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Is there such a thing as a political prom?


SugarMagnolia

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I wanted to share another little milestone in my budding trans activism journey. This one is a nice counterbalance to my most recent post regarding abuse at protests, and so it's important to show some upside to being politically visible, too. ?

For the last year or so, I've been quite active in a variety of local, regional and statewide campaigns and have gotten to know quite a few of the active political organizers. However, I've only recently started coming out as trans to some of the political folks that I'm most close to and have been wondering how best to communicate this to the larger community of political acquaintances that I've made. 

Cue a political prom! It turns out that the Dem party for our county hosts a big gala fundraising dinner every year. Our Stonewall Dem club had been thinking of attending and they encouraged me to come as my stylish femme self - LOL. So, I did! My great friend, Ellen, offered to be my date since neither of our wives were interested in attending. We joked about color coordinating and buying each other corsages, and it was nice to know that I'd be going with someone who'd stick by my side through the evening.

So, last night was the big event and it went swimmingly! Ellen had actually gone so far as to get me a wrist corsage which I thought was so sweet and funny although I did feel a little guilty for not doing the same for her. We went in together and mingled for 30 minutes before the event started, and I had the opportunity to reintroduce myself to a number of people that only knew me in guy mode. And it was all fine. People were so much more interested in talking politics than they were in reacting to my presentation and that's just what I'd expected and hoped for. 

Then we had the dinner and speakers part of the evening and I was thrilled to have so many people make a point to come over, give me a hug and say something supportive or compliment me on my outfit. Ellen said that she felt like she was going out with a celeb and I suppose it felt a little like that to me, too. It was a big room of 300+ people and I felt completely at home and just like anyone else that attended, albeit with a little more visibility. And the event itself, getting people motivated for the upcoming elections, was really well done and very inspirational. The leader of the CA Dem party, Eric Bauman, spoke and did a great job. He's gay and it's really nice seeing a member of the LGBTQ community in such a prominent political role. Afterwards as we were walking out he also shared his views on how to deal with hatred and physical confrontation/intimidation. He's from Brooklyn originally and while many of his ideas were great I'm not sure that I'll be implementing his "aggressive negotiation" ideas as I'm not one for fisticuffs! Very encouraging overall, though.

So, I guess there IS now such a thing as a political prom or a political coming out! And it's nice to have that out of the way and know that I've shared an important part of myself with the folks that I'll be working with so closely over the next few months leading up to the 2018 midterms. I'll try to post some pics from the event once I get them gathered up. 

Hugs, 
Julie

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That's great, Julie, I'm glad you had a good time and that all went well. 

 

Hugs,

Brandi

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  • Admin

Sounds like that was quite an adventure.  I actually started going to some of those events AFTER I came out, they had never interested me before.  One aspect of my personality that needed Estrogen to jump start it, it seems. I will be at an event like it this Wednesday, but I rate "staff" of the organization hosting it at our community center.

 

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Julie thank you for your involvement in the political process.  

 

Isn't it wonderful to go somewhere and just be you, and be accepted as you?  It certainly sounds like you and Ellen had a nice time.   I can't wait to see a few photos! 

Jani

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Yeah, it was really great! I must echo Kirsten's thoughts in a separate post that the support in these forums has been a big enabler in helping me get comfortable and confident enough to be able to do these sorts of things. Thanks all!

 

Now for a pic or two... That's Cat on the left and Ellen in the middle. That's me on the right proudly rocking the generous quantity of forehead with which I'm currently blessed ?

 

IMG_pd1utq.jpg.67b3676c3f287a433bab8e46bc1d4010.jpgIMG_-nris40.jpg.f44c2828d520b666593dfa41a642313e.jpg

IMG_pd1utq.jpg

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Oops. Put the same photo in twice. Sorry about that!

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This is such a wonderful story on every level! I can almost feel your joy from being at this event and getting received so well. I hope there are many more to follow :)

 

Gwen

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Thank you! I hope that as well.

A number of us that were there got together last night to play cards against humanity. We all agreed that we haven't laughed that much in a long time. It was nice just being another middle aged lesbian (pansexual actually, but who's keeping track!) hanging out, eating a great dinner and having fun. I felt truly accepted and comfortable. ?

 

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