Gay Cumbria - Transgender Support

Transgender Support Group Launches

A Cumbria TG support Group is now up and running . A meeting was held on Monday 12 Sept in Carlisle and was attended by 10 people from across the County of Cumbria . The event was hosted by Ruth Chambers NW regional Organiser for the BS. The evening proved to be both informative and enjoyable and at the end of the night we all agreed that having made the most difficult step – the first one - we will now move forward and make this a regular event. My personal/hope aspiration is that this group can become a focal point for the trans community in Cumbria, not only offering support and advice but also being a social group who can meet up for nights out etc on a regular basis.
Myself and Debbie (DebsnSoots) a TS friend , will initially co-ordinate the group but we hope other Cumbrian girls out there will now come forward (there must be others out there) and attend our next meeting which will be in Carlisle again probably around 25/26th October.

Given the geography of Cumbria it was realised that we may have to find other venues for future meetings, I have spoken to Mark in the Steam Packet and he would would be happy for us to meet there and hopefully we will get along there sometime soon. However we will probably need to find other venues in the other parts of the county to ensure that potential members from that part of the county can participate without traveling 90+ miles for every meeting.

A big thanks to Ruth and Nia for hosting the evening and getting things off the ground. The rest now is up to all us Cumbrian Girls.

If you want to know more then please feel free to contact me via the forums (pamelaf)
Regards
Pam

Transgender Support Article

‘Transgender’ is an umbrella term which when used in its broadest definition describes anyone who transgresses usual gender roles and includes drag kings and queens, androgynous, Bi-gendered, Third gendered or as yet unnamed gender gifted people. Older terms like transsexualism, gender dysphoria, transvestism, and cross dressing have less use and have been found to be limiting in their understanding of gender expressions and identity. Transgendered people form an especially socially marginalized group. Transgender is surrounded by myths and this type of identity expression is often misunderstood even by some of the professionals who might be turned to as sources of support, such as General Practitioners, clinical psychologists and councillors.

Support for transpeople is dictated by their need, for some part-time cross dressing in their preferred gender role is enough, while other seek to ‘migrate’ fully into a chosen gender role on a permanent and full time basis. As with many aspects of diversity in life it is often assumed the support is needed, some transfolk simply wish to be left alone to do their thing. In order to produce a light- weight and user-friendly support article some of the identifiable strands of ‘trans’ will be examined along with some suggested support advice.
Part time cross dressers (male to female)

These are men who used to be called ‘Transvestites’, German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld coined the term transvestism around 1915 in Berlin. It does have some problematic baggage attached to it, significantly in that some definitions require an erotic element, yet this is not always the case. The part time cross dresser requires things to wear and somewhere to wear them.

What to wear, if the desired effect is to be able to go out in public and ‘pass’ (as female) then it’s generally wise to observe what ‘real women’ wear and copy that. Try to dress in a reasonably age appropriate way and consider the time of day, a cocktail dress for a daytime shopping trip isn’t a good choice! Generally men do better in separates anyway, that is to say a skirt and top rather than a dress, its to do with the male shape which is often broader at the top/shoulders a size 14 dress might fit the shoulders but is likely to hang off the hips. Skirts or dresses are not mandatory in creating a convincing effect anyway, on a slim figure women’s jeans or trousers worn with boots or shoes with a bit of heel works well. Its fun to experiment and find what works for you. Women are socialised and helped in finding a style often by other females, the best ‘accessory’ that the cross dresser can have is a supportive woman friend, one who is close enough to give an honest opinion.