Communities/Groups for FTMs/General TG of Colour?

[natashasoftpaw.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone! I don't post much, but this is one question I definitely need some help with. I run a number of forums/websites, and one of them is a forum and social site geared toward teens, which has a section for helping with the typical growing-up problems/questions. It's not specifically a trans-oriented site, so there aren't a lot of other TG members besides myself, but we do get them occasionally, and I try to do a good job with helping them out.

One of our members is FtM, and he posted asking about groups to talk to other FtMs. Specifically, he wanted to know about transition-related resources relevant to his race, because he has some specific concerns regarding things like hair, as well as questions/issues regarding African-American masculinity. This isn't exactly an area I'm familiar with, and I've spent the last few hours searching, but all I could find was a Yahoo group and an LJ community of uncertain activity.

So, does anyone know of other groups/communities/forums/websites/whatever that might be relevant to this guy? I referred him here, of course, and to some other general LJ communities, but for something specifically geared toward minority transition interests, I don't have a clue, and Google seems to be drawing a blank. Thanks so much!

I'm a little hesitant to post this, but I thought I would try.

[elizabeth1010.livejournal.com]

I know that there are many strong opinions (and worthwhile ones at that) on this forum, and that is why I am posting this here. I want to get an honest opinion. From my IRL friends on here, to people I only keep in touch with every so often, even stretching to those I have never met, but hope to. I have a fire lit under my ass about this. Have had the motivation to do it right for a long time. And now, I finally have the guts to ask this community for its story. And so, here goes nothing:

I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but when I first considered transitioning, books and movies written and/or starring transpeople really kept me going. Yes, it sounds silly, but it worked for me. However, after getting further in transition, I have noticed a trend in trans film: the token trans person; the butt of all the jokes or a "shocking revelation" that becomes a plot point. I am tired of this. I am trying to become a filmmaker, and filmmakers create what they can relate to. I would love nothing more than to create something that would speak the minds of our community as people, not others. What I am asking for, here, is this: what story would you want to tell? Yours? A friend's? A stranger's? Would you like an adaptation of a popular webcomic (I've read most of them myself)? Any and every suggestion is welcome. I want to create a story that is true to life; one that doesn't focus on surgery, but what we go through up and until surgery. A story that will truly capture what it is like to transition. I'm not talking an MTV True Life special. I'm talking the nitty, gritty, beautiful contradiction that can be transition.

For the mods, if this is an inappropriate post I will gladly remove it, but I think our story needs to be told, in a truthful, heartfelt manner. That is my only goal. If this is not the correct place to post this, please feel free to pm me for contact info. I can not promise any acting roles as of this moment (because, well, it's just an idea at this point), but anyone who contributes will be acknowledged (including negative feedback if allowed).

I want to thank you all for not covering me in tar and feathers. I just......I don't know. I want to help. And this is the best way I know how.

Locker Rooms:S

[tomkatti.livejournal.com]

I play badminton every Monday and the woman I play with insist that we shower there before we go home. And normally it's just me and her, which is fine as I'm used to that, but today there were about 10 other women there and it creeped me out! I'm usually rather shy around women and I felt sooo weird and self-concious, but I didn't know how to say no to her. It may seem like a small problem, but it grows and grows inside my head. It felt so bad and I'm strangely ashamed of myself. Yikes! Definitely have to learn how to say no.

Ken Zucker and FTM psychologist Hershel Russel discuss gender idenity in children

[call-me-rev.livejournal.com]

Interesting conversation with Ken Zucker from CAMH, a mother of a gender variant child and Hershel Russel, a trans male psychologist around the issue of gender variance in childhood. It's long, but at least check out around the 12:30 mark, where they discuss the controversy of GID diagnosis. Russel suggests replacing GID with Gender Expression Deprivation Disorder. The problem is not with trans people's genders, it's the anxiety that comes from not being able to express one's gender.

Also, great when Russel calls him and his clinic out for what they're actually doing- which is running a reparative therapy clinic.

edit: to fix typo

( Video under cut )