Taking a closer look at the lives of transgender men, and, for the first time, cracking open its doors to the general public pushed attendance at the Southern Comfort Conference to its largest number since 2000, organizers said.

Kristin Reichman, chair of the annual Atlanta transgender event, said 782 people showed up to attend some or all of the five-day conference Sept. 19-24. In years past, the conference has consistently drawn 500-600 attendees for full slate of workshops, seminars and social events inside the host hotel Colony Square Sheraton in Midtown, and throughout Atlanta’s tourist districts.

Southern Comfort attendees flocked together to Atlanta sightseeing spots like the Georgia Aquarium — empowered by the strength of numbers and the notion that reactions from fellow tourists among the general public would be directed at the entire group, not just one individual.

“There is definitely a sense of community that you don’t find in your average gay bar,” said a first time Southern Comfort attendee who is known as Jack of the Green.

The conference’s visibility impacts more people than just those who attend, Reichman said.

“We meet and educate more people just by being here than I think a lot of the other introductions to transgender through the media can accomplish,” she said.

Southern Comfort opened up to the outside world for the first time by inviting anyone who would come to “SoCo-A-GoGo,” an evening of entertainment that featured performances by both transgender men and women, and, those who are “in-between,” according to a brochure.

For at least some Southern Comfort attendees, the complicated blur of gender expression does not end by transitioning to live as the opposite sex. Jack of the Green, outwardly masculine in demeanor and dress, said he chooses to express components of both male and female persuasion, and refers to himself as “gender fluid.”

“It’s a transgender conference. It covers the entire spectrum from the occasional cross dresser to the person who has fully transitioned,” Reichman explained.

This year also marked the first year organizers had what they deemed “meaningful corporate sponsorship,” which included donations between $500 and $1,500 from groups like the Human Rights Campaign, gay scholarship endowment The Point Foundation, and military contractor Raytheon Corporation.

Trans men, who are born female but who transition toward male sexuality and gender expression, emerged with their strongest presence at Southern Comfort at the 2006 event.

“It has been our largest group of trans men. That’s thanks to a very, very strong effort by a lot of people to design and recruit programming and people to bring in our men,” Reichman noted, citing a concentration on issues of trans men’s health and wellness.

But as trans men appear in larger numbers at Southern Comfort, their portrayals in the news media and popular culture remain overshadowed by their female counterparts in movies like “TransAmerica.”

“In a way, I’m kind of not angry, because if there was a portrayal, it probably wouldn’t be what I would like,” said Max Green, a trans man and sociologist who said he had been to the conference three times.

One issue that disturbs Jack of the Green, as well as Fable Moody, a transgender woman, and Max Green, are the ways they say transgender individuals are perceived by gay men and lesbians — essentially as “freaks.”

The trio pointed out that the comfort some gay men and lesbians enjoy today is a direct result of the outcome of the 1969 Stonewall Riots when trans women fought back against New York City police during a raid on the gay bar.

“If you live with your partner and are out at work, they [from Stonewall] let you live that way,” Max Green said.