E.O.N. is designed to alleviate this feeling of being alone by providing a place for transgendered people to meet others who have a similar outlook on their lifestyle. It is also meant to be a safe place where people do not have to hide and can feel free to express their inner selves. Judging by the fact that five of the seven people in attendance came to the meeting cross-dressed I would say the group has been successful in fulfilling this function.

E.O.N. was founded about 20 years ago, and when it began its function was primarily social. Before she left, however, the founder tried to push the group in a more political direction. Although the group has returned to functioning more on a social level it does extend beyond serving as a meeting place. The group, on occasion, hosts special events and also makes an effort to attend functions held by other groups within the GLBT community. Part of the reason for this is to raise the visibility of the often invisible transgendered community and to work for greater acceptance within the GLBT community. The first member of the group that I spoke to agree that transgendered people are somewhat excluded from the GLBT community but said that E.O.N. works for change in the community simply by "being out there." Additionally, while the group itself is not highly political some of the individual members within the group are politically active. Actually, the night I went to the meeting several members of the group were in Albany at a summit that was working towards getting transgender inclusion into discrimination laws. The goal of the meeting was to get the word "gender" into the laws so that protection would be based on the idea of gender rather than on sexual orientation alone. The invisibility of the transgendered community is, in my opinion, based largely on misunderstanding and ignorance on the part of the general population. The first thing that comes to the mind to most people when they think of transgendered people are drag queens, however, drag queens represent only one small portion of the transgendered population. As explained to me by one group member there is a whole spectrum of transgendered people. Cross-dressers, as she defined them, are people who live life predominantly as a men but occasionally dress as women. Transvestites are people who present themselves as women. Transsexuals are people who take steps to change their biological sex rather than just changing gender. They may do this through hormone therapy or sexual reassignment surgery. Drag queens represent the theatrical aspect of cross-dressing, taking the idea to its campy extreme. Of course, there are also women who are transgendered and these definitions can be applied to them as well, although it was pointed out that it is much harder to identify female transvestites because it is much more socially acceptable for a woman to wear men's clothes and present herself as being masculine than it is for a man to present himself as a woman.

One member offered as an explanation for this that in the social hierarchy it is a step up for a woman to become a man while it is a step down for a man to become a woman. Another member offered a less structured explanation of what it means to be transgendered. She explained that, basically, what it means is that there is a difference between the gender one thinks of him or herself as being and that person's biological sex. As she put it, it is "a state of mind rather than a state of body." She felt that the terms for transgendered people and the idea of labeling and categorizing people was done for society's sake. She explained that the term "transvestite" was invented by society as a way to describe transgendered people. Over time this term picked up a negative connotation becoming associated with the idea of being a sex worker and living on the streets and that now the term that is in vogue is "cross-dresser" because this term is seen as being more polite and acceptable. The members of the group that I spoke with seemed in agreement about the fact that these terms were created in order to make things easier for a society that loves to label things. The people at the meeting, however, were unconcerned with identifying themselves with a particular label and certainly none of them fit any of the stereotypical notions of what a transgendered person is. Far from being outrageous drag queens the people at the meeting were very quiet and reserved and had no strong desire to draw attention to themselves. I think that most of them do not usually go out in public dressed in drag. In fact, one of the members even said that the E.O.N. meetings are the only time she really gets to fully express that side of herself. Also, being transgendered does not automatically make a person gay, as many people assume it does. Most of the people in attendance were married and many of them had children as well. One member in particular pointed out to me that most people who are transgendered are average middle-class Americans. They come from every walk of life and are generally well educated and successful in both business and family life. I think she wanted to dispel the myth that transgendered people are incapable of functioning in "normal" society. On the contrary, the lives of transgendered people are just as successful and productive as those of the average American. On an interesting side note it was pointed out that many people who are transgendered enter professions that are generally viewed as being extremely masculine, for example law enforcement or the military. Actually, at least two of the attendees had served in some branch of the military.

Overall I found attending the E.O.N. meeting to be a very positive experience. The group members were very accepting of my presence there and other than the times when they were directly addressing my questions they did not seem to let my presence interfere with their meeting. Everyone was very open and willing to talk to me, which I greatly appreciate. Also, I think it was very courageous of them to let me come to the meeting and talk with them because they do have to be careful of who they reveal themselves to. The group has a lot of information and insight to share, and hopefully will have continued success at increasing the visibility and acceptance of the transgendered community.