Trans support

I have met many transgender and have an enormous appreciation for the process of becoming who you are. The years of therapy, lifetime of medication, surgery process and mental and emotional trials that trans people go through is amazing to me. I thought coming out was the hardest thing in the world to do but coming out as trans? Yikes! That is a whole new realm of being that we as a community are just beginning to understand.

I have to admit that I am just beginning to understand what it means to be trans. (I am not trans myself but have met many wonderful kind hearted and courageous T's who are struggling in this community.)

Papillon Spokane is the only regional Transgender Support and Social group that I am aware of. Well worth it to check them out at their website, especially if you are just learning who you really are.

Another site for anonymous support that has some great resources is Laura’s Playground. There is online live chat support not only for trans people but also their spouses, significant others, family members and friends. (I like going to this site just to listen to the voice on the home page!)

I have to admit that I am a little jealous of the rights of the Ts, they actually have the right to legally marry a person of the same biological gender here in good old WA state! A F – M trans can marry a woman and a M – F can marry a man, which means that two people who are biologically the same sex can get married – one of them has to be living hir life as their true gender. (No, I did not typo, hir is a gender neutral pronoun that is not yet widely used.)

We are experiencing a change of attitude towards being more tolerant and supporting of our Ts. We have a long way to go even among our own LGB community to understanding the T in our acronym. It is a fascinating transition that deserves the support of all of the LGB community. For some reason we seem to forget the T portion of that acronym when it comes to rights and legislating equality. I hope to see a day of equality for all when we as a community refuse to give up our T as a sacrificial lamb when the going gets tough.