PORT ANGELES — Esprit week, the annual transgender convention at and around the Red Lion Hotel in Port Angeles, hits its crescendo today and Saturday.
The conference, held here since 1989, this year has 160 participants, and they’re enjoying themselves in classes, shopping trips and dances.
Tonight, the festivities open to the public include the Esprit Talent Show at 8 p.m. at the Elks Naval Lodge, upstairs 131 E. First St.
The performances will be followed by a dance at about 9 p.m.
Also tonight, the self-described “’80s glam punk and more” band Nasty Habits will start at 9 p.m. at Bar N9ne, 229 W. First St.
Saturday night, Esprit’s finale is the Celestial Ball, a science-fiction-themed dance featuring classic rock by the Fabulous Boomers at 9 p.m. at the Red Lion, 221 N. Lincoln St.
The Nasty Habits will then reappear and play until 1 a.m. at Bar N9ne.
Admission to the Talent Show tonight and at the Celestial Ball on Saturday is a $5 donation to Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, “our favorite charity since we started,” said Esprit organizer Suzanne Adams.
“We present them with a check on Sunday morning,” she added. “We chose them because [Hospice] seems to touch everybody’s lives.”
Adams, a retired police chief from Colorado, teaches several classes during Esprit week, including “Self-Defense for Women and Those Who Appear as Women.”
Her session on Tuesday was a dish of useful information, topped with a healthy dollop of humor.
“Do you ever have that weird feeling that someone is watching you?” Adams asked the seven conventioneers who attended.
Then she answered her own question: “Oh, duh, we have that feeling a lot.”
After all, Esprit is a conference for transgendered men: males who use feminine clothing, hormones and in some cases surgery to transform themselves.
And when you look like a woman, Adams said, you are far more vulnerable to assault than a man is.
As a former law enforcement officer who now serves as a consultant on transgender issues, Adams seeks to teach not only what to do if attacked, but also how to avoid getting into a dangerous situation.
To begin with, would-be criminals go for an easy mark: someone who’s not so aware of her surroundings because she’s digging in her purse for her keys or talking on her cell phone.
These are not wise things to do in one of the top three places for purse-snatchings and other assaults.
The three, in ascending order: public restrooms, parking garages and the parking lot at the grocery store.
When you come out of the supermarket, you’re likely to be pushing a cart or carrying a purse, a shopping basket and maybe your phone, plus you feel comfortable since you go there so often.
But be cautious, Adams advised, even if you’ve been there a thousand times.
It’s all too easy for someone who’s just passing through to grab your purse, or pull you into a car.
Always have your keys in your hand, preferably with one sticking out and ready for use as a defense weapon, she added. Don’t get caught searching for them while you’re walking.
When leaving a nightclub, don’t walk alone to your car, Adams said. Ask someone to accompany you.
If you must go solo, and someone tries to take your purse or otherwise accosts you, thrust out your palm, stomp your foot and yell, “No! Stop!”
Imagine the effect, Adams said. The attacker thinks this is a woman, and a man’s voice comes booming out.
“That will scare the hell out of them,” she said as her students giggled.
And if a mugger comes along and just wants your purse, throw it as far away as you can and run in the opposite direction, Adams added.
Adams sought to impress upon Esprit attendees, though, that when they pass as women — which is easier at night — their chances of being attacked multiply.
One in six women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime; that’s compared with one in 33 men, she said, citing research from the Rape Abuse Incest National Network (www.RAINN.org).
Women may not have the physical strength men can use to avert an attacker, Adams said.
“I’ve been on [female] hormones for a year and a half, and I’ve lost quite a bit of strength,” said Jillian Britton, who’s at her first Esprit conference this year.
But then Britton held up her black spike-heeled pump, smiled, and said, “This can also be used as a weapon.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.