Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Transgender (Topless) Pool Party

Something amazing happened while I was in Minneapolis for The Creating Change Conference.

There was a transgender pool party, they have it every year. That, in and of itself, is really awesome and empowering. But, then we, students from the Auraria Campus, started a topless pool party at this transgender pool party.

I have to say that it was the most empowering experience that I have ever had. I felt free and comfortable, and the best part was how encouraging everyone was to each other. When someone would take their swim top off to join, we would cheer. Not in a pervy way, but in a supportive way.

There were many trans* women there who were probably already feeling uncomfortable in their swim wear, but also enjoying the chance to be who they want to be with no judgement. Some of those beautiful women joined our topless party, and started to appear more comfortable with the situation. By the end of the night, there were at least 40 topless people who had not been previously topless.

Simply put, it was an amazing experience. The energy that night was amazing, and I don't know that I will ever experience something so profound again in my life and I feel so honored to have experienced it at all.

Sue Hyde, the exectutive director of the conference, said that this was the best session of the conference.

5 comments:

  1. And you know it's awesome when Sue Hyde says it is! That's really cool, Jo. :)

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  2. Amazing how courageous acts as simple, yet bold, as this can transform our lives and ripple into the collective consciousness of progress. Hat's (and tops) off to all who participated!

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  3. 2) being naked in front of a whole bunch of people is like a one night stand you regret. It seems like a good idea in the moment, but when you wake up in the morning you feel dirty.

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  4. @Anonymous: I don't really understand how that is relevant to the original post?

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  5. For the record,

    I a.) Did not feel dirty the morning after the pool party. I still felt empowered. In fact, I still feel empowered by the experience today. It was amazing, not shameful.

    and b.) rarely feel dirty the morning after a one night stand. I am not ashamed of my sexual experiences nor do I feel the need to ever consider being ashamed of my experiences. No one should.

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