Over the last fourteen years at least twelve different people, at one time or another (even if it was only for a meeting or two) has sat in the chair at the front of the room and presided over an Alpha Omega meeting. I have been honored to be one of them.

There is a lot of responsibility that goes along with sitting in that chair at the front of the room, and that is a duty that I take very seriously. But no matter what business may be needed to be taken care of at a meeting, or whatever projects the group may be working on, there is one thing above all that I try to do. I do the best I can, so that when the meeting is over and done, and everyone is on their way home, that they can think about the evening and say to themselves that they had a good time, and that they were glad they had been at the meeting.

That, to me, is the greatest challenge as a leader; and in the long run what makes all the work and effort worth it, when I feel that has happened. I try always to talk with everyone at a meeting, and to listen to them and their comments. Many good ideas come about from casual conversation. I try to keep humor an integral part of meetings, even the old, boring business part of a gathering. Questions are asked by me to try and stimulate thoughts and interaction of all members. I try to give everyone a smile and a hug, because I want them to know just how much I care they are at our meetings.

In other words, I guess you could say, that I see a big part of my role as a leader, is to be the best darn "cheerleader" for Alpha Omega that I can be. Maybe that sounds silly. And maybe it is. But it is a part of me and who I am. Helping someone coming to their first meeting to realize that as a part of Alpha Omega that they are not, and never will be or feel alone again, is vital to me. And, as I have said before, and will always say, I want everyone at a meeting to feel that they are a part of a loving, caring, family.

Nothing Alpha Omega ever does is more important than helping every person whose life we touch to know that they are special to us. And whether these persons are cross dressers, spouses, family members, guests, or speakers doesn’t matter. Everyone is special. And I want them to feel that, and take that to their heart. That is a passion that drives me. It is a big part of the reasons I have been willing to accept the privilege of sitting in that chair at the front of the room, and maybe why others have done it, too.

I hope each of you has that same passion in your hearts, and will join with me in a cheer for the Alpha Omega Society family.

Respectfully Submitted,

Gloria Sue Fenton, Cheerleader

The meeting was called to order by Chair Person, Gloria Fenton. In attendance were: Gloria and Kathleen, Abigail and Jean, Abby and Sherry, Deb and Elaine, Monica, Penny, Laura, Mary Lee, Elaine, Diane Frank, Diane Brennan, Sheila, and Lori. This is the first official meeting of the Alpha Omega Society. Gloria formally introduced new people: Monica, her first meeting; Penny, her second meeting. Abigail introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Sister Bernadette, and shared some background with us.

Members were reminded to see Diane Brennan to pay meeting fees. The officers have determined that meeting fees for members will be $12.00 for singles and $20.00 for couples. This remains unchanged from the past several years. Annual dues for regular members will be $36.00 for singles, and $48.00 for couples. In establishing annual dues, the expected expenses the group will incur were taken into account. When records were turned over to the new treasurer, it was discovered that our liability insurance had elapsed due to non-payment. We are working to re-establish liability insurance as quickly as possible. The insurance not only provides protection for the group, but is required by the church. We estimate the cost will be $150 to $200 per year. Other expenses which need to be covered by dues are the phone line, the web page. There are also expenses for rent, speaker fees, and food and stock items.

Gloria proposed that we return to a fiscal year from April through March. It was also proposed that with the fiscal year change, we continue the current slate of officers, rather than be faced with an immediate election. Laura moved we accept these proposals, and Diane Frank seconded. A vote by show of hands carried the proposals.

Prior to the next meeting there will be a work session scheduled to work on the Vision and Mission statement as well as policies and procedures. (The session will be April 6, 1 p.m., potluck at Diane Frank’s)

Diane Frank reviewed meeting fees for other than regular members. Non-member meeting fees would be $18 for a single and $30 for a couple. New attendees would pay the higher meeting fees, but be given credit for two meetings (the amount above regular meeting fees) towards their annual dues if they decide to become Alpha Omega Society members. A new single member taking credit for two meetings would pay dues of $24. We are also looking at a subscription member fee of $12.00 for someone who wishes to receive the newsletter by mail. In addition, we are looking at a professional member category.

A motion was made for voting on the meeting fees and dues. Deb moved, Abby seconded. Motion was carried.

A motion was made as a vote of confidence for officers to focus on defining rules by which we keep the groups focus on heterosexual crossdresser and those near them, while not restricting our membership as TriEss does. Such rules would require the group to vote on having meeting topics related to sexuality and transsexuality. These kinds of policies would create a check and balance allowing adults to make their own choices, while slowing done the kinds of leadership driven mission changes that have been observed in many other groups. Editorial and web-site policy are expected to coordinate with the meeting topic policy. Abby moved, Kathleen seconded. The motion was carried.

"Mama Ducks" were assigned to new attendees: Gloria for Penny, Abby for Monica, and Diane Frank for Elaine.

Other old business: Lori discussed the bill for the phone line which had not been reimbursed for several months. She has bills totaling $119.00. She will forgive the old bills, and start fresh with the January bills. Reimbursement for the phone line will be kept current.

All chapter information is on the web site. Diane Frank will direct members how to get to what they need. She also mentioned that there is an egroup file section on our elist. We are having problems with the new domain name. The problems are being worked on, and should be resolved soon. Diane shared the new logo with the group, and talked about a redraft of the brochure.

Other new business: Diane Frank told us about the GLBT Leadership summit meeting. We share a common interest in job security, job protection, and improving our image in society. Deb Lee told us that Dan Brady a State senator from Lakewood will be at an upcoming meeting of the Stonewall Democrats talking about submitting an Ohio Employment Nondiscrimination Act that applies to the gays and lesbians, and could apply as well to the transgendered community. The Cleveland International Film Festival contacted Diane Frank to get recommendations for a moderator for a panel discussion of transgender films to be shown on March 27^th. They then requested Diane Frank be a part of the panel. "All About My Father" is a film about a Norwegian cross dresser written by his son and one of the featured films that day. At the film festival we can present business cards and brochures.

Diane Frank also talked about one concern we have, which is a lack of ethnic diversity. She will be drafting an outreach letter directed towards minority areas, and will be attempting to contact Peter Lawson Jones, who spoke at the GLBT leadership summit.

Our speaker for April will be Susan from Weekenders USA. She will be displaying her line of clothing for us. In April we will also have our first official membership ceremony. It will be led by Abby and Sheila. In May, we will have a speaker demonstrating "taping" methods.

Meal for April: Ham – Kathleen and Gloria; scalloped potatoes – Sherry and Abby; Broccoli – Diane Frank; snacks – Diane Brennan; salad – Laura; bread – Abigail (we have butter); dessert – Sheila.

A move to adjourn was made by Kathleen.

Minutes Respectfully Submitted by

Kathleen Fenton, Chair of Family Support

Thanks to Debbie bringing it to the group’s attention, we were able to have three Alpha Omega Society members provide the only transgender representation at the March meeting of the Cleveland Stonewall Democrats. At this meeting, State Senator Dan Brady was soliciting input for his version of an Ohio Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

The past history of transgender inclusion in ENDAs around the country is mixed. In NY there was a bitter and protracted fight that lead to the exclusion of transgender protection and a bitter rift between gay and transgender activists.

State Senator Dan Brady (D- Lakewood) is in his last term and is using the relative freedom this affords to promote, even if symbolically, issues that concern him. Our presence at the meeting engaged the support of other activists in attendance and Senator Brady received our comments in a respectful manner. However, we are disappointed to learn that Senator Brady has not included any transgender protections in his version of the bill (Gay People’s Chronicle, April 4^th, 2003). It is not clear whether this was a policy decision as Brady had indicated his intent to cover the issues in a series of bills rather than in one large piece of legislation. On the other hand, State Representative and Minority Whip Dale Miller (also from the Westside of Cleveland) introduced an ENDA that according to Eric Resnick’s article in the Gay People’s Chronicle

" amends all sections of the Ohio Revised Code dealing with discrimination by adding "sexual orientation" everywhere other protected classes such as race, religion, and national origin are currently listed. In the bill, "sexual orientation" is defined as "heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, or transgenderism, whether actual or perceived."

The areas of the law affected are those dealing with employment, labor organizations, housing, selling and renting, credit, financial assistance, and public accommodations such as hotels, restaurants or other commercial establishments open to the public.

Cosponsoring the bill are number legislators: State Reps. Dixie Allen of Dayton, Peter Ujvagi of Toledo, Catherine Barrett of Cincinnati, Joyce Beatty of Columbus, Michael Skindell of Lakewood, Dan Stewart of Columbus and Minority Leader Chris Redfern of Port Clinton. All are Democrats.

Miller spokesperson Sally Rickert noted that State Rep. Shirley Smith of Cleveland, also a Democrat, contacted Miller’s office to be added as a co-sponsor shortly after the deadline.

Members of the State Government committee to which the bill was assigned are Democrats Annie Key of Cleveland, John Boccieri of New Middleton, Dean DePiero of Parma, and Sylvester Patton of Youngstown, as well as Stewart.

Chairing the committee is Republican Jim Carmichael of Wooster. Other Republicans on the committee are Steve Reinhard of Bucyrus, Stephen Buehrer of Delta, Gary Cates of West Chester, Patricia Clancy of Cincinnati, Larry Flowers of Canal Winchester, Jim Hughes of Columbus, Jon Peterson of Delaware, and James Trakas of Independence.

While our interest in this bill is primarily to ensure that legal off-the-job gender expression cannot be used as a grounds for being fired, other aspects may be of concern to some Alpha Omega members and other sections of the transgender community.

Diane Sofia Frank, Laura Miller and Debbie Benton attended this meeting.

Kathy and Martin recently took a few badly needed days off from work, and took the time to visit family and attend the wedding of Kathy’s niece. This was a very special trip in many ways. Suitcases were packed for Martin and Kathy, and there was even one suitcase with some of my things, as well. (The "Old Broad in a Bag", as I call it)

Also loaded into the car were the wedding presents, some additional lights and cords for decorating the reception hall, and six big bags of potato chips. Now, it may sound funny to carry six big bags of potato chips 1,000 miles; but there is a reason for this madness.

Though Kathy’s family, for the most part, all live in the south now; her sisters, Donna and Ann, are originally from this area. Both of them have a particular liking for a brand of potato chips that can be bought here, but not where they live now. It has been a standing ritual for a few years now, that at least once a year, we take or send them some bags of potato chips.

And so, Kathy and Martin headed south. It was only last September on a visit south that the right moment came about for Kathy and Martin to tell her sister, Ann about "Gloria"; and we discovered that Ann, Donna, and a good share of the family had already known about me for years, but had waited for us to say something about it. In the months since last September, Ann has checked out the A-O web site, and even written to me, and I have written to her. Ann also spoke to her husband about me, and to others in the family such as Donna, and Ann’s one daughter and the young man she was going to marry. Ann’s daughter has written to me, also.

Suffice it to say Ann and Donna had come to the conclusion that, if possible, they would like to meet Gloria. (That was why my suitcase was packed.) Because of the caring given to me by Ann, her daughter, and Donna, I bought special gifts for each of them, and Kathy helped me pick them out. As with any wedding, there was a lot to do at the church and the reception hall to be ready for the big day, and Kathy and Martin did whatever they could to help out. It was a labor of love for family.

The day before the wedding, Martin was able to discreetly give my gifts to Ann, Donna, and Ann’s daughter (who is also named Cathy, but with a "C" instead of a "K"). Martin also had moments to at least show each of them a couple pictures of me. Ann and Donna have become my friends, and Cathy has even called me Aunt Gloria. I can’t help but love them all. Before the weekend was over, each of them wore the gifts I had given them. Ann loves scarves and pins, so she got a butterfly pin. Cathy was given a guardian angel pin. And Donna was given a pair of earrings.

Though it turned out I could not be there at any time in person, my spirit was there, and there was a sense of pride in knowing they each enjoyed their gifts. There was, however, some time for Martin to talk with each of them, try to answer questions they had, and even tell some of the "old war stories" about how I came to exist. My sister-in-law, Pattie, had some apprehension about my meeting Ann and Donna. Pattie is very much a sister to me, and is protective about my feelings being hurt, if things did not go well. But things did go well, and I have let Pattie know this. Her caring for me is something very special.

And so the visit South became a very wonderful series of memories for me to cherish. When I first became Gloria, I could never have dreamed, or even dared to, that I would find the love, the caring, and the understanding that I have known since then. I found family. I found friends. And I found life.

Now that vacation is over, it is back to the day to day happenings, but my life is just a little bit richer than before. The next time Kathy and Martin go south, maybe I can deliver the potato chips to Ann and Donna. We’ll see what happens.

Love Always,

Gloria

I’ve already written about the ENDA meeting we attended at the Stonewall Democrats meeting this month. While March hasn’t been as busy as last fall, there has still been a lot going on around town.

On March 20^th, renowned transgender lecturer and performance artist Kate Bornstein read selections from her works and answered questions at Case Western Reserve University. Kate charmed, entertained and challenged the largely female audience for about two hours.

Although Kate claims to be neither man nor woman, men don’t typically leave a black bra strap showing on a shoulder that peaks out of a boat necked top, so I will eschew the non-gendered pronouns and refer to Kate as she or her. And although she claims not to be male or female, and she likes to play all the options, she likes best to play girl in real life. Kate makes an important distinction that people should be aware of: She thought sexual reassignment surgery would bring her peace of mind, but it didn’t. This isn’t to say she’s unhappy, but given her intelligence and level of creative gifts, it is a profound statement that people contemplating SRS should be aware of. Kate is the author of several books listed for sale in the bookstore section of our website including: Gender Outlaw and Your Gender Workbook.

The next day the 21^st, after service at Chevrei Tikva, I returned to Case to attend their annual Lavendar Ball, for GLBTQQI students and friends. What you may ask is GLBTQQI? In the latest trend in academic political correctness, this stands for Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgendered (that’s some of us, dear readers), Queer (well I don’t exactly like that word either, but what are you going to do with kids these days?), Questioning (remember when that meant whether to have a tuna fish or roast beef sandwich), or Intersex. The party was catered with food from Siam Palace, and the crowd featured graduate and undergraduate students from all over the world. Most of the clothing worn was not suitable for a job interview.

Striking a pose with friend similar to the sculptures from the Kama Sutra at the Surya temple in Konark, one young lady from India assured me that she wouldn’t be showing the pictures to her mother or father. Truth be told I’ve got pictures I wouldn’t show to my mother or father either. Don’t you? But seriously, I did bump into a woman on the counseling staff at Case. She had been meaning to come to the event for years, and was somewhat disappointed at the turn out. "Case was a hard school to come out at", she said. I left her with some cards and brochures in case she encountered any faculty, staff or post-doctoral fellows who might be in need of AO services.

Thursday the 27th, I was present at the Cleveland International Film Festival to view and review three films on the 'transgender' and 'transsexual' topics and to participate in a panel discussion after two of the films.

The first film, "All About My Father", was a biographical film about a Norwegian physician, Esben/Esther... a cross dresser, made by his son. Esben described his cross dressing as starting at age 8 and being exciting and rewarding. When he hit puberty he found that the crossdressing became erotic and found that traumatic.

The film shows extensive interactions between Esben/Esther and family...and only two interactions between Esther and the rest of the world. The first is when Esther and spouse (also therapist) Elsa are at a book signing and award ceremony for a book about Transgender issues. However this is just public speaking and book signing...there is no personal interaction shown. The second is when Esther and Elsa go to a dress shop and the shopkeeper, though friendly, refers to Esther as he rather than she. Esther asks "do you see a woman or a man", and when the clerk replies a woman, he/she demands, "then call me she".

There is a long, talky section among Esther/Esben, Elsa and the son, (Even) about the nature of gender identity. The son can accept the idea that his father thinks of himself as a woman in part, but cannot himself see his father as a woman in part...just as a man in a dress. The wife pretty much takes the same line, but adds that other people not seeing Esther as a woman doesn't make Esban's self-ideation any less real.

This film dramatizes two concerns I have.

First, I cannot believe that with all the time spent on the film, that that the son simply refused to show anything about his father having something like normal social interactions with people who at least provisionally accepted him as a woman. We see Esben doing situps and brushing his teeth. We see Esther walking the streets, and sailing a boat. We see Esben confessing intimate sexual experiences. We see Esther's nude torso, we see Esben dancing with Esther and floating through the air above the crowds in some kind of ecstasy (the special effects in the film). I argue that the reason the material about a social life isn't shown is because it is absent. Esther is stuck in some small fraction of a woman's life.

Second, this scene in the clothing store is one of the demand to be accepted. It is a scene of bullying someone into the appearance of acceptance rather than one of acting in a way where the saleswoman of her own accord uses "she" because she recognizes Esther as a woman. I continue to find this demand that other people capitulate to our internal vision/religion of ourselves to be very problematic. Elsa and his son understand his viewpoint intellectually, but can't themselves see Esben as anything other than a man in a dress.

The second film was a short subject about the reaction of three totally adorable sisters to the news that their uncle was becoming an woman. "No Stupid Questions" did make for some uncomfortable moments. Near the very end the girls say, that it's ok because only the outside in changing he'll still be the same inside. Whether the girls perceived the soul of Uncle Bill to really be the soul of Aunt Barbara isn't clear at all. Still this film offers our group a lot because it deals so effectively with the business of coming out to children.

It was with great relief that we watched the third film, Georgie Girl. The life story of Georgina Beyer, the first transsexual member of the NZ parliament (or anywhere?) accomplished two important things. First, it showed the real life story of an early transitioner, who worked the clubs, sex trade etc instead of presenting the usual later transitioner sob story ala HBO's "Normal". Second it showed that those things, contrary to ALL of Baileys' book ("The Man Who Would be Queen") needn't be the limit of life.

And this brings me around an important point. It's not where you start it's were you finish that's important in all of this. Far too many of the TS biographies focus on the before and transition, and never show the resolved life afterwards.
Georgie Girl is a rare exception to this, and I hope that the film gets wide coverage. I was also pleased to see that while Georgina has won over a conservative rural community, and is widely admired, she has not rejected her roots, appearing in gay pride parades in urban areas. The only apparent fly in the ointment is her lack of a partner in life...and she somewhat wistfully observes that with the attendant publicity it would take an extraordinary man to be her lover.

During the panel discussion I applied the idea of it not being where you start but where you finish in several cases, with a receptive audience response. Our FtM  moderator guided our initial discussion of the films and their merits. I used this theme as I described my reactions to the films and was greeted with applause.

Afterwards, we took questions from the audience. The second question was from a psychiatrist (as I learned later) who asked for comments about the divisions in the community as represented by the dismissal of some people as mere fetishists by others. It seemed that I was Jane-on-the-spot for that question. I noted that the desire to be pure and have a defensible story was a big motivating factor in this kind of split, but that my observation was that individual stories were rarely pure. It is very tempting to try to show that you’re ok by creating a comparison to someone who can be painted as being horrible. I referred to Bailey and "The Man who would be Queen", pointing out how limiting his strict binary division of types of history was. I returned to my principal theme: We all have motivations, desires that we have no control of...it isn't how things start in these areas that's important, it's how they finish. Forgetting this is what causes the divisions, and I wished people would grow beyond it. This drew my second ovation. I wonder if more than anything else, it is "stuckness", the persistant focus on gender issues rather than simply living life that people recognize and react badly to in gender-variant lives. This is why a few fortunate transsexuals make far more sense to people than crossdressers or many other transsexuals.

This brings me to the last question I dealt with in the panel discussion and its aftermath. A woman in the audience ( a Cleveland municipal judge it turns out) asked what could be done to get people to stop seeing things in Jerry Springer terms. (I'm wishing that someone had taped the session, as I don't trust my memory to get the shadings and nuances of how questions were
asked correct). I suggested that they invite someone from the GLBT community to dinner.

[I experienced a very personal high walking through the Hilton lobby to the closing banquet wearing an ankle-length black velvet evening gown, black heels, pearl necklace & matching earrings!!! Made me feel like a lady!!!]

Anybody want to become a plaintiff in a test case to protect your right to dress as you please on your own time????

A YANKEE DOODLE OF A SPICE, July 9-13,2003Windsor Locks, CT

HOLIDAY EN FEMME, November 6-9, 2003

Denver, CO

www.Holiday-EnFemme.org

COLORADO GOLD RUSH, March 6-9, 2003

Denver, CO

DIGNITY CRUISE #17 – EASTERN CARIBBEAN, Feb 23- Mar 2, 2003www.pmpub.com/cruise17.htm

The Beck Center for the Arts
17801 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-521-2540

April Meeting- Saturday, April 12^th, 2003

Topic: Susan's Fashions Clothing Line and Fashion Advice

Menu: See Minutes from March

May Meeting: Giving Yourself a Face Lift- Sharon Kiel

Menu: To be announced