Renaissance of South Eastern PA
ROSE
June 2008
The ROSE Newsletter
Online Version
Volume 5
Published every other month
Next full edition .... August, 2008
Edited by – Ellen Davidson – CeeDee578@aol.com
Published June 12, 2008
There will be a meeting of Renaissance of South East PA on Friday June 13, 2008 at the Vision of Hope MCC Church, 130 East Main St. Mountville, PA. The doors open at 7:30 PM – meeting at 8:30 PM. The main topic for discussion will be our participation in Lancaster Pride on June 21st. Please enter at the back. Please bring something to share for refreshments.
A word from the ROSE President:
Hello Everyone,
Well summer is almost upon us and we already are having a heat wave and it is not even summer yet. Can you imagine what July and August are going to be like. Well this little girl, OK, big girl, is ready to hit the pools to cool off. Anyone for a pool party? How about an outing to Pinchot State Park for a swim
Our April meeting was about wigs, how to style them, how to maintain them and what kind to purchase. We had a good group for that meeting and everyone learned a great deal about wigs. The group asked many questions and they were answered by Troy who was our special speaker and who is the local Professional wig expert in the surrounding areas. I know I learned a great deal about how to style and maintain my wigs. We will have Troy back in the future to give us another wig program for those who missed this one. It will be a program one should not miss if you wear wigs to present your feminine self in public.
Our May meeting was not too well accepted. We tried something a little different and I think it may have been bad timing to try something like we did. We tried to have a Girl’s Night Out for members and any other ladies and gents who wanted to attend our night out at the Liquid 891 Club in Harrisburg. The plan was to attend a Pageant and have a good time together just to relax and be ourselves and enjoy each others company and a show. Of course we would have had a support program for anyone who attended who needed to have some support or information with Transgendered Issues. Support and Education and information are always our first objective in any meeting. We thought a change of pace and different location might be a welcome change and it probably would have been at a better scheduled and advertised time. We will try this again in the future.
Hey, how about a ROSE Halloween Ball, anyone interested. We could plan a Halloween Masquerade Ball at one of the Hotel Ball Rooms but in order for us to do that we would need to have a long list of people interested in the idea and have enough tickets purchased to fund it in advance. I won't go into much detail right now because of the unknown interest in having the ball at this point in time but if anyone is interested in having a Halloween Masquerade Ball, please contact us at the following e-mail address and we will put you on our list ... RoseBoardMembers@RenaissanceSEP.org. Tickets should cost anywhere from 30 to 50 dollars each depending on the amount of interest and that will also supply a Buffet style dinner and a wet bar. Of course there will be music to dance by and to have a great time listening to and possibly a live T Girl Band. I think it would be a MONSTER SMASH for that time of year. Of course out of town T Girls and Guys would be welcome to attend also. spread the word about a Halloween Masquerade Ball, the more that want to attend the cheaper it will be for everyone ..... We can open it to the GLBT communities so everyone can have a great fun time......
This months meeting (JUNE) is a Meet and Greet program, meeting old friends and making new Acquaintances with discussions on Transgender Topics and issues as well as general conversation and of course just some good down to earth fun time being yourself and feeling good about yourself. In fact one of our upcoming meeting programs may be to wear that fantasy gown or fantasy feminine clothing that you have wanted to wear out somewhere. I know I would take advantage of this opportunity. I was talking to someone just the other day about something and we got on the subject of fantasies and she had this fantastic fantasy dress that she has been wanting to wear, that gave me the idea for the program.
June 21 we will have a stand at Lancaster Pride to show our pride in being who we are and to help educate the public and support Transgender issues and individuals. We are proud of being who we are in this world and I for one enjoy being who I am and I want to show how much pride I have being me and how proud we are that ROSE exists for the Transgender community. Maybe we will see you there.
I am proud to announce that ROSE now has a new Banner, The size of our new Banner is 8 foot x 2 foot which we will be using for Lancaster Pride at our stand. Below is a photo of our new Banner... the Transgender graphic is in a pink background and not the white background you see in the picture..... Hugs to all,
Michelle Lynn GreyFeather
President / CEO
Renaissance of South Eastern Pa.
T Girl Make Over Services
After discussing T Girl make overs with Wayne after the meeting program he agreed to become our very own Special Make Over Service for Rose .... and ..... The Transgender Community. Wayne, better known as Roxi, can give you a complete make over and you will come away looking like a Beauty Queen. Wayne has given make overs and applied make up for Gender women, Female Illusionist and T Girls locally and as far away as New York. He is a professional make up artist in the Local area and also has agreed to keep the cost low and work with T Girls who want to have make overs. So, if you ever wanted to have a complete make over here's is your chance to become that Beauty Queen you always wanted to be. If you think you cannot be made over to look like that Beauty Queen you always wanted to be and have your doubts take a look at the Before and After pictures of those in New York who are members of FemmFever who had make overs done by their T girl make over service. I am sure you will find that no matter what you look like as a boy your girly look will be glamous. http://www.femmefever.com/before.html ....... contact for Roxi (Wayne) is below........ Roxi's T-Girl Make Over Services .... 717- 691- 3179
The Rose Board has discussed having a movie night a couple times a year as a meeting program of which I think is a great idea myself. So ... as of now our schedule for our May meeting will be a movie night. We will have a Large Screen TV , at least a 50 inch viewing screen to view the movie which will be either a Projection or Plazma TV. This way it will feel like your in a movie theater and no one will be straining their eyes to see the movie. So bring your popcorn or enjoy our snacks and of course enjoy the movie. We will announce the title of the movie near the end of April. It will be Transgender Related and will be an interesting movie, guaranteed....... Submit an Article to the ROSE Newsletter
If anyone would like to submit an article in our newsletter please feel free to contact us at anytime. Our newsletter goes out to over 200 members of the Transgender Community, mostly T-Girls but there are several T-Men and others on the list also. Just send your article to .. RoseBoardMembers@RenaissanceSEP.org ... and we will review it and enter it into our next newsletter. Our community mailing list is private and no one can see anyones e-mail address at any time. All communications are send out to the TG Community in bulk mailings. Your article will be read by over 200 T-Girls and Men in the Local TG Community as well as millions over the internet. You can place your articles in our newsletter free.___________________________________________________________________________________________
Advertise in the ROSE Newsletter or Web site
If anyone would like to advertise in our newsletter or our Web Site @ www.RenaissanceSEP.org ...please feel free to contact us and we will discuss our low fee for advertising in the ROSE Newsletter. This offer is open to Individuals, Businesses and others ...... Please contact us about advertising by sending us an e-mail to RoseBoardMembers@RenaissanceSEP.org ..... and we will get back to you as so as possible .. When advertising in our Web Site and / or our Newsletter your ad will get out to over 200 T-Girls and Men as well as other in the local TG Community as well as get out to millions on the Internet. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
Classified Section of the ROSE Newsletter
Do you have something to sell, wigs, clothing, shoes, misc, Have a service you can perform, Looking for something,
Real Estate for Rent, Handy girl/man services for hire, need help doing something, need help at your business
We are thinking of starting a classified section of our ROSE Newsletter. If anyone would like to place a classified ad in our newsletter please feel free to contact us at RoseBoardMembers@RenaissanceSEP.org .... classified ads from individuals are free to place. No businesses will be able to place ads in the classified section without a small fee. When placing a classified Ad in our Web Site and / or our Newsletter your ad will get out to over 200 T-Girls and Men as well as other in the local TG Community as well as get out to millions on the Internet. Oriental Fashions of China, USA
Chinese Dresses for sale,
$10.00 discount to T-Girls and their Spouses ......... Web Site: ... http://www.orientalfashionsofchinausa.com/
Check out the Web Site then contact me direct for the discount and to order ... sales@orientalfashionsofchinausa.com
Transgender Cartoon of the Month
End
Renaissanceof South Eastern Pennsylvania
Web Site of the Month ...... http://members.tgforum.com/paula1/index.htm
Circulation to over 200 in
the Transgender Community
Neptune's Lounge
208 North Street
Harrisburg, Pa
Phone: 717-233-0581
HOURS
Every Day- 5 PM - 2 AM
Brownstone Lounge
412 Foster Street
Harrisburg, Pa.
Phone: 717-234-7009
HOURS:
M-F 11AM - 2AM,
Sunday-5PM - 2AM
Web Site: BrownstoneLounge.com
The Red Star Saloon
11 South 10th Street
Reading, Pa.
Phone: 610-375-4116
HOURS
Wed - Sat 9PM - 2 AM
Altlands Ranch
8505 Orchard Road
Spring Grove, Pa.
Phone: 717-225-4479
HOURS
Fri - Sat. 8PM - 2AM
Web Site: www.AltlandsRanch.com
Deer Park Lodge
21614 National Pikw
Boonsboro, MD
Phone: 301-797-7672
HOURS
Thurs - Sat. 7PM - 2AM
Sun 7PM - 12 AM
65 miles South West of York, Pa.
Club XS
36 West 11th Avenue
York, PA 17404
Phone: 717-846-6969.
Open: 7 days a week
Hours: 4pm - 2am Happy Hour: 5-7pm ...
Web Site: http://www.clubxsyork.com/
Stallions Entertainment Complex
706 N 3rd St,
Harrisburg, PA
Phone: (717) 232-3060
Web Site: http://www.pickafeature.com/sec/
Club Z,
321 Pine St.,
Williamsport, PA 17701
Phone: (570) 322-6900
Web Site: http://www.clubzbar.com/
Liquid 891
891 Eisenhower Blvd
Harrisburg, PA 17111
Phone: 717.939.3590
Hours, Thurs. 5 - Mid night, Friday, 5 - 2 AM
Sat 5- 2 AM, Sun 11AM - Mid night
After work, Happy Hours, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Web Site: http://www.liquid891.com/
Pride Festival of
Central Pa.
Sat-July26, 2008
Harrisburg, Pa.
Riverfront Park
June 2008
Local Entertainment Calender
Places to Go, Things to do
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Club Hippo
1 West Eager Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Open 7 Days a Week
Hippo Events Days
Wed, thurs, Fri, Sat
Phone: 410 - 547-0069
Hippotron Events Line
Phone: 410 - 576-0018
The ROSE Newsletter
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Hormone Therapy
Lorraine Bock
Nightingale Health and Wellness Services
Web Site: http://www.centralpahealth.com/
Harrisburg, PA
2801 North Front Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
(717) 920-9579 + PH
(717) 920-9531 + FAX
Carlisle
1422 Trindle Road
Carlisle, PA 17015
(717) 249-6175 + PH
Transgender Counseling
Kim Rosenberg
Rosenberg Psychological Practice
1008 Cobblestone Ln
Lancaster, PA 17601
Phone: (717) 569-1800 Kim Tierney Rosenberg, M.S.aCHT
Web Site: http://www.kimrosenberg.com/
Michele Angello, Ph.D.
Core Initiatives, LLC
987 Old Eagle School Road,
Suite 719 • Wayne, PA 19087
Phone: 610-917-8561
Web Site: http://www.yourrelationshipdocs.com/
Rowe - Ward Counseling & Therapeutic Services
141 South Pitt Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
Phone: (717) 243-2145
Contact Person: Carol Crawford Rowe
schedule an appointment call
1-800-840-5721 or 717-243-2145
Rowe-Ward counseling has moved from Carlise, Pa. their new location is not known at this time
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Deanna's Thoughts ....
I thought that since we are swinging into Pride season (June-July) I would explain what Pride is and how it applies to the GBLT community, and then just the TG community. The basic definition of Pride is an emotion which refers to a strong sense of self respect, a refusal to be humiliated, as well as joy in the accomplishments of oneself, a group, nation, object that one identifies with. For those of you who are anal like me, it comes from Old English, old French and lastly Latin. Some of the words used to describe Pride (actually Proud, that is the origin of the word) are, brave, valiant, advantageous, profitable and useful.Originally in America, gays and lesbians were not treated very well and still are not in a lot of cases. Right up through the 90’s Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgendered folks were seen as deeply emotionally and mentally disturbed; in other words: if you were a homosexual, Bi or transgendered you were screwed. It did not help that for many years a lot of psychologists considered us to be messed up, worse yet, they said the behavior was possibly due to our childhood and later on could be controlled. In fact there was such a stigma attached to anyone with GBLT tendencies that basically it was deeply hidden and wrought with much shame. It’s no wonder that many of us ended up with real mental problems or became alcoholics, drug addicts, and suicide statistics, murder victims, alleged child molesters, ”whack jobs”, and ect.
Conversion was the answer! If only you would accept Jesus into your heart and repent of your sins and be born again and turn from your perverse shameful ways! Religion was extremely detrimental to the GBLT community; it seems not wanted or to be tolerated, period! Today there are several Christian based groups that swear up and down that they can change people who have the homosexual or transgendered illness, GBLT! They claim to have a high success rate, however when you dig deeper, you find out that they actually have a very low success rate, because it is natural for us to be who we are so we go right back to the previous “unacceptable” behavior; in other words…..we sure as Hell cannot control who we are, prayer won’t work, drugs won’t work! Only accepting yourself and loving yourself will work.
Basically you could not even walk the street, even in 20th century America! If the police or anyone thought you were GBLT (didn’t matter if you were or not, mere suspicious was more than enough proof), you were beaten up, arrested and thrown in jail, denied housing, jobs, everything. So most of us made damned sure to hide it very well. In fact outing someone in the GBLT was considered a deadly sin in our community (and in some cases today it still is), you just did not screw over a brother or sister in that manner! I have seen people loses their jobs, homes, children, everything, and I am sure so have some of you; in fact some of you may have gone through this yourself. I personally have been homeless over it and I have been threatened with my life! On at least one occasion!
It was so bad that there are even divisions within the GBLT! When gay rights started to blossom, the lesbian community was split, half were for aligning themselves with gay men and the other half were dead set against it! Bisexuals were not even really acknowledged and Transgendered folk, pre Stone Wall, you were not even always tolerated in a gay bar! Partially due to cross dressing being highly illegal in those days and since the cops regularly raided gay or lesbian bars, it was felt that the TG’s would bring them around all the more! There is also a decided bias in the gay & lesbian community regarding BI’s and TG’s. Worse still, is the bias that our own community has towards one another!One more note on gay bars: Within the past year, I have had several gay friends say to me that the transgender community needs to go to regular bars……yeah right! That’ll work wonders won’t it! I thought we were supposed to be allies! But….at least today, you go into a gay bar and the most that will happen to you is you will be ignored, a far cry from the old days. Luckily still, since the 90’s you may well find more than one TG in a bar at a time! I can recall going to gay bars in the 80’s and 99.9% of the time I was the only T-girl there and everybody thought I was a leper! I was left alone and that’s it.
For decades, culture in the GBLT community revolved around the bar scene, even today to a degree it still does. The answer was clear, gay bars seemed to be the only safe haven or refuge for our communities. Outside of the police raids and the occasional fag hag, and the odd demented straight guy looking for a fight with a sissy that he is sure he can beat up, most straights steer clear of gay bars, straight couples often go to gay bars for the dancing and except for the annoying trend today where some straights will come for drag shows to gawk at the freak show and the odd rite of passage; it’s your first night being 21? Well let’s go to a fag bar and see the fruitcakes.
Back in the old days, most gay and lesbian bars were run by organized crime, usually the gay one in the family ran the bar and then their family extracted kickbacks from them. Then there were the police who could on occasion be bought off with money; this sometimes meant that an hour prior to a raid the bar was given an anonymous phone call and thus allowed the patrons time to leave or hide until after the cops left. When a gay male, crossdresser, or lesbian went to jail as a result of these raids they were often harassed by the cops, beaten, and sometimes raped. With Stonewall, this was the case, the phone call came in, usually early in the evening on a slow night such as Tuesday and everybody either left or hid until after the police raid. Except this time, no call came and the place was raided on one of the busiest nights for any bar, the weekend! But believe it or not I will not discuss Stonewall at this time, even though a lot of the Gay and Lesbian community to this day blame the transgendered crowd for starting that riot, and that riot was a major reason for successes today in the GLBT (how long is this going to sound like a sandwich? Yes waitress, I’d like a GBLT on whole wheat, hold yer pickles ladies!)
I want to discuss another little known riot that largely involved Transgendered people! Yep, bet you were never told that the T-girls rioted three years prior to Stonewall and that was the beginning of Transgendered rights in this country!One more comment about gay bars, most of which were (some still are) situated in hell hole ghetto type neighborhoods, because we were seen in worse light then blacks or poor whites. Before I go on, to the riots, there were two major groups dedicated to gay and lesbian rights and those are: The Mattachine Society (Gay) and the Daughters of Bilitis (Lesbian). The Mattachine Society primarily existed in larger cities and tended to deal with more middle class or wealthy gay males. The Daughters of Bilitis were extremely covert and not just in the larger cities, they even wore pins at times and if asked as to what their group was for, they’d say it is was a poetry group. Surprisingly many people bought into this. Men more than likely went to the bars or cruised beaches or parks and the ladies used to meet in houses and bars or the softball field (that last one is not just a stereotype it was the truth!).
You are saying, okay Dianna this is really nice, but yawn! What about us Transgendered folk? Well….to tell you the truth, I know of no group back then that even acknowledged Transgender issues let alone us have a support group! Out of all four groups, the Transgendered part was the most hidden, the most covert; it really was like belonging to a secret spy organization or a secret occult group. Oh some of the big cities had places where our kind could congregate, but they were darned few and far between. We could also seemingly blend into society because most Transgendered people are not 24\7, and the ones that are full time, such as the transitioning Transsexual is 99% so damned secretive that it is like trying to decipher an alien language that has not been discovered yet but you just know it’s there. We are also very protective with each other and will lie to whomever in order to keep that secret going. It is still considered a major sin to out a Transgendered person! Welcome to the secret fraternal order of the Transgendered! Hey I like that! It has a catchy ring to it! Anyway, we were faceless and nameless.So let’s get to the riot! The year was 1966, it was a hot steamy August in San Francisco (of all places), there was a man named George Compton who had a string of successful restaurants that were known as “Compton’s Cafeteria.” This particular cafeteria, was open from 1954-1972 in a well known part of San Fran known as the Tenderloin District. It was seedy beyond compare; it was the Times Square of San Francisco. Want to meet a homeless person, prostitute, faggot, crack head, negro, immigrant, poor white trash, Drag queen, dyke, porno shop, welfare mother? Well just go right on over to the Tenderloin district where you won’t be disappointed! Say you want to witness a murder, mugging or possibly be mugged? Again, just hop on over to the Tenderloin district where all of your violent poverty ridden fantasies will come true. In fact, Blue Oyster Cult wrote a song for their Agents of Fortune album in 1976 that was called: “Tenderloin” and it was not about steak!
For whatever reason, this particular Compton’s Cafeteria was very accepting of the Transgender community, so we made that the regular watering hole, as did the various hustlers, and street queens that were part of a group called; “Vanguard” which was the first known gay youth organization in America.
On the first night of rioting the police were called to the Cafeteria because some of us were admittedly raucous. That means that at least in the cafeteria we were being rowdy! Us be rowdy? Aren’t we all just a bunch of limp-wristed fools? A cop who responded to the call, well known for man handling the transgendered people, attempted to arrest one of the drag queens (truthfully we don’t know if she was a drag queen or cross dresser or what, honey we were all called “drag queens” back then) when she threw coffee in the cop’s face. Once the coffee was thrown it became a virtual free for all as we had had enough of the abuse! Dishes were smashed, furniture tossed around, windows got broken (see what happens when you piss us off?) and the officer or officers, called for backup, guess they couldn’t handle all of us panty waist’s fretting about our lipstick! This melee spilled over into the street where the cafeteria’s plate glass windows were smashed and a nearby sidewalk news stand was torched! The following night, we returned and were denied entrance into Compton’s. The owner had replaced the windows and might have placed bars over them, anyway we decided it was time to throw another sissy fit and out went the brand new windows and more cops were called! This time we came with friends, more Transgendered people, street people, hustlers, and surprise, surprise! Numerous gays and lesbians also turned out to lend their strength and support.
What did this riot cause or bring about? Well in the aftermath a network of Transgender social, psychological, and medical support services were established. This culminated in 1968 with the creation of, “The National Transsexual Counseling Unit” which was the first peer-run transgender support and advocacy organization in the world!
Today there is a Documentary of this event by the Screaming Queens (they do have a website) as well as a commemorative plaque outside the old location. I believe our Pride is very important! We still have a long way to go and this included gays, lesbians, and bi’s! My personal pet peeve at the moment is the stupid little phrase: “oh that’s so gay!” I want to hurt someone whenever I hear that! Perhaps we need to start one of our own: “That is so typical of the heterosexual stereotypical gender biased people” Yeah I can hear that one going over well!Lancaster Pride will be Saturday June 21st, Our website as well as this newsletter will have the details. Please look for our booth at Lancaster Pride and as always, many of us will be going out afterwards! Please come out and show a little Pride, support us as well as yourself! Remember ladies, without Compton’s Cafeteria riots and the infamous Stonewall riots, we’d all be up a shit creek without a paddle! These historical events helped pave the way for groups such as Renaissance and ROSE and countless other support groups, advocacy groups, hotlines, yadda yadda yadda. Do you understand? Compton’s Cafeteria and Stonewall and the people made our successes and our strides possible! I just want to say, thank you to all of the Transgendered people who went before me and who were the real pioneers! The patrons of Compton’s as well as Stonewall! I would also like to thank Renaissance and Michelle, Ellen, Cathy, and countless others.Dianna
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Ellen's Corner
Editor’s Note
Every year around the world on Gay Pride Day, city streets are filled with thousands of queers and their supporters in a celebration of freedom.Amid feather boas, leather, tennis shoes, and T-shirts, the diverse human sexual spectrum emerges and demands equality. Gay Pride is an annual reunion, a rowdy time, and a show of force, all rolled into one.Gay Pride Day commemorates the Stonewall Rebellion in June, 1969, when drag queens, dykes, queer street kids, and transvestites rioted for three nights against police harassment in New York City. Within two weeks, the Gay Liberation Front was founded, and a year later the first pride march transpired on the anniversary of the melee with the cops.Saturday, June 21, 2008 from 12 Noon to 6 PM we will celebrate the First PrideFest for Lancaster. I plan to be there. Will You? http://lancasterpride2008.org/default.aspx
Ellen Davidson
LGBT Calendar for June 2008
Fri June 13 – ROSE meeting – 8:30 PM – MCC Church – Mountville
-Luck Be A Lady Tonight – Glenda’s Cabaret – 11 PM – Dawg Haus – Manheim
Fri June 20 – Lancaster Pride Pre party – Club XS - York ..... http://www.clubxsyork.com/
Sat June 21 – Lancaster Pride – 12 to 6 PM – Buchanan Park - Lancaster .... http://lancasterpride2008.org/default.aspx
- Benefit Drag Show and Chinese Auction – 8 PM – Liquid 891 ..... http://www.liquid891.com/
- Shangrila for T-girls - Philly
Fri June 27 – Pajama Party – Liquid 891 ..... http://www.liquid891.com/
Fri June 27 – Miss Central PA Gay Pride Contest – Club XS .... http://www.clubxsyork.com/
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