The American Educational Gender Information Service, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit clearinghouse for information about transgender and transsexual issues. We publish the journal Chrysalis: The Journal of Transgressive Gender Identities; AEGIS News (our membership newsletter), The Transgender Treatment Bulletin, and various other materials.

Our History

AEGIS was founded in September, 1990 by Dallas Denny to address the problem of lack of credible information about transsexual and transgender issues. We published our first Transition Series booklet at the end of the year, and the first issue of Chrysalis in the Spring of 1991. We incorporated in 1992, and obtained 501(c)(3) status with the IRS in 1994.

Our Reputation

AEGIS has an excellent reputation for common sense and quality information. We are considered the world’s leading source for quality information on transsexualism.

Our Philosophy

AEGIS is dedicated to serving the needs of ALL transgendered and transsexual persons, and of helping professionals. We promote nonjudgemental treatment and depathologicalization (now there’s a word for you!) of persons with transgender and transsexual issues. We seek to do so in an atmosphere of respect and toleration.

AEGIS has worked within the medical and psychological communities to enlighten helping professionals about the shortcomings of much of the literature, and to the misunderstandings about the nature of transgendered and transsexual persons which that literature has fostered.

AEGIS celebrates the true diversity of transgendered and transsexual persons, and advocates the right of the individual to seek body-modifying procedures, up to and including sex reassignment surgery. We also advocate the right of the individual to live without such procedures. We believe that with adequate education, individuals can make competent decisions about their lives.

AEGIS Personnel

Our Executive Director is Dallas Denny, who holds a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Tennessee, and has a doctorate in progress at Vanderbilt University. She has been licensed to practice psychology in Tennessee since 1980. Dallas is a prolific author and popular speaker on transgender issues, and has produced three books on transsexualism.

The Chair of our Board of Directors is Marisa Richmond, Ph.D., the founder of the Tennesse Vals support group..

Gianna Eveling Israel, the Vice-Chair, is a gender specializing counselor who resides in San Francisco. She is principal author of Recommended Guidelines for Transgender
Care.

Other Board members include Delia van Maris, M.D., Alison Laing, Jason Cromwell, Spencer Bergstedt, Esq., Jessica Xavier, Gwen Smith, Angela Wensley, Ph.D., & Andrea Bennett,
Esq.

AEGIS maintains a 30-member Board of Advisors, which includes Carolyn “Tula” Cossey, JoAnn Roberts, David Gilbert, M.D., Eugene Schrang, M.D., Stephen Morganstern, M.D., Anthony Karpas, M.D., Donald Tarver, M.D., Virginia Prince, Ph.D., Jason Cromwell, Ph.D., Anne Bolin, Ph.D., and others.

Gianna Israel serves as an omnbudsperson who takes complaints and concerns of AEGIS members to the Board of Directors. She can be reached by e-mail, or via US mail.

AEGIS is a membership organization. General membership includes two issues of Chrysalis, four issues of the newsletter, a 10% discount on materials from our bookstore, and a membership card. Professional memberships include the above, plus additional materials. There are other levels of membership, with additional benefits and discounts, for those who wish to financially support us, as well as categories for students and those who are incarcerated. All donations are tax deductible.

AEGIS maintains an extensive database of support groups, helping professionals, and other resources throughout the world. We will be happy to provide you with referrals and information.

AEGIS has compiled a definitive bibliography of transgender and transsexual-related material; it was published last year by Garland Press with the title Gender Dysphoria: A Guide to Research (650+ pp.). We are also responsible for the edited text Current Concepts in Transgender Identity, also from Garland.

Our Sullivan Press has published its first book, Cross Purposes, by Vanessa Sheridan. Cross Purposes is a look at crossdressing and transsexualism from a Christian perspective. Ms. Sheridan takes a hard look at the church and its treatment of transpeople, and examines the Bible for what it says about crossdressing and transsexualism.

AEGIS maintains the National Transgender Library & Archive at its Atlanta headquarters. The NTL&A is one of four publicly available repositories in the world for information on transgender and transsexualism. We publish a holdings list, which is available from our mail order bookstore.

The Transgender Historical Society serves as a watchdog organization for the NTL&A. Memberships in the Transgender Historical Society are available). All funds are used to maintain and promote the library and to acquire new materials.

AEGIS has a bookstore, through which we sell educational materials, including our Transition Series, the holdings list for the National Transgender Library & Archive, and back issues of Chrysalis.

AEGIS regularly publishes medical advisories and alerts and issues position statements. Recent advisories have included alerts about the advisability of electrolysis in the groin area before MTF SRS; and the dangers of silicone injection.