And nothing seems to go your way,
There's just one thing I have to say:
You really need a HUG!
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| Your Innvestment | |
Vol. 8, No. 10 & 11 |
June & July 2000 |
The June meeting,
held at the Ramada Regency Inn in Hyannis was Innvestments
last meeting before breaking for the summer and the Cape Cod
tourist season. Our last meeting of the season has turned out
to be a going out to supper affair and was again enjoyed by many.
The original plan was to go to Barby Ann's but several folks had
some personal problems with this so we all gathered in the dining
room of the Ramada and ordered our meal. This turned out to be
a fun experience for everyone involved. Even Tommy, who ended
up being the host, waiter as well as bar tender, was having a
good time. We were visited and brought up to date by Catherine
on her latest adventures. Catherine (formerly Robin from RI),
completed her surgery last December and is still working for the
same employer.
After dining, most returned to the meeting room
where a typical hen session was soon underway. Madam President,
Julie, reminded everyone of the summer events and encouraged everyone
to participate.
Your Innvestment
is a publication of Innvestments, P.O. Box 2194, Orleans,
MA.0 2653-2194. Innvestments is a non-sexual service organization
founded to support and to provide a socially acceptable outlet
for the crossdressing, transvestite, transsexual, transgendered
community located primarily in Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape
Cod and the Island. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint
any article appearing in Your Innvestment is hereby granted to similar
non-profit organizations provided that publication and and authorship
credit is given. Any commercial use of Your Innvestment
material is hereby prohibited. Some material may have previously
appeared in print. Publication and authorship rights of material
reprinted from other sources remain with its originator.
The editor/s of Your Innvestment are not under any
obligation to accept information and advertisements. Information
and advertisements may be published in any form deemed acceptable.
Any information about services, products or sympathetic locations
published in Your Innvestment is not considered an endorsement
of such by the staff of Your Innvestment or the
Board of Directors of Innvestments. Innvestments is also
known in open source publications on Cape Cod and the Islands
as Cape Cod Cross Dressers (Triple C-D).
Julie W..(stimpyl@capecod.net)................President
Denise S.............................................Vice President
Brenda L. (Brrendaa@aol.com)...............Treasurer
Liz W..............................................................Board
Candy Scott....................................................Board
PO Box 354
Sagamore, MA 02561-0354
Tel.: 508+563-3160 (Keep trying)
Fax.: 508+563-1240
email: candyscott@capecod.net
TRINIDAD, CO -- The young waitress examined her customers as she
refilled their coffee and haltingly asked whether anyone wanted
more tea. There was Elise, a buxom brunette in a crop top and
hip-huggers. Kate, a Harvard graduate writer in khakis, a hand-knit
sweater and pearl earrings. Thea, a graphics designer sporting
chic suede boots. And Jackie, a towering figure in trousers and
blazer. In the lunch time crowd of merchants, housewives and farmers
at the Main Street Bakery and Cafe, the four stuck out like fashion
models on a pig farm.
Retreating to the kitchen, the waitress pulled her boss aside
and stammered, "Those women I'm waiting on? They're men!"
Hardly anyone else gave the foursome a second glance. Not in the
so-called "Sex-Change Capital of the World." Repeat
that phrase to almost any of the town's 9,500 people and one would
likely get a lecture on what the southern Colorado hamlet should
be known for -- its idyllic scenery, comfortable climate and friendly
people. Most don't mind that more sex- change operations have
been done in their town than anywhere else (about 4,500 to date);
they just hate that nickname.
Although no formal statistics are kept on the number of sex reassignment
surgeries, experts in the field agree that Trinidad's Stanley
Biber -- because of the year he began and his age -- has performed
more than anyone. The International Foundation for Gender Education
lists 14 surgeons in the USA and Canada that do the procedure,
and, as spokeswoman Sara Herwig points out, "Biber's been
doing it longer than most."
What makes Trinidad unique is not that it's the sex-change capital
of the world, but the fact that this former mining town has come
to accept its destiny, depend on it and even embrace it. In 1969,
Trinidad was a town in transition. Coal had been king in these
parts since the turn of the century, but after World War II, the
mines began closing. By the late '60s, only a few remained. Families
left, and Main Street, once a bustling collection of department
stores, car dealerships and restaurants, became a lifeless collection
of shuttered storefronts. Yet Biber was thriving from his fourth-floor
office inside the First National Bank building. As Trinidad's
only general surgeon, Biber did it all -- from delivering babies
and removing appendixes to reconstructing the cleft palates of
poor children.
Biber moved here in 1954 after serving as a MASH surgeon in Korea
and finishing a stint at Camp Carson in Colorado Springs. In those
first 15 years, Biber built a comfortable life around a practice
he loved and a town he adored. In 1969, he encountered the patient
who would forever change both. A social worker Biber had met asked
him to perform her surgery. "Well, of course," he told
her. "What do you want done?" "I'm a transsexual,"
she replied. And Biber asked, "What is that?" After
consulting a New York physician who had done sex reassignment
operations and obtaining hand-drawn sketches from Johns Hopkins
University, Biber agreed to do the surgery. "She was very
happy," he recalls. "And then it started spreading all
over." With less than a handful of doctors performing the
procedure, Trinidad became THE place to come for a sex-change
operation, and Biber was THE man to do it.
The town's sole hospital, Mt. San Rafael, was run by Catholic
nuns, and Biber hid the charts of his first transsexual patients.
But he knew he'd eventually need the approval of the hospital
board and his neighbors. Biber explained his work to the sister
and local ministers. "I went through the psychology of it
all. They decided as long as we were doing a service and it was
a good service, that there was no reason we couldn't continue
doing them," he says. Soon Biber was lecturing to the hospital
staff and the public. "We figured that's his way of making
a living; more power to him," says Linda Martinez, 54, a
lifelong patient of Biber's.
Not all agree. The Rev. Verlyn Hanson, pastor of the First Baptist
Church for the past three years, says the town turned a blind
eye to Biber's work because of the economic boost it provided.
"The love of money is the root of all evil, and people will
overlook a lot of evil to have a stronger economy," he says.
At one point, Biber's operations brought about $1 million a year
to the hospital, according to his estimates. The basic procedure
costs about $11,000, with the hospital taking in a little more
than half. At the height of his practice, Biber performed about
150 transsexual operations a year. His patients brought families
and friends who remained in town during their loved ones' eight-
day hospital stay. Whether or not people liked what Biber did,
they liked the squat, balding doctor who wore jeans and a flannel
shirt to work and always said hello. At 77, Biber has scaled back
his transsexual business to about 100 surgeries a year. The majority
of his practice remains tending to the ills of Trinidad's citizens.
He knows retirement may not be far off, and he's in search of
a surgeon who will continue his work. "It started here, and
I want the hospital to continue with it," he says. (from
USA TODAY, Wed., May 24, 2000)
NEW YORK (AP) - Lee Brewster, who sold size 15 studded platform shoes, fishnet tights and hip-hugging gowns to men who like to dress as women and to costume designers for movies such as "Tootsie," died Friday, May 24th of cancer. He was 57. His 5,000 square foot clothing shop, Lee's Mardi Gras Boutique, boasts size 30 dresses, corsets, satin gloves, feather boas and false eyelashes for crossdressers. For many years, Brewster held fancy balls for transvestites and fought for gay rights. He shunned the female stage names often used by transvestites, preferring to be called Mr. Brewster while dressed in white stiletto heels, tight gowns and sequined coats.
Brewster launched his business in 1969, initially selling only mail order from his Hell's Kitchen apartment and then moving to a corner store. The boutique moved several times before settling at its current location in Greenwich Village. Customers have included Lady Bunny, the founder of the Labor Day crossdressing festival known as Wigstock, and costume designers for "The Birdcage," which starred Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, and "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar," which featured Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo.
Brewster, founder of the civil rights group the Queens Liberation Army, in the 1970s helped persuade the city's Department of Consumer Affairs to delete homosexuals from a list of people who could be removed from any public place. He published Drag Magazine in the 1970s and '80s.
Over the years, as I have agonized about my own T feelings, likes, dislikes, and situations, I have never had any difficult feelings about going out dressed. I started early by going out roller skating. The only time I really had palpitations was one Halloween. I had just returned from overseas and had not been out in a couple of years, was involved in a difficult divorce and was probably too jumpy that day to have, in a short dress, braved the big city anyway. (But that is another story). As long as I maintained situational awareness, acted like I belonged there, kept my cool and didn't panic I always felt OK.
But I know that others have had to bolster up their courage to go out and face the world. The past few weeks I have had conversations with several individuals about going out. Some of these folks have never been out, not even to a group meeting where the environment is controlled. No matter how the case about going out is presented, if you have never been out, it is hard to visualize mixing in public. Perhaps the most important thing that I tell those who have not gone out, is to dress appropriate to the situation. Most want to go out looking like their fantasy dream date. If you dress appropriately and not intentionally put yourself in any dumb situations, you can have a very enjoyable time.
The following two stories about happenings while out I thought were interesting and worth passing on.
CASE 1 - Maddie
I've
been going out occasionally for several years now, for the most
part without incident. I always try to be friendly, courteous
and lady-like. Either I'm passing just fine, nobody cares, or
nobody takes the time to notice. Either way, I go about my happy
little way in peace.
Now, I'm not petite, 5'11", but somewhat slender, 160 lbs. But my biggest fear is speaking. My voice isn't booming, but I've never considered it especially feminine. Anyway, I'm at a Kohl's department store and as usual I find a lot of things that I like. I usually ask to try things on, but nobody is around, so I go ahead in. I'm in the middle of trying on the cutest suit when a women calls out "Is there anybody else in here?". Again, I'm petrified of speaking let alone calling out across a dressing room. I muster my courage (and my "pretty" voice) and answer her. Well, she asks me to step out of my booth .... to look at the shorts she was trying on. There I was in this cute little suit discussing with this women the shorts she might buy. Then she comments on my choice. She tells me how good it looks on me. Then she addresses me as "Doll". I can't begin to tell you how big a smile that brought to my face. I've never been called "Doll" before. Just thinking about it makes me feel great. I can't wait to go out again!
CASE 2 - Bernadette
I am
a little bit different case since for several years I considered
myself a CD on hormones. I never dressed and went out in public.
I figured I couldn't pass in a dark room. I had a beard for 17
years including the first two years I was on hormones. I finally
got a clue I could pass after I finally shaved off the beard and
people called me "ma'am" when I was dressed drab. Another
year and a half later, I go out dressed in public for the first
time in my life. I have zero experience with voice and mannerisms.
I was happy at home and going out was not important to me. I dressed
conservative. Slacks and a top from the Gap, simple make up, blue
Chic tennis shoes. I will never wear shorts or short skirts. Too
many scars on my leg from the times my leg was broken in farm
and motorcycle accidents. So I go to the mall just to sit and
watch. I sit down on one of the benches. The only thing I can
figure out is I must look like some sweet old middle aged grandmother
type. The next thing I know, some woman is sitting next to me
showing me pictures of her grand kids and asking about mine. I
am in a panic. I have never practiced voice and I don't have a
clue about mannerisms. I looked at the pictures and politely got
out of there.
A little later I am on an elevator with a cleaning woman and she begins a conversation with me. I stop at a Lone Star Skeakhouse for a bowl of soup. I don't think the waiter can figure me out. A minute later or so a waitress comes over and gets in a conversation about the book I am reading. I think the waiter asked her to come over so she could tell him if I was a guy or a woman.
It is just my opinion but if you are not being read, no one stares. If you are easily read, people make a snap judgment and think "pervert or transvestite" and it is just common manners not to stare. It is people in the gray area of almost passing that are the subject of scrutiny. People are staring looking for clues to decide if you are male or female.
The second time I went out I was more relaxed and had practiced voice a bit. The third time I was out and comfortable. By the end of that day I was thinking what the heck is the big deal. After that it was not about who the heck am I and what I am going to do while I am out dressed. The activities are the important thing, not the dressing.
I guess the point that I am trying to make is as Bernadette so appropriately stated, it is the activities that are the important thing, not just the dressing. Once you can get over the first time syndrome, you will find that no one really cares what you are wearing, as long as you are dressed with care. If you wear a dress that is up to your gitchigoomie and your cleavage is showing all over the place with your stocking tops and garters flashing and have on the biggest spikes you can find and it is two o'clock in the afternoon and you are in Macy's shopping, you deserve to get read and be ostracized. Save the goofy looks for when you are with others (for safety sake) and going out to a goofy place. If you dress and act appropriately, you can have a lot of fun and at the same time meet some enjoyable folks. Dress appropriate to the situation you are going to place yourself in. You may have the best legs in Hollywood, but if you wear a short short, micro mini-skirt which attracts unwanted attention, it could turn a pleasurable event into the most horrible experience you could ever wish on your worst enemy. All in all, the first time jitters are natural, but "get over it." After you have tried it, you might just find that you had a good time after all. Go out dressed........for success and.......enjoy!!
Do you look in your
closet full of clothes and think, you have nothing to wear? Here
are some tips to getting your wardrobe in order. Save your money,
take a look at what you already have.
10 TIPS
FIND UNDERGARMENTS THAT FIT
This letter is to notify you that I have decided to limit my practice to general endocrinology only and will no longer be caring for patients with gender dysphoria. In order to allow continuity of care for your condition I have identified a physician in the Boston area who could assume your care. His name and address as well as requirements he has for seeing patients are listed below:
Norman Spack, MD
Director, Clinical Endocrinology
Childrens Hospital
617-335-5070
Dr. Spack can accept gender dysphoric patients 21 years of age or under in his practice at Children's Hospital. He sees gender dysphoric patients over the age of 21 in his private office in Chestnut Hill. As he has no office staff at that location, appointments are to be made through his office at Children's Hospital. He is at the Chestnut Hill office approximately once per month.
Dr.. Spack will not accept patients for hormone therapy until they have seen a counselor who is knowledgeable about gender dysphoria and who confirms the condition. He says that, in some cases, only one counselor visit is necessary; in other cases, more visits are indicated before the condition is confirmed. The following are therapists with whom he routinely works: