Transredia

combined. I dont say this out of conceit for myself as the one presenting the subject, but for the subject itself. I started off by pointing out that everyone knew what abortion was all about and homosexuality was no secret but probably many of them disn't know what transvestism was. I defined it using "Femmeper- sonator" to distinguish us from the gay queens to whom the word transvestite is generally applied and then went on to outline the subject and to tell them about the existance of TRANSVESTIA, FPE and the Found- ation.

At those sessions I made the splash. But the ripples and waves came all during the rest of the con- vention. Whenever I appeared in the lobby, at the cocktail party, the banquet, at breakfast the next morning or wherever, a group would form around me to ask more questions. The amazing thing about it all was the interest was genuine and the acceptance by those with whom I had more than passing contact was real. I had told the audience that I was going to remain Virginia for the duration of the convention and that was going to provide them an opportunity to not only hear what I had to say and to ask questions, but to, so to speak, "live with the idea" as they saw me around from time to time. They did exactly that. I am sure that the waves made by these people when they returned home and related what had happened at the convention would spread far beyond the time and the place when I made the original splash. I had, of course, known that people who would belong to the ACLU would be of a liberal turn of mind, but this might only have been on political and economic subjects. What I found was a group of about 600 people who were willing to accept an individuals rights to his own pursuit of happiness so long as it did not invade others rights

As a result of my experience this particular weekend I suggest that many of you might look into membership in the ACLU. There you would probably find persons who would accept you as you wished to be accepted because their principle interest in life lies.

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