…and now, Live from Provincetown!
 Hebe Dotson |
Our doyenne of TG fiction, Miss Hebe Dotson, has finally had the time to actually step away from her typewriter and get out of the house in a dress. For her first foray into the world of femme living Hebe took a trip to Fantasia Fair.
My friend Jamie and I rolled into Provincetown, Massachusetts, on Sunday afternoon, October 17th, just a few hours before the opening of the 36th Annual Fantasia Fair. We moved our belongings into our rooms at Gabriel’s Bed and Breakfast, and then set off to register for FF2010. The Fair’s headquarters were only a block or two from the B&B, and we’d been told to look for a place with lots of tall women and short men. In any event, Jamie knew her way around — she’d attended Fantasy Fair in 2009.
 MC Robin with Hebe |
With registration completed, we returned to Gabriel’s to get dressed for the welcoming reception. Sometime later (I was out of practice and slow with pantyhose donning, makeup use, and handbag management), I found myself back out on the street among a crowd of cheerful residents and tourists. For the first time in my life, I was out in public, dressed as a woman. I’ve written and read about this moment in hundreds of transgender fiction tales over the years. In these stories, the character dressed as a woman was usually almost immobilized by fear. I’m not a particularly brave person, but I felt no fear or foreboding in Provincetown. I just strolled along to the reception, overjoyed to be out of my closet at last.
Later that night when I returned to my room, I thought about how many new friends I’d made and how I felt completely at home in Provincetown. I looked in my mirror and decided that I could not remember ever feeling or looking so happy before. I made a decision then: I would make every effort to live out the rest of my days as a woman.
*****
Hebe Dotson and |
Provincetown is LGBT-friendly. The Police Department holds a workshop each year to advise FanFair participants that there is no tolerance for harassment in Provincetown. Visitors are urged to call 911 if they experience any problems. It’s no wonder I felt safe and secure in P-Town.
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Fantasia Fare is a great combination of fun and education. Dr. Cerise Richards, a former writer on medical affairs for TGForum, presented two workshops on recent research into the causes of transgenderism. A number of other workshops reviewed the histories of both transgenderism and Fantasia Fair, with many of the pioneers either presenting or in attendance.
I too had the opportunity to lead a workshop. Our discussion of Enjoying Transgender Fiction was based on a series of articles I wrote for TGForum several years ago.
*****
Fantasia Fair is entertainment, too. Each year, attendees are offered two opportunities to participate in shows that raise money for local charities. On Wednesday evening, October 20th, Jamie and I were two of the “international models” in the Fantasia Fair Fashion Show. It was all pretty funny. When we came out onto the stage, one by one, to show off our fashions, we found that the theatre space was filled with fans screaming our names and taking photo after photo. (Some of the fans were FanFair attendees, but many were townspeople.) We’d then step down onto the runway and our fans would come up to us to stuff money in our belts (or whatever was handy). We raised more than $1300 that night for a home for battered women.
 JamieGhee and Hebe |
Two nights later, other Fair attendees put on the fabulous Fantasia Follies. I enjoyed this show from the audience. It was the same sort of arrangement — Fair-goers providing musical entertainment for locals and other Fantasia Fair attendees. This show raised about $1300 more for the same charity.
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Restrooms — you can’t do TG fiction without dealing with restrooms. In Provincetown, at least in Fantasia Fair time, you use restrooms labeled for the gender in which you are presenting yourself. This gave me the pleasure of refreshing my lipstick in the ladies’ room at the municipal rest rooms. The next occasion took place at a restroom labeled “Either” in one of the restaurants. It was ordinarily a men’s room, but there were four or five of us ladies using it, with one man who made his way in and then quickly exited.
*****
It was fun. It was educational. It was friendly. I’m going back again next year!
Category: Product Review, Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
One of TGF's longest running authors, Hebe has been writing for TGF since the 1990s. With a focus on TG fiction she also has covered mythic crossdressing and recently has reported on TG events.Subscribe
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