When I first came out for trans people there was only the Connecticut View, Connecticut Outreach Society and the Twenty Club here in Connecticut. People came from as far away Springfield, Norwalk, and Norwich to attend COS or the XX Club. PFLAG held meetings in Hartford but at the time they were mainly attended by lesbians and gays.
But times have changed.
Now there are over dozen support groups throughout the state and some of them are run by hospitals that I know of… have we reached a saturation point?
Many of them are financially backed by pride centers or hospitals, there are a few independent support groups left but they are struggling to stay open.
When I first attended COS in October 1999 there were about twenty members at the meeting now they struggle to get eight people at the meetings, it is really great that there are a dozen trans support groups here, people don’t have to travel half way across the state but as a result each group are small clientele.
Some groups meet in the evenings during the week, some meet during the day on Saturday s and some met in the evening on Saturday s, so there is now variety when they meet that fits everyone schedules. But at the same time if you want to attend a meeting on a week night you have to once again travel across the state.
One of the problems that I see is the lack of coordination between groups. COS had to end their Wednesday night meetings due to lack of attendance because some met the same night as COS, so having staggered meeting nights might be better for the community in that it gives more options. Maybe they could also share events like a summer picnic at a state park or something.
It is a mixed blessing that we now have support groups all over the state.
But times have changed.
Now there are over dozen support groups throughout the state and some of them are run by hospitals that I know of… have we reached a saturation point?
Many of them are financially backed by pride centers or hospitals, there are a few independent support groups left but they are struggling to stay open.
When I first attended COS in October 1999 there were about twenty members at the meeting now they struggle to get eight people at the meetings, it is really great that there are a dozen trans support groups here, people don’t have to travel half way across the state but as a result each group are small clientele.
Some groups meet in the evenings during the week, some meet during the day on Saturday s and some met in the evening on Saturday s, so there is now variety when they meet that fits everyone schedules. But at the same time if you want to attend a meeting on a week night you have to once again travel across the state.
One of the problems that I see is the lack of coordination between groups. COS had to end their Wednesday night meetings due to lack of attendance because some met the same night as COS, so having staggered meeting nights might be better for the community in that it gives more options. Maybe they could also share events like a summer picnic at a state park or something.
It is a mixed blessing that we now have support groups all over the state.
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