Transgender event draws 65 participants
Sunday, April 30, 2006
By Marin Heinritz
Special to The Kalamazoo Gazette
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/...183261340.xml\
&coll=7
When Eric Fleming started to organize FTM North, the first-ever
female-to-male transgender conference in Michigan, he was hoping for
maybe 20 people to show up.
He was pleased to see 65 participants -- coming from as far as
Seattle and Arizona -- gathered Saturday at Western Michigan
University's Bernhard Center.
``I started this for selfish reasons and I'm perfectly comfortable
admitting that,'' said Fleming, 28, a member of the Kalamazoo Gay
and Lesbian Resource Center board of directors and founder of the
Kalamazoo transgender peer support group that began in 2003.
For many conference participants, it was a relief to be with people
who have shared similar struggles. ``I've never seen so many FTMs in
one room in my whole life,'' said Nick Allen, 42, of Niles.
Conference events included lectures on social change; the effects of
sexism on FTM people; sex and relationships, and discussions about
transgender law, transitioning from female to male, and partnering
with FTMs.
During one panel discussion, five ``trans men'' at different stages
of transitioning gave practical advice on a host of issues.
They talked about how and where to find a compassionate doctor to
prescribe testosterone; the costs and side effects of injectible vs.
topical hormones; how to change one's gender on documents such as
Social Security card and driver's license; coping with the grief of
disownment and rejection from family and how they identify
themselves.
One panelist said that he identifies himself as a straight male and
is in a relationship now that began when he identified as a lesbian.
``For me it hasn't changed,'' he said. ``It's been everyone else's
perspective that has.''
He said he's been accepted by his co-workers but his father has
disowned him.
When discussion turned to sex reassignment surgery, the consensus
among panelists was ``If you don't feel you have to do it, don't do
it.''
Partners of FTMs voiced their opinions and experiences in a
different panel discussion.
Emily Lenning, a co-coordinator of the conference, has been in a
nine-year relationship with a partner whom she describes as
``two-spirited.''
``You fall in love with the person; you don't fall in love with the
body parts,'' she said.
In a different session, Matt Kailey explained the differences
between sexual orientation and gender identity by pointing to his
experience: For 42 years he lived as a straight woman but then he
became a gay man.
``I never thought I was a boy in the wrong body; I thought, `I'm a
girl but supposed to be a boy.' It's a different feeling,'' he said.
Kailey urged the audience to help heal the ``transphobia'' in the
gay community and the homophobia in the transgender community by
opening up a dialogue about how they both must deal with gender
discrimination.
``As far as society's concerned, our bodies are wrong, and this is
something we have in common,'' he said.
Originally Posted by DonnaT
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