Dr. Danielle Kaufman has some thoughts on the new law in California which allows students to use the restroom and locker room facilities appropriate for their gender identity. Dr. Kaufman, author of Untying the Knot, has just recently come out as a transgendered woman and from that perspective she comments on the reason the law was needed and deflates the ludicrous fears of those who oppose the law. This is Dr. Kaufman’s first contribution to TGForum and we welcome her thoughts and insights.
Fifty years ago Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream. Here in the 21st century The Artist D has a dream and it is one she tries to live everyday. As John Lennon imagined, so The Artist D dreams and she dreams of a world without judgement or gossip. A world where there is no need to come out because everyone is “out” about who they are all the time to everyone. Come and live, at least for a few brief moments, inside The Artist D’s beautiful dream.
The phone rang and it was The Baroness requiring RachelX’s presence in New York City. When The Baroness calls RachelX gets her tush to the Big Apple posthaste. When she arrived there was some fit modeling to do and then some flogging to participate in. After that it was fun and service to The Baroness until later in the evening when RachelX takes in a comedy show, has coffee and pastries and then hits the Garment District the next day. There’s even an encounter with the Statue of Liberty. Read about all the adventures of RachelX’s Out & About in New York City.
Dr. Sherman Leis is one of the world’s pre-eminent transgender surgeons and founder of The Philadelphia Center For Transgender Surgery, in Bala Cynwyd, PA. It is recognized as one of the leading facilities in the world specializing in gender reassignment surgery. In the course of his work Dr. Leis has found himself counseling family and friends of his patients. He has compiled a list of ten tips on how to interact with a transgendered person.
A letter to the editor of The New York Times from a “Big Shrink” concerning the case of Coy Mathis, the young TG who can now use the girls’ room at her school, raised the hackles of our contributor Dr. Dana Bevan. Dr. Bevan takes the shrink to task for not understanding transgender issues and for pushing an agenda of “reparative therapy” for TG children. And the shrink makes statements that aren’t backed up by scientific evidence. Decide for yourself who’s the winner in Coy vs. the Big Shrink.
Linda Jensen takes a chance path along the Internet and finds herself reconnected with a little-known autobiography from a little-known figure in TG history. Linda recalls how the book and its photos influenced her interest in developing a femme persona. When she was young she came across the autobiography and thought that it might turn out to be her story too. Puberty brought a different path but Linda remembers the excitement that came from reading that book.
Our Video Fashion Tip blogger Victoria Williams had camera trouble this week and instead of a video fashion tip she has filed a piece on how she became the woman she is today. Her story takes us from the days when she dressed up alone at home to meeting people on the Internet, taking those late night trips outside, contacting a support group and then setting goals and working on all the things she needed to become herself.
“Dream a little dream with me.” That’s the thrust of Sophie Lynne’s post today. Whether the dream is one you have at night while you’re tucked into your bed or if it’s one that you think about throughout your day, a longing for something more in your life, all your dreams are important. The one’s you have when you sleep are out of your conscious control but Sophie thinks the waking ones you hold dear and strive to achieve are more than dreams. They’re goals that you can work toward and someday achieve.
Tasi Zuriack is all about feminine fashion. She’s so into fashion and women’s clothing that she has spent the past ten years working on a website that is completely dedicated to how to dress properly to transmit the message you want people to get. Today she discusses that website along with the trends to androgyny in men’s fashion and offers everyone a free book about the top ten fashion mistakes crossdressers, and women, make when dolling up.
One of the first dilemmas faced by the novice crossdresser is how do you make your male shaped body look like a female body? There are a variety of hidden garment and prosthetics that will do the job but what sort of female body do you want to project and which of the many shapers, corsets, Spanx®, tape, pads and prosthetics will work best for you? Today’s Video Fashion Tip from Victoria Williams addresses these questions and may be the first step toward helping you solve your dilemma.
Age is all about numbers. Pick a number you like and stick with it is the philosophy espoused by The Artist D. When she was 21 she decided to tell everyone she was 23. But this month The Artist D turns 30. And she has a quandary — she’s spent several years being ages other than her actual age. How long should she stay 30? With Mick Jagger turning 70 and 70 becoming the new 50 how is a girl supposed to decide what age she should claim? Get all of The Artist D’s perspective on the numbers game in Dirty Thirty.
Sophie Lynne was at one time, back in the ’80s, an avid gamer on Playstation and her favorite was Twisted Metal 2. The thing that appealed to her about video gaming was the levels of play. You could start out at Easy, then move on to Medium and after you mastered that change the setting to Hard and really test your skills. Today Sophie finds a parallel to the levels of gaming in the transgender world. Find out what Sophie feels defines each “level” in the Transgender Game and see if you agree.
Recently an interview Dustin Hoffman did with the American Film Institute in 1998 surfaced on YouTube and went viral with the TG community. Hoffman talks about what the motivation for doing the film “Tootsie” was and how it affected his understanding of the relationship between the sexes. Much has been made of the fact that he broke down and wept when he realized that he had been judging women not by their character but by their looks. He reveals that he felt “brainwashed.” The AFI interview inspired our contributor Geogria TG to some commentary on the film and Hoffman’s epiphany. She thinks that Hoffman’s male character in the film would not have killed off Dorothy Michaels.
Taci Zuriack advises you to say yes to the dress! Dresses are the perfect garments to enhance your feminine assets and as Tasi says, there’s a dress out there for everyone. Whatever your figure there is a style that can help you make the most of what you’ve got. Give Tasi’s post a read and out which styles work best for you.
Our correspondent in Thailand has filed another report on the ladyboys of that culture. Thailand is often thought of as a place where being transgendered is accepted but just like the rest of the world things are not that easy. And too often ladyboys are in trouble with the law. What do they need? Christine thinks she may know what it is.
A big part of activism is being prepared to answer questions that will come your way. TransJen is glad she was prepared to provide the information a transgendered person in Africa needed. She could quickly provide the information that would help the TG because she had already done the research.
Dee’s dad, a heterosexual man, fought alongside gays and drag queens at Stonewall because he believed everyone should be treated equally. Dee learned that you can’t stand by while other’s rights are being infringed. Today she tells us about her stand against a religious cousin who is not so openminded.
What’s in a name? Is not a rose still a rose if we call it a daisy? Today RachelX talks about what it’s like to transition and have friends and family deal with remembering your new gender label and name. Learn how Rachel handles being called by her old name or with the wrong pronoun.
Recently Linda Jensen spent the day with Lisa, a t-girl who makes no attempt to blend in to the crowd. Lisa seems to flaunt her difference. ‘Vive la différénce,’ as they say in France. Should our goal be blending? Linda ponders — ‘what is the right approach?’
Some transgendered people are always playing defense. It’s somewhat natural since they have had to deal with mistreatment at the hands of others for all of their lives. Today Dallas Denny reminds us that the best defense is a good sense of humor. She counsels “Laugh a Little!”
There are good reasons that the words “sex” and “gender” are not interchangeable. In her post today Dr. Dana Bevan tells us why this is so and why transgendered people in particular should insist that physical sex and gender identity be kept separate.
Sophie Lynne believes we are all effected by actions and events that send out ripples in reality. She brings that theory to an essay on the passing of JoAnn Roberts, the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference and polluted pond and some lyrics from The Grateful Dead. Like that pond Sophie is deep and this one may make you cry.
A proportional body is what makes a woman the most attractive. But few people — cisgendered or transgendered — have truly proportional bodies. Tasi Zuriack tells us today that there are tricks to dressing that will help you achieve a proportional look for your body type. Read on and keep things in proportion.
Our British contributor, Graham Holmes, dresses but makes no attempt to pass as a female. He uses the men’s room, does his errands and his work dressed but eschews wigs and breast forms. Does he run into trouble from this lifestyle? Most often from other CDs. And some of the general public.
