There were other activities and meetings going on at the hotel, and there were many bemused non-cding patrons.
Watching a male waddle in high heels with frequent turn of ankle and truckers strides was also a bit diverting. There were also some constumed fetishists types, and some people with the SHORTEST SKIRTS I have ever seen on a human being short of bar girls in Olongapo, PI. OH well, without the CD participation there would have been no gathering of professionals involved with SRS and FFS for the 10% of us interested in consulting them comparatively in one place. Some of us had reservations for dinner at Tommy Gunn's, a '20s bootlegging speakeasy setting with singing and acting waiters ala' the old Molly Murphy's establishment, except in this setting all the waiters were gun molls and "enforcers" instead of movie characters. There were skits to entertain, and large people with "tommy guns" looming over the table at times. Fun, and prime rib done just right too!. Found a bunch of people from Oklahoma and Texas already there when we arrived, and we had considerable intermingling between tables talking about what we were doing and what brought them there. Good attitudes on their parts. We were just part of the entertainment for them, I think.
Lets see now, TRI-ESS and ICDA (or IGCDA, whichever -- can't find the literature on them) of Chicago chapters, were there in force, and then some independents. People from as far away as England, Florida, California I met, and one person from Ghana who would be killed in her own country if she admitted her TS status. She was talking to Mara about how to claim asylum from her country to the states or England. We had a brief address by the person from England and all does not sound so rosy there after all, with conservatives trying to cut back on TG rights in that country by playing up three incidents in two years and portraying TGs as mentally defective. Dr. Meredith Bacon from University of Nebraska is a political scientist who showed how power from a few can result in marginalization of a much larger number of people by declaring them unfit or mentally defective, and suggesting being out and proud, and then acknowleging the reality that it is not possible for many.
I did get (free) consultations with Drs. Chernoff, Ousterhout and Spiegel and now have a clearer view of what they would want to do to "femininze" my face, with Dr. Osterhaut wanting to do the most bone work, which of course is his stock in trade. Dr. Chernoff would do the least, mainly soft tissue work and cheek implants and hairline adjustment that would make a difference taking years off my appearance. Dr. Spiegel took a middle of the road approach with some forehead bone work, implant, nose job, and chin and jaw refining. Ousterhout projected a cost of 43,000 if done this year, Chernoff 18,000 if done this year, and Spiegel suggested 33,000 if all work was done at once this year (all of which predicated reduced cost through a single use of hospital facilities). Done piecemeal it would be an average of 10,000 bucks more each!!
Dr.s Ousterhout and Zukowski were the main people to supply money for scholarships without which my friend Tracy and many others would not have been able to attend, and others were in similar financial shape, mostly TSs who had lost jobs to transition. Most of the conferences give scholarships, so if you want to go to one but think you do not have enough cash to register, go to their websites and apply. They do not as a general rule supply travel funds, only registration and sometimes reduced room rates.
If you decide to go to one of these type conferences, when they say a formal dinner, they mean a formal dinner for the closing festivites. There were evening dresses there that were nothing short of fantastic, made both Tracy and I feel underdressed and we were no slouches. Hair (mainy wigs) had been put in updo's for evening by Rachel's wigs, one of the 30 or so vendors at the place, and makeovers were done by three of the vendors, Jaimie Austin, Illusions, and Mary Kay. Nice event, good food, and fireworks for the end, then a band (not very good) 'til the wee hours. I had to leave at 5 the next morning to return to Oklie-land, so I turned into a pumpkin at 10 P.M. 14 hour drives each way!!! Great gas mileage at 75 mph. Just be careful of Chicago tollways. Get on some of them and there are no exits for 10-15 miles!!! Talk about frustrating!!
So, that is my report on BE-ALL 2009. Seems to be a going concern.
Carolynn
IGCDA. Might that be for Island Girls out of Chicago?