Category: Transgender Community News

I Was There: Keystone Conference 2014

| Mar 31, 2014 | Reply

The Keystone Conference in Harrisburg, Pa. is recent history. Our Sophie Lynne was there, with a new hair-do, and she has filed a report on the much anticipated weekend. She couldn’t be everywhere at once so she missed some of the goings on but what she does manage to do very well is give a feeling of the event.

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Night of 1000 Gown 2014

| Mar 31, 2014 | Reply

Our political reporter Babs Casbar Siperstein is not all politics and activism. She likes to slip into an ostentatious outfit now and then and what event is better for that than Night of 1000 Gowns. That’s the Imperial Court of New York’s coronation of their Emperor and Empress. Babs was there this past Saturday night and she filed a report and a photo gallery.

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Dina’s Diner 3/17/14

| Mar 17, 2014 | Reply

Dina’s Diner is serving up a heaping helping of Dina Amberle’s thoughts and rumination on items she sees in the ordinary press of this great land. She carefully plucks the items out, washes them and adds her own spices and secret sauces, transforming them into nutritious dishes for the Diner menu. See what she’s serving up today.

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N.J. U.S. Attorney Reaches out to LGBT Community

| Mar 17, 2014 | Reply

On March 15 the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey held a “get acquainted” meeting with 15 LGBT attorneys and activists. During the one and a half hour meeting the U.S. Justice Department’s involvement in LGBT matters was discussed and the outreach was appreciated by the LGBT group. Our own Leslie Farber, attorney, activist and TG attended the meeting and outlines what happened.

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Dr. Leis Reports on The Global Transgender Symposium

| Mar 17, 2014 | Reply

(Bala Cynwyd, PA  USA) – Acclaimed transgender surgeon and founder of The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, Dr. Sherman Leis, has recently returned from the WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Surgery) Symposium in Bangkok, Thailand. While in attendance at the Symposium, themed Transgender Health from Global Perspectives, Dr. Leis was able to share thoughts […]

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TG Rights Champion Retires from Congress

| Mar 10, 2014 | Reply

Eight term Congressman Rush Holt, a dedicated champion of transgender rights, abruptly announced that he is not seeking a ninth term. Our TG politics correspondent Babs Casbar Siperstein takes a look back at everything Holt has done to help the GLBT community while he was in congress.

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Thanks You, Rob Andrews

| Feb 10, 2014 | Reply

Congressman Rob Andrews, a 12 term member of the House from New Jersey has resigned from office to go into a private law practice. While in Congress he was a staunch supporter of equal rights for the LGBT community. Today Bas Casbar-Siperstein thanks Congressman Andrews for his efforts on behalf of the community and in specific for his efforts to include transgendered people in anti-employment discrimination legislation.

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First Event 2014, January 22-26, Boston

| Dec 9, 2013 | Reply

by Stacey Carla, First Event Committee First Event, held every January, is the only major transgender conference in mid-winter — literally the first event each year. Attendance has been growing in recent years — being indoors when it is likely to be snowing out turns out to be good for a transgender conference!  Such gatherings are […]

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The Week In Transgenderism 11/11/13

| Nov 11, 2013 | Reply

Over 23,000 people want Carmen Carrera in the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. ENDA passed the Senate! Crazy ideas about what ENDA would do. A Mormon TS petitions the church for recognition as a woman. Follow up on a FtM teen transition. Myanmar sucks for TGs. There’s a transgender circus in Chile. A north Jersey town loses its cross dresser. All that and more, plus a few TWIT Award winners@

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Photos From Beauty and the Beach 2013

| Nov 11, 2013 | Reply

When JoAnn Roberts passed away in June some people were moved to ask “What’s going to happen to Beauty and the Beach?” JoAnn’s widow and some good friends decided to go ahead with the event and make it a celebration of JoAnn’s life. The event happened last week and thanks to Jone Myers we are able to present pictures of Beauty and the Beach.

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Transgender Poker Players

| Nov 5, 2013 | Reply

In case you are not yet familiar with Rosa Lee Klaneski and her activity in the world of poker, this might be a good time to learn that there are quite a lot of transgender women who choose to play in larger or smaller poker tournaments around the world. And she counts among them, having […]

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The Henri David Halloween Ball 2013 — Photo Gallery

| Nov 4, 2013 | Reply

It’s a pictorial feature on the 45th Annual Henri David Halloween Ball. The event happens in Philadelphia, Pa. and every year a couple thousand people (or more) get rigged out in costumes that range from banal to absolutely amazing. When people say that you can see anything at a Henri David Ball they mean everything. Check out the photos and see what we mean.

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Ladyboys … is there no end to this?

| Oct 28, 2013 | Reply

The katoey, or ladyboys, of Thailand, like most TGs, have a hard life. While there is a place in the Thai culture for the katoey it’s not necessarily something that is welcomed or treated with respect. As too often happens around the world the ladyboys get involved in criminal activities since they are denied a way to legitimately support themselves. Our correspondent in Thailand has filed another report on misbehavior by katoey.

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FTM Conference a Huge Success– in 1995!

| Oct 14, 2013 | Reply

©1995, 2013 by Dallas Denny Source: Denny, Dallas. (1995, November). FTM Conference a Huge Success! AEGIS News, No. 1, V. 5, p. 1. Here’s a bit of history for TGForum readers… Thumbnail Photo: Illustration of Jack Bee Garland, taken from the cover of Louis Graydon Sullivan’s biography. Garland was a female-bodied man who lived in […]

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Agency Seeking TG Models — MtF & FtM

| Oct 7, 2013 | Reply

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post is from 2013. The agency was casting for Barney’s spring 2014 ad campaign. There is no indication that the agency is still interested in seeing TG models. TGForum was contacted last week by a casting agency in New York that is looking for transgendered models for an ad campaign for a […]

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David de Alba Honored by His Spanish Speaking Fans

| Oct 7, 2013 | Reply

David de Alba, legendary female impersonator who performed for years at Finocchio’s in San Francisco has received honors and accolades throughout his 48-year-career. Recently we learned that he will be getting another honor at his next show at The Onyx Theatre in Las Vegas on November 24 — this time from his Spanish speaking fans. […]

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Bad Reporting or Transphobia?

| Sep 30, 2013 | Reply

A news story in the New Jersey newspaper the Star Ledger has mis-gendered a murder victim. Another transgender murder victim. Babs Casbar Siperstein is upset by the coverage and the refusal by the paper to correct it’s mistake. Or is it a mistake? Babs looks closely and detects what could possibly be transphobia.

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From the desk of Alexis Dee — Southern Comfort Wrap Up

| Sep 16, 2013 | Reply

The lady in charge at the Southern Comfort Conference, Alexis Dee, has sent TGF a report on how it all went this year. According to Alexis over 800 people attended this year and a good time was had by all — from the “Princess Day” on Wednesday through the luncheons, dinners, karaoke and many programs to the Casino Night, trip to a local club and the special guests, it was all good. Get all the details direct from Alexis Dee’s perspective — and find out a bit about the next SCC.

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2013 — Golfing at Southern Comfort

| Sep 9, 2013 | Reply

The Southern Comfort Conference has always been about encouraging growth and new experiences for the CDs, TG’s, TSs, FtMs and all the other alphabet soup of members in our varied community. Many a t-girl has taken her first steps out to restaurants, nightclubs or shopping while attending the four-day conference in Atlanta. Our reporter Linda Jensen just attended her first SCC and has chosen to report on another aspect of outward growth happening at the conference — the SCC Golf Tournament. Eleven SCC attendees invaded the sometimes macho world of sports and came away smiling.

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TV/TS Advocate Yvonne Sinclair Passes Away

| Sep 9, 2013 | Reply

One of the leading advocates for recognition and respect for transgendered people in the United Kingdom has died. Yvonne Sinclair passed away in Queen Elizabeth Hospital on August 6. Yvonne had suffered from emphysema for the past three years caused by smoking and had been ill for the past two months. Sinclair worked tirelessly for […]

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Trans Participation at Ottawa’s Capital Pride

| Sep 2, 2013 | Reply

Linda Jensen has sent us this: Ottawa, Canada had its annual Gay Pride Week and parade last week. The local TG support group, Gender Mosaic, is very closely allied with the local gay community. As you can see by the report below one of the GM’s most active members, Amanda Ryan, was chosen as one of the parade marshals, the Lifetime Achievement Parade Marshal. Here is her report to the Gender Mosaic members.

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From the Desk of Alexis Dee — Southern Comfort Update

| Aug 26, 2013 | Reply

Alexis Dee joins us today with an update on the Southern Comfort Conference. The Conference takes place September 4-8 in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup of speakers include Kristen Beck, Masen Davis, and Meghan Stabler. Events planned for the weekend range from excursions to area restaurants, a tour of the sets of films shot in Atlanta, a golf outing and of course, karaoke. Get the whole scoop on the event that’s less than two weeks away straight from the Chair, Alexis Dee.

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Beauty and the Beach Goes On

| Aug 19, 2013 | Reply

With the untimely demise of JoAnn Roberts earlier this year the fate of the TG community event she hosted annually on the coast of Delaware was thrown into uncertainty. We’re happy to report that Beauty and the Beach will go on this year as scheduled. A group of JoAnn’s friends and BATB attendees have formed a committee to help JoAnn’s widow produce the event this year in honor of JoAnn Roberts.

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Trans People Serving Openly in the US Military … It’s a Matter of When!

| Aug 12, 2013 | Reply

Now that the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has opened the military to openly gay service members where does that leave TGs who want to serve their country? Babs Casbar-Siperstein runs down the advances transgendered people have made in regard to military service and speculates on what will happen next. Citing the results of surveys and personal experience with trans soldiers Babs postulates that it won’t be long before TGs can proudly, openly server their country.

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Progress at last (well some…!)

| Aug 5, 2013 | Reply

This month our correspondent in Thailand has left the country for a trip to Hong Kong. Christine has highlighted the lot of transgendered people in Thailand but what has she found in Hong Kong? Fortunately it seems that progress is being made on transgendered rights and recognition. When Christine lived in Hong Kong, just a few years ago, the trans community was completely underground. Now thanks to the efforts of local TGs things are beginning to change. But is it enough progress?

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Out & About: Kristin Beck Book Signing

| Jul 22, 2013 | Reply

Camille Brandon made a rare daytime appearance at the Flamingo Resort in St. Petersburg, Florida Sunday a week ago. What lured our Florida Out & About reporter into the bright sunshine? A book signing with author and former Navy SEAL Kristin Beck. Beck is promoting her book Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL’s Journey to Coming Out Transgender. Camille hung out by the pool all day and has sent us a report on the event.

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