April 1, 2008

This past Saturday, a number of transgender people were invited to Greensboro, NC to meet the board members of Equality North Carolina for dialogue. They were very nice people and I really enjoyed meeting them.

I might add I also met some transgender leaders in NC for the first time. This in itself was a good thing. We also began dialogue with each other.

The discussion was pointed at times, but always respectful. Feelings continue to run deep over what took place with HRC, ENDA and a host of other issues.

It would be difficult to reach a concensus on anything in three hours. The one thing in agreement is the need for education, getting to know each other and focusing on our commonalities rather than our differences.

One course we all agreed on would be for board members to visit support groups around NC as they are able. This would put a face on the community and let them hear our stories. The fact is, this is good for any well meaning people and is something we are going to focus on in Charlotte Gender Alliance. Our potential for outreach is unlimited.

I spoke at PFLAG Salisbury last month. I'm going back to join this month, with a few friends coming along with me. This will give them an opportunity to meet two other ENC board members. I think we're off to a pretty good start.

As I said, feelings run very deep over ENDA and HRC. It's no secret to anyone, including the HRC people at the local level. I recently met one of local HRC members, a very nice lady. We have invited her to our meeting this coming Saturday evening.

The bottom line to all this, we speak of embracing diversity. We talk about inclusion and not exclusion. We hand out reams of paper during Pride week about accepting each other. I personally preach being happy with who you are, no matter who you are. Some people are probably tired of hearing it.

I think we're at the point where the rubber meets the road. Either what we preach is true, or it's not. If we are truly open, we will meet with our LGB friends, and also our so called 'straight' allies at every opportunity. They will learn about us and vice versa.

We aren't going to change the world, but we can begin by changing our own outlook. You also meet some pretty cool people doing this.

Speaking of cool people, if the two ladies I dialogued with during Pride and met at the HRC debate happen to read this, I would love to hear from you. You have no idea how much I respect you.