A Transgendered "Forward Pass".
I've talked and written often here in the Condo of the benefits of "paying forward" experiences to others in the transgendered culture.
A trans woman who has taken it to a whole different level is Chicago's "Gloria Allen". The Chicago Tribune has the story of 66 year old Gloria:
"About a year ago, a retired Gloria Allen thought having lunch at the Center on Halsted with other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender senior citizens was simply one of the highlights of her week.
But while at the center, which offers an array of youth services for the LGBT community, Allen, 66, noticed that some of the young people arrived dressed inappropriately. Young men wore scandalously short shorts; young women sported baggy pants that sagged way below their waists.
So Allen, a transgender woman, got permission from the center to start a
charm school. Allen, who's called "Mama Gloria," teaches youth
etiquette along with how to dress and carry themselves — things they
might have ordinarily learned at home if their parents understood how to
guide their LGBT teens and were supportive enough to do so.
"I may be sounding old-fashioned, but I would see these young people wearing negligee-type clothes on the street and I would say, 'How could they leave the house looking like that?'" Allen said.
She said she felt strongly about helping because she understands how difficult it can be when a person has been socialized to be one gender but feels as though he or she is another. Also, she said she believes they have to set a good example.
"When you're a part of a minority community, what you do reflects the whole," she said. "It may not be fair, but that's reality. There are children out on the street. I don't want kids to say, 'Look Mom, look at that.' I don't want people to look at us like that."
Take a look at the rest of this wonderful look at a woman trying to pay forward in our community. In addition, her "words of wisdom" ring true for all of us!
A trans woman who has taken it to a whole different level is Chicago's "Gloria Allen". The Chicago Tribune has the story of 66 year old Gloria:
"About a year ago, a retired Gloria Allen thought having lunch at the Center on Halsted with other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender senior citizens was simply one of the highlights of her week.
But while at the center, which offers an array of youth services for the LGBT community, Allen, 66, noticed that some of the young people arrived dressed inappropriately. Young men wore scandalously short shorts; young women sported baggy pants that sagged way below their waists.
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| "Mama Gloria" |
"I may be sounding old-fashioned, but I would see these young people wearing negligee-type clothes on the street and I would say, 'How could they leave the house looking like that?'" Allen said.
She said she felt strongly about helping because she understands how difficult it can be when a person has been socialized to be one gender but feels as though he or she is another. Also, she said she believes they have to set a good example.
"When you're a part of a minority community, what you do reflects the whole," she said. "It may not be fair, but that's reality. There are children out on the street. I don't want kids to say, 'Look Mom, look at that.' I don't want people to look at us like that."
Take a look at the rest of this wonderful look at a woman trying to pay forward in our community. In addition, her "words of wisdom" ring true for all of us!
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