Return to

Top of Page

What is 

Transology

  Transology is a social and educational non-profit organization for crossdressers, transsexuals, and their supporters. Its goal is to provide social and educational opportunities, as well as peer support, for its members. It seeks to promote a positive self-image for crossdressers and transsexuals in the general public. Transology is not a dating service or a therapy group. Each member is responsible for his or her own conduct, and is expected to conduct himself in an appropriate manner.

Monthly Meeting times

Meetings are held in Lancaster, Pa, and York, Pa .... The doors will open at 7:30 PM and the meeting will be called to order between 8:30 and 9 P.M to 11:00 P.M.  A small $5 donation is requested but strictly voluntary when attending meetings but no one will ever be turned away for not donating. Parking is plentiful and close to the building in a secure, low traffic area. Smoking is permitted outside . Light refreshments are provided, but no alcoholic beverages are permitted. The doors open at 7:30 PM for anyone needing facilities to dress. We adjourn by 11:00 PM.

What does

Transology

Do

  Transology exists to serve its membership by offering safe, semi-public activities for members so that they may meet others with similar interests, build their confidence, perfect their presentation, and help them to become comfortable in the gender role which they prefer. Transology also provides assistance to spouses, significant others, family, and friends in coping with and understanding crossdressing and transexualism. It can provide information and professional referrals for those who are seeking them or are interested in finding out about crossgender behavior and transexualism.

We are here to help each other understand and express our gender identity, to gain self-acceptance, to reach out to others like ourselves, and to educate the professional community and the public at large about transgenderism. We do our best to provide, guidence, support and informative subject matter for those seeking help understanding Transgenderism, Crossdressing, and Transexualism. We exist to provide help with anyone who is having difficulty couping with their second self, their transgendered life. 

Who Can Join Transology

   Membership in Transology is open to Crossdressers, Transsexuals, Drag Queens, Spouses, Significant Others, and Supportive Families who are of legal age, regardless of gender, race, creed, or sexual orientation. Transology meetings are held on the Second Friday of each month in Lancaster, Pa.. Other activities and services at times include picnics in the summer months, Group Outings, Seasonal Parties and more.

What can I expect?

We seek to provide a safe, secure, and supportive environment to all, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, or religion. Our meetings provide a place for our members to share their experiences and problems, and to obtain advice and encouragement. They are not a place for unaccompanied minors or mere curiosity seekers. We are not a dating service. The use of alcohol or drugs, sexual activity, and disruptive conduct are strictly prohibited at our functions.

How Do I Join

Transology Bylaws stipulate that a person must be at lease 18 years of age to attend meetings.  Minors (under 18) are not allowed to attend Chapter meetings without written consent from a parent or legal guardian, or a letter from a Counselor or Therapist saying that the minor will benefit from attending a meeting. The minor must be accompanied to any group meeting by a Parent or Guardian. Transology reserves the right to check the identification of persons who appear to be under 18. Picture Identification must be available for proof of age or Birth Certificate. Proof of age will be checked by Board Members Only as per the Renaissance SEP Privacy section of the Associations ByLaws.

What if I’ve never been out?

For many of us, attending our first group meeting was our first step toward understanding and self-acceptance. Nevertheless, that first time out can produce some anxiety. We understand, and we try to make everyone feel at home, regardless of their experience in public. It’s entirely normal to feel a little nervous about meeting a new group of people. We’ve all experienced it. New friends are waiting to meet you, and there’s a new world of gender expression to explore. All of our chapter activities are completely voluntary. You will never be asked to participate beyond your own comfort level.

OVERVIEW OF THE GENDER COMMUNITY

   The gender community can be seen as a continuum, beginning with mild fetishistic behavior and concluding with the post-operative transsexual. At the risk of oversimplifying, there are two main groups within the gender community itself: Crossdressers (transvestites) and Transsexuals. The largest of these two groups is the crossdressers. Crossdressing can mean anything from wearing articles of women's clothing under the male clothing (usually lingerie) to the constant living and dressing as a member of the opposite gender. The transsexual is a person who comes into severe conflict with his gender identity at an early age, and seeks to eventually obtain gender reassignment surgery in order to alter his body to conform with his inner identity.

Male to Female

CROSSDRESSER

   Most crossdressers find an attraction to the clothing of the opposite gender at an early age, usually between 5 and 9, and this attraction can often reach an obsessive level with sexual overtones as the crossdresser reaches puberty. As the crossdresser progresses through his teen years and into adulthood, this attraction and accompanying sexual release (usually through masturbation) creates a situation where the crossdresser is torn between the realities of his real gender and lifestyle and the gender which he sometimes fantasizes being. This in turn leads to overwhelming feelings of guilt, paranoia, secretiveness, isolation, and confusion, and causes the crossdresser to attempt to deny his cross-gender identification through suppressive behavior and purges. I.E., destruction or disposal of the crossgender wardrobe. Many crossdressers will attempt to overcome their desires by overcompensating in their masculine lives, and often voluntarily will enter military service, and pursue occupations which would be considered ultra masculine (policeman, truck driver, etc.) Most crossdressers are otherwise normal, heterosexual males, and will marry and father children. Sometimes they believe that marriage will 'cure' their crossdressing, but they soon find that the desire to crossdress returns and they must deal with their crossdressing within their marriage. Many crossdressers continue to hide their behavior from their spouses, leading to continuing unhappiness and irritability, and possibly a broken marriage. For the crossdresser who chooses to deal honestly with his crossdressing in relation to his spouse, the reaction is initially one of revulsion and non-acceptance. The wife will often assume that her husband is gay, or wishes to seek reassignment surgery and become a woman. This is usually not the case, and with honest discussion and possibly professional counseling, the spouse can often learn to deal with and perhaps tolerate her partner's crossdressing, and will participate and assist in their husbands presentation as a member of the opposite gender. They will also counsel and assist other spouses who wish to understand and tolerate their husband's behavior. Not all crossdressers are heterosexual, of course. The percentage of gay crossdressers is probably reflective of the gay population of society as a whole, in the neighborhood of 10%. Most gay crossdressers (in fact, most crossdressers, both gay and straight) are portrayed as drag queens, who utilize crossdressing as a means of attracting men. While this is the case with some, most gay crossdressers enjoy dressing as the opposite gender for the same reasons as straight ones do. Sexual orientation and crossdressing are two completely separate facets of an individuals personality.

TRANSEXUALS

  A transsexual is a person who usually has felt from as far back as he can remember an overwhelming impression that he was born with the wrong genitalia and gender. With these feelings often come a manifestation in early years for gender-inappropriate behavior, usually to the dismay of the parents, and suppression and 'unlearning' of the natural tendencies to behave as a member of the opposite gender. Much like the crossdresser, the transsexual will attempt to overcome their feelings through overcompensative behavior, including marriage and children. Unlike the crossdresser, however, the transsexual will come to realize that he is living a lie, and in spite of many outward appearances of happiness and fulfillment, will become more and more dissatisfied with his life in time. The transsexual who wishes to deal with this conflict (called gender dysphoria) must make the decision to go on living in the gender to which they were assigned at birth, or to pursue sex reassignment surgery. This is usually a long, expensive, and often heartbreaking process, in which the transsexual often loses family, friends, home, job, etc. This is not always the case. but anyone considering reassignment surgery must face the possibilities of all of the above. Many will weigh the advantages and disadvantages and decide to continue with their unhappy lives. For many others, however, the prospect of becoming a complete and congruous human being will lead them to pursue reassignment surgery. This process includes hormone and psychiatric therapy and full-time living and working as a member of their now gander for. a period of at least one year, although this is usually a longer period of time, sometimes much longer. After this process has been completed, a transsexual may be approved for reassignment surgery by one of the few medical centers that perform the necessary operations. So far, this has been proven to be the only method of relieving the overwhelming unhappiness in the lives of transsexuals.

FEMALE TO MALE

CROSSDRESSERS AND TRANSEXUALS

   So far, we have been talking only about people who are male and desire to cross over gender boundaries in some way to become more feminine. The female to male crossdresser is a relatively unknown species; in fact, some say that they probably don't exist at all. This can be attributed mainly to the fact that it is much more permissible in our society for the female to take on the trappings and attitudes of the male, and the female to male crossdresser would be able to function unnoticed for the most part. There are, however. many female to male transsexuals. Until recently, most candidates for sex reassignment surgery have been male to female. In the recent past, however, gender clinics are beginning to note that the number of female to male patients who wish to apply for reassignment surgery are nearly equal to that of the male to female. This can be attributed to great Improvement in recent years by surgeons in their techniques for this series of operations. In fact, for the male to female, the creation of a functioning vagina has been accomplished and nearly perfected. For the female to male, however, there has been no such development of a fully functioning penis. On the other hand, a female to male transsexual will become masculinized through hormone therapy much more rapidly and readily, and their ability to pass in public as males comes much more easily than for the male to female transsexual.

THE PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY

   Despite the fact that crossgendered behavior has been observed since the beginnings of recorded history, the psychiatric and medical communities are at a loss to explain the causes. There are many theories on the origins of cross-gendered behavior, but there is no conclusive evidence that any one of them, either psychiatric or biological, can be pinpointed as causing crossgender identification. It is more probable that a combination of circumstances contributes to an individual’s desire to identify with or become a person of the opposite gender. Because the psychiatric community as a whole knows so little about transgendered behavior, there are limited resources within the professional community available to deal with patients seeking assistance. Transgendered behavior is often considered to be abnormal, immoral, psychotic, neurotic, compulsive, and a mental illness. Out of the ordinary, perhaps, but these other descriptions are mostly a reflection of a society and a professional community which need to throw labels on something they don't understand and which they consider 'wrong' behavior. A professional studies on transgendered behavior have estimated that between 2 and 5 percent of people are attracted to crossgender behavior in some form, there has yet to be found a cure for such behavior. The best way to deal with the problem from a professional standpoint is to assist the crossdresser to become comfortable and at peace with himself, or for the transsexual to achieve ultimate congruity of the mind and body through reassignment surgery.

THE GENDER COMMUNITY

   In the past 10 years, the gender community has organized and grown around the world, and is quickly becoming a self-contained force on its own behalf within the psychiatric community and the world at large. In the United States today, there can be found a non-sexually oriented organization of crossdressers and transsexuals in every major city, and many smaller ones. Often, there are two or more such groups in one area. The membership in these organizations can number between 50 and several hundred. Leaders within the community have made themselves available as speakers and lecturers for college classes, psychiatric and medical seminars, and radio, television, and newspaper interviews and features in an attempt to dispel rumors and misinformation about the gender community and to allow us to be seen as otherwise normal, everyday people who function for the most part in society without notice and lead happy, fulfilled lives.

Security

   Personal security is important. We do not publish names and addresses of members.

We use only "femme" names at meetings and parties and in the news letter from Reniassance Group.

Transology

Home Page

A Premier Transgender Educational and Support Organization

Web Site Directory

Awarded the TGNI Award for

Transgendered Excellence

This Web Site has been Awarded the Transgender Zone Award of Excellence

We are a non-profit organization

We exist on the dues of our membership, grants, and donations.