make friend

Since no-one ever responded here, I'm going to tell you a funny one in here. Chris was at annual meeting of some kind on Monday evening. One of the guys whom he has known for about nine years now, showed up as usual . . . and as a woman. So after the dinner he tells Chris about how he had wanted to come out for years, etc. etc. (Which is extremely admirable as far as I'm concerned.) But then Chris, in his enthusiasm to get the same message across, made the following blunder. 'Now, THAT takes balls.' !!!!!

lol

That's what Nessa Glen didn't do! Even funnier is that her name used to be Richard Steels - his friends called him Steel Dick . . . I mean, it just begs for comment, doesn't it?!?!

Obviously Steel dick was a little limp.

Whoops! Riette - nice story but terribly embarassing for Richard Steele, whoever he might be. Please be careful about putting people's full names on the Net, eh? Say "Gr�ss Gott" to Chris for me!

good point, but I bet there is more than one Dick Steele... Welcome, Nessa Glen!

I'm debating at the moment whether to request that this Topic be killed - not least because it has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with gender. Chris was wonderfully supportative and I was most amused by his remark. Now - 2 years before that, at the IAML International Conference in Perugia, I told three people in strict confidence. One of them outed me & unbeknownst to me, it was the talk of the conference. Once I found out I spent a year debating whether to resign or stay. I decided to 'test the water' at the next year's conference in Geneva by keeping my head down and seeing what happened. As I had thought, there was more than a little objection to the idea of a TG being a member of the Association. I discussed this with close colleagues and finally decided that the best course was to resign - at least as an individual member. I was committed to giving a paper at the '98 Congress in San Sebasti�n and went there a week after my resignation became effective. I went prepared for either eventuality for the Farewell Dinner. I made no secret of my resignation - or of why I had done so. Reaction was mixed, the paper - and the week - went very well and, by the Friday, I decided that I had nothing (more) to lose. (Incidentally, the final 'plus point' that made up my mind was Chris' telling me about a secondhand music shop in the town, where I purchased some marvellous illustrated covers for my collection - by then I thought, "If it's going THIS well...") And so the Farewell Dinner. I'm jolly glad I came out - I felt no qualms or embarassment at any point in the evening - and for those who did, I feel sorry for them. Aside from personal satisfaction and growth, I also resigned AND 'came out' in the hopes that the NEXT transgendered member of IAML would be treated a bit better than I had been. If you want a bit more prespective on this issue there are many serious sites on the Net that deal with the matter. You might also want to take a look at a small site of mine - still under construction: http://www.nessaglen.freeserve.co.uk So how did I find this site? I didn't - one of my colleagues ran a search under my name on Altavista and this was the only reference that came up; he let me know about it. There probably are any number of Richard Steeles out there but I have never met any. Even WERE that my name (and it isn't) none of my friends would have EVER considered me macho enough to warrant the nickname "Steel Dick". Sex? Rather boring, don't you know - I'd rather go to a good opera... PS. Context 2 - it's all coming together; I'm having a wonderful time. My first commission actually addressed to Nessa Glen was performed in the Esterh�zy Landesmuseum during the Haydn-Festspiele last September. Attending the concert was one of the most memorable events of my life - and I LOOKED GOOD, too! PPS. There's a big difference between the literal and philosophical when it comes to 'having balls' - the 'op' is MY business but in the latter case, I still have 'em when I NEED them. That's MS. to you, honey!

AMEN! *applause*

oh, and my own PS. Have you looked around the rest of the Spring? If not, I'd like to invite you to do so...

Welcome to the Spring Nessa Glen and congrats on the commission!

wat i do?

Just write in this box at the bottom of the page and hit the submit button. It is good to see life in here again! Aloha and welcome!