Wednesday, May 11, 2011

En Femme 24/7 Four Days Next Week

2010 Dayton Hamvention

By this time next week, I will be well on my way driving 730 miles to Dayton, Ohio to attend Hamvention en femme.

I have attended Hamvention 22 times in the past 33 years, but last year was the first time I attended en femme. (You can read about that experience here).

Last year's attendance en femme was an affirming experience. As I concluded last year, "Overall, the weekend worked out great. Everyone I encountered accepted me one way or another.

"All my friends and acquaintances were very ok with the new me.

"The strangers who engaged me throughout the weekend, hams and civilians alike, accepted me as a woman, trans or otherwise.

"I could not ask for anything more."

Truth be told, I could ask for more... from me.

Last year, I had prepared ahead of time. I came out to the people I would encounter frequently throughout the weekend, like my editor and the guys, who would be staffing my organization's booth alongside me. They expected me to be en femme, so I had no problems facing them en femme.

On the other hand, I shyed away from other people I knew at Hamvention, who were not in the know. I was unsure how they would react, so I did not bother waking up the sleeping dogs and did not confront them with a new version of me.

This year, I plan to be more outgoing and show my pretty face (!) to everyone I know at Hamvention. I expect that most folks will just shrug their shoulders and be ok with it, but I will be prepared for worse reactions.

I'll let you know how it goes.

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 11, 2011

    I know you will have fun even if only for a few days. I so enjoyed my trip to Diva Las Vegas which I also did 24/7 and had a blast. Hope to hear all about it in upcoming blogs.
    Susan

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've only started reading your blog recently. You are awesome! I enjoy your openness and honesty and sense of humor. To come out and be yourself at that hamvention, well, I am astounded.
    Kudos to you, and to all of your ham radio folks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 12, 2011

    I read somewhere that a lot of British ham radio folks are crossdressers. I wonder if it is true for the Americans.

    JohnH

    ReplyDelete
  4. I cannot wait.

    I'll raise a glass in advance of your many great encounters!

    ReplyDelete