Tri State Transgender: A Ten-Year Journey

By Dee Ann Dushane
Contributing Writer

This year marks Pride Collective & Community Center’s ten years of giving to the Fargo/
Moorhead LGBT community. Not coincidentally, it also marks over ten years of Tri
State Transgender’s involvement with the T spectrum of this same community.

A decade ago, in November 1999, Alice C and a small contingent of people who
self-identified as transsexual women began meeting in Fargo to provide support
and fellowship for one another.

Alice recalls those early meetings. “The group grew, word spread, and soon we were joined by individuals who identified as transgender as well as transsexual. The group has weathered some
storms and today has a mission statement of being inclusive to adults who identify as
being on the transgender continuum.”

In February of 2003, Alice stepped aside and let the group take wings. By then it had grown to around 90 members and was holding regular meetings at the PEPP Building in Moorhead. Over the years, attendance at group meetings has varied from six to 24 people.

In 2007 the group entered its first float in the annual Pride Parade. It must have been
a harbinger of things to come: Tri State Transgender has managed to “nick” the trophy
every year since then! This year will mark TSTG’s fourth entry into the parade, and
hopes run high of continuing to hang on to the trophy.

The group’s sole source of support is earned annually during the Pride in the Park
event by operating a “Tacos in a Bag” table. Make sure you stop by and sample these
delectable items! Vegan taco’s are also available.

During the summer of 2010, Tri State stopped meeting in the now defunct PEPP
location. Pride Collective & Community Center made space available to the group and
we are now ensconced in our new home.

One of our prized members, Carla Gustafson served as Grand Marshall in the 2008
parade. In addition, Carla held the title of being our oldest member in both the age
category and in membership tenure as she was one of our founding transsexuals.
Sadly Carla passed away this past year and will be missed by many of us still active in
the group. Her tales, her antics, her special camaraderie will linger among us whenever
we come together.

Another wonderful member joined us back in the early years and attended a couple
of meetings. However, Dawn did not like what she found and subsequently left to
form another group in Fargo that she called the Sheyenne Social Club. Dawn –
affectionately referred to as Mother Hen by all of her “chicks” – brought yet another
element of support to the Fargo/Moorhead transgender community.

The Sheyenne Social Club tried to provide for the “social” side of transgender people identifying as cross dressers. Today some of our members enjoy membership in both organizations.

Some individual group members engage in periodic speaking engagements at local
university and civic organizations. Others are involved in outreach efforts at local eateries,
pubs and community events. Still other members are community activists and work
with local law enforcement, hospitals, and emergency responders in dealing with
transgender issues.

Within the group many different views are expressed. As a group we’ve come to learn
that regardless of how individuals defines themselves, we all still go through similar
periodic stages.

In addition to questions of sexuality, many of us routinely deal with questions of gender. Regardless, Tri State Transgender continues to provide support for anyone identifying themselves under the umbrella term “transgender.”

Although most of our members are from the Fargo/Moorhead area, we do have a
number of members from throughout Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota that
routinely attend meetings. Group meetings provide each of us with an opportunity to
engage in dialog along common threads of our lives, to enjoy the fellowship of other
human beings, and to learn more about this journey we are on.

Initial contact with the group can be as easy as checking out our web site at http://tstg.t35.com or an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). (Membership provides access to our yahoo e-group, meeting times and location, and email reminders of meeting dates.)