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Southern Comfort Conference 1998

A Place to Call Home...
If Only For A Few Days

By Kim Ribbans

Atlanta

It was Judy's first time... She stands behind the hotel bedroom door for a full ten minutes with her hand on the door handle. Breathing quickly but with shallow breaths she finally turns the handle in response to the confident knock from the outside. Her escort had arrived. As she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, the elevator, the lobby she could hardly believe her own strength of spirit. Hardly believe that she was in public. Hardly believe that she was Judy. For the first time.

She sat down, almost fell down, in the bar and looked around her at some of the nearly five hundred delegates to Southern Comfort, possibly the worldís foremost transgender conference, which Atlanta has been playing host to for the last 8 years. Her escort Stefanie Schumaker, post operative transsexual and co-Chair of the event explained. "Judy has never been out in public dressed as a woman, and this will be an experience she will never forget." "For me and the dozens of others who work all year to put this conference on, Judyís experience validates all our hard work"


Kim Ribbans Sings
During The Talent Show
And the hard work really showed. This yearís Southern Comfort in Altanta was the biggest yet. Maybe it was the sheer size and energy of the event or maybe it really was the best yet it certainly seemed like it.

Southern Comfort was conceived and born as an opportunity for a handful of mainly closeted crossdressers and transsexuals to get together in a safe place and express themselves. Since then it has grown to become a highly respected event with attendees from around the world mixing with members of the professional support community, the media and friends.

The Terrace Garden & Four Points Hotels on Lennox Road in the Buckhead area of town, hosted this years event. As the leader of the Atlanta Gay Male Voice Choir said "Thanks for bringing diversity to Buckhead" Not known as the most liberal area of this mainly easy going city, there were certainly no complaints from the delegates, either about the hotel or the location. From one meeting room in an economy hotel outside the perimeter to a midtown business and convention property the eventís needs, driven by attendance and content looks like it is on an upward curve.

Sabrina Marcus, gloriously flamboyant board member and one of the early forces behind the whole event was bursting with enthusiasm as she stepped down from emceeing the Friday Night talent show that has become a Southern Comfort favorite. "I am always amazed at the sheer talent and diversity of this community, and I donít just mean this show" Sabrina talks as she strides quickly through the hotel stopping and talking to dozens of conventioneers as she does so.

"We have Doctors, lawyers, business owners and professional musicians. The transgendered community is a real slice through the diversity of the world. And thatís why this conference is such a success. When we need a skill, we always know that we can find it. Whether thatís for organization, for design, website building, singing, production or ... whatever"

Indeed this yearís conference was perhaps the most self sufficient. The sound rig for the remarkably entertaining Talent Show, was provided by a transgendered Sound Designer whose business deals with some of the rock worldís biggest names. The video of the show was put together by probably Atlantaís only transgender owned video production company. Everything from the website, the conferenceís printed materials and logistics management were provided from within the community.

And if you think the Talent Show was an amateur version of Atlantaís famous drag shows, think again. With everything, from Jami Wardís now famous stand- up "If the store assistant in Richís thinks your wife is the luckiest woman alive cozí youíre always buying her clothes... then you might just be transgendered" To original compositions on guitar and piano, choreography that would find a comfortable place on any Broadway stage, the show would knock the spots off most variety show in any city.

Trips to the 24 hour nightlife of Atlanta were as ever hugely successful, with no incidents other than sore heads to report. But it wasnít all just partying. Trips to CNN, the Botanical Gardens, Little Five and Underground were offered along with the highlights of Atlantaís nightlife. The evening at The Nomenclature Museum, merely served to add to the great diversity of one of the cityís latest hangouts. And of course, The Chamber, Backstreet Atlanta and The Otherside Lounge were all hugely popular venues.

But where does the conference go from here? How big will it get? According to Stefanie Schumaker the conference will continue to get larger, at least for the next couple of years. "We really are planning on a conference in 2001 that might see 1,000 people here in Atlanta. Then our problems will be the same as any large meeting planner. Venue, entertainment, the business program, all of that. But what a great problem to have"

As the attendees checked out of the hotels on Sunday, you could sense the energy mixed with the sadness of parting. For many the panty hose and heels would go back, along with their personas, into the closet for another year. For an increasingly large contingency, life as a transgendered person goes on, with the same issues and concerns as everyone. A job, a home and peace of mind. Southern Comfort is a catalyst, the event a milestone in many lives. For Atlanta it is a chance to see a vibrant community at close proximity, for the attendees it is a chance to come together, to express solidarity with our brothers and sisters and to be ourselves with no fear of judgment or condemnation. Wouldnít it be nice if everyone had that chance?

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