Welcome back. And thanks for that story - I've linked to it.

major reason why I am probably going to Delta this year, and not CHC's annual Inferno

Good for you.

My friend Pud/stivalineri has responded on the subject here, http://stivalineri.livejournal.com/14727.html, which you should read, and
which has already engendered (tee-hee) an interesting discussion.

He also reposted it to this group blog here, http://nextguard.blogspot.com/, which you should not only be reading but contributing to. You can get a feed of this blog directly onto your LJ Friends page here, http://syndicated.livejournal.com/nextguard/.

Obviously a guy who likes girl parts is going to go to the event that allows men with girl parts.

If you don't object to events that are all-male or all-female, I don't know why you'd object to an event that's all-XX (of which there are many) or all-XY.

In the article, I find it hypocritical that Billy Lane asks for no last name to be listed in the article, but has no problem specifically mentioning Brent's last name.

You're right though, that if someone does not like the CHC policy on FTM, there's another major BD/SM event that has a more open membership and guest policy within a week of CHC's major annual event. If one vendor doesn't supply what you're looking for and there's another one around the corner, go to the one that has what you want.

This very issue is a major reason why I am probably going to Delta this year, and not CHC's annual Inferno event.

Thats the great thing about this. If one group doesn't cater to your political desires, there are other options....

As I read this, I can’t say that really know how to react. Part of me is horrified that a group would take such pains to blatantly exclude a group of people… part of me, just expects that. As a genderqueer person who is pretty consistently and constantly moving on the F – M continuum (definitely more on the F side these days), I have had major issues in gay male spaces. For example, 3 years ago at IML, I was not-so-politely asked to leave the Chicago Eagle (by a random moron, not someone who worked at the club as far as I know) because I lacked the proper equipment. It stung, and hurt for a long time. At that point, I was definitely more M than F. But you know what? I've almost completely stopped talking about my gender issues, because they cause me so much pain, and I feel like I'm having to constantly justify anything/everything I do/wear/spell/etc. I just want to be *me* - not have to make some kind of 'statement' or say that I belong to X group and feel X way about a particular issue. (For example, as a lesbian, I should be for new hate crime legislation, right? I'm on the fence, but because I'm a "part of that group", I am automatically assumed to have certain associations and beliefs.

I have mixed opinions about forcing groups to be all-inclusive, or to requiring them to change their definitions. This isn’t just a problem in the men’s community – women’s only groups have ever-changing definitions of who they allow into their spaces as well. (And for me, if someone identifies as a transman, I don’t understand why they are fighting to get/stay in a women’s group/space – and I don’t even like that about myself, that I feel that way… but I do.)

As a Great Lakes title holder I was told that I should be at all of our local club’s bar nights. I was the only bio-woman there many nights – unless I brought rabbit with me. Do you know what I did on those nights? Mostly, I worked the doors or watched rabbit, if she was going to do boots. I was not welcomed into the community, and after that year as a titleholder was finished, I came to a peaceful conclusion for myself: I am not going to fight my way into a group that doesn’t want me to be a part of it. I never felt entirely welcome, and I doubt that I ever would. Yet the organizers didn’t seem to mind putting me to work.

Last night, I drove home from IML with someone who had never been before. As a straight sub man, collared to his Mistress/wife, he was worried about how the gay men might react to him being a vendor. He said he felt totally welcomed and comfortable, and couldn’t stop gushing about how welcoming and “open and accepting” gay men are to “all”. I was so happy that he had a good time, and that his first experience was positive – because it means that he will likely come back. But I felt like I had to caution him that IML – especially the Leather Market – really is open to everyone, regardless of orientation or gender – but, if he were doing something other than vending/going to the contest, he might have had some different experiences. And not all events are like IML.

Thanks for being a trans ally! I always think (perhaps erronenously, I don't know...) that non-trans people advocating for trans inclusiveness carry more weight. Perhaps it's the psychological phenomenon about being able to hear or understand a new concept from someone you think is "like you". Trans people are so often seen as "other". I think that's the cause of the non-trans policies some organizations have. I mean, it can't be about penises. That's absurd. I have a penis and I have photos to prove it!

Thank you again. Your voice means so much to so many.