Transgenders find support in St. Cloud

[Shana A]

Transgenders find support in St. Cloud
12:48 AM, Nov. 12, 2011

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111112/FRONTPAGE/311120001

series includes 4 articles

Resources are few in Minnesota
8:58 AM, Nov. 9, 2011
Written by Amy Bowen

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111112/NEWS01/111120001

People who want to change their gender in Minnesota have few choices for help.

Resources are limited to a few gender therapists, maybe four support groups scattered around the state and a handful of physicians willing to provide treatment.

Those who want genital surgeries must go out of state, said Roxanne Anderson, interim executive director of the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition based in Minneapolis.

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Dysphoria: A medical condition within
8:55 AM, Nov. 9, 2011
Written by Amy Bowen

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111112/NEWS01/111120002

It's not a choice for transgenders.

Those whose gender identities differ from their birth sex experience gender dysphoria, one of the classifications of gender distress that includes conditions such as hating one's sexual organs.

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The search for acceptance
9:01 AM, Nov. 9, 2011
Written by Amy Bowen

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111112/NEWS01/111120003

Almost every week, Lukkas Ferguson climbs into his old red truck and drives the 30-mile trek from his home in Milaca to St. Cloud.

His main stop is a visit with five or six people he meets at Element Mental Health Services in St. Cloud, a group and a place that have rescued him.

Until a little more than a year ago, Lukkas was Janelle, a woman who preferred T-shirts and baggy jeans from the men's department and chose football over tea parties as a child.

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The ties that bind
2:53 PM, Nov. 11, 2011
Written by Amy Bowen

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111112/NEWS01/111120004/The-ties-bind

The Internet was down, so Chloe Shields typed out the most important letter of her life, made several copies and mailed it to her aunts, uncles and cousins.

"I now believe I know myself well enough to let down my walls and allow my loved ones to see me as I truly am, without hiding like I've done my entire life," the St. Cloud transgender female wrote. "After a lot of soul-searching I came to the realization that who I am is female. My body may indicate otherwise but the person I am deep down is a girl."

[Shana A]

Living transgendered in Central Minnesota
12:11 PM, Nov. 11, 2011

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111113/FRONTPAGE/311130001

contains 3 articles

The courage to continue
2:58 PM, Nov. 11, 2011
Written by Amy Bowen

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111113/NEWS01/111130003

Bemidji — Gina Marie Bernard loaded the shotgun and sat down next to the prescription bottle that held Percocet tablets.

She had called the school to say she was sick and wouldn't be in that day.

She thought about all she was losing: her dad's love, the family life she'd built with her spouse.

Then she glanced at the pictures of her daughters and couldn't do it. She couldn't leave Maddie and Parker without their dad.

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Who I am: Life beyond gender
10:53 AM, Nov. 9, 2011
Written by Amy Bowen

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111113/NEWS01/111130001/Who-I-am-Life-beyond-gender

Pond hopes people take note of her passions, and not the one aspect that could define her in outsiders' minds. She tries not to judge others, and she hopes others will not judge her.

The 26-year-old is a transgender woman living in Waite Park. She hopes to enter the workforce as a female nurse. She wants patients to notice her knowledge and caring nature.

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Transformation accompanies transition
10:47 AM, Nov. 9, 2011
Written by Amy Bowen

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111113/NEWS01/111130002

For the first time in a long time, Pete Klicker is planning for the future.

He cannot wait to turn 50 in January; a grin breaks out every time he talks about it.

He and his longtime partner, Kathy Johnson, want to plan a spring wedding. He proposed to her one Wednesday morning at home.