7:35 a.m. - Wednesday, Nov. 06, 2002
MsLeslie speaks in person, part two
Well, alright. Since you ask, I can tell you that the UNO class last night was kind of like the opposite of the picnic. I rode to the meeting with Karen, which took a lot of the pressure off of me. I didn�t have to deal with the rush hour traffic or with finding my way to the UNO satellite campus for the first time. Without her driving, I don�t think I could have gone at all. We stopped in Slidell on the way to have some sushi at Osaka. I� of course, made a pig out of myself, but I just can�t leave a fresh piece of sushi in peace. It was a huge treat for Karen, who doesn�t get out much� as Karen. I�m not sure what to think about her. She�s going new places and doing new things lately. She came to my hairdresser before the meeting too. That�s something I don�t think she would have had the courage to do six months ago. I�m kind of proud of her.
The class at UNO consisted of thirty or so students. A hint for the guys; It looks like human sexuality classes are a good place to meet women. There were only three or four guys in the class, not counting the instructor. Dr. A, the instructor, by the way, seemed like a fantastic guy. He seems to somehow embody some of the positive things I saw in the spirit of the sixties. Never mind that he was completely charming and good-looking. He was also warm and charming in his own graying pony-tailed, laid back yet outgoing kind of way. I�m guessing he drinks wine and takes off all his clothes to get into a hot tub in mixed company. And when he does, he makes it not seem naughty. He is, in short, one of those few guys I�ve met who are real knee shakers. You know�. They make you a little tongue-tied and shaky in the knees? Wouldn�t you know it?�. The darn guy is married and happy.
I think �warm� is the one best word to describe the whole experience. The class was really intent and interested in what each member of the panel had to say. I sat before the class along with Lee, a long time transvestite who�s an organizer and charter member of the Gulf Gender Alliance (GGA) as well as the organizer of these UNO panels, which have been taking place for some years. George was there too. He is a young female to male transsexual who is about to start his hormones. He�s an interesting and literate guy with an interesting life story of his own. I didn�t realize it, but we had met via the internet some time ago when I gave my overblown opinions about the standards of care for transsexuals for a class project he was doing. I didn�t realize at the time that I was writing to a TS man�.. and why should I have �realized� it? And then there was Karen to round things out. Oh�. And Nancy B, who came as her male self just to take a few pics and observe. That was the first time I had seen her in men�s clothing. I had no idea who she was until she stood in front of me and told me who she was. It�s really so strange how we seem to imprint on people as we see them for the first time. I met her as Nancy and so now it�s kind of hard to imagine her as a guy with a penis and all.
I think I might have surprised Nancy, who�s never seen me in a talkative mood. I�ve been to the GGA meetings, but I�m invariably overwhelmed and intimidated there, so I spend my time sitting in an out of the way corner and smiling nervously. Last night was different. Right from the first, I found myself talking to the class almost is if we were all old friends. They were respectful and sympathetic as each panel member told a little about his or herself, and they laughed at my jokes. How can you not love people who laugh at your jokes? The class members made each of us feel special and welcome by asking thoughtful and germane questions to each of us. I found a lot of the questions directed at me and I was flattered by that. I didn�t hold back with the answers either. At times I was afraid I was talking too much, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.
I brought pics of my surgery in case one or two students were that interested and had a strong stomach. I offered to show them after the discussion on request. I was amazed to see that at the break, nearly every student rushed to the front of the class to look at the pics. And they didn�t just look, they wanted to understand.
At the end, Dr A asked if I was coming to the event this afternoon. I hadn�t been invited to that one, but Dr A made it clear that he would like me to be there. It�s a different campus and I wasn�t sure I wanted to tackle the drive and the panic I get into when I get lost, so they wheedled Karen into making the drive again today. She�s been there before, so I can just let her get us there. I�ll buy her gas and another meal. She�ll get to dress up again. Everybody wins.
If today goes as well as last night did, I�m going to be walking on air for weeks to come. I think I must have a real interest in helping raise the awareness of society to our existence and validity as citizens and people. I get this real spooky feeling that maybe the more others accept me, the more I accept myself. What a concept!
Life is good. My biggest problem today? What to wear.
0 comments so far
�
�
