The country's fifth largest city, Phoenix, AZ, served as my home from 1953 to 1961, then again from 1966 to 2000. I arrived there because my military father received orders to Luke Air Force Base, located west of Phoenix. In that year, the city's population had only reached 100,000 people. My parent's bought their first (and only) home in 1955, in an area that later became Maryvale. This predated John F. Long, the builder who pretty much created Maryvale, and since no one else had moved into any of those other homes yet, we were the official very first residents of this new tiny section of tract homes.

In 1997, my life as Monica began, changing not only the obvious, but internally as well. I started my activism for the trans community in 1998 and by the time I left in June of 2000, myself and a few others had accomplished enough to give the gay, lesbian and bisexual people of Phoenix a new respect for transgender people. However, shortly after I left, activism in the transgender community came to a halt. "Why?" I don't know.

It didn't stay that way.

Early this year, I made friends with Toni D'orsay, a wonderful trans woman in the Phoenix area who got involved in activism in a big way. With her help and others, I came to Phoenix for Pride and I had no idea what I would find when I arrived. The surprise I got at all the activity in the trans community went beyond my wildest dreams.

Even though Phoenix does not have any non-discrimination law covering LGBT people, the activities of the community can be large and well attended, as in Pride. The trans community has not let any moss grow around their feet in the activities arena. Of course, moss doesn't grow very easily in the desert.

I discovered that the Phoenix trans community has built a network of organizations and other important elements to help trans people in several ways. The Arizona Trans Alliance, headed up by Erica Keppler, has become the activism arm of the community, having a meeting at least once a month at. TG Harmony, the open group still exists, as does Alpha Zeta, the Tri Ess Chapter I helped get started in 1983. Michael Brown and Toni also run Genderific, a group for trans men and women that meets every two weeks, and Toni operates a group called TransEmpowerment Advocates every week.

Phoenix also has at least half dozen homes in various locations throughout the Valley who take in homeless and disadvantaged trans people. On top of that, they have a new halfway house for trans people called "This is H.O.W.," (Honesty, Openmindedness, Willingness) that also helps those in need. Atlanta maybe smaller then Phoenix, but the Atlanta Metro Area is larger than the Phoenix Metro Area, yet there is nothing coming close to what exists in the Valley of the Sun.

During my short stay, I met some amazing people, any one of them I would be proud to work with here in Atlanta. Michele Finn works at the Phoenix VA facility and started a support group at the VA. I see her helping the Transgender American Veterans Association in the near future. Jillian Barfield operates an on-line, international job bank for transgender people that can be found at www.TJobBank.com. If anyone needs a job or knows companies who will hire trans people, you need to go to her website.

On top of the other things Michael does, he runs TransMentors International and Toni is on the board. This organization puts trans people who wish to mentor new trans people in touch with those who would like mentoring. What has happened in an informal way for decades has now become more direct and effective thanks to Michael. Also, Toni is thinking of running for a political off ice in 2012.

I actually started typing this article on my flight home from Phoenix. I had a fantastic time in my old home town, thanks to people like Maria DeNicola, Michael, Jillian, Erica, Michele, Toni and a host of others, too many to mention. I lay my head back on the headrest on my tight passenger seat with a huge smile on my face. I am going back to Atlanta, full of pride of the trans community in Phoenix. It has become a city with resources that can now help a new person who moves there. Thank you all for this great experience. I can't wait to see you all again.

(I did see Toni and Erica during Lobby Days in DC a week later.)

Source:  http://www.monicahelms.com/blog

Antonia "Toni" D'orsay is the current Chair of the Board for This Is H.O.W., an all transgender halfway house founded by Regina Gazelle in 2005 after ten years of struggling and hardship. A former resident and House Manager for TIH, she is an optimistic and forward looking woman who has become intimately involved with her community as an outspoken advocate.

Toni spends the bulk of her time dealing on an individual basis with transfolk who need a shoulder to cry on or a bit of encouragement, where her focus of creating a personally empowering environment enables people to step out of what she calls a sense of victimhood and into an awareness of self.

She fills the rest of her time working with several organizations, including TransMentors International, Inc. (TMII) where she sits on the board of directors, and her own TransEmpowerment Advocates organization (TEA). It is through TEA that she operates a support group and has developed a series of workshops for empowering transpeople that she offers at a cost that barely covers the food provided.

Her overall goal is to establish an infrastructure for a transcommunity, from ensuring that state and local services are available, to education on transhistory, life skills, and independent living.

She started her transition at the age of 41 on October 10th, 2006, and in the course of the time since has been evicted, denied employment, denied housing, and consistently works toward making sure that no other transperson ever goes through what she did.

Her vision is simple: create systems and tools for transfolk to help themselves, effecting change through their own community service, by following a methodology pioneered by groups such as the NAACP and Chicanos por la causa. Multiethnic herself, she is a fierce and potent advocate who understands the positions and mindsets of those who would deny rights and services to transfolk, and is familiar with the means by which the major organizations rose to power.

She has recently announced she will be running for public office, starting in late 2010, in order to be elected in 2012.