A class on how to pass
Transgender senior hands down tricks of the trade to a new generation at LGBT charm school
Dawn Turner Trice
April 16, 2012
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-trice-charm-school-0416-20120416,0,3446855.storyAbout a year ago, a retired Gloria Allen thought having lunch at the Center on Halsted with other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender senior citizens was simply one of the highlights of her week.
But while at the center, which offers an array of youth services for the LGBT community, Allen, 66, noticed that some of the young people arrived dressed inappropriately. Young men wore scandalously short shorts; young women sported baggy pants that sagged way below their waists.
Some of the teens also didn't comport themselves very well.
So Allen, a transgender woman, got permission from the center to start a charm school. Allen, who's called "Mama Gloria," teaches youth etiquette along with how to dress and carry themselves — things they might have ordinarily learned at home if their parents understood how to guide their LGBT teens and were supportive enough to do so.
