Battered women, lots of help, battered tgirls...

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Well, the more i look the more i see that things are difficult for you, but, you seem to be a bit more of a fighter than most trans women, maby you should address this problem with other trans women until a few of them start something to help all trans women, and i realy think it should be started by a trans woman, if only for the trust of confidenciality of status and they could also help "fledgeling" trans women with id and other things, like attitude, make-up, feminine deportement, psychologists, etc., making the trans women community stronger and more freindly.

JohnDowe.

[suebone]

Originally Posted by johndowe

Hi there.

Well, the more i look the more i see that things are difficult for you, but, you seem to be a bit more of a fighter than most trans women, maby you should address this problem with other trans women until a few of them start something to help all trans women, and i realy think it should be started by a trans woman, if only for the trust of confidenciality of status and they could also help "fledgeling" trans women with id and other things, like attitude, make-up, feminine deportement, psychologists, etc., making the trans women community stronger and more freindly.

JohnDowe.

John,it is very difficult for the most of us.
we take 2 steps forword and get knocked back 3
it's good to see Bionca is a fighter, some of us are not but should be
sue b
(short & sweet)

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by suebone

John,it is very difficult for the most of us.
we take 2 steps forword and get knocked back 3
it's good to see Bionca is a fighter, some of us are not but should be
sue b
(short & sweet)

Hi there.

That is why i started this thread, as a way to help battered trans women, but as we (Bionca and I mostly) discussed the mater it became apparent to me that there HAS TO BE someone that has to speak out and unite the tg comunity into a more cohesive comunity than it is now, right now it is composed of a mass of individuals that do their own thing without any feedback or regards for their fellow sisters, doing your own thing isn't a bad thing in itself, but when there is no real comunity and there is a need for one as ther is here and now, it is not the best way to do things.

Take women's lib movement, it never realy got much respect and didn't accomplish much, why?

Because the leaders were disorganised and some women said some realy stupid thing under the banner of women's lib and the movement lost a lot of credibility.

When there is unity within a comunity, the comunity is well percieved and seen as worthy of respect, but if the comunity is fighting within it's self there is no unity and those who see it get a skewd view of it and they miss the big picture for the petty arguments that they saw.

Within the tg there are petty arguments over almost insignifcant things, like the "real girl" term which is a semantics problem rather than comunity problem, when someone uses the "real girl" to distinguish between a trans woman and a genetic woman, it is for the lack of a better term, or the ignorance of a better therm and the lazyness of looking for one, but it is such a petty thing and yet it divides the tg comunity the same is true for many other terms, and until these petty differences are solved there will not be any (very much needed) unity in the tg comunity, this is the "power of words" it can unite people togather and it can also divide them, that is why a strong leader HAS to emerge, and it HAS to be a member of the comunity a trans woman, but she has to have the support of her fellow sisters and the other member of the comunity, like transvestites, and those who like trans women porn and trans women as long term lovers, but there is a LONG way to go, it won't happen overnight, but there HAS TO BE UNITY, a majority that will assert itself by the members for the members, so that we will be accepted by the other groups, until then we are all individuals with our voice beeing scatered to the 4 winds.

And Sue, if you aren't a fighter, it isn't necesariy a bad thing, and knowing ones strengths and weaknesses is a good thing because you will know waht you can and can't do, as most great generals know, a war isn't won with warriors alone, there are other things that are as important, the warriors have to be fed and suplied with ammo, they have to be able to communicate with the leaders in order to be more effective in battle etc.

I speak in minitary terms because it is a fight we are fighing, a fight to be heard and be accepted and not discriminated against, it is a fight that has to be won, but winning is not that hard, it will take time, and losing is almost not possible, but losing credibility to the point as to being laughing stocks would be the ultimate defeat.

JohnDowe.

[Bionca]

Originally Posted by johndowe

Hi there.

Well, the more i look the more i see that things are difficult for you, but, you seem to be a bit more of a fighter than most trans women, maby you should address this problem with other trans women until a few of them start something to help all trans women, and i realy think it should be started by a trans woman, if only for the trust of confidenciality of status and they could also help "fledgeling" trans women with id and other things, like attitude, make-up, feminine deportement, psychologists, etc., making the trans women community stronger and more freindly.

JohnDowe.

Those are all very good ideas, and I know lots of places the offer self defense training for trans women. There are also some support groups etc. However, transland is not always a nice place and a real community of trans people is only really beginning to form. We need stability and funding as well as those who are willing to help.

[johndowe]

Originally Posted by Bionca

Those are all very good ideas, and I know lots of places the offer self defense training for trans women. There are also some support groups etc. However, transland is not always a nice place and a real community of trans people is only really beginning to form. We need stability and funding as well as those who are willing to help.

Hi there.

That's good but, is the information made avaliable within the community?

Is there someone that keeps track of those things and where they can go if they need to talk to someone, not necessarily a professionnal but a freindly ear, sometimes the simplest things can make the most difference.

JohnDowe.

For those that are near a major college or university, there is typically an on campus organization that can provide support and counseling. Sometimes even shelter. Here are a few I’m familiar with:

http://spectrumcenter.umich.edu/
http://www.indiana.edu/~glbt/blmgroups1.htm
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ally/about.htm

In Detroit, there is the Ruth Ellis Center:

http://www.ruthelliscenter.com/index.htm


Yeah, I’m a “Boilermaker,” “Wolverine,” and “Hoosier.” LOL! What a combination!

[johndowe]

Hi there.

Thanks for the info, but...

Do those organisations help everyone or just students at the university?

And what is the extent of services extended to battered women and trans women?

JohnDowe.

My understanding is that they would help anyone. The Ruth Ellis center is a "shelter" in Detroit that specifically assists LGBT young people. I'm sure other major cities have something similar. Back when I was a student at Purdue, the on campus organization was called the "Gay Alliance." Now most, if not all of them, have broadened their definitions to include the transgender community.

At least these places offer a starting point for someone seeking help.