Have you been reluctant to join a face-to-face group?

I am still somewhat in the closet as far as crossdressing and being gay. I am afraid of being found out and being seen by somebody that I know.

I would be very interested in joining a face to face group but no group to my knowlegde exists in my area. Ive gone on line and found one group but its hours from my home and money for me is very tight and Im supporting a family.--wendy

Since my first post to this thread about two months ago I have joined a group. It is a yahoo group that is a chapter of Tri-Ess. I did not have any problem joining. All I did was write a letter to the groups leader explaining why I wanted to join the group. I wrote this letter explaining my reasons and told of my long history of being a crossdresser. I included several photos of myself while dressed. The following day I recieved an e-mail informing me that my membership request was approved. There are about 50 members in this group and I recieved e-mails from most of them welcoming me to the group. I was granted access to the groups website where I can view the photo galleries and communicate with all of the members. I posted photos of myself on the website on my first day of being a member and was thanked for doing so. I feel good about being a member of this group and am looking forward to meeting everyone. I have not attended a meeting yet as they meet in a city that is over 200 miles from where I live. I will eventually make the trip to attend a meeting or event that the group participates in and will be thrilled to meet all of my new friends.