my day at the True Colors Conference

Friday, I was part of the True Colors Conference at my alma mater, the University of Connecticut. The annual conference brings together GLBT youth and their adult supporters and/or facilitators (parents, teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, etc.).

Diana L did the driving and we arrived on campus at about 8:30 AM. In deference to my high heels, Diana left me off in front of the Student Union, handed me a box of handouts for our support group's table, and drove off to park her Prius.

I found our table and started setting up for the day.

When Diana arrived, I asked her to take a few photos. She obliged and when I reviewed them through the camera's LCD, I realized that my dress was very short on length. I had worn this dress before and its mini-ness was not as apparent then because I was wearing black tights, but yesterday, wearing brown ("expresso") tights made my legs and lack of skirt more obvious. I felt a little self-conscious about it, but I was not going to let it upset my day.

Lee Anne showed up around 9 AM and we three staffed the table most of the day.

Students and adults came by the table throughout the day and we chatted with everyone who stopped by, fielding their questions, and filling their hands with our handouts.

I believe we were the only trans group at the Conference, an island of T’s surrounded by an ocean of GLB’s, so a number of people who stopped by remarked how glad they were to see T’s represented, too.

I broke for lunch early and bought a yogurt at the food court, and then I prepared for my workshop. The way I prepare is to get nervous for a few hours before my presentation.

After I was appropriately unnerved, I walked to the Math and Science Building where I was presenting my workshop at 1 PM, titled "Femulate: The Art of Becoming Womanly." I found my classroom and waited for my audience.

As 1 PM approached, only five people had shown up. Turns out that folks were held up in the long lunch lines, so most of my audience arrived late. I was unaware of the problem and began at 1 PM sharp. By 1:15 or so, my audience had grown to 25 people.

As usual, once I began, my nervousness evaporated and I was on a roll, telling the short version of my biography and then getting into the main part of my presentation, which was basically an update of my “top 30 things every crossdressing man needs in his wardrobe to emulate a woman.”

The presentation went well. Lots of people asked questions and I tried to answer them all. At the end, I received applause, handshakes, and more questions from members of the audience who hung around afterwords.

I collected their evaluations and read them this morning. I received mostly “Excellent” and “Very Good” evaluations. I also received two ”Goods” and one “Fair,” so I would say I did OK.

The written comments were more revealing. Here is a sample:

"Super Practical. No philosophy, a real how-to, very honest, unpretentious, authentic and real."

"It was a really interesting presentation."

"Well done --- this was awesome"

"Great job, truthful, honest + helpful"

"Great legs, definitely"

"Awesome legs ; ) "

The last two comments made me feel a lot better about wearing a mini yesterday.

After my workshop, I returned to our table and crashed. The afternoon was not as busy as the morning and it dragged a bit, but turned out to be just as rewarding as the morning when a couple of trans people showed up to thank us for being there in the past because it had made a difference in their lives.

Just as we were getting ready to call it a day, somebody noticed a plaque on the wall behind our table. The plaque displayed the title, year, and the name of the artist of the mural on the wall behind us. The name of the piece was Transcendence.

Lee Anne left for home and Diana and I left to dine at Bertucci’s in the Buckland Hills mall in Manchester. Friday night and the place was full. We were escorted to a table at the end of an aisle, so we got to parade by 15 or so tables full of diners, but they were so busy dining that they did not seem to pay us much mind.

Our waitress seemed cool, but I think the server was a little nervous because as she left our table, she said, “I hope you enjoy your folks, meals.”

The rest of the meal was uneventful. We finished eating and I returned home about 7:30 PM very tired, but very happy.

It was another nice day en femme.