We are sending this newsletter out as monthly forum private message to keep you up to date on the web site, and all the goings on. In this edition we will be covering:
- Welcome
- A message from Susan
- Follow us on Social Networks
- Secure Server
- We need your Support & Subscriber Drive
- Chat
- Forums
- Links
- Minecraft
- News
- Wiki
- Notifications
Welcome!In March 255,918 people visited the site, accounting for 6,093,657 page views. As of March 2016, our news articles were viewed a total of 196,962 times (number may not be not 100% accurate due to missing stats), 33,060 times in March.
Our top 10 articles in 2016 are:
Views - Title
14,299 -
Transgender Kids Allowed To Live Openly 'Have Good Mental Health' (New!)
1,862 -
Was that Will Smith's son Jaden wearing a dress1,396 -
Transgender Romantic Woes: Preference or Prejudice?1,389 -
Just like a Woman (New!)
1,350 -
To Finish the Row1,345 -
March 31: International Transgender Day of Visibility (New!)
1,317 -
Prospects for a Trump Victory and What it Means For Us (New!)
1,277 -
Brighton College alters uniform code to accommodate transgender pupil1,227 -
Conservative restroom trolling (New!)
1,148 -
Attempted Stoning (New!)
We have added translate options all of the major pages of the website. We have also added an international area on the forums with sub forums for each of the major languages which allows non-English speaking transgender individuals to receive support directly in their native languages.
A message from SusanTo bring you up to date:
My personal expenses have increased due to my transition finally beginning to move forward once again. I have a doctor who can help me get back on hormones. I have been off of them way, way, way, too long! I estimate that it will take roughly $500 to allow me to do so. I will not be able to consider it unless we exceed the monthly goal by at least that much. Once the initial costs are covered I should be able to cover the monthly expenses going forward.
My transition has gone extremely well, but the one thing that still grates at me is my voice. I would like to look at voice surgery, I estimate the cost of that will be approximately $8,000.
This year my landlady has also informed me she will be increasing my rent. She hasn't done so in the 5+ years I have lived in this house, so I can't bitch too much about it. It's will still be cheaper than just about anywhere else in this town. When that comes the monthly goal (which is the bare minimum needed to pay the bills) will have to be increased. I have kept it steady at $2,000 since putting it up in 2013, so I hope no one will begrudge me a small cost of living increase, after 3 years without one.
If we meet the monthly goal each month, I would be able to do all of this on my own as I prefer to do, but since we have not been doing so, I have no choice but to ask for your help!
For information on how to help me with these needs directly see the "We need your Support" section below.
I want to give a special thank you to Warlockmaker, Devlyn, and Cindy for their loving assistance! They each went above and beyond the pale!
A special recognition also goes out to katrinaw, Rachel Lynn, Ms Grace, Samantha C, Lillyblack, Jill F, michelle_kelly, ButterflyVickster, JLT1, and LaurenL for their generousity and support for the web site! Without all of them we would not be where we are today!
Follow us on Social NetworksSusan's Place has accounts on
facebook and
twitter. We would love to see you follow us there! Be the first to find out about new stories, the reason for downtime, and general links of interest from our social networking and admin teams.
Secure ServerTo help protect our members, and to enhance your privacy when you browse the site; I have added SSL encryption to Susan's Place. All communications between you and the server are now encrypted with 256 bit security. This means your ISP, your employer, or other parties cannot see what you are browsing when you are on Susan's Place. You will receive a warning, if anyone attempts to intercept your connection to the server.
We need your SupportIt is a New Year, and we have had a few months which we were short on the fundraising needed to support the web site and myself, and some hardware expenses that were paid out but never reimbursed for.
I no longer have a buffer left that will allow me to simply absorb the shortfalls. The only reason I could absorb $2,850 in shortfalls was by money i saved by scrimping on my portion of the $2,000 monthly goal over the last year.
I would like to meet the monthly goal for this month, and also try make up a total of $2,850 that has either been spent on the web site or was a budgetary shortfall. $700 of the $2,850 was due to the replacement of the server drives in November; and then two roughly $400 shortfalls in December, January, and March; and a $1,000 shortfall in February. We can do it in one big donation from one person, but I would prefer if at all possible that we get a bunch of small donations towards knocking this out, even 5$ will help!
If we miss the goal again this month, I will have no choice to look at our options for encouraging people to subscribe, this could entail requiring a subscription to participate; something I really do not want to do.
We are 11 days into a 31 day month, and so far we have received $663.11 of the $2,000 we must have in order to meet the expenses for the month. Leaving us $1336.89 short of what is needed for this month, not counting the $2,850 I spoke about earlier. For those who can step up and donate or subscribe please consider doing so. For those who can donate, I really need your help.
Since the 1st of January of 2015 I have been able to give my 24x7 attention to the site. Something only possible with your continued support.
I would like to establish a decent buffer to ensure that we don't get to the point that the bills won't be paid if we have a month were we receive lower than expected donations, the additional $2,850 will go a long way in that direction.
We are up 7 subscriber since the previous newsletter. So we currently have 103 active subscribers! I would like to see number that increase to 250. We have 23,406 members (up 347 members since last newsletter), so surely that's not asking too much.
To help make subscribing a more affordable for those who are on tight incomes we have a Bronze subscription for $5.00 a month. For those who want to do more, we have several platinum options ranging from $50.00-$1000.00 a month. We also have a Gold ($20.00 a month), and Silver (10$ a month) option. If you can afford to do so please consider committing $5.00, $10.00, $20.00, $50.00, or more a month to help support Susan's Place. Your subscriptions are budgetable, and that helps me to know where the site stands financially.
If you can't donate or subscribe, I understand fully! However, if you can even small amounts make a big difference, when you add them all up!
If you would like to donate to the site, or contribute towards my transition; without sending it through paypal you can send a check or money order to:
Susan Larson
709 Perkins Ave
Clarksville, TN 37040.
Please make offline donations payable to Susan Larson, so that I don't have trouble with the bank. Please note your forum username; and what you wish the donation to go towards, all donations will be used towards whatever purpose the donor specifies. Also indicate if you wish your site donations to be public (Shows up on the donation list on the site), or private.
Together we make the difference. So please consider Donating or subscribing!
Susan Larson
ChatApril is the kind of month that makes you crazy around here by not quite being spring just yet while, every now and then, hinting that spring is truly on its way. Mild and sunny one day, freezing and snow a day later, it's enough to get anyone's head turned around.
We've had a difficult month in the chat rooms. A number of people behaved in ways that repeatedly disrupted our space and made is far less that the safe place it should be. It's frustrating to see people act out sometimes because it's not hard to see they are often coming from a place of pain, confusion and worry. It's doubly frustrating to know you can't do much of anything to help them if they don't want to help themselves or when they tenaciously cling to their own idea of what the chat rooms should allow rather than what Susan's TOS tell them is not acceptable. It seems we can't stress it enough: The Primary mission of this site is peer support for trans people. Everything else comes after that.
In any event, please let again me invite you all to come visit us in #Chat, maybe start a conversation or two? It's fun, informative and you'll get some great typing practice in!
We do our best to keep the space as safe as we can and, every now and then, when something serious comes up, maybe we can give you some advice that works for you!
BCNU (be seein' you) all there soon! (I hope!)
Hugs & Smiles
HelenW
ForumsOh April is here.
April is interesting. I was born and raised in Liverpool and April Ashley was one famous trail blazer for transgender acceptance, she also came from Liverpool.
She was a socialite, a model and a tireless worker for acceptance.
A few years back she was Honoured for her contribution to human rights.
How the world has changed. In some places we are now being banned for having a wee in the toilet of our gender.
So sad.
But people celebrated Bunnies produced chocolate eggs with Gay abandon over Easter. I hope we all kept to our diets and tried not to think of Rabbits laying Eggs.
The Forum has been as ever busy, lots of new people arriving and Mods being kept busy. Some lovely posts and some heartfelt issues, sad posts as we struggle, and posts from the lonely.
How do we make friends on the Site?
The Forum is different to Chat, people respond more slowly. They may not see your post. People read titles and read further if it interests them.
If you have a post titled 'I've had a lousy day' many members will just nod their head in agreement and not bother to read any further. So maybe put more info into your title to attract readers?
One thing we do get is how to deal with loneliness and isolation. How to make friends, how to meet people.
Many places have TG clubs, google them for your city. Then, if they are good, send the Link to Devlyn so she can put them into Links. If they are bad let her know!
How to make friends on the Forum? Maybe play games and meet people on those threads?
Talk to people, post in their threads. Be interested in others.
If you are not interested in other people why should they be interested in you?
Does it work?
I have made very close, meaningful, and incredible friendships with people here. We talk, we laughed, we interact. We are very close friends.
We can all do this! I see Tessa and her friends have a lovely thread going on cross dressing and relationships - lovely!! (sorry not to include everyone but it is a nice thread).
One thing is important. In the USA in particular transgender rights are being scrubbed. Susan's is and will be a place to affirm our rights. We will be involved - our involvement comes from you!
But we can't run this site on fresh air. Just because it keeps going doesn't mean your dollars don't matter.
The people who had deep pockets are finding their pockets empty. We need more people to step up
Please?
I have been very active in transactivism over the last few weeks. It has been rewarding, but very tiring.
April for some is Spring. In Australia it is the start of Winter.
For those of you facing Spring: enjoy.
I'm going to go away and whinge - I hate the cold.
My Love to you all
Cindy and the GM team.
Links DirectoryWe strive to be the best transgender resource site in the world, and for the Links Staff, that means constantly checking our links to be sure they're still active, as well as updating and adding new links.
You can help us with that by joining the team. If you have some spare time and a desire to help the transgender community from the comfort of your own home, get in touch with me.
Also, remember that anyone can submit a link to the Directory for approval. Just click on the "Submit Listing" button (a links account is required) and you're on your way to improving this site for everyone.
Hugs, Devlyn
Links Admin
MinecraftAnother month passes and we draw ever nearer to the exciting Survival World update to fit in with the release of Minecraft 1.9!
We are currently waiting for the plugins we use (the things that make our server work the way it does) to be updated, once we are able to update the server and not lose key functions due to outdated plugins - the adventure will begin!
With all new features in survival such as the ability to dual wield weapons, resummon the Ender Dragon and a ton of new blocks - when would be a better time to get started?!
For old players, the survival reset will be a new start with a ton of new features and opportunities, and for new players you will be able to experience our server at it's finest - and also stand a chance in the server rankings - a money system used to determine which players can be the most resourceful and smart when building farms and competing against friends!
Again, our staff have been working hard to build Arcade, a new minigame world due to be released later this year. If you would like to see a preview of what we have to offer, type:
/warp ArcadeTeaser
or
/warp PVPArenaPreview
And last, but certainly not least, I would like to welcome SoYunn to our staff team. With the update to survival coming soon and Arcade still in development, we are all grateful to have SoYunn as our newest staff member! On behalf of the staff and users on our server - THANK YOU SOYUNN!
So, what are you waiting for?!
-Matt
NewsFor health reasons, Wynternight recently resigned from her position as news admin and I was asked to take over the job, while she will stay on as an editor. I thank her for her service, hope she will continue to share her wisdom and experience and wish her a speedy recovery.
I've been thinking about the way forward:
We have a lot of ambitions for the front page, because it's the entry to the rest of the website. It's also an opportunity to represent transgender news, opinions and events from our perspectives to the rest of the world. Given the leading role
susans.org already has in the online transgender community, I believe we should have a more visible news page than we presently have.
In order to make that visibility happen, we should create more content, because only then will we be included in aggregators like Google News. We aim to produce at least five articles daily before the end of the year, but in order to accomplish that, we will need a lot more editors contributing. So I ask everybody reading this to step up and contribute news and opinion articles to the frontpage. We are in urgent need of it.
We also need more users to engage with the "reply" sections in the news site as much as in the forum. I've been thinking about solutions for that and will soon forward some proposals to start lively conversations over there as well. Possibilities would be a better integration with social media by using the facebook reply plugin, or a better integration of the news subfora with the frontpage, rather than the forum.
More soon!
Love and hugs,
Naomi
WikiHappy April everyone! I hope you're all enjoying some nicer weather wherever you are.
The Wiki team has grown this month as we welcome Skyler back. He will be working on the Wiki as he is available. We are continuing on with our spring cleaning this month, and hope to work on revamping the listing of surgeons - perhaps with each getting their own article as we have time to build them out. But to do that, we need your help! If you have a few minutes to spare each week and wouldn't mind contributing to the Wiki, reach out and let us know. We are always looking for new staff members.
Max
NotificationsPlease note, this newsletter was sent to you via forum pm. If you received an email notification about it, that is because you have the option to receive notifications of new private messages turned on in your profile.
The newsletter is sent monthly to all registered members of the forums.
Regards,
The Susan's Place Transgender Resources Team.
https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php
