CD Community Spirit?

[battybattybats]

Do you think there is much CD community Spirit?

Do you think there is enough or should we try more to foster it?

[Jan W]

Dear Batty,

If it is there it is there. If we need to manufacture it it is self defeating I think.

The girls I personally know support each other and are there when needed. No one co ordinates this it is a natural way of dealing with our unique and not so unique problems.

I am just asking as I don't know (please do not bite) are you a member of a TG support group?

These do a good job in this area.


Jan

[battybattybats]

Dear Batty,

If it is there it is there. If we need to manufacture it it is self defeating I think.

But dont we do things that may help or hinder it in any community?


I am just asking as I don't know (please do not bite) are you a member of a TG support group?

Nope, I know of none in my area. I might get around to starting one, after I've finished my current work on getting a charter of rights for Australia and getting it to include Gender Identity and Expression.

[Paula TV]

I would say definetely, it's a very positive spirit. I probably don't post enough, to get the kind of support i would like. There's still some things i'd rather not say on the forums at all.

[Gabrielle Hermosa]

Do you think there is much CD community Spirit?

I understand this question to mean here rather than abroad (in off-line life). In that respect, I see plenty of cd's enjoying who they are and being among others like us.


Do you think there is enough or should we try more to foster it?

I do not think spirit need fostering among those of us who accept who we are and have chosen to embrace it and celebrate our lives as we are.

I don't think spirit can be fostered among those who are confused by who they are or feel like they have some terrible "condition" or something that they need to control like an addition. My best guess is they are not here to celebrate their lives, but rather figure out who they are... or as they might put it "what is wrong with them". Hopefully, they discover nothing is wrong with them aside from the fact that they were simply mislead by society's unacceptance and treatment of us (as many of us once were ourselves).

I think that to help the confused understand the realities may in and of itself foster spirit where it does not yet exist. I also think you can lead a horse to water, but... well, you know the deal. Many will leave this forum never to return, and never having accepted who they are (and also probably thinking of the rest of us as people who have fallen into the hands of evil temptations or something). Of course, when self-loathers leave, I personally don't mind... though I would have rather seen them see the light so to say. Either way, I think that the absence of negative vibes helps foster spirit, too.

I haven't seen as many purge threads lately. That is uplifting to me. :)

[O2B Barbara]

Hi Batty,

I for myself have totally enjoyed this forum and love the support and understanding that it brings. I wonder if more public information and support would help to change how we are percieved? If someone notices my painted toes, I like sandals and barefoot, Rather than tell people that I just like to have pretty nails I usually just say, grandkids, and let it go at that. Is that defeating the goal of acceptance by the public?

With the forum I have no real need for public acceptance since I get it here without question or judgement. Yes, it would be nice to be able to wear what I want, when and where I want, without fear. I just don't have the courage, not to mention living in a small town, to be that open yet.

[Joni Marie Cruz]

Yes.
No.
Yes.

Hugs...Joni Mari




Do you think there is much CD community Spirit?

Do you think there is enough or should we try more to foster it?

[Karren H]

No
Don't care
Don't care

[AllieSF]

As you can see Batty there appears, to me anyway, that there is not a lot of intentional activism within the answers so far that would indicate that we are out there to better our CD community. I do think that every little bit helps, but I am personally not the type to take an active role in promoting us to the world. I never was that type and don't expect to change who I am and how I act in that area. It is like real life where there are a small number of active people to drive a cause or position forward to try to attract support and help the specific community. That is where there is power in numbers and they do not have to be overwhelming numbers. The vast majority do not participate unless it directly hits them personnally, and even then that is not always enough to motivate them to participate. The promoters just need to approach their task in an intelligent manner to get the best results and keep trying to move forward.

[hrmnapoleon]

I think some of the issues with speaking of a community spirit, or similar institution, stems from the motivations for why we cross-dress, as well as the our varying social fabrics and personalities. However, I do wish there was a greater cross-dressing community that existed outside of the internet and was more accessible to those of us of limited means and opportunities.

[Melanie R]

I think the TG community spirit is alive and growing in the US and other parts of the world. In Houston we have six transgender organizations that work together in unity with a lot of TG community spirit. We now have the only transgender house in the US exclusively for all the local groups. This community spirit is noticed by many such as a letter my wife and I received last week from the Mayor Pro Tem of Houston stating that she and other city officials are so pleased with the unity they are seeing in the Houston transgendered community. They were also pleased to be at our 17th annual Unity Banquet last month attended by 235 where two scholarships were awarded (The Peggy Rudd Transgender Scholarship - named for my wife). In 2 weeks all the local groups will be participating in our 14th attendance with a float at the local GLBT Pride Parade. You can see the same spirit with many examples in other cities in the US and other countries.

[SweetCaroline]

I think so, a least where I'm from, and the communities I belong to. I see a lot of crossdressers coming out and supporting the community. However, there is a difference between CD as part of the TG community as a whole, and CDs on there own, and to be honest with you, I don't see as many crossdressers involving themselves in the bigger TG community. A lot of crossdressers just don't want to be that visible.

[Sarah Doepner]

There is a CD community spirit, but it is as varied as the CD's who embrace it. It ranges from having a place to lurk and read/view posts on sites like this to very outgoing, activists attempting to create change. Much of it is based only on social interaction and has no political component at all. Some is a mix of social and political.

Is any one kind better than the others? I hope not. They all exist because we use them to meet some very basic needs. To use a term that is common in politics; "We need a wide umbrella" to cover everyone with this shared interest.

Do we need more? Hell yes. (Can I say that?)

[Nicole Erin]

No
Don't care
Don't care

Wow, KArren's first serious post ever. :straightface:

And I will go with her answers.

[Lorileah]

We've got spirit yes we do We've got spirit how 'bout you? (I wanna cheerleader skirt)

Wait how can we be selfish and have community spirit? What did you call that Batty? A conumberbund? ;)

And yes we could always use more

[TSchapes]

Do you think there is much CD community Spirit?

Do you think there is enough or should we try more to foster it?

On-line yes! In the real world where it counts, no.

[Nicki B]

No
Don't care
Don't care


Judging by your current av, Karren, you just drank it all... :D

[sterling12]

Some areas are starting to make an attempt. Down here in Tampa/St.Pete Cristi and Kitty with their Tropical Escape Effort have been doing a really good job of pulling previously disconnected segments of our entire TG Community together. There was a time until recently, when a lot of us thought that CD's hangin' and talkin' with TS Gurls and Transmen would be a lot like Dogs and Cats laying down together.

What seems to be happening, is that we are now recognizing commonalities rather than always looking at our differences. Gurl's are starting to network and connect, and it's really beginning to look like what it has previously been in "name only,"....a Community!

I would suggest that for other community's around The Country, it could only be a good thing. If we learn to work together, we could get an awful lot accomplished, we could start to grow and maybe so many wouldn't be so afraid to come out of That Closet.

For those who want to trivialize efforts like this, to always turn everything into a joke...."Phooey on you." You do what you want, and always will, but don't take hope away from others by belittling other people's efforts.

Peace and Love, Joanie

[Lisa Golightly]

You get out what you put in... It's easy for Karen to claim no, but you only have to look at the years of effort she has put in talking about makeup to spot the weakness of her own claim...

I've never been a fan of scene venues the most outward symbol of community spirit... I used to think this was down to my own shyness but the reality was it was my transsexuality that craved anonymity in everyday life. Not to say that I didn't do the odd thing to help scene events, but they were quietly done.

Talking of shyness... over the years I have met an awful lot of girls that have just wanted to meet me or have their photographs taken by me... The numbers have lessened vastly since I declared myself as TS, but the TS community here is very very close, and I do talk to a few teenage transsexuals and hope that by doing so they'll not suffer as badly as I did through their own hand.

For me that is where the true community spirit lies... I wrote this in my journal a while back...

'I could tell stories of the girls who write to me that are so close to ending it... Of the nights I've spent just listening to them... but there is no need. We've all been the speaker and the listener at least once. The true spirit of this community isn't in the pubic baying and self-congratulation, rather it is in the dead of night when you give back to the world a single soul.'

... and I stand by that.

[Satrana]

Not that much

On-line community spirit can only be taken so far. We are still anonymous individuals hiding behind avatars with a digital divide continuing our isolation.

True community spirit requires direct contact and bonding with others. It involves creating friendships that exist beyond the discussion of CD matters. That means until there is a widespread movement to leave the closet and come out into the open then a true community cannot be created.

[Nicki B]

True community spirit requires direct contact and bonding with others. It involves creating friendships that exist beyond the discussion of CD matters. That means until there is a widespread movement to leave the closet and come out into the open then a true community cannot be created.

My experience (even here) is that that is happening.. Internet forums are one means to that end. :)