Montrose and Beyond

Issue # 132 • May 21, 2010 News and Entertainment Media for Montrose and Beyond i . ."Cristan Williams, the Direc- "Get Out! Of The tor of the TG Center gives the Closet!" Is Getting facility its heart. Her personal story influences the work she Everybody Out! does in the community and Exclusive to the Montrose GEM the services that are offered. Her dedication continues the work she started with the late Brenda Thomas and Josephine Tittsworth The Home that the Community Built Mother of Montrose 2010 By Deborah Moncrief Bell Natty Ice helps those struggling to get out of the closet Jackie Danielle Cristan Williams is a very personable young Williams called and left a message but did . - "I love all the little children of Montrose" woman with a clean, fresh look, a beautiful not hear back from anyone. However that is Talk about a panic at the disco! More photos on Page 9 smile and a sprinkle of freckles across the when things got even darker. A few months We've all heard those shout-outs , bridge of her nose and her cheeks. She is went by and matters had deteriorated to the easy going with a quick laugh and you can point she had written a suicide note and was on the dance floor: "Get it girl!" see the passion in her eyes as she talks about actually in the act of preparing to take her "Go on 'head!" and "Uh, uh, wait the center she directs own life. a minute!" You can now add "Nat- • ,', It" ty Ice if you're nasty!" to that list. Things were not always like this for Wil- Then the phone rang and it was a volunteer 1 liams however. There was a time when she with TATS. Even though the volunteer was 1J!J,' " faced the deepest despair, thinking that her due to rise early for work the next day, they A breakthrough send-up of reality 1,-.... I'll...•'II,:~ . life had no hope. She was unemployed, stayed on the phone until One O'clock in the television, Get Out! Of The Clos- ,;,;~,.i. 'ill •. homeless, using drugs and planned to com- morning. During the course of the call, Wil- et! follows host Natalie ''Natty mit suicide. She also was also not yet a 'she'. liams never mentioned that the call had ac- The Cast of The Larimie Project Ice" O'Sullivan as she crosses the See Page 2 I had come to interview Williams about the tually interrupted her suicide, although she did share that information later. country helping those strugglin~ L I I newly reopened TFA Transgender Center .lI1.r.~_t-h ~'b-'-"'_~ --"~'u__J": ...••..•....---'• !-----J--= I I _'-" . , •••••• _ ;:: H I ••_••••••••""'v •• "" "" p••••&~v•-t;••• ••••••••••• U •••U ••••.'Itl7. smile and a sprinkle of freckles across the when things got even darker. A few months We've all heard those shout-outs bridge of her nose and her cheeks. She is went by and matters had deteriorated to the on the dance floor: "Get it girl!" easy going with a quick laugh and you can point she had written a suicide note and was "Go on 'head!" and "Uh, uh, wait see the passion in her eyes as she talks about actually in the act of preparing to take her .~ .:!... the center she directs own life. a minute!" You can now add "Nat- ty Ice if you're nasty!" to that list. • '.'"i'/ 111 Things were not always like this for Wil- Then the phone rang and it was a volunteer , .,.~ •• , ..•• 'Ii liams however. There was a time when she with TATS. Even though the volunteer was . .,r".. 'If .. " _ faced the deepest despair, thinking that her due to rise early for work the next day, they A breakthrough send-up of reality ~..'.'",'. .' ' .•.. >.~ \ "-...•...; '" . , ,."•• it ~.~,':..: life had no hope. She was unemployed, stayed on the phone until One 0' clock in the television, Get Out! Of The Clos- 'Iii '.". I ~ '<.' ;-~ '. ::-~--, . •• • homeless, using drugs and planned to com- morning. During the course of the call, Wil- et! follows host Natalie "Natty .,' --- .•..... The Cast of The Larimie Project mit suicide. She also was also not yet a 'she'. liams never mentioned that the call had ac- Ice" O'Sullivan as she crosses the tually interrupted her suicide, although she See Page 2 I had come to interview Williams about the country helping those struggling did share that information later. newly reopened TFA Transgender Center with their sexuality in a direct, in Houston (TG Center), not realizing just Williams still has that note but it only serves rio-nonsense, in-your-face fash- how much her personal story would be the as a reminder of what has been. After that ion. She dishes out truth sticks - tale of a journey that had led her to a bun- call, she was on her way to recovery. That galow in the heart of Montrose that serves experience has lead her to a philosophy that sticks made out of THE TRUTH the Houston transgender population. In fact, is a good one to be embraced by everyone. - to each and every "closet case" it informs and inspires everything she does; She says, "When you go through something that she meets, inspiring them to like that, it is your duty ... your job, to reach As she recounts her youth of growing up in lead a brand new life full of rain- out and be there for someone else, to help the still Klan rich area of Pasadena, and life bow flags and exciting opportuni- along the way". - in the Alvin and Galveston area, touches of ties. Natty emphasizes (through sadness flicker at times behind the smile. The issue ofhomelessness is one of the big- an intervention-style confronta- We Remember our Service members Williams lost a lot on her path to become gest faced by the Transgendered population and Veterans this Memorial Day as herself. Married, with a child and a good tion) that there's no reason to live because the transition often results in loss of we continue to work to end job she was miserably unhappy. One source job or not being able to gain employment. your life full of shame, and more of her anguish was she was very 'manly' The need for a Transgender Shelter was ob- importantly, full of shame-rage. 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and could not fathom being able to transi- vious and Williams did try to establish one Each person that appears on the See Page 11 tion into the woman she knew herself to be. in Galveston. However, with no idea of what show is given carte blanche ac- She finally had to face facts and accept her she was doing and limited funds, the shelter cess to the life they could have , truth. She lost her family and her job. in the could not be sustained. process. whether they want it or not. '1 Continued on Page 4 She had studied psychology and sociology Although the show is driven by the a bit in college but had not completed a de- gree. She was attending nursing school at outrageous Natty Ice, narcoleptic one point. She was able to get off the streets Executive Producer Barry Gordon due to becoming a caretaker for her Mother Lightfoot brings his own bag of who was dying from cancer. crazy to this proverbial "parade". But that despair remained and she, did not Regularly driven to drink by his know where to turn. Then one night she unpredictable host, Mr. Lightfoot stumbled upon the After Hours program that turns to his experience as a grief airs on KPFT radio in the wee hours of Sun- day morning. Shed heard trans-activist Sar- counselor to make it through the ah DePalma talk about being transgendered The Center houses the TG Archives, a col- day. and about a group called the Texas Associa- lection of books, ephemera and art related tion for Transsexual Support (TATS). to Transgenderism ~ Photo by Angela Hon See "Get Out" -- continued Pg.8 May 21,2010 THE MONTROSE GEM ISSUE #132 May 2 Do you have a comment on a news item I COMMUNITY NEWS I or story in the GEM or elsewhere? What do you like, not like, want more of? Have C i I leather/levi organizations have on commu- a story idea or someone you think we ~. ' ,-"/" Er-\",,:%~*~(f.;;l_~ 0,~.I~.' Make a difference in a My go -:--~~.: /I ~11j'''''~';:;-;i7;Iii'" nities internationally (www.clawinfo.org). should interview? Let us hear from you in Vie1 -,-II!l. \ '/~l C">'~u The Ball is the Misfits' flagship event that at [email protected] .,,~• p--:-r.,--'-1I'f.Iif!!j'"-'8,12/ ~-;-,--0~0 teen's life! recipe \r'!;t/}12j,IJ/~?j~8j77 raises money for local charities and is in its me nur \\'J;.§. /.~_'15>"'; JJ;'6"it I!J The 2010 HATCH Prom twelfth year (scheduled for September 12, Vietnai c--'/,-I:""/ "1t'f{,'~ / / ftJ from Meleah Jones Community Projects \ l,J i/)?/;~j.)61'f;/ t-;-/ 2010). and ru -Specialist,Montrose Counseling Center Community Online r I On Sunday, May 2, 2010, Misfits Houston I around " BINGO! " were honored by the National Leather As- On Friday, June 11, 2010, HATCH will Community Center I thaton Fund-raiser for the sociation-International with the President's hot anr GLBT Community Center hold its 18th annual prom. The HATCH Award for Brotherhood and Appreciation, www.hglbtcc.org I day's, Nom, is a safe, affirming alternative to during their Annual General Meeting in 1 hefinis local high school proms, which may not www.montrosecounselingcenter.org Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 5, Oklahoma City, OK.

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