TRANSGENDER NEWS & EVENTS:
Next FTM North Conference
Planned for April 2007

In April 2006, the first FTM North Conference was held in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University. It went over with a thunderclap and the consensus was that FTM North should happen again, and that it should be an annual event. A planning committee has been formed and anyone is welcome to be a part of it. The committee will meet at 7:00 PM on the 4th Sunday of each month (after the Transgender Peer Support Group meeting) in the CARES conference room. The planning committee will brainstorm ideas and make final decisions regarding several areas of the conference. Those who attended FTM North in 2006 are especially encouraged to be a part of the planning process for 2007. For more information visit www.ftmnorth.com.

Transgender Film Series
The Transgender Peer Support Group is hosting another film series for summer/fall. All films are shown promptly at 6:15 PM at the Disability Resource Center Community Room. The DRC is located at 517 East Crosstown Parkway in downtown Kalamazoo. Everyone is welcome!

This series is free but donations are encouraged and appreciated. Funds raised go to the DRC to pay for use of the room.

**For information about the film series, please contact the Resource Center, not the venue.
They will have no information. Thanks!**

Thursday, September 21
" A Girl Like Me-The Gwen Araujo Story"

Thursday, October 26
" Dog Day Afternoon"

Three more dates will follow in the spring!
Check the winter issue of RCN for film info.

"Transgender Americans:
A Handbook for Understanding"
A publication of the Human Rights
Campaign Foundation, November 2005

We hope that readers of Transgender Americans: A Handbook for Understanding will find it a useful overview of the issues facing transgender Americans in our society. This handbook aims to help readers become familiar with the range of issues faced by transgender Americans, from the complex process of getting an appropriate birth certificate, to family and parenting issues, to discrimination and hate violence. These issues are not theoretical--they affect real people who are an integral part of our American community.

We start by providing a picture: who transgender people are, how many are simply working to make a life and a living in the United States every day, and what the American people already understand and believe about their transgender neighbors and co-workers. Next, we discuss the numerous issues in which transgender people face discrimination and harassment: in finding and keeping jobs, locating housing and using public accommodations, staying safe in their homes and communities, obtaining critical health care, securing legal documents consistent with their gender identity, having their relationships respected and protected, raising their children, safely attending school and being treated fairly and humanely in the criminal justice system. For more information or to download this handbook, visit http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Transgender_Issues1