My experience is as follows: I have been a member of the Seahorse Society of NSW, have had a number of dealings with the Gender Center in Sydney, and know a fair number of cross dressers and transsexuals in Canberra and Sydney (and elsewhere). I occasionally go out to the Taxi club, in Sydney, on a Saturday night, which some trannies seem to turn their noses up at. So what, I have fun. I've had an extraordinarily wide range of friends over the years from a variety of backgrounds. Some are straight, some gay, some bi. So what. I also spend more time than is healthy typing things into computers, which are usually hanging off the Internet, so I have a number of friends here as well, from all around the world.

One point to note - in tranny circles I am old not so much in terms of age, but more in terms of time in the community. I'm 27 these days, and have been reasonably active in the community for 4 odd years now. I went stealth a couple of years ago, and swore blind that I'd never have anything to do with the tranny community again. Didn't work though :)

OK, on with the show: Social and support groups are there to avert the sense of isolation that many transgendered people feel, to provide a welcome place where members can be whomever they like, and to encourage people to make friends with common interests. In addition, most clubs have great resources, such as libraries and contact lists, to make life a little bit easier, and assist in educating both members and the people they share their lives with in just what it's all about.

Lots of people email me with this standard question: Could you tell me about what such and such club does, who goes there, etc. Well, in my experience, crossdressing societies, such as the Seahorse Society, Chameleon Society, etc, are basically run by crossdressers, for crossdressers. The majority of Seahorse NSW members, for example, are heterosexual. Many are married, and most are between the ages of (say) 35 and 60. There are exceptions, of course (I'm one - I don't fit into any of that).

The crossdressers societies usually arrange meetings, which are typically held at a safe place, such as a quiet, private meeting hall, or someone's house. Much effort is made to make it as easy as possible for the shy, closet crossdresser to attend. Meeting venues and dates are supplied only to the group, provision is made for people to change at the venue, and no one is expected to come along crossdressed. Many of the clubs have special events, such as wig or makeup demonstrations, outings to restaurants and clubs (for the more confident members), etc.

Crossdressing clubs make a big issue of member privacy. In the case of the Seahorse society, each member adopts a name, and is assigned a membership number. This is all you'll find out about the other members, unless they personally give you further details. The clubs don't give membership details out to anyone.

Despite all the precautions, only a small percentage of people who enquire about crossdressing clubs join, and only a small percentage of members actually participate in meetings and social outings. Most are firmly closeted. The main role of these societies is to let the crossdresser know that he is not alone, and is not a freak. Sometimes the knowledge of the existence of others is all that's needed, anyway.

The usual procedure for joining one of these clubs or societies is to either write them a letter, explaining a little bit about yourself and requesting further information, or just ring them up (where they provide a phone number) and have a bit of a chat. In either case, they will send you out further information, such as a newsletter, and a membership application. Full membership is usually only granted once you convince them that you have no bad intentions.

Once these formalities are over and done with, and you've coughed up the fee (usually fairly modest, but clubs have expenses too), you'll be provided with newsletters etc and invited to come along to meetings. Do as you like, but in order to get the most out of the club, it's a good idea to show up to at least a couple of meetings, simply so you can get to know some of the other members in your area.

In any case, don't be shy. The other members of the social clubs are just like you likely are. They don't bite, so why not get in contact and make some friends.

Apart from social clubs, other organisations exist to try to improve the lot of transgendered people, through political lobbying, education, etc. They do a lot to try to include trannies in anti-discrimination legislation. For example, TLC have recently won huge concessions from the NSW government in granting rights concessions to transsexuals in the state, such as allowing the change of birth certificates etc.