Beck's Cafe » Local Buzz

Need a Christmas Spirit Injection? Come to Messiah Sing, 12/2, All Saints Parish, Brookline, MA

beckscafe — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:03:39 +0000

If you are like me, and many of my friends, your sick and tired of the Christmad Commercialism. Who could blame you? With Christmas sales, decorations and music having begun as early October, it all seems a little MUCH frankly. What ever happened to the joyful simplicity of a pretty Christmas tree, mug of hot chocolate, and the warmth of friends, even neighbors? Well I’ve got some good news this yuletide season, there is a Messiah Sing happening this Friday, December 2nd, that will bring the warmth of Christmas to your spirit.

This particular Messiah Sing is special for three reasons. First, it’s a site reading orchestra, meaning, “Sight-reading is the reading and performing of a piece of written music, specifically when the performer has not seen it before.” Second, one of my closest friends will be in the orchestra, and I know his musical standards are high so the music is bound to be good. Third, you get the blessing of giving to a great cause, since there is a $10 ticket cost and all the proceeds go to Project Bread.

So, I hope we see all my readers in the Boston area at Messiah Sing at All Saints Parish, Brookline, MA on Friday, 12/2 at 7:30PM. For easy directions, click this link: Directions to All Saints Parish via Google Maps

MA Senate Passes Transgender Equal Rights Bill!!

beckscafe — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:08:09 +0000

Its been a LONG road but, finally, Massachusetts has a Transgender Equal Rights Bill. It has been voted in by both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and by the Senate. All it needs is a signature by the Governor of Massachusetts, Duval Patrick.

So what does this mean? A few things, all of them important. Most of these are just rights that disappeared when many transgender people, both men and women, started dealing with who they are so they live “normal” lives. But, these protections include:

Employment
Housing
Education
Credit
Expands the state’s hate crimes protections to now include transgender people

Having been someone who has experienced this kind of discrimination first hand, I can tell you, this is very welcome news! The bill is imperfect, and it does not include public accomodation, which means any public venue may decide that transgender men or women are not “welcome”. Let’s hope that society is actually beyond that kind of behavior.

Many thanks to my friends who, along with me (see our article, “Trans Civil rights Lobby Day: Roundtable” for just one example out of hundreds), worked to see passage of this bill. “BIG” thanks to Gunner Scott and the MTPC Team. They kept our community moving forward when it seemed like we’d never see our normal rights returned to us!

MA Transgender Equal Rights Bill Passes MA House 95 YES and 58 NO ~ Senate Vote Next!

beckscafe — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:49:35 +0000

This is incredible news and a great victory for social justice for transgender people in Massachusetts! You can read the official statement and update at MTPC’s Post “House Passes Trans Equal Rights 95-58

What’s next? Well, the MA Senate vote is today! The Senate bill is S764 “An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights” So please CALL or EMAIL your senator and let him or her know your desire for them to vote in favor of our bill. Here are the steps to help you:

(1) Find your MA legislator

(2) Once you do that, here are some helpful instructions on what to say, including a script, at MTPC Calling Help And for some help on what to write if you choose to email, click to the MTPC Newsletter page.

MA Transgender Equal Rights Bill Released from Committe Goes to Vote in MA House Today

beckscafe — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:30:38 +0000

In what can only be seen as AMAZING news, our transgender equal rights bill has been released from the judiciary committee to the MA House of Representatives floor for a VOTE. This is a historic opportunity for transgender rights.

Here’s a statement from the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coaltion on H 502/S764 “An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights”

In the days ahead, you may hear confusing things about this bill. To be clear, this bill provides vital protections in employment, education, housing, credit, and hate crimes which transgender residents of the Commonwealth desperately need. The bill is not perfect as it does not include public accommodations protections, but it is a solid civil rights bill that represents an historic step forward in supporting full civil rights protections for the transgender community.

Updated information will be coming from MTPC later today or you can follow them on Twitter @MassTPC or check in on their newsletter page

So what to do next? Either call or write your house of representative member today. They really must hear from us today if at all possible. You can find yours at this handy link: Find your MA legislator

Once you do that, here are some helpful instructions on what to say, including a script, at MTPC Calling Help And for some help on what to write if you choose to email, click to the MTPC Newsletter page.

Introduction to Clinical Practice within the Transgender Community ~ Professional Workshop, Boston, MA, 11/19

beckscafe — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:00:06 +0000

The Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology is holding a workshop on November 19th, 9AM-4:30PM on “Introduction to Clinical Practice within the Transgender Community”, in West Roxbury/Boston, MA

Topics in this workshop include:

Identify terms and vocabulary relevant to transgender and genderqueer identities.
Utilize the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) standards of care.
Understand the ways that race and class impact transgender clients’ lives and the therapeutic relationship.
Discuss the development of transgender identity. · Understand the role of supportive therapy for working with transgender clients.

The workshop is co-sponsored by the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, Fenway Health, and Gay and Lesbian Affirmative Psychotherapy

The course instructor is Elijah C. Nealy, M.Div., LCSW. Cost is $135 and is worth 6 CE credits.

To learn more and to register, please visit the course web page at: Introduction to Clinical Practice withing the Transgender Community

New Social and Support Group: T-Party

beckscafe — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:00:34 +0000

Astronomer extraordinaire, and my friend, Sonia, has placed a new social and support group into the constellation of what we have in New England! She’s named it, T-Party, and you can reach her new venture by visiting her groups site HERE.

Those of us in the Boston area might wonder how this area can support yet another transgender group. Well, surprisingly, very easily. Lyn Conway actually did some statistical analysis not too long ago and even presented a paper on her work, you can read what she presented at the WPATH conference by clicking over to her article at her site HERE. In a nutshell, she found the prevalence of MtF transsexualism on the order of ~1:500 so let’s do some math

Greater Boston is home to 4.4M people. So, if we look at Lyn Conway’s findings, that means, if I have my math right, that there are 8800 trans-women in the Greater Boston area and, possibly, 1/2 that many trans-men. If we look at the entire transgender umbrella (crossdresser, drag queens, transsexuals, gender queer, etc.) there might be alot more but let’s just go with that figure of 8800 trans-women. Okay stay with me here for this next part.

I have heard, through the grapevine, that Dr. Richard Doctor has discovered in a study he led that only 70% of all crossdressers actually go outside their homes crossdressed and of that only a small percentage (5% perhaps ?) actually go to public venues (stores, restaurants, etc). I can’t find the any documentation where he said this but let’s just go with it.

If the above are true, then of the 8800 trans-women in this area, only 6160 actually venture out to trans-friendly events and of that only 300 or so go out in public, out and about. If we look at the 6160 number, the Greater Boston Area can easily support T-Party and all the other groups in this area.

Maybe we’ll have a cup of coffee with the star gazing Ms. Sonia at some point and understand what motivated her and what her dreams are for T-Party.

10/25/2011 Update
The T-Party group and TransSpace have both apparently disbanded and are no long meeting

7/12/2008 Update
T-Party’s on-line presence for coordinating their doings has moved to TransSpace. To reach their new site at TransSpace you can click over to them from our link here.