TransGender Education Association
The short version is:
TGEA is a transgender organization.
Membership in TGEA is open to anyone, who is anywhere on the gender spectrum. We have members who are transsexuals, male to female and female to male, pre-op, post-op, non-op, non-transitioning, partially transitioning, and fully transitioned. We also have members who are crossdressers, gender blenders, and androgynous. We have partners, significant others, family members, friends, and allies (SOFFAs). TGEA provides a safe, welcoming and friendly environment for everyone to join together. We think the wide diversity of our members helps strengthen the organization.
The long story is:
Membership in TGEA is open to any person who has reached the age of 18 who perceives their gender role to be different from what is expected of the gender assignment made at birth; to a spouse, relationship partner, or significant other of that person; and to anyone who has an interest in such behavior - with the exception of those person(s) or organization(s) whose intent is to take advantage of those with a differing gender role. Individuals under the age of 18 may attend TGEA membership meetings if accompanied by their parent or guardian.
Membership is an agreement between the individual and the Transgender Education Association for a one (1) year term (September 1st to August 31st). During that period, the member agrees to pay all dues and fees in the manner agreed upon between the member and the Treasurer. Also, a member attending an official TGEA function agrees to comply with the TGEA Bylaws and any other rules established and posted. Membership is not transferable or assignable.
A spouse, relationship partner, or significant other of a member who is not a member themselves, may still enjoy all privileges of a member with the exception of voting or chairing a committee or holding office.
Nonmembers may attend meetings either as the guest of a member or after contacting TGEA leadership and undergoing a personal interview. All nonmembers must adhere to the standards of behavior. A member hosting a nonmember(s) vouches for the nonmembers conduct at the meetings.
TGEA is an equal opportunity organization. Membership shall not be denied, qualified or terminated for any reason other than for behavior detrimental to the good of the association as a whole or to any of its members
(I told you it was the long story!)
Who told you that? It is not true. We don't keep strict statistics, but roughly half our members do crossdress. But as mentioned before, we have members who identify as crossdressers, transsexuals, androgynous, significant others, spouses, family members, and those who aren't really sure what label applies. In spite of what you may have heard, TGEA is for everyone!
There are three options:
There are really only two types of membership - full membership and not being a member. But there are two types of full members - those who get a hardcopy of the newsletter and those who get an electronic version. The pinnacle only option is mostly for those who live out of the area, want to get the newsletter and maybe attend the holiday gala.
The different membership options are priced as follows:
Disclaimer - These prices are for the 2009 to 2010 membership year and may change in future years.
You get a number of tangible benefits
Another less obvious, though highly valuable, benefit is getting access to people who have been in your situation. Maybe not your exact situation, but probably close enough that you'll find someone who gets it
. TGEA members are generally happy to share their experiences, and knowledge with other members. TGEA members are a wonderful resource to have access to!
Yes, there is a fee for attending meetings. Currently $TBD for members and $TBD for nonmembers. These meeting fees pay for rent of the meeting room, food, drink, plates, cups, napkins and tableware. By charging a small fee at the meeting we have the flexibility to scale up or down with the food and drink depending on how many people attend the meetings. If we didn't have the fee, we would have to charge a larger membership fee to cover the maximum possible number of people attending the meetings. We want to keeps costs low, and still keep flexible, and the meeting fee allows us to do just that.
Without your membership fees TGEA will not be able to afford any of the above. Other than membership fees the only income for TGEA is the monthly meeting fees, advertising in the pinnacle, and donations. So, yes, we need the membership fees if we are to keep TGEA as the longest operating organization dedicated to the Transgender community in the local Washington DC region.
Yes, of course membership is a good value! (did you honestly think I was going to say anything else?) You get a lot for your money. You might be thinking that you'll skip joining and will just attend individual meetings as a guest at the nonmember rates - bad idea, it will cost you more in the long run!
Lets take a look at it using the following scenarios:Scenario #1
You decide not to pay for a $40 membership because you only plan to come to meetings half the time. You Horizontal line -->attend 6 meetings in a year, paying the full nonmember meeting fee rate of $16 (total of $96). You decide to attend the Gala, paying the full rate of $65 (extra $10 over member rates).
So you are spending $161 for the year. You are not allowed to borrow from the library. You cannot vote in the elections. You cannot be on the Board. You do not get the newsletter.
Scenario #2
You do pay the $40 fee and join as a full member receiving the electronic newsletter. You pay the member rate at 6 meetings at a rate of $8 (total of $48). You attend the Gala, paying the member rate of $55.
So you are spending a total of $143 for the year. You can borrow from the library. You can vote in elections. You can be on the board. And you get the electronic version of the newsletter.
Conclusion: TGEA membership is a good value - it saves you money!
You contact the TGEA membership director found on the Contacts page. For fastest response just send an email. Or write us at TGEA, P.O. Box 16036, Arlington, VA 22215.
It's pretty easy to join. To protect our members' privacy, we interview all potential members to make sure they understand what TGEA is all about, and what our code of conduct and standards of behavior entail. The process of joining roughly follows these steps:
You may also attend a meeting to see if TGEA is what you are looking for. The membership director will be able to tell you more about attending a meeting as a guest (guests only have to pay the member rate for the meeting fee).
The TGEA board will authorize scholarships for those potential members who are in financial situations such that they cannot afford the membership and meeting fees. These situations are addressed on a case by case basis - if you think this applies to you, we ask that you please contact the President (found on the contacts page) directly.
To download a membership form in PDF format, click Membership Form PDF
To download a membership form in MS Word format, click Membership Form MS Word
Images and content © TGEA
Page was last modified on Sunday August 30 2009