Do You Have A Little Sister?

[Kimberley]

I’m sure this will probably stir a good discussion. At the very least get a few people thinking.

There have been many heartbreaking stories of young people getting caught one way or another, whether it was in a so-called social situation such as Gwen Araujo or others in a legal bind. The stories often have tragic endings and get sympathetic nods from the political types and are quickly forgotten.

It seems we too have short or selective memories. We have had our own members beaten and hospitalized; and these are adults! Do we remember them?

I have always had a deep concern for youth in our situation whether it is as a CD or TS. These young people are often very confused about their feelings, about their sexuality and the social pressures of their peer groups. They are often alienated either forcibly or by choice.

The suicide rates among gay, lesbian and bi youth are staggering. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing how many of these are transgendered young people. Again I refer back to their confusion over sexuality and their ignorance of distinction between gender and sexual preference. Certainly there is a lot more tolerance and “education” regarding sexual preference but none or next to none about gender identity.

So here is the point for discussion and maybe some resolution. Has anyone “adopted” a little sister? If so, I am sure others besides myself would be interested in learning about it.

The other question I have goes directly to the Administrators. This site is for adults and rightly so. Has there been any consideration for matching TG youth with any of our members? I am not necessarily suggesting a new site but perhaps some facility that we could guide a young person along? Certainly there is risk with the current approaches toward pedophilia, but maybe if some of the legal community were involved it could be overcome. I know we have both active and retired police officers on our site and I think they could offer a lot of guidance in this.

Something to think about.


Kimberley

[pinkshelly]

interesting...very interesting.
Wonderfull thaught.
Huggs, Shelly.

[Sarah Rabbit]

Very Dangerous Territory. There was a member who posted a short time ago about assisting a Minor.. The Other Members had very strong views. I think even with Legal Assistance, we would be risking alienating an already Misinformed Wider Community. I feel for the young who are 'Lost' in there gender confusion, but until We are Accepted as for what we are, there will be no support for such a Idea.

Sarah R.

[Phyliss]

Just a thought. I AM NOT, REPEAT NOT refering to age.

While I understand there are many young (in age) people who are very confused, and I am totally in agreement about a "hands off" policy when dealing with them, unless you are a Doctor, I guess my question or comment would be those who are "young" to the idea of CDing. Meaning a 25 or so yr old person who has been confused for a long time and wants to learn about crossdressing.
There is a 12 Step program, to which I belong that has a "young people" series of meetings, I've seen 70 yr old geezers there who are just begining to learn and consider themself to be "young"

Hope I'm making some sense.
Case in point, I'm 61 and have always been interested in the idea of CD but only recently (within the last year) have I begun to do something about it.
Now, would I be considered to be "young" or an "old hand" at this? I'd be happy to be "adopted" by somebody who has about 15 yrs experience at CDing and wouldn't care if they were 35.
The more I read this the more screwy it sounds but I hope I'm making some sort of logical comment.

[Joy Carter]

I can agree on a mentor program but only for gurls of age and in good mental heath. If you were to get involved with a juvenile or some one with diminished mental capacity you might find yourself in civil court action having to come up with money for attorney fees and psychiatric treatment of that person.

[KateW]

I agree that it is a risky proposition. I don't think we should assist minors just sadly because of the society we live in, and somebody is bound to abuse it. The only work around I can see is if there were a section where admin's only could add links of support sites for teenagers. That way the site could indirectly point people in the right direction, without setting themselves up for problems down the road.

Regarding support for new crossdressers over the age of 18, I think it's a great idea. It is surely a very confusing time no matter what age you discover crossdressing, and I'm sure it'd make a good extension of the "new members" section.

[connie rotten]

I would advise staying away from other people's children.

[Carroll]

Kimberley,
You idea is great with admirable intentions, however I am forced to agree with others here. Young teens up to the college ages are still exploring life and themselves. I live in a community that has Cornell University and Ithaca College. I see these kids all the time, exploring how or what they are downtown. I would hate to Mentor one of them and they find out that what they thought they wanted is not what they thought it was.
Thats just my 0.02 worth though

Carroll

[USNguyNskirt]

There is a site for this believe it or not. Laura's playground. I used to frequent there but found the moderators are complete Nazi's. But when most of their population is 20 and under, I guess there is a need for that. the site is www.lauras-playground.com for anyone intersted in checking it out. There is alot of useful links and stuff but the chat is definitely teen oriented and the moderators are supposedly trained in suicide prevention and the like. I wont get into whether I think its a good idea or a bad idea, but when people are "actively seeking" answers or just looking for someone to talk to, its a decent site. And while we are talking about remembering those who have taken one for the cause, I was directed to this site:
http://www.gender.org/remember/#

[Kimberley]

I agree that it is a risky proposition. I don't think we should assist minors just sadly because of the society we live in, and somebody is bound to abuse it. The only work around I can see is if there were a section where admin's only could add links of support sites for teenagers. That way the site could indirectly point people in the right direction, without setting themselves up for problems down the road.

Regarding support for new crossdressers over the age of 18, I think it's a great idea. It is surely a very confusing time no matter what age you discover crossdressing, and I'm sure it'd make a good extension of the "new members" section.

*************
Kate I agree with your concept 100%. Yes you are correct that someone could very well abuse any sort of mentoring, There is no doubt about that.

So lets hear from the members of Tri Ess and other organizations as to how they approach an educational program for youth. Remember we are talking about education, letting them know they aren't ill etc. I know some of our members address college classes in the lecture halls but these are not young people of our community who are confused.

As to new CD's who are adults, there is a tremendous amount of support and information on this site. Really is that not what we are supposed to be about? Support for one another?

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. Keep them coming.


Kimberley.

[Connieminiskirts]

Mentor young people about CDing?

Wanna to be arrested? Charged as a childmolester? Wanna go to prison?

I know the law the says "Innocent until proven guilty", But when it comes to these type of charges it is truly 100% "Guilty UNLESS YOU can PROVE you are innocent"!!!!

Stay away from minors!! Be smart! Now if ya wanna get involved with helping someone over the age of 18, or even better 21, well do so, but again BE DAMN careful!!!!

My own grandson, who has seen me dressed a few times asked me if I would help him dress.He was 11 at the time. I said "Sure, on Halloween. But not any other time!"
He said he wanted to dress as a girl and spend a couple days with me like this I said NO! NO! NO!
It is NOT worth the risk! No matter how willing the youngster is, when they are a MINOR they can not "legally" make thier own decisions.
At least not in any of the 50 United States that I know of.

Man this subject is just too scary

[Phoebe Reece]

This is the only website I know of that is geared towards providing information to young people about transgender issues: http://www.tgchrysalis.com/ It is administered by a Tri-Ess member who did quite a bit of research before putting it up.

[tekla west]

I do work with people in thier late teens and early 20s. Because of the topics we talk about, and because our nation is run by right-wingnut religious wack-jobs, who worry about child molesting, largely because they are a bunch of pederasts, we are strict to limit it to 18 and over. But they are good kids, nice, I have met a lot of FtM, and it's been great. I teach them how to kick ass at a pool table.

[Kimberley]

This is the only website I know of that is geared towards providing information to young people about transgender issues: http://www.tgchrysalis.com/ It is administered by a Tri-Ess member who did quite a bit of research before putting it up.

*************
Phoebe, this site is BRILLIANT. I dont agree with everything but most of it I do. This is exactly the kind of help young people need and exactly what I am talking about in the way of help. They also should be able to talk to someone when the cant come out. There are counselling services available just about everywhere, but they have no idea how to get to them or are too stigmatized by the concept to move forward.

There should be more sites like this one with anonymous people behind it who can point them in the right direction.


Kimberley

[DonnaT]

A transwoman I know in another forum is in a mentoring program.

You can listen to her at http://www.gendertalk.com/real/550/gt553.shtml

71:26 Jude Russell, trans woman and youth mentor, talks about the True Colors mentoring program in cooardination with the State of Connecticut, a joint effort titled "The Safe Harbor Project".