Diary

Hi, I am Evelien from the Netherlands. I will be doing a column for Gendertalk once every two weeks. In these columns I’ll be sharing some of my experiences with you.

You might ask yourself, why do I publish so far away? Why don't I just make a column on Dutch radio? Well, first of all there is no program on Dutch radio that regularly covers 'GLBT'-issues. We used to have one that was called "Het Roze Rijk" ("The Pink Kingdom"), but it has been stopped due to lack of funding years ago.

And there was an inducement. That was the WMBR fundraising week. For a large donation you can buy one hour of broadcasting time on the station! That made me think. I have been dreaming about making my own radio show in this way for two years, but this year was the first time I could afford the price. And I had thought of a form, that is easier for me to fill in than a whole hour at once: Short columns, yes, diary entries! I have plenty of those available!

So I contacted WMBR and Gendertalk well in advance to find out whether the offer was still valid. I made a demo and sent that to Gendertalk. They thought it was a great idea and Nancy Nangeroni has given me several tips on how to make it sound more professional. By now we both enjoy the idea so much, that a donation wouldn't have been necessary, they want to air my contributions anyway.

But I did make the donation. Let's just say this is the penalty I pay for my lack of self-confidence and my misplaced modesty. I would never have dared to suggest an idea like this if it hadn't been for the fundraising. I shouldn’t have been so shy!

---

I used most of my time for this introduction, but I won't leave you without a short example of what my columns will be like. This entry is called:

"Hey, Cool!"

Today at work I met a former colleague, I hadn't seen in four years.
He only knew me as a man so he didn't recognize me in my female outfit. I politely introduced myself as Evelien and told him we had met before. When I mentioned my old name, he immediately remembered me.

Of course I was curious how he would react to me, but I've always known him as an intelligent person and a good sport, so I figured he would take it lightly. And I wasn't disappointed.
"Hey, cool!" he said.
He told me there used to be a lot of gossip around me at [our former employer's]. People just couldn't figure me out. They had the impression I was gay because of my way of talking and gesturing, but that couldn't be, because I was married to a woman.
Of course it is very well possible that someone is gay and married to a woman, but my case turned out to be different. I’m a transsexual...

---