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Ms. Yates A Novel By DreamWeaver Ten The editorial wasn't finished until dawn. And by then it was print- ready. She had made one phone call before she started writing to ask for permission to mention something intensely personal, and permission had been granted. The editors met her in the office before school. "They'll never let you run it," Amanda said. Shawna agreed. The boys were silent. "Are you all with me?" she asked. "Yes," Shawna said. "Of course," Amanda added. The boys mumbled affirmatives. "Let me be clear about something. The issue here is not that a boy was killed because he was gay, or that we support LGBT kids. The issue is standing up for every person to live his or her life his or her way, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, and that's not something you can hedge your bets on. "Now," she said, looking directly at Lyle and Brad. "Are you in or are you out?" "In," they said in unison. She immediately softened. "Thank you. I can't tell you what that means to me." She received a note in homeroom that the principal would see her at lunch time. Meredith and Alyssa got notes, too, and they invited Rick Hayden and Ken Carlisle. When they got to the office, Ms. Barnes was taken aback by the extra people. "We'll stand," Ken said. Ms. Gunderson walked in just as Mr. Rodriguez was about to close the door. She said nothing to Tina and didn't even look at her. "This is not about the editorial," Ms. Barnes said. "We'll talk about that afterward." "I'd like to stay in any event, since I know this is a related matter." "Very well. All right, Ms. Yates, I received your rather belligerent note this morning and I have granted you the meeting you requested. But before we begin, I would remind you that the heinous event of yesterday afternoon did not occur at this school, and I rather resent your tone which suggests that it did." Tina took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. "My tone was the result of many realizations that were all brought into focus with yesterday's tragedy. And if you think that such a thing could not happen here, you are very, very wrong. Right now, there are only a handful of teachers who are openly supportive of kids like us, and some who are openly hostile." "Who?" Ms. Barnes demanded. "That's for another time. What we want now is to organize a support organization for LGBT students, in the school's name, with the school's support, so that kids have a place to turn instead of us having to watch out for them and telling them it's all right." "The school board would never stand for it," Mr. Rodriguez said, waving a dismissive hand. "Besides, don't try to con us. You're telling me you're all gay? You, Mr. Carlisle? How's that going to play with college recruitment?" Ken was standing behind Tina's chair with his hand resting on her shoulder. She felt his grip tighten and she reached up and squeezed his hand. "I'm not gonna tell you if I'm gay or not, Rodriguez, 'cause that's none of your goddamned business. All you need to know is that I don't like people who look down on or pick on other people just 'cause they happen to be a little different. People like you." "That's enough, Mr. Carlisle, and that's definitely enough from you, Mr. Rodriguez," the principal said. "Ms. Yates, I appreciate what you are trying to do, and in fairness I think you must admit that this school has been very accepting of you in your life choice." "You mean like when Mr. Rodriguez, here, reminds me that I'm not a 'real' girl?" Silence. Ms. Barnes broke it by saying that, however they all might feel, it was true that the school board would not tolerate any official act by the school that might be seen as encouraging homosexuality. "After all," she said, "if a student comes to you and says he or she is gay, you would tell them it's all right." "Of course we would," Meredith said. "That's the whole point. And if a boy comes to us and says he really feels he's a girl, or a girl says she thinks she should have been a boy, what would you have us say? Tough luck? Find a way to deal with it? Pray?" "Might not be a bad place to start," Rodriguez said. Meredith glared at him. "Okay, Rodriguez. I hereby pray, Oh Lord, for this bigot to get his ass fired." Tina reached for one hand while Alyssa reached for the other. "Mr. Rodriguez, please leave us," Ms. Barnes said. "We'll talk later." Ms. Gunderson waited until he had gone before speaking up. "The reason I wanted to be here," she said as if nothing had gone before, "is that as thorough and well organized as Ms. Yates and Mr. Hayden are, they may not have realized that any such student organization must have a faculty moderator to oversee their activities, assure that school policies are followed and resolve any disputes that may arise." "Am I to understand that you would be willing to serve in such a role?" Ms. Barnes asked. Ms. Gunderson replied that she would. Ms. Barnes turned back to the students. "You all need to understand something. Even if I approve your request, it isn't finished. If someone complains - and they will - and if the school board votes to overturn my decision - and they would - there is nothing that I could do about it." "Yes, there is," Tina said. "You can appear with us to argue before the school board. And if they do vote us down, and we're forced to operate underground, you can look the other way when we hand out our illegal flyers and see that they aren't taken down from bulletin boards quite as quickly as they should be." She pointed out that she could be fired for such a thing. "You could be but you wouldn't be," Rick said. "The members of the school board who need to talk tough to keep getting elected but who also know we're right would protect you." "That's rather cynical of you, Mr. Hayden." "Yes, ma'am." Ms. Barnes sat back to consider it. "So, you are asking me to approve the formation of your group with the understanding that the school board may reverse it and you agree that if they do, you will continue any organizing activities only outside of the school?" They all looked at Tina, who in turn looked at Rick, who's nod was almost imperceptible. "Yes," Tina said. "There is one other matter to be decided before we move forward, and that is something I must discuss with Ms. Gunderson and Ms. Yates privately." After exchanging looks, the other four students left the office. Meredith was the last one out, and she closed the door. "I'm not pulling the editorial," Tina said. The principal sighed heavily. "My dear, it's just too inflammatory." "So was the Declaration of Independence." "All we ask is that you tone it down a little. You make it sound as if this school was responsible for what happened to that poor boy, and whatever may have happened, that is certainly not fair comment." "It could happen here," she said. "I told you, Elaine," Ms. Gunderson said. Ms. Barnes looked irritated for a moment, but Ms. Gunderson turned to Tina. "You don't want to go back out there and tell your friends that the cause they were counting on and very nearly won was derailed at the last moment because of your pride. And, Elaine, you don't want to break the spirit of some of the finest students we've ever had in this school because you needed to show you were 'tough'. So, let's see if there is some middle ground we can find. "Tina, if there is one, and only one, paragraph that Ms. Barnes would like removed, and it isn't one that addresses the issue at large, would you consider it?" She paused to make a mental calculation. "Yes, I'd consider it." "I cannot have a student publication attacking a member of the staff," Ms. Barnes said. "Please remove the paragraph demanding Mr. Rodriguez' firing." "A lot of students want it," she said. "Including me." "I'm very well aware of that. I am asking you to trust me that I have absorbed your objections to him and plan on dealing with him in my own way in my own time." Tina hesitated. "Mutual trust can be difficult," Ms. Gunderson said, softly. "But mutual respect helps a great deal." Tina nodded. "All right." # Editorial - a New Chief Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is TinaMarie Yates. I am the new editor-in-chief of The Oak Manor Clarion. I am also transgendered. I have dreamed of becoming editor-in-chief of this paper ever since I joined it, and I have written the beginning of this piece in my head many times, but that last sentence was never part of it. Unfortunately, now it has to be. A lot of you already know. I'm blessed to have a lot of friends who are caring and understanding. Unfortunately, we also have people at this school who are uncaring and some who are downright cruel. They think they're funny, but they do terrible damage to people whose only crime is that they are different. Just last week, I sat with a very nice boy who told me he wanted to die because he feared he would be outed. And then the incident at Stevenson High School made it all clear. Despite the fact that polls show that record numbers of people in this country take a "live and let live" approach to people whose gender identity or sexual orientation is different from their own, hatred continues to stalk us. This must end. What will this newspaper stand for while I am its editor? To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, it will stand for the right of every student to choose his or her own course, so long as that course does not interfere with the courses of others. We will support the administration when they meet their obligation to support our students, and we will be strident in our criticism of them if they do not. As a start, we applaud and support the formation of an LGBT Students' Group, as announced nearby. This will be an organization for ALL students to come for acceptance and support. I hope to see you there. # The next two weeks were a jumble. The support group came together faster than anyone had expected. Most of the band of geeks joined, to show support mostly, but Tina realized that several were there for reasons of their own. She was very pleased to see Jeremy there, and he told her quietly that reading her editorial had made him feel much differently about himself. She sensed that there was something else on his mind, but she couldn't get it out of him. "When's the last time you dressed?" she asked. He blushed and she chided him, "Now, you know I'm the last person you should be embarrassed with." "Months. I almost never get the chance to, anymore. And when I do, well, my mom's stuff isn't all that..." "I'll bet. So, what you need is a place to dress uninhibited and a shopping spree for some age-appropriate clothes." Before he could answer, she called Alyssa over. "Want to help on a femme project?" Alyssa cast an appraising glance at Jeremy. "This is Gerrilynn," Tina said. He turned red, and Alyssa laughed gently and touched his arm. "You really must stop doing that, girl," Tina said. "Alyssa was my guiding light when I decided to come out, my guide on all things feminine." "You're beautiful," Jeremy said. "And you're very sweet," she replied. She turned to Tina and asked, "Saturday?" Tina nodded. "My house. My mom will be cool, trust me. You can borrow some of my things to start, and we'll get you properly made up and then see what we can do about shopping." He gasped and stammered, but couldn't get out a coherent sentence. "You're welcome," Tina said. There were over 50 students at the meeting, which Tina felt was a very good start. Ken and Rick were there, but to her surprise, Amanda came, too. The meeting was just getting started when Brad walked in. Ms. Gunderson ran the meeting, with the first order of business being the election of officers. Brad nominated Tina for president, and the whole room cheered. "Sounds like acclamation to me," Ms. Gunderson said. But Tina felt she couldn't accept, because for her the paper had to come first. She nominated Meredith instead. Ken nominated Tina for vice president, "And we won't take no for an answer this time". She accepted. Alyssa was elected secretary and a senior boy, Rob Vogel, was elected treasurer. "We are not going to identify everyone by what their preferences are," Ms. Gunderson said. "We are here to unite, not to further divide. Those of you who want to find people most like yourselves will no doubt do so, but we will support all of you." She handed out a flyer that listed a number of organizations supporting the LGBT population as well as related social services. Someone noticed that there were agencies that worked with teen mothers, teens with HIV, substance abuse and domestic abuse. "There are any number of painful issues that teens have to deal with nowadays," Meredith said. "We want to be able to help anyone who needs it for just about any reason. You may never know which person is here because he was sexually abused as a child, but we want her to know that there is help available." "There are a few of us who you already know are kind of dealing with a particular issue," Tina said. "But any of you can come to any of us for help, and if any of you are ever harassed, bullied or abused, we want to know about it as soon as possible." Clusters of students stayed to chat informally for over an hour after the meeting ended. Tina talked for a long time with a group of boys who had decided to swap stories about their first time dressing. All had been younger than eight years old. Two were extremely interested in hormone therapy, and Tina told them about Dr. Fleming but cautioned them that they needed to be settled with their families, first. # Marjorie was a little taken aback when Tina told her of their plans for Saturday. Helping a boy she'd never met to crossdress and keep it from his parents did not strike her as a responsible thing to do. "Mom," Tina said, gently, "it wasn't that long ago that I was the one who needed the help. Gerrilynn is very sweet. Besides, Alyssa and Meredith are coming over to help." When Jeremy got there, Tina introduced him as such to her mom. Marjorie just smiled and said it was nice to meet him. "Have a nice time, girls," she said, and Tina beamed at her. "She knows?" Jeremy asked in a harsh whisper as they went up to Tina's room. Tina just laughed. She closed the door. "Okay, let's see where we are," she said. "Are you underdressing?" "I'll say." She giggled at that. "No, I mean, are you wearing anything femme under your clothes, like panties?" He had snatched a pair of his mother's full cotton briefs and a pair of pantyhose, which had torn at the hip. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no," she moaned. "This will not do at all." She went into her dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of pink nylon hipster panties. Then she pulled out an old training bra. "Tina? Did your mom really go along with all this? I mean, obviously she did, but I just can't believe it." "Try this on," she said, handing him the bra. "You do know how to put one on, don't you?" He did, and he had it on in no time. She checked the fit. "A little snug, but it'll do for now. That one has a little more padding, so you won't have to stuff it with anything and it will look more natural. Try the panties; your hips may be a little too slim for them." She thought it was cute that he turned away from her while he took his mother's panties down and put hers on. When he turned back, she could see they were nice and snug, and the stretchy material kept his already aroused member contained. "Good," she said. "How do they feel?" He grinned in reply, and she giggled. "I meant, do they fit okay?" She gave him a pair of pantyhose, and saw that he knew to bunch them up at the toe and then smooth them up the leg. "Yes," she said. "My mom really did go along with it, although not always happily. She's glad now because I'm so happy this way." She picked out a skirt and top, and he put them on. "What size shoe do you wear?" "A men's six." "That's a seven and a half in women's. My shoes will be a little big on you, since I wear an eight. So will Meredith's. Maybe Alyssa can help." They heard footsteps on the stairs. In a moment Meredith and Alyssa were in the room. "This is Gerrilynn," Tina said. "Hiya, Cupcake," Meredith said. Gerrilynn stared at the floor. "Meredith takes a little getting used to," Alyssa said. Then she turned to Tina. "Isn't that your skirt and top?" "Yes. Gerrilynn didn't have much to work with, so I lent her a pair of panties, one of my old training bras and the outfit." Meredith started laughing. "I'm sorry," she said. "But it just cracks me up to hear you say, 'one of my old training bras', like, 'oh, that old thing.'" "What's the plan?" Alyssa asked. "I think Gerrilynn wanted to go shopping with us." Alyssa frowned. "I know," Tina said. "The hair." "What's wrong with it?" Gerrilynn asked. "It's nice and long and thick on top," Alyssa said. "You really do have lovely hair. The problem is the buzz cut on the back and sides. There's just no way to make that look feminine." "I see lots of girls with buzz cuts," Gerrilynn protested. "Yeah," Meredith said, "but not the kind of girl you want to be. Way out girls, or goth girls, or some like me, who are kinda trying to play down their femininity." "Plus," Tina said, "they already have feminine features to begin with, whereas you and I have to feminize our appearance as much as possible, and we rely on our hair to do that." "And makeup," Meredith noted. Tina agreed. "So, what should I do?" Alyssa pointed out that the best thing to do, long term, was to trim back the long hair and even out the cut. While being unattractive in the short term, as it grew out, she'd be able to shape it and trim it so that once it got to be longer, it would be a more feminine look. "But that's months!" "What about a wig?" Meredith asked. "Big bucks for one that will be convincing," Tina said. "We can go to a wig salon in the mall." "You mean I'd have to go?" "To get a good fit, yeah. You can order one online, but you have to be careful to get the best fit and the best construction - lace front, monofilament." "I have an idea," Meredith said. "Why not leave Gerrilynn and Alyssa here, so she can do her hair and makeup? Tina and I will head to the wig shop at the mall." Gerrilynn nodded eagerly. "What's your pain tolerance?" Meredith asked her. Tina laughed. "She means, how much do you want to spend?" She had brought $300 with her. "More than enough," Tina said. Gerrilynn started to protest that she wanted to have enough left to do some serious clothes shopping. Tina smiled. "You're still underground, right?" She nodded. "You going to underdress at school?" Another nod. "Okay, so you'll want a few pairs of panties and maybe some pantyhose for that. Actual dressing up will just be when you can, like when no one is home. I used to fake being sick once in a while, which would give me a whole day alone in the house. Yum!" Gerrilynn smiled, but the smile faded. "My mom is stay-at-home." "Harder to pick your spots, then. But my point is that you only need one outfit, maybe two." Tina could see the disappointment. "I know," she said, softly. "I felt the same way. But you also have to remember that you're going to have to keep everything well hidden. The more you have, the harder it is to hide." "What did you do?" "My house," Meredith said, and Alyssa giggled. "Well, yeah," Tina said. "But I also kept things here. I used an old suitcase in the attic for shoes and clothes, and I kept a few panties and pantyhose under my mattress." She nodded. "Okay," Tina said. "Let's get some measurements." She measured Gerrilynn's head using the wire on her cell phone charger, then checked it against a yardstick. "Twenty one inches," she said. "That's great. That's average size, which means you'll have plenty of choices. What kind of style do you want?" "Long!" "I know," Tina said as Meredith chuckled. "I waited so long to grow my hair this long. But it takes some getting used to, and in the meantime you'll have a harder time passing. Why don't we go with something neck- length?" "Okay. But blonde." She saw the look on Tina's face. "No?" "You don't want to stray too far from your natural color, at least to start. Let me focus on that, and something that will really soften your face. Okay?" Tina and Meredith went downstairs and told Marjorie the plan. Marjorie offered to drive them to the mall. "Awesome!" Tina said. "Thanks, Mom." An hour later when they returned with a light brown wig in a cute shag and a hint of frosting, they were amazed at the work Alyssa had done. Gerrilynn's coloring was soft, warm; her eyes were beautifully outlined and shaded, her lashes long and lush; her lips looked full, finished in pink lip gloss. Her hair was much shorter, the only thing to ruin her look. "Hey, look at the cutie!" Meredith said. "Really?" Gerrilynn gasped. "Isn't she a sweetie?" Alyssa added. "Let's see the full effect." Slowly, carefully, she placed the wig on her head and pulled in into place. "Is that really me?" Gerrilynn stared at herself in the vanity mirror. Tina said they had picked up one other item, and handed her a pair of black ballet flats, size seven and a half. "And you still have $175 left for shopping," Meredith said. When they went downstairs, Marjorie said, "Let me guess - you want another ride to the mall." "If you wouldn't mind," Tina said. Marjorie was about to say something to tease her but stopped and looked over Gerrilynn. "Very nice," she said. "You look lovely." "Thanks." "Tina," Alyssa said. "She doesn't have a purse." "I can lend her one of mine," Tina said, running up to her room to get one. "A girl can't go anywhere without a purse," Marjorie said. "Not even Meredith." Meredith stuck out her tongue. "Brat," Marjorie said, laughing. Eleven Monday morning, Tina stopped in the cafeteria for a cup of coffee before heading into homeroom. It was the first time in two weeks she hadn't rushed in, just beating the second bell. She actually was there before the first bell rang, and there were only a handful of students there. One was Deanna Yardley. Tina was glad to see her in early, as they hadn't much chance to talk, recently. "How's Marie?" Tina asked. Deanna rolled her eyes. "Starting to walk. She gets into everything!" She paused before adding, "Paul came over to see her on Saturday." "Really?" "He was home from college for the weekend, and he said he wanted to see how we were doing. He said he was sorry for having stuck me with this burden." "How was he with Marie?" Deanna smiled. "He was very awkward at first, like boys often are with babies. But she took to him and after a while he was okay." Tina asked how long he stayed. "The whole afternoon." Her mother hadn't been pleased, but he was very respectful to her. When they were alone, he told her how much he admired her, and how he had felt ashamed of himself after they'd done it. "Then why the bragging?" "I asked him that. He swears he didn't. He said he confided in a couple of the guys because he felt guilty." She grew very quiet. More students were coming in. "He wants to see me again," she said at last. "He wants to keep e-mail contact, and then take me out when he's home on spring break." "Will you go?" "I don't know. I told him I had to think about it and I'd let him know. He left me his e-mail address, but then he sent me an e-mail last night to remind me." There was more. He had stayed away this long because his parents had demanded it in return for sharing the costs of raising Marie. But they had done it by setting up a $50,000 fund for her, so it wasn't as if they could take it back. "Of course, we don't touch it. We're leaving it for her college fund." The first bell rang. "He kissed me when he left. On the cheek." Tina touched her cheek and saw her eyes were brimming. "I think you've already made your decision." "Is it right, though?" "It only has to be right for you. But, as an added bonus, I think this one is right for Marie, too." The second bell rang, and Deanna turned around. Once homeroom was concluded and the bell rang to go to first period, she turned back to thank Tina. "Let me know if you ever need me to babysit," Tina said. # While changing classes later that morning, she ran in to Ken, who looked troubled. "I just thought you should know. Steve Hall has been pestering me about that meeting of yours last week. He wants to know if his kid brother was there." "You mean Gerrilynn?" It took a minute. "Shit!" Tina looked indignant, but Ken explained that his only concern was that Steve seemed hot on his brother's tail about this. "I told him that I wouldn't say anything one way or the other, and that if he had any questions about it, he should ask his brother. Now, he's pissed at me, but I think he may come and see you, so I wanted you to be prepared." "Thanks, Ken." Steve caught up to her in the lunch room. "I want to know about my brother," he said without any introduction. "He recently joined the newspaper staff," she replied. "Nice boy." "You know what I want to know." She invited him into the newspaper office and closed the door. "There's somethin' weird about him lately, and I need to know what it is before somebody kills him." She explained that given the nature of the support group, the privacy of the members had to be protected. So, she wasn't going to tell him one way or the other. "Besides, what are you afraid of? That he might be a little different?" "No, that he might be killed." "Like the boy at Stevenson? Surely, you wouldn't let something like that happen to your brother, would you?" "No, but I won't be here after the summer to look out for him." "And are you doing such a great job of looking out for him now? Are you so afraid of what might happen to him? Or of what you think he might really be like?" He glared at her. "I know you think this is easy, but..." "No, Steve. I sit at the very bottom of the food chain. Transgendered male-to-females are the least accepted of anyone, so believe me I know that none of this is easy. "But if you are genuinely concerned about someone, you don't sneak around behind their back and check up on them, you go to them and say, 'Whatever you want, whoever you really are, you're my family and I love you.'" "So, it's true." "I'm not talking about Jeremy, I'm talking about you. What are you really afraid of?" The truth was, their father would kill him if it was true. "Would you be willing to stand up to your father, a football star standing up to a former football star?" she asked. "You don't understand. I've been there his whole life, looking out for him in the neighborhood, looking out for him in school. He may be a wimp and a pussy, but he's a good kid." "And very well you put it." He stopped and stared at her, open-mouthed. It took a minute to realize she was teasing him. "Was he or was he not there?" "Talk to him, Steve. Don't accuse, ask. Offer support where he may need it the most." He got up and left. After school, Jeremy came to see her. "Did my brother come to see you? I hear he's been snooping around." She told him he had, and that she had not told him anything. But she revealed that she had also suggested that he talk to Jeremy, and she suggested that if he did, Jeremy should be candid. "He'll kill me!" "Do you know what the hardest thing was for me?" she asked. "It was going to my mother and telling her that dressing up wasn't just a game I liked to play, but that there was a girl inside me who was dying to get out. It was hard because I knew she had lots of expectations for me, and being female wasn't one of them. But it was also the most important thing I ever did, because without that, I'd still be skulking around in closets and basements, praying I didn't get caught." He sat, shaking his head. "I'm not sure," she said, "but I think there is a good chance he has already guessed, and is genuinely fearful for you. I think in his own way he may want to help. Leave the door open, and if it looks that way, you can both talk to me." # Two days later, Tina came in early and saw Deanna beaming. "So?" "We've been e-mailing back and forth like crazy. He's so sweet! He wants to know everything about Marie, and even asked me to e-mail him some photos of her." "That's sweet." "I know. It's just that I'm starting to remember all the little things I always liked so much about him, like his sense of humor." The first bell rang. "Oh, and he was asking for you. He wondered if you and I were still good friends. I told him that you were Marie's Aunt Tina." She was on her way to her first class when she saw Ms. Gunderson, and she could tell immediately it was bad news. "The school board is meeting next Monday night," she said. "The LGBT group is on the agenda." "That didn't take long." "Alf Gardner is the president of the board, and he's trying to be fair. They will allow three speakers from the school - Ms. Barnes, myself and a student rep - and three from the parents' group. I want to meet with you and the other officers this afternoon in the paper office." She told Meredith and Alyssa at lunch. Meredith blanched at the possibility of having to speak. "But you're the president," Tina said. "I can't speak like you can, and especially in front of that many people. I'll lose it." "Meri's right," Alyssa said, using the nickname that only the two of them were ever allowed to use. "You were brilliant that day in Barnes' office." "This will be different. The only real adversary we had that day was Rodriguez. This will be a lot worse." "Maybe Rick will do it," Alyssa said. But when they got together, while Rick was willing, he urged Tina to reconsider. "I know it's hard," he said. "But you have a gift in speaking. And you have the advantage of speaking from first hand experience. If we have any chance at all, here, we'll need that." "Do we?" Meredith asked. Tina looked at her with grave concern. Ever since the news had broken, Meredith had been very shaken. "As far as Ms. Barnes can tell, the school board is split. But she had a call from Newsday this afternoon about it. This is about to go viral. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of outsiders there with their own agendas." They all fell silent. It was Rick who broke it. "That helps us. No one wants outsiders coming in to tell us how to raise our kids." He turned to Tina. "Use that." # Tina wore a navy blue skirt and a white blouse, with a red blazer she borrowed from Alyssa and a pair of black patent leather heels. "Red, white and blue," Barbara said with a laugh. "Very patriotic." "And very shrewd," Marjorie added. "It was Alyssa's idea." There were demonstrators outside the school building. They had to pass through a gauntlet on their way into the building, with angry strangers yelling from either side. "The Bible says 'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve'!" "Stop coddling degenerates!" "Ban the freaks!" "Teach normal values!" "Follow the Bible!" It was packed inside, and many of the spectators carried signs. A much higher percentage of those inside were supportive than outside. Ms. Barnes and Ms. Gunderson met Tina at the door and escorted her to the front row, which had been reserved. "The meeting will come to order!" Alf Gardner said into the microphone. It took several more iterations before the crowd settled down. The seven members of the school board were arrayed along a table set up on the stage. "Mr. Chairman?" called a man sitting at the left end of the table. "Mr. Paretta." "I move that we bump the issue of the student organization to the top of the agenda." There was a second. "Without objection," Gardner said, "it is so ordered. We will have six speakers, each of whom will be given three minutes to make a statement, and then members of the board will be given the chance to ask questions. We will start with the representatives from the Parents Association." Elsie Cavanaugh, the president of the association, stepped up to the microphone wearing a red pantsuit and red flats. "Thank you, members of the board. We parents are appalled that our high school would have allowed an organization to be formed that encourages abhorrent behavior and the adoption of self-destructive lifestyles without consulting those people who are most concerned - parents. "After all, it is we who are responsible for raising our children into responsible adults, and one does not accomplish that by encouraging the acting out of degenerate sexual fantasies and other reprehensible behavior..." Ms. Barnes leaned over to Tina with a suggestion. "I couldn't!" she gasped. "Oh, yes you can. You have such inner strength." She turned to Ms. Gunderson who smiled and nodded. Elsie gave way to Mr. Henry Jensen, who stated that the country was founded on Judeo-Christian values, and those values could not abide the formation of an organization dedicated to degenerate behavior. He spent a great deal of time quoting the Old Testament as proof that homosexuality was an abomination. Finally, there was Mr. Randolph Ulrich, who went into great detail of all the forces that were at work on modern teens, from aboriginal music to godless culture to drugs, sex and violence. "In the face of such confusion, we need to offer them certainty, a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong. We all know that homosexuality is wrong. We all know that boys dressing as girls are a hideous aberration. All that forming a group like this will do is further confuse children who are already bewildered because the normal compass of right and wrong has been dismantled." All of these were met with a mixture of applause, boos and catcalls. There were a handful of questions from the board, but most members reserved the right to ask questions until the school's side had been heard. "Our first speaker for the school is the principal, Elaine Barnes." Ms. Barnes stood and went to the microphone. She glanced back at Tina, who sighed and nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be glad to answer any questions the board might have, but it is important for you all to know that this organization was conceived by the students and advocated by the students to meet what they saw as a critical need. "Ms. Amelia Gunderson, the faculty moderator of the group, and I both agree that the students will be best served if our speaking time is turned over to the scheduled student speaker, Ms. TinaMarie Yates." "Ms. Gunderson, do you agree to this?" Gardner asked. She nodded demonstrably. Tina stepped up to the microphone as the students in attendance burst into applause. Mr. Gardner looked down on her, gave a kindly smile and asked, "Young lady, are you sure you're up to this?" "Yes, Mr. Chairman, thank you." "You have the floor, my dear." "Thank you. My name is TinaMarie Yates. I'm a junior at Oak Manor High School, editor of the school newspaper and an honor student. "I'm also transgendered." Gardner's face fell. "I'm blessed to have many friends and a loving family who do not judge me based on my desire to live as a girl, but rather on what I decide to do with that life. My closest friend, a tower of strength to me during a very painful time in my life, happens to like girls rather than boys. Do I judge her based on who she wants to date, or the fact that she is a loving, caring and giving person? "I've heard a number of statements tonight with which I could take issue, but I'll focus on two. "Mr. Ulrich says that we poor teens are the victims of a degenerate society, with no values, and that we turn to sexual deviance in the same way some of us turn to drugs. I find this interesting, since my desire to be a girl goes back to my early childhood, long before I knew anything about 'degenerate' or 'valueless' society. Moreover, I have grown up in a family where I learned a number of values I hold very dear, including the ultimate dignity of the individual human person. "I hurt no one by living my life as a girl even though I was born a boy. But I guarantee you that you do irreparable harm by trying to force kids like me to be something they are not. My family embraced and supported my decision, but recently I sat with a boy who was seriously considering ending his own life because he was made to feel like a freak because he wanted to live his life as a girl. "I also want to address Mr. Jensen's claim that providing love and support for LGBT teens is somehow in contradiction to our Judeo- Christian tradition. The person I believe in said that there were only two commandments - to love God and to love each other as ourselves. I submit, Mr. Chairman, that stoking hate, as this proceeding is doing, just check out the signs outside, and denying the help and support that our members need, that's the violation of Judeo-Christian tradition. And to Mr. Jensen, I would say, 'Physician, heal thyself.'" The crowd burst into applause. "Finally, I would like to point out that many of our members are what you would regard as 'normal', as is one of our officers. The students at Oak Manor realize that you don't have to be gay or transgendered to be hurt by hatred. What happened at Stevenson High School hurt all of us. "The supports we look to provide go beyond problems of sexual orientation or gender identity. We reach out to teen mothers, abuse victims, children of substance abusers. In short, we look to provide support to help our fellow students through all the evils that adults have created and refuse to address." Another ovation. "Mr. Chairman, I am always amazed at those who cavalierly want to make rules about who we should be and what we should do and how we are expected to live, then walk away from the consequences of those decisions. I just saw where some congressman wants to ban prenatal testing that can reveal developmental disabilities before birth, so that such babies can't be aborted. But this same congressman wants to cut funding for services for special needs children. "You want us to have the babies, but then leave us on our own. You want to deny our teens a place to seek support and guidance because of difficult problems, and then you'll damn us when in despair we turn to alcohol, drugs or suicide. "You want to help us? Leave our lifeline in place. Thank you." The auditorium burst into applause and cheers. Students started chanting, "Ti-na! Ti-na! Ti-na!" Ms. Barnes gave her a huge hug, as did Ms. Gunderson. No one had any questions. The vote to ban the association was 3-3. Everyone in the auditorium fixed their gaze upon Mr. Gardner. He glanced down at Tina, then pulled the microphone closer. "The vote being tied, the matter is left to the chairman to break the tie." He paused, glancing again down at Tina. "No one wants to leave at-risk students without support," he said. "And no one wants to see students hurt. What happened at Stevenson High School was a horrific tragedy, and we never want to see anything like that here. "But if a student like Mr. Yates can find success at Oak Manor, we must be doing something right. I want to see that continue. My vote is yes, and the measure carries."