Understanding the Complex Lives of Our Transgender Community

Sexual Healing in Santa Barbara
Thursday, February 19, 2009
By Michael Seabaugh

http://www.independent.com/news/2009/feb/19/understanding-complex-lives-our-transgender-commun/

On a shimmering bright day in Los Olivos, I sat in the conference room of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, the same church President and Mrs. Reagan attended when they were staying at their Refugio Canyon ranch. I couldn't help wondering what they might have thought of this eclectic group sitting around the table. Gay, lesbian, straight, bisexual, transgender people — men and women who worked as psychologists, academics, community organizers, and mental health professionals, and other interested citizens — had all been invited here by UCSB and the Pacific Pride Foundation to consider a most serious question: Were those whose sexual identifies fell outside the dominant culture finding adequate help in Santa Barbara?

To me, the question seemed simple, and I found myself answering with an authority I now think most peculiar. Santa Barbara, I told the group, was a benign environment, a place that embraced all dreams however diverse. "All we have to do is get involved," I proclaimed. "Be willing to participate."