4, we’ll be talk with Brian about the connection between the need for affirmation and risky actions)

Beck’s Café: Brian, how did HES get connected to the Transgender part of the LGBTIQA community?  There doesn’t seem to be an obvious link since our population is relatively small.

HES: Great question Becki, but the simple answer is we were moved by compassion to reach out and offer our services more widely to the community.  HES’s Gay and Bi Men’s program geographically targets the areas of Essex County, Massachusetts North Shore and Merrimack Valley.  We’ve done a great deal of outreach and community building over the past 15 years by educating the people who are the leaders and influencers in various communities.  We found that educating the leaders in a given community in turn influences so many others in that community.  As it turned out, the more leaders and influencers we touched the more we came into touch with the transgender community.  We found a lot of these communities overlapped; so much so we’ve actually formed a new umbrella group called PRISM that takes into account the various needs of the groups.  We have representatives from the entire LGBTIQA community actually which creates a strong network of support and service provision.

Becki, another interesting point is how this information travels back upstream to our funders.  HES is a non-profit and our data helps the various public and private funding agencies to see what the real needs are in the greater community and all the positive effects their funding has.  Interestingly, the state of Massachusetts itself has red flagged the transgender community for HIV study and health support.  The state of Massachusetts sees there is potential risk in the community largely due to the social stigma transgender people face, and the lack of access to accurate information about HIV, STD and important health prevention and treatment services.

Beck’s Café: So Brian, did HES and the state flag the transgender community because they felt the health risks were similar to those in the gay or lesbian community?

HES: There is some overlap for sure and some distinctly different health issues too. One of the key similar issues is that of the “minority stress” concept and its effect on risk behavior.  Basically, minority stress is the concept that societal norms like prejudice against LGBT people create an atmosphere where stress happens.  Any person who is part of a stigmatized minority is going to have increased levels of stress and that can result in symptoms similar to PTSD.  If you’ve heard regular negative comments directed at you, been stigmatized in your peer group, job or community, or have experienced religious oppression, these can all lead to this minority stress concept.

Becki, the risk results of this minority stress concept is reflected in how people behave.   Symptoms such as avoidance, homeless, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, sexually risky behavior, and drug and alcohol use can make it more difficult for people to make healthy decisions around maintaining appropriate boundaries, such as dealing with confrontation and stress vs. one’s own needs.  Many times, the minority are afraid of being stigmatized again so they might agree to another person’s harmful influence out of a false hope of safety or escape.  People tend to make decisions based on what their historical experience has been.  If you are afraid of being attacked again, having experienced it once, you behave differently in similar future situations in order to avoid being attacked again.

One thing we’ve learned about those who are risk and experiencing minority stress is that social support is a BIG HELP.  When someone is isolated and being stigmatized they are less able to resist engaging in potentially harmful behaviors.; having a relationship with friends brings you safety.   There is clear evidence to show that strong community support is the leading factor in the reduction of minority stress and the related PTSD symptoms that occur.  The opposite of the stigma we talked about is pride and a sense of community.  Greater Boston has a very strong community.

(tomorrow, In part 3, we’ll be chatting with Brian about compartmentalizing behavior and if that’s healthy or harmful)

If you were at First Event 2010 chances are you were accosted by some of the members of NETA/HES in their zeal to survey as many attendees as possible.  NETA and HES have a single mission with their organization: “dedicated to the health and well-being of transgender women living in New England.” Sounds like a pretty good mission to us here at Beck’s Café.  In fact HES has been in the business of helping people stay healthy for some time now and “provides a wide range of community based mental health and substance abuse, prevention and addiction services to Massachusetts’ Greater North Shore and Lower Merrimack Valley residents.”

Beck’s Café: Brian, thanks for taking the time to meet with us.  Let’s start with an easy question, what’s the traditional mission for HES?

HES: Well it’s great to finally have a chance to chat Becki!  HES tries to provide comprehensive services for people that are underserved such as: the homeless, those who are traumatized, people facing social stigma that isolates them, those caught in substance abuse, HIV prevention services, STD prevention and treatment services.  Our feeling was that by having one location and all the services under one umbrella, it made it possible for the people we are targeting to more easily access the services they need and this creates a more seamless continuity of support.

Beck’s Café: So it’s easier to receive medical help in one area then kind of drive across town to the next one.  It just makes life easier for people, is that the idea?

HES: Exactly. This helps to keep the door open for those needing services. It reduces the stress and barriers of health care for people by reducing barriers like travel or having to coordinate among multiple service providers.  Many people at risk face so much stress even a simple barrier like travel can derail them from getting important health care or other critical services.

For example, something like Hepatitis A or B is easily treatable and preventable, and yet, barriers stop people from either getting healthy or staying healthy.  Hepatitis A isn’t necessarily contracted from sex with a partner but instead from food such as eating poorly prepared sushi or contaminated food or drinking infected water; HES provides vaccines for Hepatitis A.  Not being treated for it can be a major health problem.  Hepatitis B can be contracted from anal, vaginal or oral sex and is the most common, serious liver infection in the world.  In fact, Hepatitis B is 100 times more contagious than HIV.  The good news is that it can be easily avoided  by way of safe vaccines which HES can provide. Also being vaccinated protects the liver and this is especially important if a trans-woman is going to start hormone replacement therapy (HRT).  A trans-woman’s liver has to be healthy for her to process the estrogen she’s taking.  IF you are on HRT hepatitis A & B vaccines could be very important!

(Tomorrow, we’ll be chatting with Brian about how HES got interested in transwomen’s health)

The event is open to the public.  From the UCC Needham web site, here’s the full announcement:

Sun., April 11, 2010 – 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. – Open to the Public Book Reading and Signing by Ms. Joanne Herman – author, speaker, transgender woman, member of Old South Church UCC in Boston Joanne’s book, Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not, will be available for purchase for $15 (cash only).  See amazon.com, borders.com or barnesandnoble.com for purchase ahead of time.

Looks like the church is providing a light dinner.  Reservations don’t appear to be mandatory but the church would appreciate it if you could, email your intentions to kacarp@comcast.net

You can learn more by visiting their web-site at this link:  Transgender Lives, The Intersection of Health and Law Conference.

You can catch a glimpse of Donna during a speaking engagement at SCC in 2008 at this link on You Tube:  Donna Rose speaking at SC2008.

It was well attended with representatives from Compass, TCNE, TransCEND, SISTERS, Fenway Health, My Changing Room, among many others.   Lots of people from the community were there.  Fenway provided a nice buffet and there were lots of smiley face so you know the vibe was good.

Beck’s Cafe had a chance to talk with Alex a bit at the social and he had a few points to share with the community

• Fenway is very serious about helping the transgender community!   Let Fenway know what is working and what is not and how they can help. Email or call Alex asolange@fenwayhealth.org or 617.927.6449
• Fenway has a large meeting room on it’s 10^th floor of its new facility and is happy to let other groups use that room.  Based on my conversation with Alex in the very loud Club Café front room I don’t think there’s a fee but best to ask Alex first.  That room seats 200 and has AV support with an overhead projector.

Overall it was a fine and fun evening with Fenway Health.

Connect with the Boston area’s transgender, transexual, gender queer, gender non-conforming, cross-dresser, SOFFAs, friends, and allies of anyone who crosses mainstream society’s notions of gender, for a T-Social.

This social is free and open to the public and features light fare, door prizes and entertainment!  Some of the organizations in attendance include:

• The Men and Women Event
• Fenway Dental/Eye and Vision
• Project S.O.S. Study
• Josephs Salon
• The Chelsea Café
• The Transgender Fund
• Glad
• MTPC
• Tiffany Club
• PFlag
• Career Collaborative (Boston)

For more information, call Alex at 617.927.6449 or email livingwell@fenwayhealth.org.

Sponsored by Fenway Health‘s Living Well program and the Boston Public Health Commission.

Boston Area Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender Youth, BAGLY, will be host their 30th Anniversary Celebration and Fund Raiser Dinner on Thursday, April 8 from 6PM-9PM at the Artists for Humanity Epicenter in South Boston, MA.  Greg Brown, of WCVB-TV 5 will be the guest host, with Grace Sterling Stowell, BAGLY Executive Director.

During BAGLY’s Celebration, they will be pleased to honor Ane Rybeck, Executive Artistic Director of the Theater Offensive, with the Michael Pumphret distinguished leadership award.

The Deborah Levi Distinguished Leadership Award will go to The Theater Offensive’s True Colors: Out Youth Theater Troupe.

For more information and tickets, contact Aaron Chandler at achandler@bagly.org or 617-227-4313 ext 21.

The event raises money for health programs that Fenway Health offers to the community.  About 1200 lesbian, bi, and transgender women with their supporters and allies will be there to celebrate women’s health and raise money to implement it through Fenway Health.  It’s a fun time and for a great cause.  Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick are generally there as well so you can bet it’ll be swarming with lots of bling and fun. This year Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin will receive the Dr. Susan M. Love Award

So, while I can’t be there I’m raising a big, steaming mug of coffee to say Best of Luck to you June, Deb and Molly for this year’s event!!

That’s a great thing since Mona Rae Mason from the Transgender Project has noted that the percentage of homeless kids who are transgender is very high (see her post, “The Coming Out Party is Over“).  Places like Waltham House are safe places that help protect and nurture some of the kids.

But they often need money to do their job so Waltham House is sponsoring a Casino Night Fund Raiser on April 27th starting at 6PM at Club Cafe in Boston.  Sounds like a good cause doesn’t it?    You can learn more about this fund raiser so you can attend and have fun at this link, “Waltham House Casino Night“

The most current hot and public issue in the transgender community though on discrimination is the Capone’s of Peabody MA vs. SISTERS discrimination affair. To bring our readers up to speed, SISTERS, a Boston area Social and Support Group visited Capone’s on several occasions until one day, they attempted to visit to have a few drinks and dance and then there were told they could not come in and that they were not welcome. If it had been a private club that would have been that. But it was an open to the public venue and so, such behavior by Capone’s, really sounded like discrimination. SISTERS pushed the issue to the Peabody licensing board, in a professional and non-confrontational manner, and now the issue is in mediation. This whole thing might seem like a small issue but it’s not. It’s discrimination. Do all persons have to like all other persons regardless of race, gender, sex, or nationality. No, this isn’t about thought police. But people do have to treat each other with respect. And that’s what this issue is about.

Kudos to Ashley Bottoms and the SISTERS FAMILY for pushing this issue the right way and the professional way to bring about positive change.

You can catch up on all the back story at:

1. The Salem News
2. Boston.com
3. Peabody Lynnfield Weekly News
4. Urban Alternatives
5. Matt Kailey at Examiner.com

Update
2-26-2010: MTPC has issued a statement regarding the incident.  The last paragraph of their statement is imporant to note,

“MTPC calls upon the transgender community to rally behind the pending H1728/S1687 Transgender Civil Rights act that would finally establish clear legal guidelines and remedies for situations such as the one at Capone’s. There is no good reason why any good citizens of our Commonwealth should be treated in a demeaning fashion, and the law should reflect our state’s broad consensus in this.”

Amen to that!

Grace is the Executive Director for BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Transgender Youth.  BAGLY provides “weekly and monthly social activities and special events for people ages 22 and under. These activities provide an opportunity for youth to socialize, have fun and develop a sense of personal and community identity.”

So congratulations Grace and thank you for your work leading BAGLY to help so many GLBT youth in Greater Boston!

You get more details at MTPC’s announcement here:
http://www.masstpc.org/legislation/lobbyday10.shtml

The importance of todays lobbying effort is that our transgender equality bill is stuck in the MA judiciary commitee and needs a little push. If you can’t attend today (as I cannot) an email or call to your representative would help too.

A&A, in Newton MA, is offering Express Facials now, for a limited time, for $30 for 30 minutes!   I asked what the catch was and here’s the details on what they’ll do for your face:

• Cleanse
• Tone
• Moisturize
• Exfoliate
• Teach you how to take care of your skin

For $30 that’s a great deal.   If you make an appointment, please tell them Becki sent you.   Beck’s Cafe doesn’t make any money from this and you won’t get a better deal than the $30, but it’ll be nice for her to know that some of us do really listen to her suggestions to take care of our skin!

Women are starting their own businesses in record numbers, and from what these enterprising women say, it would not be surprising to find out that, as a result, the sales of pajama bottoms and sweatshirts have soared!

The facts on women entrepreneurship are hot; Between 1997 and 2002 women owned firms grew by 19.8% while all U.S. firms grew by 7% (SCORE Small Biz Stats & Trends)  The facts on women’s PJ sales growth I can’t find any data on – but I bet Ginger is right. When I’ve worked from home during long periods assigned to Asia or Europe PJ bottoms and comfy sweatshirts were easy!

Hmmm…might be time to reverse the trend and get that business a little extra bling.  Learn how at Ginger’s free teleclass.