My Story Part 81 – Networking And Showing The Flag

I am kind of a support group junky, I visit 3 or 4 support groups. Why? To visit friends that I have made over the years and also to keep up to-date in what is happening around the state. But that is only a small part of the networking that I do, I am on committees of LGBT and non-LGBT groups and organizations.

Without a trans-person, many of these organizations would just be LGB. I’m on an events committee for a LGBT organization, and they are planning a pool party, while we discussing the planning of the party I asked if they were planning on having gender neutral bathrooms or changing rooms. After a moment of silence they said that yes they will have them. It wasn’t a snub that they didn’t think of us, it was just that they never thought about it before and that is what we have to get them to do, to start thinking about the trans-community. A member of the same organization, who is a lawyer, came up to me and asked if I had any information on workplace gender inclusive non-discrimination policies. A client of hers wants to update the EEO policy to the new law and she was looking for information on other policies.

I am a member of a professional organization for social workers and I am helping to plan their fall conference and because of my networking, I was able to get three workshops added to the conference that are issues that affect the trans-community. One of the workshops is on school bullying, one on the trans-culture in schools and one how the new law will affect therapist and school counselors.

Tuesday, I was at an event at one of the state’s utilities customer center and while I was there I was talking to a number of their employees. I was probably the first trans-person (that they knew was trans) that they ever talked to.

I didn’t write this to brag, but to show that we all can make a difference by just being “Out” there and being involved in the general community. Join the Rotary Club or the Kiwanis club, or the Chamber of Commerce or other civic organizations. Take part in local LGBT organizations, many welcome trans-inclusion, they just have to be shown the way. I was invited to talk to one LGBT organization on how they can be more trans-welcoming (I always have a hard time talking about that, I just want to say…well just treat us the same as all your other members, but they just want to learn the secret handshake). When in reality what it takes to be inclusive is to get to know us as people and not as transgender people. That is why it is so important for us to get out there and show the flag, to be known as a person, not for who we are.