| The Emerald City Newsletter is a critical component of The Emerald City Club. Our membership is as diverse as the transgender community from which it draws its members. We have members who are still uncomfortable revealing their true selves in public. It takes an act of extreme courage to just get dressed and come to one of our meetings. At the other end of the spectrum we have members who are post-op transsexuals who live their lives as women. The Emerald City Newsletter tries to appeal to the entire rainbow that is The Emerald City Club. The newsletter has three primary tasks. First, is to keep the members connected. We try and show the members that they are not alone. One way we do this is with a series of articles called “The Yellow Brick Road”. A “Yellow Brick Road” article is one where a member describes where she is on her journey. We are all at different places on the road and it is a truly unique road as it will take each of us to a different destination. But, whether your ultimate destination is to undergo Gender Reassignment Surgery and live life as a woman or to dress as a woman and have fun with your friends, but live your life as a man, we all have similar experiences. The “Yellow Brick Road” articles illustrate this. The second task of the newsletter is to keep the members apprised of what the club is up to. We publish a calendar of upcoming events and articles about events the club has planned. There are also articles about events that occurred in the previous month so a member can read about how the event went and decide whether she wants to attend a similar event in the future. | We also
print lots and lots of pictures. If there is one
thing all Ts have in common, it is that we love
to have our picture taken. The officers also
regularly write articles to let the members know
what is going on behind the scenes. They truly
want to know what the members are thinking and
what direction they want the club to take. The
third task of the newsletter is to discuss
matters of interest to Ts. Our Secretary,
Suzanne Adams, writes a regular feature,
“Potpourri” that discusses what other clubs are
doing and various matters of interest to the
transgendered community. We see articles from
members reviewing books and movies involving T
related subjects. Other members write about
current events and the tremendous changes we
have seen in the past decade in attitudes
towards the transgendered. Our newsletter is
twelve pages long and published in hard copy
format only. We do not offer an on-line version
because there is something about holding the
printed word in your hand that makes the
material more tangible, interesting and
relevant. It has been continuously published
every month since 1993, so we must be on to
something. I hope you will consider joining our
club. But be forewarned. I am relentless. I have
set a goal that I want everyone to submit at
least one article for the newsletter at some
point during their membership. So I will pester,
plead and prod. But I guarantee you will have
fun, Melissa Batson Newsletter Editor |