On February 14, when I first got up in the morning, the thermometer showed 23 degrees outside. By the time I was dressed as Phoebe and going out the door a little after 9:30 AM, it had warmed up to about 32 degrees. There was still frost on the windshield of my SUV, which I took a few minutes to clear. Except for my exposed legs, my choice of a moleskin skirt suit to wear was a fairly good one.
I made a quick stop at the post office to check the P.O. box for our Tri-Ess chapter. There were a few people in there and only one piece of mail in the box. As I walked across the parking lot, one guy seemed to give me an appreciative look.
The main purpose of getting out today was that I and three other crossdressers were going to Georgia State University (GSU) to give a couple of class presentations on crossdressing to classes on human sexuality. The first class was to begin at 11:00 AM. I went over to my friend Lauren’s condo and met her and Nodiea to ride together downtown to the GSU campus.
When we first arrived at GSU we were a bit early, so we sat for awhile in a vacant classroom, where Jacklyn (another CD who rode the MARTA rapid rail into town) found us. We killed some time chatting and taking a few pictures before the professor found us. It was a very pleasant reunion with her. We have done many of these presentations for this professor in the past.
The classes were both in a large lecture hall in the general classroom building. By my estimate, each class had over a hundred students in it. This would be outreach to a lot of students.
Just before the first class began, a GSU student (who is a GG) working on a study of the transgender community, arrived to sit in on the class. I explained her presence to the professor and told her she had our permission to video, take pictures, or otherwise record what we did.
After the professor gave a little explanation about us, Lauren and the rest of us gave our introductions. Lauren explained a bit about crossdressing, transgender definitions, and what Tri-Ess and Sigma Epsilon (our local chapter) are all about. Then the class was free to ask questions. And, as usual, they had plenty of questions.
Nodiea managed to work out a way to select and moderate the student’s questions. We had questions pretty evenly divided between male and female students. A few of the students really had a hard time understanding that we were not gay or that we had no desire to have sexual reassignment surgery. This seemed particularly true of those that were African American. Cultural bias in their community seemed particularly strong. We were able to make our points in a humorous way. Nodiea showed the class one of her breast forms when busts were discussed. We cracked jokes with the class about a number of topics. The students really seemed to enjoy our relaxed method of presentation. The hour and a half went by very quickly for us and the students still had questions to ask when the professor had to close it off. The students at the end gave us a sincere ovation and several students came down to thank us personally for coming.
We had a little over a half hour break before the next class. We mostly just stayed in the classroom and chatted with the professor, her graduate student assistant, and the student doing the transgender study. I did get hungry for a snack and went to find a vending machine. I had to walk down a hallway lined from end to end with students that were lounging on the floor eating their lunch or studying. If any of them made any particular notice of me, they didn’t show it. Nodiea also left the classroom for awhile for a smoke break.
The second class went very much like the first one. We did have one unusual question: “When you pass on, do you want to be dressed as a man or woman at your funeral?” Nodiea’s answer of “It depends on if it’s an open or closed casket” seemed to be the best (and most amusing) answer. The end of the class around 2:30 PM brought applause from the students and thanks from the professor.
Jacklyn stayed with Nodiea, Lauren, and I to go to a late lunch at Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant. Lauren is a weekly regular at that place and we have had several Sig Ep outings there. As usual, the food was excellent and reasonably priced there. Due to the time of day, it was not at all crowded and we were very attentively served.
After lunch, we dropped Jacklyn off at the Lindbergh MARTA rapid rail station and drove back to Lauren’s condo.
After parting company with Lauren and Nodiea, I headed in my SUV to a nearby Kroger store to take care of some grocery shopping my wife had asked me to do. The store was quite crowded with shoppers, but this middle aged lady in a skirt suit, hose and heels pushing a cart around didn’t draw any noticeable attention. Even when I got a clerk to wrap up a rose I was getting for a Valentine’s present for my wife there was nothing unusual in anyone’s reactions. When checking out, the girl bagging the groceries gave me a kind of sideways look, but didn’t say anything. It was just another pleasant and ordinary shopping experience.
I finally got home around 5:00. After checking e-mail, making some phone calls, and taking care of a few bits of business, I hit the shower and changed back to "drab" to spend the rest of Valentine’s day with my family.
and being here.
Originally Posted by Laurie Ann
You must have so much self confidence to be able stand up in front of so many people and talk about cding, while dressed....and to a bunch of college students no less! Phew.....you're braver than me.
