Kappa Beta Serving the transgendered community since 1988

February's meeting was a wonderful time for all who attended. The Columbia ladies really know how to show the rest of us a good time, and we owe them a world of thanks. Another interesting thing occurred though for me as I had a near crossing of paths with a not so fortunate incident from Stephanie's past. Just two blocks away was a church seminar at the Columbia Convention Center. This was a church that I had been part of during my college years in Chapel Hill, NC. It was also the only time I had been caught dressed in women's clothing from someone outside the TG world.

For those that don't know the story, this occurred before Christmas 1992. I was just finishing college and was rooming with some men from the church in an apartment. We were all good friends and got along well. Little did they know that I had started exploring my cross-dressing tendencies. I had gone to yard sales and bought a couple of formal dresses. While everyone was away, I would dress up. I had no makeup, wig, shoes, panties, or a femme name... just two beautiful dresses. They even fit perfectly. I knew the church members would frown on this as it was a fundamentalist church. I always tried to be careful.

I wrote this several years ago in an attempt to discuss my feelings with my late wife. Since that time, some of my feelings have evolved and I am more careful with how I describe myself.

I was born with a Y chromosome and that seems to have come with a set of decisions that were already made for me. Who made those decisions, when did they make them, and why should I be forced to follow them now?

Who decided that I should be emotionless? Who decided that I shouldn't know what sensuality is? Who decided that I only want to wear practical clothes made from practical fabrics and with dull colors? Who decided that I could only wear pants?

-- From TransgenderCare

After-effects -- that is the body's reaction to treatment. Or more precisely, it is the body's reaction to trauma or injury. What we think of as successful electrolysis treatment is really the selective, precise and irreversible damage of the hair-producing cells located in the follicle.

In the best case, this damage is contained to a degree whereby the skin and surrounding tissue heals and continues to withstand the repeated process of electrolysis. And through successive electrolysis treatments one ultimately becomes hair-free. Given the right circumstances, the successfully treated skin area looks very much like any other's skin that has always been hair-free - the skin is soft to the touch, the texture is smooth, and no changes in the skin's natural color have occurred.

If you have not experienced electrolysis before, you will no doubt be unprepared for how timely and intrusive a process is ahead. But both of these factors can be greatly diminished.