Transfigurations by Jana Marcus
It has been a couple of months of ramping up our visibility in the Trans community and beyond for GIFT. We started off August at the Gender Odyssey conference, enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We enjoyed being at the launch of Transfigurations, Jana Marcus’ photo-documentry exhibit that is now a self-published book. Looking through its wonderful black and white photos and seeing so many of the men in the book at the conference was a treat. The men, captured in a moment in time between 2003-2006, that we saw 5 or more years later really provided perspective on how we grow and change and yet remain so much ourselves. Many of us have less hair, in some cases a lot less hair, and show other physical changes, but we still look like ourselves. We are contributing to our comunities, supporting, serving and mentoring others on their journey of wholeness. At the Gender Odyssey conference, we saw a lot of positive visibility wherever we looked.
I met a new guy at the Gender Odyssey conference who blew me away with T=he Visible Man Project. We had a chance to share a meal, hang out and talk about community, family, education, food and what it means to be who we are. Quoting from the T=he Visible Man Project web site, “he hopes to promote community service, community pride and positive esprit de corps.” It is too easy to get dragged down by what is happening with the economy, our politics, and what the media reinforces. T=he Visible Man Project is a refreshing and positive change that I hope you’ll check out. Let us and T=he Visible Man Project know what inspires you in your community.
In September, we were given the opportunity to fundraise for GIFT by selling copies of Transfigurations as a vendor at the Southern Comfort Conference in Atlanta. It allowed us to talk about what GIFT is doing, what our goals are, and how being at the Southern Comfort Conference fundraising with the book was contributing to our mission. In additoin to community members, we talked to therapists, physicians, and researchers, hearing about what they are doing, and the challenges and rewards of working with the transgender community. A few of the women that I spoke to do peer support in their communities serving the full transgender spectrum. They felt that Transfigurations, was a great resource for the young folk, both for its images and its text. The men who founded GIFT are represented in the book. As Transfigurations is launched, our goal of promoting positive visibility extends further into the world.
What is your take on visibility for and in the trans community? How does the current world economy influence your perspective?
