Fantasia Fair—The “Tribe” You Can Choose

Yes, the Grand Dame of transgender conventions is alive and well. I attended Fantasia Fair last week. This gathering has been going on since 1974 with only a minor interruption for Covid-19, last year. Provincetown Massachusetts is a little chilly at this time of the year but the participants and the town still provide their famed warmth which they have provided for those previous 46 years.

How has this celebration lasted so long? What has it adapted to and why has it survived when so many others have not?

What has Fantasia Fair Had to Adapt to?

A makeup lesson at FanFair back in the day.

First, it has survived cultural and economic changes that made it easier for transgender people to access goods and services needed by transgender people. Conventions were no longer needed for the know-how of being transgender. Fantasia Fair presentations have evolved from things like makeup application and dress to personal issues such as maintaining spousal intimacy and transition issues.

Second, it has survived transgender terminology wars. It started out as a crossdressing convention and adapted to become a transgender convention, reflecting the trend away from the sexual connotations of older terms such as transvestite and crossdresser. ( As I have explained on this site, those connotations, like a lot of transgender terms are in error. Magnus Hirschfeld who coined the term transvestite believed that sexuality was not the main cause of transgender behavior. Subsequently, psychiatrists did a good job of sexualizing and pathologizing these terms since they wanted to support Freud pseudoscience for fun and profit.) I heard a few people use the word “tranny” but no one took offense. (I remember it as a term of endearment and hope it comes back). “Transsexual” was not a horror word here, like it is in some quarters. At Fantasia Fair you can call yourself whatever you want and use whatever terminology you favor. Words do not get in the way of communicating warmth at this gathering.

Third, so far, it has survived the left-right cultural wars. People were not there to espouse any particular political agenda and those topics did not come up much. There was concern about transgender rights but most of the older folks had experienced worse political environments, as well as long-term corrosive secrecy. They were confident that being transgender was here to stay.

Fourth, it has survived the trend towards older people coming out and transitioning. It appeared that many of the people there were tolerant and there was a lot of sharing about the experience of transition. Many of the people had come to understand that they were transgender at a later age and were just now exploring transition. Although I knew that I was transgender at the age of 4, I came out in my 50s. So, I fit right in.

Street life in provincetown.

Fifth, it has adapted to the trend towards more transgender females becoming males and the accompanying initiative to make transgender transition “sexual orientation blind” which did not reach prominence until the 1990s. Louis Sullivan and Lin Fraser were the principals that supported these ideas. Trans men seem well integrated into attendance and leadership of Fantasia Fair. Sexual orientations of all types of transgender people are represented. Since Fantasia Fair is sandwiched between Provincetown Women’s Week (strong lesbian representation) and Men’s Week (strong gay men representation) there are visitors from both groups whose vacation overlaps during Fantasia Fair. I met and had great conversations with a dozen or so lesbians who all invited me to come next year to Women’s Week. When I said that I did not have a woman to bring with me, they promised me that there were many unattached women who attend and one said that they “would fix me up”.

Sixth, Fantasia Fair is open to new ideas. I gave a “science of transgender causation presentation”. But I made it more personal, telling it as my journey to understand why I am transgender. I had several attendees come up to me afterwards, saying that before the talk they were skeptical, but ended up accepting what I had to say.

Why Has Fantasia Survived?

I believe that there are at least four factors that have allowed it to survive.

Provincetown in days gone by. That is quite possibly Alison Laing in the lower left corner.

The first factor is the location and environment of Provincetown itself. It is well removed geographically from urban areas in the East, yet accessible. Anyone who is concerned about meeting someone there that they know in another life, need not be. The Fair is not held in a big hotel—there are no big hotels there. Attendees are spread out all over. And the excellent restaurants and shops are small and concentrated along Commercial Street which is narrow and one-way with narrow or non-existent sidewalks. This means a lot of interesting walking but also walking in the streets and dodging slow moving cars. Even the traffic cops are mostly on foot. I talked to a young one at some length and she was a delight, giving no indication that her acceptance of transgender visitors was a pretense to stimulate commerce.

The second factor, I believe, is strong management. It is a “Bevanism” that there is no substitute for good management (In my life, I have seen a lot of good and bad examples). Other conventions have failed because of poor management. Where others have strayed from their goals, Fantasia Fair leadership has stuck to the goal of providing a safe space for “gender outlaws”. This started with crossdressers but now includes people who describe themselves as transgender, gender non-conforming and transsexuals. The aim was/is for such people to learn from each other, socialize and have some fun. Management seems to have succession plans and seem to be following them, allowing new people to learn about what it takes to put on the convention. They have a scholarship fund to include those with lesser means. And my perception is that “kingdom builders” get weeded out early. Kingdom builder leadership has killed a few transgender conventions. I talked to a couple of attending “observers” from another transgender convention who were trying to understand the success of Fantasia Fair. Fantasia Fair welcomed them with open arms. Fantasia Fair does not want to try to corner the market on helping transgender people.

Provincetown from above.

The third factor in my opinion of why it has succeeded is that it is just plain fun. Restaurants and bars are in walking distance (by definition). The Fair has self-generated open mike and follies shows as well as the obligatory gala. One of the new trans women brought her two daughters who all participated in the shows. Girls, boys, gender non-conformists and their allies just wanna have fun!

My fourth belief is that Fantasia Fair has become an attractive subculture all of its own. The word “tribe” was frequently used in the most positive way, indicating people who believe in communicating with one another to help get through life as transgender people. Because they are “cultural outlaws”, transgender people need support to be free and authentic, learning from others and feeling interpersonal warmth. Too many are still isolated. You have heard of the concept of “families we choose”. Fantasia Fair is a “tribe” that people can freely choose.

You can find previous TGforum posts about previous meetings of Fantasia Fair and related topics here.

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Tags: crossdressing, featured, History, Out & About, Transgender

Category: Out & About, Transgender History