Additionally, ITOH (It's Time Ohio) notified us just as we were going to press that a legal defense fund has been established for the Lipscomb family. The details are below. Ironically, as the drama in Columbus was taking place, Dear Abby published a letter, and response, that was highly positive for transgender individuals.

I sat in slack jaw horror as I watched the Republican National Convention on television. It had all the appearances of gloom and doom... especially when Republican VP Candidate Dick Cheney's wife refused to even acknowledge that one of their daughter's is a lesbian!

THEN, I sat in pure amazement as Melissa Etheridge sang a patriotic melody to open the evening session of the Democratic National Convention. A friend of mine said, "Did you ever think you'd see that??" Amazement turned to joy as CNN ran a very positive story on a member of the Minnesota delegation.... who just happened to be transgendered!!! What seemed surprising to people at the convention was not that this particular delegate was transgendered... it was that the delegate in question was a member of both NOW and the NRA!!!

As the DNC progressed, the theme of inclusion became more and more pronounced. Elizabeth Birch's speech to the convention is printed below, as are a few key passages of the DNC's Platform that make specific mention of inclusion.

I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. That's not my job. But, November 7th is coming; get to know the candidates and where they stand on issues important to our community. Exercise your right to vote. In light of what's happening in Columbus, this election seems more important than ever.

Some interesting medical news gets some space this month; specifically a great article that appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer concerning gene research being conducted at Case Western Reserve.

Finally, as September grows closer, so does the premiere date for Dr. Laura's television program. The campaign to get the good "doctor" off the air is moving into high gear. We've printed the views of one station manager below.

And so, off to shop for school supplies. Have a great September.

Couple fights for son, 6, they say is girl at heart

By Encarnacion Pyle and Misti Crane, The Columbus Dispatch

Saturday, August 26, 2000 - A Westerville couple is fighting to regain custody of their 6-year-old boy, whom they said was taken by social workers because they let the child dress and act like he's a girl.

The couple lost temporary custody of the child Wednesday, less than two weeks after trying to enroll him in first grade at McVay Elementary School as a girl. The child attended the school last year as a boy.

They said Franklin County Children Services is violating their civil rights by not allowing them to do what's best for their child. A gender- identity disorder was diagnosed in the child.

The disorder is recognized by the medical community. It can show up in the toddler stage when children begin to identify themselves as either male or female.

Children Services officials declined to comment on whether they think the child should be raised as a boy or girl. They said they just want to make sure the child is getting proper care and protection from his parents.

The couple said their child was born with male genitalia but has been adamant about being a girl since turning 2.

"She's your typical little girl who likes dressing up in frilly gowns, earrings and pretty shoes and playing with Barbie dolls,'' her mother said yesterday. "She's always gravitated to all things girls and, until recently, we had no idea why.''

The child was diagnosed with gender- identity disorder in November after being hospitalized at Cincinnati Children's Medical Center for trying to hurt himself and others during an emotional outburst, said the couple's attorney, Randi Barnabee.

Barnabee said the child has been in and out of various Ohio hospitals and treatment centers since age 3 for uncontrollable behavior, which she said is linked to the child's gender-identity disorder. The child also suffers from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and Asperger syndrome, which is related to autism, as well as violent, obsessive behavior.

"The more pressure brought onto the child to conform to acceptable social gender standards, the more she acted out,'' said Barnabee, a transsexual who has a law office in the Cleveland area.

While it took the couple a little time to adjust to the diagnosis, gender-identity disorder provided them with answers -- and much-needed relief, Barnabee said.

"It all became so clear,'' the attorney said. "It wasn't a matter of this child, who is so young, innocent and barely able to choose what she wants for dinner, choosing to be a girl. She's just manifesting her personality.''

Most people have a very clear-cut sense of gender from an early age, said Dr. Herman Tolbert, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Ohio State University School of Medicine. As toddlers, individuals identify a gender and then spend the remaining years being socialized to fit societal expectations that go along with it, Tolbert said.

The disorder can be strictly psychological or have a mixture of psychological and physiological causes, such as ambiguous genitalia. Regardless of how the disorder shows up in a child, Tolbert said it is important to seek help and get a psychiatric evaluation.

"There's no single answer that applies to everybody,'' he said.

Children Services received a call Aug. 11 from someone concerned about the child and social workers decided to seek an emergency order for custody from a Franklin County judge not long after, said John Saros, the agency's executive director.

Although he refused to list the caller's concerns, court documents reveal that school employees and Children Services officials questioned the gender-identity diagnosis, as well as the parents' influence on the child's behavior.

In their complaint, Children Services officials noted that they first became aware of the couple in February when they turned to the agency because of "severe mental-health issues.''

"Parents were currently separated and had a history of mental-health issues. Mother was diagnosed as bipolar and father may also have mental-health issues. Child was alleged to be exhibiting out-of-control violent behavior,'' according to notes contained in the complaint.

"Parents did not appear to be able to recognize that some of the child's behavior may be attributed to the home environment.''

Barnabee said her clients have reconciled and that their marital problems stemmed from not knowing how to help their child.

"They've been at their wits' end for years, moving from one crisis to another -- all the while just trying to do what's best for their child,'' she said.

The mother indicated in a kindergarten survey that her child liked to draw and design clothing, as well as play with cars, Legos and toys, which is not atypical of boys and girls, Children Services officials noted.

Now, they said, she told them the child wants to wear jewelry and girl's clothing.

Barnabee contends that the child was placed in the temporary custody of a foster family not to protect to the child, but society.

"No one wants this child to be who she is -- a girl. It's too much of a political hot potato,'' she said.

The parents said they plan to file a federal sex-discrimination lawsuit against the Westerville school district and Children Service.

The couple, who is Jewish, said Children Services has refused to allow their child to wear dresses and jewelry while in foster care or to maintain a kosher diet. They also alleged that the agency would not let the child observe the Sabbath with the family at home and has not refilled the child's lithium prescription for bipolar disorder.

"We have no idea what they are doing to her. She's not getting her medication. She's very, very fragile,'' the mother said. "She's never even had an outside baby sitter -- not even family. She can't be fine. She's petrified. I know it.''

Her father is worried that the foster family is trying to make his child conform to "being a boy.''

"It will depress her, and who knows what will happen,'' he said.

Saros said the child is doing well and has been appointed an independent guardian who will act on the child's best interests.

"As in any investigation, interviews with the parents and child are required; and relevant, available documentation of the child's medical, physical, psychological and social condition must be obtained and reviewed,'' he said. "To date the parents in the case have not yet participated in an interview, and have refused to sign a release so that Children Services can review materials.''

A court hearing on Children Services' complaint has been set for Sept. 12.

Barnabee predicted a "protracted and bitter'' fight.

"It's a tremendously tragic case over a socially unpopular disorder,'' she said. "Years ago, in private schools kids were slapped for using their left or 'wrong' hand. This is no different, just worse.''

Copyright © 2000, The Columbus Dispatch

Support Is Needed, A Note From Karen Gross

Hello Parents and TransFamily members. I wanted to update you on a sad situation happening to the Lipscomb Family. Things have really escalated. We have gotten an attorney in Columbus involved, in addition to Randi Barnabee and Debbie Smith.

Please, we need your help!

Please forward some of the intros you have used on the email lists, especially those of you with the younger children. We need to present true stories to the judge and Children's Services so they can know that Aurora is not the only child like this and that the parents are not causing this "problem." I will forward them on to Randi and Mark. Send your emails to me at imatmom@aol.com

Legal Defense Fund For Aurora Lipscomb

A defense fund has been set up for the Lipscomb's. The address is as follows:

Aurora's Defense Fund
c/o Attorney Mark Narens
50 West Broad Street, Suite 1332
Columbus, OH 43215

If you would like to help Aurora's family in their legal battle, please send funds to this address. Thank you in advance, Hugs. Love & Joy, Angie

Join Us!

This month's meeting will be on Thursday, September 7th at our normal location, using our picnic format. If you are inspired to whip up a summer salad, entrée for this month's meeting, please indulge yourself. If the weather is nice, Bob will continue to perfect his bar-b-que skills

Items to bring:

Dog and Burger Buns,
Summer entrée Side Dishes,
Hors d’oeuvres, Snacks
Soda (pop), and Desserts

Need directions?

Call (216) 691-HELP (4357) or
e-mail Karen at karen_gross@transfamily.org.

Volunteers are needed not only to take charge of committees but to serve on those committees as well. We need people to commit to take leadership roles in the organization and to actively serve. We really need your skills and commitment of time. If you have benefited from TransFamily, then please consider giving back. We also need people to help cleaning up after the meetings. Please, help us out.

Call or email Karen and find out what you can do to help TransFamily continue.

Transsexuals want to be seen as people

Editor's Note: The following appeared in the August 24th edition of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Dear Abby,

I have recently "come out" to my family for who I really am - a transsexual. I have felt this way as long as I can remember. At 26, I could no longer hide myself and, after seeing a therapist, I have begun the process of changing my gender. Some members of my family support me. However, my father and grandparents are staunchly against this. They say they will not accept it because to do so would be to admit that God makes mistakes.

Abby, I am not a "mistake," and neither are others like me. I have had tests, and they confirm that this is genetic. In no way do I think that God makes mistakes. God made me this way, and I must deal with it in the way that makes me happiest. Since I have come out, I have been happier than I have ever been, and I plan to finish my transition over the next few years.

Every move I have made on this journey has been considerate of those around me, changing gradually rather than shocking them by completely altering my appearance overnight.

Could you please help me educate my family and others who know so little about what the transgender community goes through? We struggle to lead normal lives and try to be productive in society. We are teachers, lawyers, doctors and office workers. As few as we are, we are not mistakes as my father claims. Still, we face prejudice on a daily basis. We need our families to stand behind us as we make our way through this challenging journey. Please, Abby, help educate people to see that we are just like them -
Transgendered in Chicago

Dear Transgendered:

You are not a mistake. Followed to its logical conclusion, your father's attitude would make the entire medical profession unnecessary. Transsexualism is inborn. Children as young as 3 have insisted that their true gender is not their birth gender. I congratulate you for being honest about who you are, knowing it might be difficult for some people to understand. I also applaud those family members who support you.

The usual gender transition involves a period of psychotherapy to consider all of the ramifications, followed by hormonal therapy, and then living full-time in the new gender for at least a year before seeking sexual reassignment surgery.

This is not an easy process for the transsexual person, nor for the family. Parents often experience many of the same emotions that occur in the grief process - shock, anger, denial, guilt, sadness, and finally acceptance. Learning to use the new name is difficult; new pronouns are even harder. All of this takes time and commitment, but is a necessary part of the process.

Loving parents who want their child to be happy must learn to be accepting. Many transsexuals live very successfully in their new gender, and claim they are truly happy for the first time in their lives. Many families are proud of their "new" sons and daughters and report their relationships have vastly improved since their child's transition.

I would urge any family in this situation to contact PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends Of Lesbians and Gays). They have many resources available for transgendered people and their families. Their mailing address is: PFLAG, 1726 M St., NW, Washington, DC 20036, and their web address is http://www.pflag.org

To respond to Dear Abby with your own story, use this link http://www.uexpress.com/ups/abby/html/askabby.html

The Welcoming Congregation
invites you to a morning presentation
about transgender issues.

Presented by Several Transgendered People

Where: First Unitarian Church, 21600 Shaker Blvd., Shaker Heights, Ohio

When: Saturday, October 14th, 9 am to 12:30 pm

Schedule
9:00 am Continental Breakfast
9:30 am Keynote Speaker
10:30 am - 12:30 pm, The lives and experiences of transgendered people.

Reservations: Please call First Church at (216) 751-2320
Ask for Christine Kozlevear

Questions? Call Lois Davis at (440) 248-5729 All are welcome!

The Transgender Spectrum

By Jamie Lynn

A reception was held on August 13th at Cuppuccino's coffee house to welcome Mary Boenke editor of the book Trans Forming Families and the booklet Our Trans Children. Mary is also the mother of a female to male child who transitioned gender several years ago. Erie was one stop on her tour of this region of our country.

Though attendance was light due in part to the time of year, a total of four Erie Sister members, two spouses, and a friend were there to welcome Mary. I was most impressed how open all were to the discussion about their personal experiences with transgender issues. A dialog of honest opinions were stated. One of the members stated her concern that " transsexuals place themselves on a higher level of the pecking order over cross-dressers." I cannot say that I was not shocked and hurt by her opinion at the time, but I now respect her honesty. It is only by being honest with ourselves and others can Erie Sisters work through such issues as a group.

Transgender people come in all different ages, shapes, colors, sexual orientations, sizes, genetic genders. True, I'm sure some transsexuals do feel superior over cross-dressers. I'm also sure some cross-dressers put down transsexuals. I suggest that we should all refrain from judging others by stereotypes or limited personal experiences. A case in point, when I first reached out to the transsexual community I had a couple of negative experiences with two post operative transsexuals. It took me a while to realize that not all T.S. post operatives were jerks. So please understand that you can carry this across the transgender spectrum. I'm also now more convinced that we are all just different shades of color in a cosmic transgender rainbow. You heard the old joke didn't you? What is the difference between a T.S. and a cross-dresser? - Five years! Just kidding girls, I understand most of you are content with you bodies just as they are. Lets all lighten up.

In closing, I would like to thank Mary Boenke and all in attendance for a informative and enjoyable meeting. Thanks also to Cuppuccinos.

Luv,

Jamie Lynn

New Physical Evidence of Homosexuality

AUSTIN, Tex., July 14 (UPI) - The age-old question of nature or nurture is once again leaning toward nature.

New research released Friday from the University of Texas says that there is new evidence that the brain structures of homosexual individuals - both male and female - are somehow altered during development and respond differently to auditory stimuli than do the brains of heterosexuals.

According to the study, when certain sounds are presented to the ear, a distinctive series of brain waves is produced and the research shows that certain waves differ in their size or timing in homosexuals and heterosexuals.

The researchers gauged their subjects using five separate measures of the auditory brain waves and found them all to be different in the two groups.

Contrary to public opinion that homosexual men are less masculine, the study said that homosexual males actually appear to be more masculine, not to mention better endowed physically -- than their heterosexual counterparts most likely due to increased male hormones circulating in their brains during development.

"A good way to describe the data from the homosexual males is that they appeared to be hyper-masculinized," said Craig Champlin, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders and co-author of the study.

The paper, published in the current issue of the Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (a journal of the ear, nose and throat), said that the answer might lie in different magnitudes and/or timing of male sex hormone exposure in different brain centers.

"It is also possible that the amounts available are the same in heterosexual and non-heterosexual subjects, but that - for whatever reason, some subjects or some brain sites, are hypersensitive to the androgen (testosterone) levels present during some stage(s) in early development," the paper said.

Homosexual orientation may be defined as the sustained erotic attraction to members of one's own gender.

Dennis McFadden, the other author of the study and a UT Austin professor of experimental psychology said, "Our research reveals that it is not just parts of the body that are hyper-masculinized in homosexual males, but the brain as well."

He continued, "Logic suggests that the degree of exposure to androgens - the male sex hormones - is somehow involved in the production of homosexuality, and our auditory results are generally in accord with that idea."

McFadden also said that there was a shift in homosexual women, as well; he said that their brain waves were more similar to males when measuring response to sound. "There was evidence that the auditory evoked potentials of homosexual and bisexual women were shifted in the male direction," he said. "The implication is that some brain structures were masculinized at some time during development."

Other physical characteristics also appeared to become "masculinized" in homosexual females, according to McFadden and Champlin. Prior research by these authors found differences in the inner ears of female homosexuals and bisexuals; they said this aspect of their hearing had been masculinized.

McFadden told United Press International that he and his colleagues had measured otoacoustic emissions, or sounds made by the inner ear, of heterosexuals and homosexual males and females and that the results found "marked differences between the sexes." The females' were more acute.

"The females have more and stronger sound emissions, but homosexual females were shifted toward those of the males; in other words, they were masculinized," he said, adding that there was no difference in this particular study between the homosexual and heterosexual males.

Another physical difference the authors documented had to do with finger length.

In heterosexual females, the pointer finger and the ring finger are about the same length; heterosexual males, on the oter hand, usually possess a shorter pointer than ring finger. However, in homosexual females, their finger lengths mirror males.

"Physiological differences of this sort are highly unlikely to be caused by differences in experience or upbringing," said McFadden, knocking out the "nurture" theory.

Shoring up these arguments, the journal Nature in 1995 published a study that reportedly proved that transsexuals' brains were different than heterosexuals. A study out of the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research found more of a female brain structure in genetically male transsexuals. They said it supported the hypothesis that gender identity develops as a result of an interaction between the developing brain and sex hormones, similarly to the McFadden and Champlin study released today.

While homosexuality has existed in all civilizations of mankind and in the animal kingdom -- and even the courtship preferences of fruit flies have been studied by biologists at Yale University, there is an extreme paucity of information to be found on the subject.

The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction even investigated sexual orientation and handedness. Between 1938 and 1963, they interviewed 6,544 men and classified them as either homosexual or heterosexual. They reported that the results failed to demonstrate a difference, with both groups having rates of non-right-handedness approximately equal to the general population.

Some scientists have gone so far as to question the ethical implications of research on the causes of sexual orientation in the first place.

Most causal theories in the medical literature attribute the expression of sexual orientation to genes that shape the central nervous system development, organization and structure via prenatal circulating hormones, also known as sex steroids; most studies do point to a neurobiological basis of gender identity.

A 1997 study out of the Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Health Care Analysis, however concluded: "We argue that even if scientists could explain how sexual orientation develops, no significant ethical conclusions would follow. Further we suggest that the current emphasis on finding a biological basis for sexual orientation is potentially harmful to lesbians, gay men and other sexual minorities in various ways," although in the same paper -- they also mentioned that it could in some ways be potentially helpful as well.

Interest in sexual orientation is as old as the science of psychology, yet many fundamental issues remain unsolved.

The authors of this newest study stressed that their findings are "average group differences and should not be used to identify the sexual orientation of an individual person."

(C) 2000 UPI All Rights Reserved.

Probing The Signal Switch To Gender

By John Mangels, Science Writer, The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cleveland, OH Aug 6, 2000 -- Eat lots of red meat and make love under a quarter moon if you want to conceive a boy. If you’re hoping to have a girl, load up on chocolate and have sex on even-numbered days.

Folklore makes determining a baby’s gender sound like just a matter of minding your diet and the calendar. But nature doesn’t follow the simple script of old wives’ tales. The process leading to maleness or femaleness is a complex chain of events, a bewildering mesh of genetic pathways on which each organism, from bugs to human beings, seems to follow a slightly different route.

Now, a group of researchers led by Dr. Michael Weiss of Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine has described the workings of a kind of genetic traffic signal that creatures as diverse as fruit flies, roundworms and humans appear to have in common.

If the gene-produced signal is operating properly, the gender-setting message gets to its destination and correctly equipped and functioning boys and girls result. If the signal malfunctions, it can cause sexual-identity havoc in flies and worms, and possibly male-to-female sex reversal in humans.

At some point in the distant past, the signal may have functioned as a primary gender-determining switch shared by many types of animals, starting a cascade of other gene-driven changes in the developing embryo that led to a male or female.

Now, after millions of years of evolutionary change, flies, humans and worms have developed their own way of determining an offspring’s sex. But the signal remains embedded in these otherwise diverse creatures’ genetic software. It no longer initiates things in the sex-determining process, but it still appears to exert a powerful sway on the outcome, by turning on or off other male or female genes.

If future research finds evidence of the new signal in many more species, it would be a more ancient determinant of maleness than testosterone, Weiss said.

The researchers don’t intend to use their knowledge of the signal to try to tinker with sex selection; the process is far too complicated for that. But they do hope their study, published July 19 in the medical journal Genes and Development, will help other scientists learn more about how genes get switched on and off, and how the products of those genes build a complete organism and influence how it works.

"The key to treating diseases in the future will be to manipulate the on and off switches for genes," said Weiss, who heads CWRU’s biochemistry department. The work also might help researchers better understand the role genes play in complex behaviors, he said, such as sexual orientation.

Genes are the tiny bits of inherited chemical material that pass along the instructions for life. They make proteins, which do all sorts of vital tasks, from switching on related genes that must work together in big jobs; to building body structures like bones and organs; to taking part in chemical reactions. Genes are packaged by the hundreds or thousands within containers called chromosomes. The number of chromosomes varies by organism. Humans have 46, half from each parent.

An offspring’s gender depends on the combination of sex chromosomes (and their onboard genes) it gets from its parents. In humans, two X chromosomes dictate a girl; an XY pairing makes a boy. Human embryos automatically start developing as females and have to be told to do otherwise. Femaleness is the biological equivalent of a default setting on a computer; it takes the genes on the Y chromosome to alter the gender program, killing or redirecting tissue that has already started down the female development path.

Researchers have known that a single gene on the human Y chromosome is the master male switch that starts the male-forming assembly line. It churns out a protein that activates another gene, which in turn blocks the construction of female genitals. This master gene, called TDF (for testis determining factor), also signals a group of cells to start making testosterone, the powerful male hormone that bathes the embryo’s cells and guides the rest of its development to manhood.

If the master gene isn’t there - and in an organism that’s destined to be a female, it wouldn’t be, since it is only carried on the Y chromosome - the embryo begins to form female organs and characteristics.

But researchers recently have found that other genes that aren’t even on the sex chromosomes are crucial to whether maleness or femaleness is properly carried out. One such "downstream" gene in humans is on the tip of gene-packed Chromosome 9. If this gene, called DMRT, is faulty, a child born with normal XY (male) sex chromosomes will appear female, but will be sterile due to a lack of a working ovary or testes and will be vulnerable to cancer of the reproductive organs. The effect on a child with XX (female) sex chromosomes isn’t known.

Looking at fly gene Common fruit flies and tiny roundworms, whose genetic makeup is much like that of humans, have a similarly crucial "downstream" gene that can affect sex development. In fruit flies, that gene is called doublesex for its ability to function differently in males and females.

When the doublesex gene is working properly in flies, it makes a protein that turns on appropriate groups of male-developing genes and turns off female ones, or vice versa. Some scientists have found that the male doublesex fly gene, when plugged into the DNA of a sexually neutral roundworm, triggers the worm to become male.

That suggests there’s a similar gender-control mechanism - or traffic signal - at work in creatures that evolved quite differently, perhaps a remnant of their common, simple ancestors. "This one probably predates the dinosaurs," Weiss said. Nature likely later added more gene switches "upstream" in the sex-selection process, he said, customizing it so that each organism, whether worm, fly or human, could reproduce in ways that gave it the best chance to survive.

Weiss and fellow researchers at CWRU, the University of Chicago and Gryphon Sciences, a San Francisco biotech company, studied the way the doublesex fly gene is able to switch on other genes. They looked at the protein the doublesex gene makes and created a three-dimensional computer image of its chemical structure.

They found a unique probing "tail" on the protein that can read other genes’ DNA and find the right place to attach itself, docking like a spaceship. The port is a tight fit, and other proteins are too big to connect there. Once the protein is attached, the gene knows to go to work creating a male organism.

Elizabeth Birch Addresses The Democratic National Convention

I am honored to speak here as a gay American. Tonight, we celebrate the American family. But we know that America's family is not yet whole.

For the color of his skin, James Byrd Jr. was dragged behind a truck in Jasper, Texas, until his body was shattered on a drainage ditch. Because of her faith, 14 year old Kristi Beckel was gunned down as she worshiped in a Texas Baptist church; Because Matthew Shepard was gay, he was driven into the countryside on a freezing Wyoming night, beaten and hung on a fence to die. His gentle voice still asks why, as do the families who have paid for our national lesson with their children's lives.

Tonight, we dedicate ourselves to healing the fractures -- soothing the wounds -- to making our American family truly whole. It is now well settled that Democrats are capable of strong and disciplined standards of governance for our economy, domestic and foreign affairs. But true leadership also requires a muscled heart for equality. Wise leadership never takes refuge in silence.

I speak here tonight with the parents and political leaders whose action or apathy will determine the fullness of the American family. To parents -- some of whom have left their gay children at the margins of family life and out of a vision for America, I say this: I want you to know that your gay children are gifted and strong. All are heroic in the way they have conquered barriers to their own self-respect. Many have suffered cruelty or violence. Some serve their communities with leadership and grace. Many are rich in faith, and have a deep love for this nation and democracy. Tens of thousands have served with distinction in the armed forces. Many have lost their lives. Until this administration, many battled AIDS virtually alone in the face of a stony, silent government. Many have lost their jobs. All were created by God. And you have a right to be proud of each and every one of them.

I am proud to know the good heart of Al Gore. He has led this nation with wisdom and courage. His vision embraces every child and every family, including my family. I cannot imagine a better leader for our small twins than the next President of the United States, Al Gore.

The other party's vision for America excludes as many as it includes. To be blunt, the Republican platform remains shameful. Healing America's family requires resolve, not simply a refrain.

I do not believe that the Republican ticket is comprised of hateful men. But they are not wise men. They practice silent apathy in the face of hatred, and call it leadership. They forego invective but embrace indifference, and call it compassion. Deep within their hearts, they know this to be true: that not a single gay American seeks special rights or favored treatment.

We seek simple equality -- the equal right to work, raise a family, serve our country in every way and be free from the shackles of brutality and hate. Equality is a special right -- a right so special that for two-and-a-quarter centuries it has motivated men and women to dream and to die and to animate the heart of America itself.

Al Gore and Joe Lieberman have taken strong, courageous, positions on behalf of equality. The Democratic platform they support is a work of art in democracy -- unambiguously supporting inclusion for every American. They have never run for cover of silence. Like most Americans, they understand that:

As long as a young man can be left on a fence to die, our American family is fractured;

As long as gay parents live in fear that their children might be taken from them, our family is torn;

As long as hardworking Americans can be fired in 30 states simply for being gay, our family is not whole;

As long as gay people are barred from serving openly and with dignity in the armed forces of the United States, our family is not just;

As long as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth are at risk for suicide;

... until there is a cure for AIDS for men, women and children here and around the world ...

... then the American family we celebrate tonight is not yet healed.

It is not enough to love your own child. Leaders must love all children and safeguard the family called America. This is what Al Gore knows. It is what George Bush has yet to learn. We don't have a single child to spare -- and we don't have time for George Bush to learn on the job.

I do not know how our young twins will one day judge my partner Hilary and me as parents, or as people. Our hope and prayer is that we will measure up in the way Dr. Martin Luther King asked people to judge themselves. He said: "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Let us not follow the silence of George Bush. Let us follow a voice of courage and wisdom, and let us elect Al Gore President of the United States.

Democrats "Come Out" As Inclusive

Below are two excepts from the Democratic Party Platform for the 2000 election. The full text of the Platform can be viewed at www.dems2000.com/AboutTheConvention/03_partyplat.html

Hate Crimes. The very purpose of hate crimes is to dehumanize and stigmatize — not only to wound the victim, but also to distort the American conscience. Every crime is a danger to Americans’ lives and liberty. Hate crimes are more than assaults on people, they are assaults on the very idea of America. They should be punished with extra force. Protections should include hate violence based on gender, disability or sexual orientation. And the Republican Congress should stop standing in the way of this pro-civil rights, anti-crime legislation.

Al Gore and the Democratic Party know that much remains to be done. We must remember we do not have an American to waste. We continue to lead the fight to end discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, age, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation. The Democratic Party has always supported the Equal Rights Amendment and will continue to do so, and we are committed to ensuring full equality for women and to vigorously enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act. We support continuation of the White House initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Because every American counts, we will continue to work toward a census that counts every American. We support continued efforts, like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to end workplace discrimination against gay men and lesbians. We support the full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of the nation. This would include an equitable alignment of benefits. We recognize the importance of new battles against forms of discrimination and disadvantage that stand as barriers to communities and families, such as environmental injustices and predatory lending practices. And we will fight for full funding and full staffing of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other civil rights enforcement agencies so they can do their job of ensuring that America lives up to its creed of equal rights and equal opportunity for all.

There's Something About Mary
Party, Parents Fumble With Subject of Cheney's Lesbian Daughter

By Greg Morago, Hartford Courant

August 3, 2000 - There's something about Mary Cheney. And it has unsettled the carefully orchestrated Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, where her father, Dick Cheney, accepted the GOP's nomination for vice president Wednesday night. And it has the potential to become a political hot potato for the Bush campaign even after the convention wraps Thursday night.

What about Mary? She's a lesbian.

While that might not be earth-shattering in and of itself, it has thrown a bit of a monkey wrench into a week of shrewd political calculation in which the Republican Party has promised a government that serves all the people.

But even people like Dick Cheney's daughter? The issue of Mary Cheney's homosexuality is clearly not something the family-values-loving GOP strategists took into account when planning the convention.

On Sunday, ABC's Cokie Roberts asked Lynne Cheney (wife of Dick, mother of Mary) about Mary's sexual orientation, prompting a sharp reply. "You have a daughter who has now declared that she is openly gay," Roberts said as she prepared to pose a question to Lynne Cheney.

Lynne Cheney responded: "Mary has never declared such a thing. I would like to say that I'm appalled at the media interest in one of my daughters. I have two wonderful daughters. I love them very much. They are bright. They are hard-working. They are decent. And I simply am not going to talk about their personal lives. And I'm surprised, Cokie, that even you would want to bring it up on this program."

Gay leaders saw Lynne Cheney's remarks as a denial of her daughter's homosexuality. And, further, that it was something the Cheney family was not proud of.

"I think that it was very clear, as it appeared to me, that she wasn't proud of the fact that her daughter is a lesbian," said David H. Smith, communications director for the Human Rights Campaign. "Being appalled by the media raising the question is a bit disingenuous."

For homosexuals, the remarks served to underscore the anti-gay bias in the Republican Party's platform, as espoused by George W. Bush. "The real story is that George W. Bush has staked out some very anti-gay positions," Smith said. "The Bush-Cheney campaign is trying to keep this issue contained to the best of their ability during the convention. They're trying to keep it as quiet and contained as possible so it doesn't disrupt their 'Kumbaya'/'we love everyone'/made-for-TV movie."

Indeed, gay issues haven't been a top priority at the convention. Still, while Republicans are quick to point out that the party is more inclusive and diverse and more representative of America than ever before, homosexuals and gay-rights issues are a glaring minority at the convention and within the party platform.

In Philadelphia, 18 of the 2,066 delegates are openly gay. There were two openly gay delegates in 1992. This convention may be remembered as the first time an openly gay congressman, Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona, was a speaker. A milestone, perhaps, but not for a discussion of homosexual civil rights: Kolbe spoke Tuesday night about trade issues.

Kolbe, however, was asked Tuesday about Lynne Cheney's remarks, to which he replied that the Cheney family simply needs "to acknowledge the matter and move on."

That's not always easy, especially for a family in the public spotlight. "I'm trying to put myself in Lynne Cheney's shoes," said Peg Gage, New England regional director of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), who has a lesbian daughter. "These are people who have made a lot of money and done well. They have a close family -- family values and all those things the Republicans talk about. Why can't they take the next step?"

Gage, of Exeter, N.H., is a Republican, too. "I have always been a moderate Republican," she said. "I'm in (an organization) now that is far more liberal than I am. But I believe strongly in civil rights for my lesbian daughter."

Gage said the Cheney family, especially mother Lynne, would benefit from a PFLAG meeting. "I want to write her a letter and say, 'Lynne, join your first PFLAG chapter, and you will learn to accept and be happier with your situation,'" Gage said. "We give support to people just like Lynne Cheney and her husband."

The Cheney family is asking for privacy on this issue. Activist Shawn M. Lang said while the Cheney family may want to keep Mary Cheney's orientation a private family issue, that is simply not practical given the media scrutiny associated with the campaign. "When you're a public figure, your life is public," said Lang, special-projects coordinator for the Connecticut AIDS Residence Coalition. "For better or worse, that is the reality."

Lang said the Cheneys should have been better prepared to answer questions about Mary. "It was bound to come out," she said. "And you should be ready for it and have an appropriate response. Obviously she (Lynne Cheney) did not have an appropriate response, in my opinion."

What about Mary? She is a 31-year-old professional woman who shares a suburban Denver home with her girlfriend, Heather. Until May, she was the lesbian/gay corporate relations manager for Coors Brewing Co., charged with rebuilding relations between the company, which at one time was notoriously anti-gay, and the gay and lesbian community. She has been described as extremely close to her father and fiercely loyal to her family.

She also is becoming active in her father's vice-presidential bid. According to a report in Salon.com, she has formally postponed graduate school to take a leading role in her father's campaign. On Tuesday, she and her older sister, Elizabeth, were in their father's box at the convention. Whether Mary Cheney's partner will join her on the campaign trail remains to be seen.

While Mary Cheney has never held a news conference to discuss her orientation, she has been considered "out" by the gay and lesbian community for some time. Some speculate that her very presence in Dick Cheney's campaign can only help advance the acceptance of gay issues within the Republican Party.

"All eyes will be on (the Cheneys)," Smith said. "It does have the potential to focus attention to George Bush's anti-gay policies."

Ohio Lottery Drops Dr. Laura

For those interested, the heat about "Dr. Laura" appears to have continued unabated and is having an effect. In the latest news, on August 2nd the Ohio State Lottery dumped Dr. Laura In response to protests and complaints from Cincinnati Stop Dr. Laura, the Ohio State Lottery told the city's StopDrLaura.com chapter Wednesday that the lottery would no longer air commercials on Laura Schlessinger's radio program in that city. "The Dr. Laura show is a red flag program on WKRC that we do not advertise on," said Sandy Lesko-Mounts, head of Media Relations for the lottery.

Nationally, Sears confirmed to StopDrLaura.com today that it "will no longer advertiser (sic) on the Dr. Laura show as a result of recent comments." Sears' Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Associates (GLAS) representative Jeff Hamm told StopDrLaura.com in an interview this morning that the retail giant has severed its ties to Laura Schlessinger as a result of her anti-gay rhetoric.

Sponsors Who Have Dropped Dr. Laura Include:

• Procter & Gamble
• Ohio State Lottery
• Sears
• Skytel
• Geico Insurance
• Xerox
• ToysRUs
• BoxLot
• United Airlines (banned Laura from advertising)
• AT&T
• American Express,
• Kraft
• Amica Insurance
• TCF Bank

According to Laura's parents station she's lost over 10% of her advertising revenue. Local radio sponsors continue to be targeted as well.

This is appearing to have an effect on her relationship with Paramount who is not pleased with the direction she wants the show to go. She was a no-show at her own pre-production meeting although she did show for the first taping of the show. Rumors are that the honeymoon between Laura and Paramount is over.

Local Laura Activism Version 2.0 also marks the rollout of GLAAD's Local Laura Monitoring Team, a nationwide network of volunteers who will be monitoring Schlessinger's TV show on a daily basis and reporting to GLAAD any anti-gay rhetoric by the host or her guests. In turn, GLAAD will be issuing Laura Watch, an e-mail and Web alert containing verbatim transcripts from the TV show and ways for people to respond.

"As Schlessinger's TV debut approaches, our message to stations and advertisers will be loud and clear: we will be watching," said Cathy Renna, GLAAD's Director of Regional Media and Community Relations, "This community is deeply committed to ensuring that stations airing this show keep their promises. Many have assured us they will screen the program and remove any defamatory or inaccurate material, and we will be watching and holding them accountable."

"Local Laura Activism Version 2.0: Monitor & Response" can be accessed at GLAAD Online (www.glaad.org).

Regional Dr. Laura AD Campaign

GLAAD's second initiative is phase two of an ad campaign directed at media buyers who may consider purchasing "Dr. Laura." Paid for through joint ventures between GLAAD and community groups from across the country - the ads are running in four major regional business publications: the "Boston Business Journal," the "Dallas Business Journal," the "Atlanta Business Chronicle," and the "Washington Business Journal."

The ad, previously seen in "The New York Times," the "Los Angeles Times," "Advertising Age," "Adweek" and "Broadcasting and Cable," reprints Schlessinger's angry denouncements of lesbians and gay men, single mothers, working mothers and non-traditional families. The ad runs today in Boston and next Friday (18) in Atlanta, Boston and Washington, D.C.

"GLAAD has been honored to work with community activists across the country to combat Schlessinger's rhetoric and misinformation about lesbians and gay men," Renna said. "We have chosen Boston, Dallas, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. as key cities on which to build regional momentum as we continue the work of educating advertisers about the impact of Schlessinger's words. Many companies still do not know how alienating Schlessinger's entertainment enterprises have become, and they should be able to make informed decisions about associating their brand names with her abusive, divisive messages."

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

A Station Manager Replies

Fm: Sandy Benton
To: J & J
Date: Friday, August 25, 2000 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: Dr. Laura

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone belived just like us..then we wouldn;t have to worry about freedom of speech because all speech would reflect our feelings. If everyone believed as we did then we wouldn't have to worry about a show on free over the air television because those shows would express our opinions and would coincide with our beliefs. I don't care for Doctor Laura myself, in fact when I use to hear her on the radio I would find myself yelling at the radio. I didn't choose the Dr. because I like her...I choose her because I believe there are alot of people who do like her here in Erie. What is most interesting to me in the case of Dr. Laura is how many people who would Lay down their lives for the freedoms of Democracy and yet would so easily deny the right to see this show to so many. It is always amazing when I encounter someone who would be insulted if anyone told them they could see or not see the programs of their choice but feel they are so superior that they can make that choice for others. By the way, Dr. Laura has agreed to sidestep homosexuality on her TV program. So perhaps you feel her show should be cancelled because she holds incorrect "views" on the issue...I find that frighting. Thankfully we live in America where we can determine for ourselves..what we want to watch. I am not willing to turn that right over to you. Your letter can be found in our public file, which is located in our main studio at 3514 State Street, Erie, Pa. 16505. I look forward to hearing from you again, after the show begins, so that this discussion will be about her show as it is instead of what we think her show will be.
regards, S. Benton-

The following corporations deserve your support for their commitments to the GBLT community.

AT&T
American Airlines
American Express
Anheuser Busch
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
Coors Beer
Disney Corporation
IBM
Kodak
Levi Strauss
Miller Beer
NAYA Spring Water
Neiman Marcus
Starbucks Coffee
Subaru
Toyota

SSAFE News

SSAFE needs volunteers to staff a table at the Lakewood community festival on September 9.

There’s still time to attend new speaker training for SSAFE and The Speakers Bureau. You can attend either workshop on Saturday 9/16 or 9/23, 9:30-4:30 at The Center. Call to register.

SSAFE meets Eliot Ness at the Cleveland Playhouse on Sunday, November 5.Join us for a special fund-raising program that includes a noon hors d’ouerve reception followed by a matinee performance of the new musical "Eliot Ness in Cleveland". This is the new musical about the infamous unsolved torso murders. The reception will also feature Cleveland crime writer John Stark Bellamy II who will be on hand for a book signing. The cost for reception & play is $35.00, which is $2.00 less than the box-office price of the play alone. Call to reserve your seats today!

SSAFE is looking for an Intern to provide clerical and program support. This is a paid position.

PFLAG's October Safe Schools campaign, "From Our House to the School House: A Recipe for Safe Schools," is moving into high gear and your chapter should be receiving the first packet of materials this week with the affiliate mailing. Please let your field manager know if you have not received the campaign packet and if you have any questions on the materials. We're excited to be partnering with our chapters in educating our communities about the needs of GLBT students.

New Tool for Transgender Advocacy Handbook

The Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) today released the nation's first comprehensive organizing manual designed to educate policy makers about transgender issues and to provide model strategies for activists seeking an end to discrimination against transgendered people. The publication, "Transgender Equality: A Handbook for Activists and Policymakers," reviews some 25 years of transgender advocacy and was co-authored by national leaders in transgender activism: City University of New York Associate Professor Paisley Currah and NCLR Senior Staff Attorney Shannon Minter, with an introduction by Jamison Green, past president of FTM International and current board chair of Gender Education and Advocacy, Inc.

Perhaps the most significant contribution of the book is its demonstration of how the fear that including transgendered people "will kill the bill" is almost always exaggerated and based far more on unfounded speculation than on a realistic assessment of what is possible. In fact, anti-discrimination laws that include "gender identity" have begun to blossom nationwide: from 4 cities with nondiscrimination laws that cover transgendered people in 1990 to 4 states, 3 counties, and at least 20 additional cities in 2000.

The handbook is available free of charge from NGLTF online in the Library + Publications section at http://www.ngltf.org or for $10 by ordering online or calling (202) 332-6483, ext. 3205.

SSAFE and TransFamily

SSAFE Coalition has voted to accept TransFamily as one of the collaborative groups. Our name will now appear on all SSAFE brochures along with GLSEN, PFLAG, and Gay Lesbian Center. We need many of you to volunteer to help with their projects. Please call the center (216-522-1999) and Judy Maruszan, identify yourself as a member of TransFamily, and ask what you can do to help. Their biggest project is the annual fund raiser, which is held in either March or April (at the Cleveland International Film Festival). Let's have many of our members available to help with the project. In the fall, there will be a need for many of our members to speak at area schools. Please let the center know if you will be available.

Trans information is being required more often at some of the SSAFE seminars. It is really important to have a transperson represented at some of these programs. Please help schools better understand how to help trans youth and take part in these programs!

Call The Center for the location and date for the next SSAFE meeting. And, for more information on any of the above events, please contact The Center at 216-522-1999.

Community Calendar

Courtesy of The Center

September

September 3 Dancin' in the Streets Akron, theme of third annual event is "A Brand New Day" proceeds to benefit Violet's Cupboard HIV/AIDS food bank, $7 donation, 18 and over only, 1pm Canal Street behind the Interbelt for more info call Jeff 330-253-5700

September 4 Labor Day

September 7 TransFamily Of Cleveland, meeting at our usual location, 6:30 pm

September 9 Ohio Lesbian Festival 12th annual day of sports, food, music, merchants, and entertainment featuring Ferron, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Jamie Anderson, Quartetto di Lesbos, Teresa Trull and Barbara Higbie, 11am-11pm Froniter Ranch near Kirkersvillle, 20 miles east of Columbus off I-70. For tickets call 614-267-3953

September 10 NOCI Picnic

September 14 It's Time, Ohio! at 7:30 at the Denny's at the Mansfield exit (exit 169 / route 13) off I-71, between Cleveland and Columbus.

September 17 Cleveland AIDS Walk! benefits area HIV and AIDS services, registration and team photos 9am and step off at 11am Edgewater Park. 216-621-0766 ext. 355

September 17 NOCI "We are family Festival", 22nd annual benefit for Northern Ohio Coalition Inc. funding of gay and AIDS programs in a new location this year, 11am to dark, German-American Cultural Center 7836 York Rd in Parma. For more info call 216-252-7205

September 22 Pride Night at Kings Island 5pm $34.50 advance, $39.50 at gate tickets available at Cincinnati and Cleveland Community Centers and Stonewall Columbus; 513-591-0200 or http://glbtcentercincinnati.com

September 22-24 Fall Fling 2000 presented by Tiffany Club Of New England, Provincetown, Massachusetts

September 24-26 Lavender Languages VII American University, Washington D.C.

September 26 - October 1 Southern Comfort Conference, Atlanta, GA.

September 30 Rosh Hashanah

October

October 5 TransFamily Of Cleveland, meeting at our usual location, 6:30 pm

October 5-8 The 4th International Congress On Crossdressing, Sex, and Gender presented by The Renaissance Transgender Association, Philadelphia, PA.

October 9 Columbus Day

October 9 Yom Kippur

October 12 It's Time, Ohio! at 7:30 at the Denny's at the Mansfield exit (exit 169 / route 13) off I-71, between Cleveland and Columbus.

October 12-15 Fall Harvest 2000 sponsored by Mid America Gender Group Information Exchange, St. Louis, MO

October 13-15 Out in Akron, annual Akron Pride event at the Highland Theatre, most events will be free.

October 14 Transgender Issues at 9:00 am, First Unitarian Church, Shaker Hts. Call (216) 751-2320 for reservations.

October 15-22 The 26th Annual Fantasia Fair, Providencetown, Mass

October 29 End Of Daylight Savings Time for 2000

October 31 Halloween

November

November 2 TransFamily Of Cleveland, meeting at our usual location, 6:30 pm

November 5 SSAFE Night Out at the Playhouse for "Elliot Ness in Cleveland" a new musical about the gruesome torso murders. Reception and book signing before the show with John Stark Bellamy II. Proceeds will benefit the SSAFE program. Call 216-651-5428 to reserve tickets.

November 7 Election Day

November 9 It's Time, Ohio! at 7:30 at the Denny's at the Mansfield exit (exit 169 / route 13) off I-71, between Cleveland and Columbus.

November 11 Veteran's Day

November 23 Thanksgiving

December

December 7 TransFamily Of Cleveland, meeting at our usual location, 6:30 pm

December 14 It's Time, Ohio! at 7:30 at the Denny's at the Mansfield exit (exit 169 / route 13) off I-71, between Cleveland and Columbus.

December 21 Hanukkah

December 25 Christmas

December 31 New Year's Eve

The Future Of The Queer Past

September 14 - 17, 2000

The University Of Chicago

THE FUTURE OF THE QUEER PAST, the largest lesbian, gay, and transgender history conference ever held, will take place at the University of Chicago on Thursday-Sunday, September 14-17, 2000. With 200 historians from around the world speaking on 50 panels, plus films, exhibits, and performances by Brian Freeman and Holly Hughes, this four-day conference promises a panoramic view of the queer past and offers participants a rare chance to meet one another, assess the field's strengths and weaknesses, and explore new directions for its future. Its transnational thematic organization is designed to compare historical developments across national boundaries and to explore the connections among them. All are welcome to attend.

The conference's fifty panels examine such historical issues as:

• why both fascist France and Stalinist Russia attacked homosexuals in the 1930s and 40s;
• why more homosexuals than communists were forced out of the State Department in the McCarthy years;
• how the sensibility and meanings of male friendship have changed since the eleventh century;
• the impact of the American military occupation on gay life in postwar Germany and Japan;
• transgender saints and sinners in the colonial Spanish Empire;
• rural women's relationships in 1950s Finland;
• black gay life on Chicago's South Side;
• homosexual scandals in the postwar media;
• the politics of homosexuality and nationalism in Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Germany, Israel, China, and Taiwan;
• the formation of queer Latino communities in San Francisco;
• the lesbian and gay movements in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and the United States;
• the "pansy craze" in Prohibition-era Chicago and New York;
• the impact of globalization on Thai sexual/gender identities;
• homosexual victims in the memory of the Holocaust;
• sodomy regulation in colonial Massachusetts and modern Sweden;
• black nationalism and homosexuality;
• early transgender organizing;
• the campaign for same-sex marriage rights;
• the creation of an officially-designated gay neighborhood in Chicago;
• the role of women's softball teams and music festivals in lesbian culture and politics;
• Asian American gay male organizing before AIDS;
• the Navy's regulation of homosexuality in the early twentieth century;
• the emergence of gay and lesbian families.

Join Julie Abraham, Henning Bech, Emilio Bejel, Allan Berube, Nan Boyd, Alan Bray, George Chauncey, Anna Clark, Ann Cvetkovich, John D'Emilio, Carolyn Dinshaw, Lisa Duggan, James Green, Ramon Gutierrez, Judith Halberstam, David Halperin, Alice Y. Hom, John Howard, Jonathan Ned Katz, Elizabeth Kennedy, Gary Kinsman, Karma Lochrie, Martin Manalansan, Steven Maynard, Jeffrey Merrick, Joanne Meyerowitz, Esther Newton, Geeta Patel, Becki Ross, Nayan Shah, Michael Sherry, Alan Sinfield, Siobhan Somerville, James Steakley, Marc Stein, Susan Stryker, Jennifer Terry, Valerie Traub, Randolph Trumbach, Martha Vicinus, Kath Weston and many more for this groundbreaking event.

For information on the conference program, registration fees and procedures, and housing arrangements, visit our website: humanities.uchicago.edu/cgs/queerpast.html or call 773-834-4509.

Organized by the Lesbian and Gay Studies Project of the Center for Gender Studies and the Department of History of the University of Chicago, with the assistance of an external advisory committee.

The Lesbian and Gay Studies Project History Conference, The University of Chicago 5835 S. Kimbark, Chicago IL 60637, USA 773.834-4509

Southern Comfort

Tuesday, September 26 - Sunday, October 1, 2000

at the Sheraton Buckhead Hotel, Atlanta
and
The Sheraton Four Points
3387 Lenox Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30326

For reservations call the Atlanta Sheraton Buckhead directly at either (800) 241-8260 or (404) 261-9250 between the hours of 9am to 6pm Monday through Friday.

Southern Comfort is held in the Sheraton Buckhead hotel, where we have an incredibly positive and comfortable working relationship with the hotel staff, and the hotel is filled (!) with transfolk, friends, family, and supporters for nearly a week. We offer seminars on health, spirituality, legal issues, sexuality, relationships, coming out, hormones/SRS, and more topics than I can list. There are also chaperoned bus trips to various day outings, such as a trip to the World of Coke, a huge talent show on Friday night, and our banquet on Saturday night. There are various parties, receptions, and get-togethers for partners, FTM's, and other groups throughout the week. We hire our own buses to take attendees to & from designated trans-friendly local nightclubs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Our schedule of SCC presenters and seminars usually goes up in the summer, but here’s a partial list of some of the folks who'll be offering seminars and workshops at the 2000 conference. Check back for an update, and watch for our complete program schedule as we get closer to conference time!

Mariette Pathy Allen
Pierre Brassard, MD
Jim Bridges
Michael Brownstein, MD
Dianna Ciccotello
Sandra Cole
Jason Cromwell
Andrea Daniels
Jon Davis of Transformations
Kenneth Dollarhide
Nicolas Economides, MD
Fred Ettner, MD
Randi Ettner
Sarah Fox
Yosenio Lewis
Miss Meryl
Douglas Ousterhout, MD
Minnie Bruce Pratt
Gwendolyn Ann Smith

For more information and online registration, see the official Southern Comfort website at www.sccatl.org.

Feeling Creative??

Hey folks, we need some input. This family newsletter is for the whole group. Please share! Turn in articles and ideas as soon as possible so that they may be included in the next newsletter. Also, don’t forget to inform us of the date, time and place of upcoming events.

If you have any ideas, articles, poems, etc. for the next newsletter, please get them to Karen or Cindy at the next meeting, or calling (216) 691-HELP (4357) or e-mail Karen at karen_gross@transfamily.org or Cindy at cindy.scott@transfamily.org

Promoting Awareness

TransFamily of Cleveland was founded to provide support and education for transgender persons, their families, friends and significant others. We hope to form an outreach group to promote awareness of transgender persons and their issues through PFLAG and to bring awareness to our school systems, through their principals and counselors, by offering literature, speakers, consultation and support.

Notice

Organizations, health care providers, gender clinics, etc. If you have a web site or e-mail address and would like to have us put a link to you on our web site, please contact Cindy Scott at cindy.scott@transfamily.org

TransFamily is provided as a service of Pro-Motion Internet Design a division of Pro-Motion Video and Global Graphics Internet Design, . Website design ©® by Rick Cordaro for Global Graphics Internet Design. Original content and design © copyright TransFamily, all rights reserved.