Hello everyone. Thank you for coming.

This is my forth year speaking to you at VCon! You can’t get rid of me :)

I will repeat myself from last year for those that don’t know what the Transgender Social Center is. It is a safe non-sexual place in Utherverse for people using transgender avatars, our friends and allies.

It is somewhere to talk Utherverse or Real World with others from around the world. Somewhere to get support and give support or just get away from it all for a while.

What started as small coffee shop venue and office has grown into a full virtual world with its own nine pod transport, Trans World Square, Ipanema Beach, fashion boutiques, Garden of Remembrance, Ballroom and of course at its centre the TGSC.

Although started out for supporting transgender and cross-dressing people we have become something more.

It’s not that we have lost our focus, our user base has widen as people find us and enjoy the atmosphere of our events. This shows it’s not the places that make our world, it’s you the visitors and regulars and friends.

I think it is important to say now that it is not just me running this. AG_TALI_ASHBY plays a vital role constantly promoting the events, the venues and our branded patcher and client. We also bounce ideas, she is always brutally honest with her opinions which is very helpful..

This year’s news round up is mix of bad and good.

I have been stupidly busy outside of the TGSC and Utherverse so there have not been so many special events. We totally missed Pride month and Mardi Gras!

Sadly we lost one of our house DJs, DJ_Brianna, who left to focus more on her own club. This means that now we only meet two Sundays each month not every Sunday.

I must make clear that we support each other with mutual advertising and other ways, and we are still good friends. If you are around on Friday evenings 8pm to 10pm EST please check out Club_Drakon. There is also a Drakon booth in Hall 9.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. We have a special POSE themed party on Sunday, which we hope you all will come to, we do meet at least twice a month with Kaydee_SUNV spinning blues and Americana and we will be marking Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th.

Outside of the parties and events we have been able to give advice to people where they can find real world help and support. This is something I am personally keen to do.

Utherverse is a fantastic escape; the reasons for being here are endless. The aim is that the TGSC is a safe escape but also help make people’s real world happier and safer too.

We have links real world organisations and groups on our website, we will listen to you if you want to talk or if you need advice we will try to help. If you know of groups in your country please let us know so we can add them.

We believe the future is bright for the TGSC. There are some ideas that are not quite plans yet and we will continue doing what we are doing now.

Why do we need a “safe place”? It is part of the escape Utherverse provides.

We are lucky in the Utherverse that trans avatars look exactly like their cisgender counterparts. There is also the level of removal from the real person behind the avatar. We can be who we want in the Utherverse and the TGSC doesn’t judge you on your choices.

In the physical world we are not so lucky. Something that really brought this to light this year was the Olympic and Paralympic Games. I am thinking of an Algerian boxer and an Italian runner.

Imane Khelif is a cisgendered woman from Algeria and a very strong boxer. As a child she played football with the boys but was a better player so they punched her. This is how she learned to fight. She took up boxing and sold scrap metal to fund the training.

Imane sounds like a feminist hero so what went wrong? She is tall, has a very athletic build and last year the IBA banned her and others without publishing the reasons or evidence. In plain English “top of her game and looks a bit manly”.

Then she hits Angela Carini, a shorter, curvier girl with a pony tail not tight braids. Angela says she has never been hit so hard before and quits the bout. Suddenly big girl hits little girl and makes her cry, big girl must be a man. This judgement us purely based on physical looks.

Imagine if this was two men. The hard hitter would be a hero and the crying quitter would be “sissy” or “pansy”, “a girl”.

Now the Italian Paralympic T12 class visually impaired sprinter, Valentina Petrillo. She is a visually impaired transwoman. When the usual suspects found out about her inclusion in the events cries of “cheat” and “man” came up but when she failed to reach the finals of any of her events it all went very quiet.

In the real world people are prepared to lie about things to fit their prejudices and hide facts that don’t follow the narrative.

When a ciswoman that doesn’t meet the physical ideal of a woman succeeds in sport she is vilified across the world and makes headline news. When a transwoman fails to win it is hushed up.

This line of prejudice towards trans and gender divergent people is not just a danger to them but to ciswomen too. If you are not a pretty girl you must be a man. If you succeed in a physical role you must be a man. It excludes women from success and adds even more stress about their appearance.

The TGSC rejects these attitudes. We know how they hurt everyone.

What we see are the pixels on the screen and the personality in the text. As a I said earlier we won’t judge you for your choices. We may challenge you on your attitudes though!

I have met with strong prejudices in RLC. I was once told I should be locked in a mental hospital after someone saw transgender on my profile. It was a refreshing change from being thought of a willing sex object.

It sticks with me what Brian said a couple of years ago; "If we couldn't hug in RLC, how sad is that?". The TGSC is a big hug to everyone who wants to be themselves and be with others.

To celebrate the diversity of us all we are holding a POSE themed party in our ballroom on Sunday from 3pm to 5pm New York time, 8pm to 10pm London time. Kaydee_SUNV will be spinning the tunes and there is 100 Ray prize for best dressed. We really hope to see you there.

To find out more visit out POSE booth in Hall 3.

Again I want to end the same as last year with our statement of understanding and commitment to you all.

The importance of Utherverse to many TG avatar users should not be under estimated. For some people Utherverse is their transition. For others it is their safe place to explore themselves. For others it is their kinky play ground. All this is OK, it is what it needs to be.

As long as there is an Utherverse and I am here there will be a TGSC. That is my promise to you all.

Thank you to everyone behind the scenes at Uthervese and the staff and volunteers in world that keep it all running so that we can have this amazing place we call home.

Thank you for listening (reading). I will answer questions now.

Our booth at Virtual Con 2024
 

Our friends Club Drakon and Biker's Rock at Virtual Con 2024