Transgender Topics -- First Monthly Meeting

Are you worried about transitioning? You don’t know where to begin? Who to tell? How to do it? Join moderator/facilitators Seth Rainess and Dana Delgardo as they offer wisdom from their own life in discussing the surprises, worries, joys and rewards of transitioning. These monthly meetings are designed to give the fundamental building blocks of gender transitioning and to be able to share confidential information among other group members. Learn from others how to gain strength and pride; learn to be you! Seth Rainess (www.sethrainess.com) is a speaker, author, Jersey Shore PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) facilitator, and WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) Member, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) volunteer. Seth, who holds many degrees including an M.S. in psychology and rehab counseling, has conducted seminars for trans youth and school assemblies and workshops on trans diversity in high schools and universities. Combining more than 30 years of experience working in the business sector and nonprofit organizations with his passion for helping trans youth, he is able to offer wisdom from his own life in discussing the surprises, worries, joys and rewards of transitioning for youth today. In his book REAL TALK for Teens: A Jump-start Guide to Gender Transitioning and Beyond (Transgress Press), Seth offers trans teens a foundation for transitioning and a unique perspective on what it takes to be successful in today’s world. He draws on his rich life history to offer youth, parents and faculty an emotional road-map and physical timeline through gender transition and the exciting life that can lay beyond. After all, what good things can you accomplish with your life when you are done with transitioning? Dana Delgardo, APNc (danadaine@gmail.com) is a family nurse practitioner who has been practicing in acute episodic/primary care for over 5 years, with previous medical experience including working as a registered nurse in emergency medicine/transplant/ENT and infectious disease for over 12 years. Dana presently provides primary care for the LGBT population at one of the first federally qualified health centers in NJ, Horizon Health Center in Jersey City, NJ whose focus will include trans health care. Dana says: “I have been gender nonconforming my entire life. My experience with trans health has come from personal experience, educational conferences and research. I am a graduate of the Rutgers Family NP program. I think primary care providers will continue to be the ‘first line' of encounter to medicine and there is no doubt in my mind that we have, and will continue to encounter this patient population; my goal is to educate and provide insight when this does happen. I have recently been appointed the Co-Chair to an LGTB military group called SPART*A. I am a member of the World Professional Organization for Transgender Health (WPATH); comittee chair to Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, GLSEN north Jersey Chapter. I am an advocate and a friend to the Trans community. Please take a moment to peruse my FB page called Outspoken, developed to help parents of gender nonconforming children to find resources and help; feedback is welcomed.” Link to Out Spoken: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Outspo%CA%9Een/400105073407329."