CDM Minutes - 2007

CDM Monthly Minutes - December 8, 2007
Welcome to our Holiday edition of the Monthly Minutes. Our meeting was brought to order by the Chapter president, Cynthia. Vice President Linda, Chapter Treasurer Sharla and Secretary Laura were also in attendance.

New Members, Visitors and Significant Others:
CDM would like welcome our newest member Audrey. We would also like to thank Jean and Gina for visiting us. Thanks also to Marybeth and Sandy for supporting us.

Club Business and News:
Chi Delta Mu held it’s annual Gift Exchange this year and it was a great success. There were varied gifts as well as several hot items floating around. Thanks to all who participated. CDM would also like to thank those members and significant others who brought side dishes and desserts for our Holiday Pot Luck.  Great job with all the cooking girls! We also had a guest speaker this month named Laura Jacobs. Laura is a transitioned woman who also works as a therapist. She discussed some of her experiences and beginnings with Chi Delta Mu as well as various issues including sense of self, labels of the TG community and where we fit in as people. 

Members are reminded that If you would like to bring food or contribute any goodies to any meeting, please click on the link “Sign Up Here to help provide food or drinks for a future monthly meeting.” on the CDM Website. 

Announcements:
Cynthia mentioned a website called La Diva Footwear which is a company specializing in woman’s shoes that are specially made for larger sizes, e.g. 10-15. The prices range from $59-$99. The website is ladivafootwear@tds.net. There will be more products available in February 2008. This company is located in Verona, Wisconsin.

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CDM Monthly Minutes - November 10, 2007
Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of the Monthly Minutes. Our meeting was brought to order by the Chapter president, Cynthia. Vice President Linda, Chapter Treasurer Sharla and Secretary Laura were also in attendance.

New Members, Visitors and Significant Others:
We would like to thank Audrey for visiting with us and Marybeth for supporting Laura this month. We hope to continue to see you both at future meetings. 

There will be a First Event Transgender Conference held in Peabody, MA from January 16-20, 2008. It will be take place at the Boston Marriott. Cynthia mentioned that it will be $105.00 a person for the weekend and a number to call for information is 1-800-228-9290. There are also several websites that can provide you with details. They are   http://www.gendertalk.com/?q=node/231 and http://www.tcne.org/fe2007.html. Events will include a costume ball, fashion show, awards banquet and Sunday Brunch. See you all in 2008  girls! CDM wishes our members along with their families Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Club Business and News:
The CDM girls would like to thank our President Cynthia and Vice President Linda for organizing our Thanksgiving dinner from Boston Market and the pies for dessert. The program consisted of a roundtable discussion group where several of the girls mentioned what they were thankful for and shared their experience. Next month, all of the girls are encouraged to bring a dessert or side dish for our Christmas meeting which will most likely be pot luck. The December meeting will also consist of our annual Gift Exchange. Members are reminded that if you would like to bring food or contribute any goodies to any meeting, please click on the link “Sign Up Here to help provide food or drinks for a future monthly meeting.” on the CDM Website. 

Announcements:
Our sister group Sigma Nu Rho will be holding their Annual Holiday Party in the upstairs room of the National Hotel on Race Street in Flemington, NJ on Saturday, December 15^th, 2007. The cost is undetermined at this point but Pat has mentioned that it will be $30 per person, possibly $40. The food will be provided by an outside caterer. Please feel free to e-mail Pat if you would like additional information. She can be reached at snrtris@hotmail.com. 

Cynthia mentioned during the meeting that New Jersey’s own Montclair State University has opened a course in LGBTQ Gender Studies. If you would like to read about this, the website link below will take you to the story: http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?id=17180&section=67

The 9^th annual TG Remembrance Day will be held nationally on 11/20/07. This day is marked as a way for us to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Here is a website link to find out where observances will be taking place:  http://www.gender.org/remember/day/where.html. 

Program:
As mentioned there was no "offical" program simply because we feasted on a wonderful dinner from Boston Market. Our thanks go out to the fine people from Boston Market who have prepared the food for our Thanksgiving meeting now for the past two years. Thanks for being so kind and understanding to us and for treating us with respect.

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CDM Monthly Minutes - October 13, 2007
Welcome to this edition of the Monthly Minutes. Our meeting was brought to order by the Chapter president, Cynthia. Vice President Linda, Chapter Treasurer Sharla and Secretary Laura were also in attendance.

New Members, Visitors and Significant Others:
We would like to welcome Joann B. to CDM and we look forward to seeing you at future meetings. Thanks also go out to Marybeth and Sari for supporting us this month.

Club Business and News:
The CDM girls would like to thank Pat from Sigma Nu Rho for providing pizza for our dinner this month. Thanks so much Pat! Members are reminded that If you would like to bring food or contribute any goodies to a meeting, please click on the link “Sign Up Here to help provide food or drinks for a future monthly meeting.” on the CDM Website.

Announcements:
Please note that the TG Day of Remembrance takes place on November 19^th. Here is a website link for various locations of observance:  http://www.gender.org/remember/day/where.html. 

Program:
Reverend Gary LaCroix, minister of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Teaneck, NJ visited with us this month to discuss Transgender issues and several stories from the Old Testament. His church is exclusive to the LGBT community and all are welcome to visit. Their address is 61 Church Street, Teaneck, NJ 07666. The number to call for mass schedules is 201-837-3189. The floor was opened to questions and there was a lively disscussion. We hope that Reverend LaCroix will return for a future meeting. (We’d like to mention that Reverend LaCroix was a good sport and came in costume as a sunburned tourist. Way to go!)

Our Annual Halloween Party was a great success! We had plenty of spooky decorations, good music and a lot of fun. Everyone got the chance to vote for their favorite costumes and it was a close vote. CDM would like to congratulate the following winners of our Annual Halloween Costume Contest: Kathy took 1st place as a “Sexy Scout”, Rita took 2nd place as “Mae West” and third place went to our Vice President Linda who came as a “Vitch” (part witch, part vampire). Thanks to all who participated!

See you in November for our Thanksgiving celebration!

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CDM Monthly Minutes - September 8, 2007
Our meeting was brought to order by the Chapter president, Cynthia. Chapter Treasurer Sharla and Secretary Laura were also in attendance. Vice President Linda was unable to attend. (And I was not very happy about it either... Linda)

New Members, Visitors and Significant Others
CDM would like to thank Marybeth for once again supporting Laura at the monthly meetings as well as all other significant others who take the time to understand and grow with us.

Club Business and News:
It seems that all of the old officers were railroaded back into.... I mean voted back into office for another term. Congratulations go out to all! We also only had about 12 girls show up. Well, it's a slow start to the season but we are sure attendance will pick up as the weather gets colder. Marybeth and Laura brought eggplant parmesan and spaghetti to the meeting (they cooked from 12-6 that day, no kidding!!) A big thank you goes out to them both for providing the food this month!

Announcements:
Cynthia passes around a book called Head Over Heels (ISBN 0789030950) for some members to read if they wish. Also mentioned was a website for TG Remembrance Day http://www.dayofsilence.org/tdr.html. More details to follow once we find out upcoming events in our area..

Program:
There was no official program for this evening. The election took up some of the time and the rest was spent catching up with each other after the long summer. We look forward to seeing everyone next month at our Annual Halloween Party!

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CDM Monthly Minutes - May 12, 2007
Our meeting was brought to order by the Chapter president, Cynthia. Vice President Linda and Chapter Treasurer Sharla were also in attendance. (Once again Linda's hairbrush was used as the gavel to call us to order.)

New Members, Visitors and Significant Others:
CDM would like to welcome three new members/attendees: Jennifer, Camio and Jennifer.  Thank you also goes out to Sophie for supporting us this month as well. We hope all of you had a wonderful time and we hope to see you again at a future meeting!

Club Business and News:
After an open chapter vote we will be having a June meeting, regular date and time. Our meeting next month will be Saturday, June 9th. Even though we have the funds to have a July and August meeting the club voted to not have meetings during these two months. In their place we will be having our "Girls Night out". Look for more details soon.

Many thanks to Heather and Linda for providing the pizza for us this month. We tried a new pizzeria and everyone enjoyed it very much. Thank you so much girls! If you would like to bring food or contribute any goodies for future months, please click on the link “Sign Up Here to help provide food or drinks for a future monthly meeting.” on the left column of the CDM Website. 

Announcements:
There were several announcements for upcoming transgendered events including Pride month (see below), the Chicago Be-All, a Rainbow Mountain weekend and the Sigma Nu Rho Annual Picnic. The picnic is being held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Washington Crossing in Titusville, NJ on June 23^rd 2007.  The event will be Rain or Shine.

Josette brought in information concerning the Transgender Project. This project is very important to our community and Josette urged all of us to participate. Here is some information copied from their website: Over the years, psychologists and medical professionals have conducted numerous small-scale and highly focused studies of various segments of the Transgender Community, yet precious little is known about how we actually live our lives; who we are; what we do and why; where we come from; and where we are headed. The Transgender Project is designed to describe the economic, social and personal, family and workplace experiences of male to female trans-persons, how these experiences change over the course of our lives, and the impact of these experiences on our mental and physical health."

Here's how to contact the project organizers: their phone number is 212-845-4617 and their web site is: http://www.ndri.org/transgender/

June is also national Pride month. There are several events planned locally including parades in Jersey City, New York city and the town of Huntington out on Long Island. If anyone is interested in marching in the NY city parade under the CDM banner please contact Cynthia for more information.

Program:
Our featured speaker was Ms. Denise Brunner. Denise is the Vice Chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, she is on the Board of Directors of Garden State Equality and the New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and is a member of the Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey(GRAANJ). Plus she is a former member (and Vice President) of Chi Delta Mu! Her talk was very informative and many of us learned of both the similarities and the differences between crossdressers and transexuals. Even though we may be on different places on the gender spectrum we all share a deep common bond between us that runs very deep. Everyone walked away from the meeting understanding the need for all of us to work together to educate and legislate for a better tommorow. Thanks again Denise. You are welcome back anytime!

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CDM Monthly Minutes - April 21, 2007
Welcome to this edition of the Monthly Minutes.  Our meeting was brought to order by the Chapter president, Cynthia.  Vice President Linda, Chapter Treasurer Sharla and Secretary Laura were also in attendance.

New Members, Visitors and Significant Others:
CDM would like to welcome our new member Natalie.  Thank you to Marybeth for supporting us this month as well.

Club Business and News:
The CDM girls would like to thank Josette for preparing Cajun cuisine for us this month.  All the girls enjoyed it very much.  Thank you so much Josette!  Our meeting next month will be Saturday May 12th.  If you would like to bring food or contribute any goodies, please click on the link “Sign Up Here to help provide food or drinks for a future monthly meeting.” on the CDM Website. 

Announcements:
The 2007 Be-All will be held in Chicago, Illinois from May 29^th to June 3^rd 2007 for the 6^th straight year.  It will at the Doubletree Hotel in Downers Grove, Illinois.  This is a special 25^th anniversary celebration.  For more information please visit http://www.be-all.org/ for all information. 

Our sister chapter, Sigma Nu Rho will hold their Annual Picnic at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Washington Crossing in Titusville, NJ on June 23^rd 2007.  The event will be Rain or Shine. 

There will be a Transgender Health Fair in New York City on June 6, 2007.  The Trans Health Initiative of New York (THINY) will present its first TG Health Fair on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at the LGBT Community Center from 5:30 to 8PM.  It is free!!  There will be health screenings, referrals made and information given out.  The LGBT Community Center is at 208 W 13 St.  in Manhattan.  There number is (212) 620-7310.  The web site is www.gaycenter.org

There will be an upcoming TG weekend at Rainbow Mountain Resorts in the Poconos (Pennsylvania).  The dates are May 18-20, 2007.  For more information, please refer to President Cynthia’s e-mail from April 19^th or visit the web site http://www.rainbowmountain.com/ for more information. 

Steve Stanton will be a keynote speaker for TG Equality at 7:00 on June 18^th 2007 at the Unitarian Church of Montclair in Montclair, NJ.  Please read about Mr. Stanton either in last month’s edition of Monthly Minutes or visit www.savestanton.org.

Program:
Mary and her daughter Taze visited from Teaneck’s Mar-Lon Beauty.  Mary is affectionately known as the “wig lady” who graciously offered her services to the members of CDM this evening.  Mary and Taze displayed wigs during their short introduction.  Several members of the group purchased on the spot while others tried on some.  Every enjoyed their company and we certainly hope they will be back soon.  Mary’s shop is located at 362 Cedar Lane in Teaneck, NJ.  Stop by there sometime! 

Following Mary’s visit, VP Linda led a roundtable discussion concerning the recent 2006 IFGE Transgender Forum held in Philadelphia.  Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the report and we do appreciate the attendance of our own CDM girls. 

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CDM Monthly Minutes - March 10, 2007
The meeting was brought to order by the Chapter president, Cynthia. Chapter Treasurer Sharla and Secretary Laura were also in attendance. (Linda was unable to attend due to her wife’s birthday.)

Club Business and News:
The CDM girls would like to thank Stacy for preparing cold cuts, salad, chips and beverages for the meeting.  Our meeting next month will be the third Saturday April 21st.  If you would like to bring food or contribute any goodies, please click on this link “Sign Up Here to help provide food or drinks for a future monthly meeting”. 

New Members and Visitors:
CDM would like to welcome new members Aleigha, Bobbie and Christine as well as thank Wendy, Daria and Annemarie for visiting with us.  Last but not least, thank you to Marybeth and Trish for supporting us as well.

Announcements:
On Saturday, March 24th and Sunday March 25^th, the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City will hold the 14^th annual GLBT Expo.  There will be friendly employment vendors, travel booths and much more to see!  For times, dates and registration, please click on this link http://www.originalglbtexpo.com/attendee.php.  We hope to see you all there.

At our April meeting, Mary from Mar-Lon Beauty & Supplies in Teaneck will be visiting us.  She has been a great help to some of the girls who have seen her for wigs in the past.  She supports our community with love and we will be excited to have her.  Thanks to Cynthia for inviting her once again. 

Kathy mentioned that she will be competing in the Mr. & Miss Asian Pacific Alliance Pageant March 24, 2007 * Saturday * 7:30 PM PS 41 Auditorium, Greenwich Village School, 116 W. 11^th Street (btw 6^th & 7^th Aves, NYC).  If you would like more information about this event, you may click on the link http://members.aol.com/apany/pageant.htm.  Best of luck to Kathy during this competition! 

Chi Delta Mu is taking up a collection for all of your old wigs.  These wigs are being donated to cancer stricken women.  If you have any wigs that you would like to donate, please bring them to the next meeting.  Thanks for all of your support in this cause.

Steven B. Stanton (b. 1959) is the city manager of Largo, Florida. Stanton became the subject of national and international media attention in February 2007 after disclosing that he is transsexual and was pursuing sex reassgnment, leading Largo city commissioners to initiate the process of ending his contract as city manager, a decision which Stanton is appealing. Stanton has asked to be referred to by the male pronoun until his transition is complete.

You can visit http://www.savestanton.com for more information on what you can do to support City Manager Stanton.  On the website, you can find a mailing address for the City Commission, an e-mail for Mr. Stanton and a number to call.

Program:
Prior to this meeting, Cynthia asked everyone to think of an anonymous question regarding Transgender situations or issues.  Everyone wrote their question during their arrival and these were picked at random as a basis for discussion.  We hope this was beneficial to all the girls in attendance including our new members, visitors and significant others.  Thank you to Cynthia for setting this up.  See you all next month!