Kappa Beta Serving the transgendered community since 1988

An artist always prepares the canvas before creating a work of art. Let’s face it; you girls are all artists, perhaps even more so than your GG counterparts. The makeup that goes on your face – the fun stuff/toys – won’t do what you really want it to do without preparing the skin first. A few minutes and few cents per day can help you reach your most accomplished look.

The basic requirements of a really good skin care regimen include twice daily cleansing, removal of dead surface cells, refining the appearance of fine lines/wrinkles/pores, providing essential moisture and protecting the skin from the environment. One more time:

• Cleanse,
• Exfoliate,
• Refine,
• Moisturize, and
• Protect!

One of the joys I’ve recently rediscovered is online chatting. One of my favorite chat rooms (TG Chat) had been down recently, and I thought it had completely disappeared. Just this week, it came back up, and I was back chatting with girlfriends I had not spoken to in ages. It was like being at a class reunion. Many had gone on to great things. Others had fallen on difficult times. Most were somewhere in between. 2005 had been a very eventful year so there was a lot to tell.

Ensuring Quality HealthCare for Transgender Population

by Debbie Stanton (Debbie@diversitybuilder.com 1/16/2006

When a gynecologist refused to perform a physical examination on a client in rural Georgia, based on the client’s sexual orientation, "we knew something must be done," claims Diversity Builder President Debbie Stanton.

"Whether refusing medical treatment is an ethical AMA practice is a legitimate question, but to me, it is absolutely unacceptable," Stanton said. "We are in the new millennium and people will still turn away a patient who they don't realize is just like them and may even be their neighbor."

Stanton decided that gays, lesbian, and transgender (glbt) patients need a way to locate medical and healthcare services that are gay-friendly and nondiscriminatory — and that she was the one who was going to make it happen. The current number one search term at http://www.diversitybuilder.com is 'gay doctor,' indicating a defined need for gay-friendly medical services.

In a recent email I said that I don't call myself an activist. In my haste to answer, I made the same mistake too many of us make: being an “activist” is not the same as being a “militant.”

According to the dictionary, activism means “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.”

I don’t know if one would consider me to be “vigorous,” but I have been known to "preach" about intolerance to us. So I guess I am an activist. I am not, however, a militant – a term which has a bit of a derogatory implication.

The only way we can achieve acceptance is through 1) numbers (and being open), 2) teaching others that we are not monsters out to enlist others or corrupt young children.

When I say “being open,” I don’t necessarily mean that any individual has to come out of the closet. Joining support groups, such as Tri-Ess, allows those groups to operate as a voice on our behalf, assuming you make your views known within the group.

I was asked to write something for this publication and thought that I would write about something that I know and that we all can relate to. So bear with me, okay!

Diana's first rule for appropriate attire is, "KNOW your environment!" What I mean by this is that you should know where you are and where you’re going! You ask, "What's that have to do with appropriate attire?" A lot!

If you have a chance to check out the area, you should go and see what the other girls are wearing, so you can get an idea what to wear when you go there en femme.