Can anyone recommend any trans/genderqueer friendly clubs, preferably on the North Side near the red line? I know about FKA, but I don't have time to go out late on weekday nights.

The National Union of Jewish LGBTQQI Students's 14th annual conference will take place January 15th to the 17th at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. As usual the conference will be held over a weekend, and co-hosted by a campus Hillel, the NUJLS leadership conference features workshops, services, community building, and social time. This year's keynotes are Rabbi Bradley Artsen, Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and comedian Dana Goldberg!

We welcome students from all sorts of backgrounds (religious, not, newly out, not, liberal to conservative, and more). Workshops, speakers, and text studies address such topics as Judaism and homosexuality, activism, relationships, ethics, coming out, and politics. Last year more than one hundred students came from across the United States and Canada to participate, and we anticipate a similar turnout this year! Registration ($80) includes meals (all kosher), housing, and all conference events. Travel and registrations subsidies are available upon request (in the registration form). View past schedules and register at http://www.nujlsonline.org/conferenceinfo.html

OK, so again please forgive my newness if I am off base. I have been trying to keep up with the terminology and understand some of the debates and ideas, particuarly in the last discussion on transgender/transexual gender labeling. At first I was going to ask for a gender dictionary, conceptual guide or some literature I could read to catch up.

Then it occurred to me that the distinctions are very fine grained. While the discussions on many of the finer distinctions are very interesting to me I was wondering if the terminology and concepts are useful to people in answering the question of "what am I?" vs an understanding of what Individuals feel, like, want and desire.

Labels can be incredibly important in helping to identify like minded groups of people, but they can also be very confusing and inhibit accessability of information to people who may desperately need it. What does everyone think?

( Gay history thesis + loving but homophobic family + history nerd father + the holidays = oh holy shit )

ETA: Sorry, lj-cut fail.

everyone. I am kind of new to blogging so please bear with me. I would like to know some people's thoughts on what it means to be pansexual. For a long time I have felt very alone in my way of thinking, though for me it is just the way I am. I tend to both express myself as well as explore and interact with people in a sexual way. Typically what happens is that as I get to know and like someone I become intensely attracted to them. This happens wether the person is female, male, transgendered, tall, short, petite, big and beautiful and even physically impared.

I am a reasonbly good looking 37 year old guy. I try to be honest with people about my feelings and my relationships, but many times it puts people off. My relationships with both women and men are always affected when I communicate my feelings and sexual preference. I have often been labeled as a slut or variations thereof and at times worn the label with pride or felt disgusted with myself over it. I seem to relate best to women and have even been married but a monogomous relationship with on gender somehow always feels unfulfilling in a way that is hard for me to describe.

I did try therapy for a while for some problems I was working through (mostly unrelated) and when all of this came up the therapist suggested I was a sex addict and wanted to treat me for it... That just didn't feel right, like being treated for having arms or something like that. I don't feel I am explaining this well, let me know if you understand please?

A friend of mine recently suggested I might be pansexual. That was the fist time I heard the word. I have read a little and I want to know more about what it means and if there is a community there I might share feelings and common experience with. While I am not overall a big fan of categories and labels, I guess I would like to know if I am alone in thinking there is something more to this than sluttiness or sex addiction?