Sophie Lynne is concerned that the coming election could maintain the current administration with disastrous results for transgender people. The president made a promise during his campaign in 2016 that he would be the most friendly president to the LGBTQ community, ever. For the past three and a half years the administration has done nothing positive for transgender people. Sophie offers some advice on what every trans person should do on November third.
Time for another visit to Dina’s Diner! Today Dina is cooking up a satisfying selection of hearty fall fare. She begins with some full bodied advice on being who you are. Then she stirs in some flavor trans history with the three article rule. After that you cleanse your palate with some news about a delivery service for crossdressers that brings you all you need, if you live in Japan. Then the dishes keep coming with musing on how we pick our femme names, and a desert of pandemic accessories that are to die for.
Sophie Lynne joins us today with some musing over the question, are you working on your resume or your obituary? The question comes from a friend of Sophie’s who said “At this point in my life, I am working on my obituary, not my resume. I want to be thought of, and remembered for having the right priorities, few regrets, and helping others.” This prompted Sophie to do some heavy thinking and she shares her conclusion with you in today’s blog.
Before the schools were shut down because of the pandemic our Contributor Christy Lewis went to a high school in her town to speak to the students about transgender issues. She looks at it as mentoring and she did it for an LGBTQ student group of about 30 members. In the course of telling us what she talked about she provides some mentoring to our readers on 10 good rules to follow. Read on to see what she told the LGBTQ+ students.
Our Correspondent in Columbia, Katherine Diaz, writes today – and provides a video – about the usefulness of smiling. in Spanish “La Sonrisa” is not only good for a person displaying the smile but those who see the smile are moved to return it with one of their own. Let a smile be your umbrella as the song lyrics say, but a smile can be much more. See what Katherine has to say in her blog/vlog.
In these times when many dining spots are closed due to the pandemic it’s good to know that, since it’s a virtual establishment, Dina’s Diner is always open and ready to give you first class treatment. Today Chef Dina, who is also server, and hostess, has a special treat. She has roasted a complete consideration of just what crossdressers are doing for fun while distancing. Then she prepared a side dish of a woman wrestler who does dentistry. Simmering on the range is a segment on doctors in bikinis, and then Dina has a couple of deserts, one featuring the always tasty short shorts, and the other inspired by a dentist’s advertisement. Dina’s Diner is always sure to satisfy.
People all over the United States have been “Crowing” joyously because of the selection, and now nomination, of Kamala Harris as the candidate for Vice President. As a transgender activist I could not join the celebration. Like many trans activists, I see her as a transphobic tool of the carceral prison-industrial complex. I know these […]
As long as males have been attracted to dressing up in women’s clothing there have been people in the crossdressing community who have opinions on what crossdressers should be wearing. Some say we shouldn’t be overly sexy in our attire when we are out mingling with the straight world. Others say if that’s the case why bother to be subdued? Pauline Estelle has rules she lives by and today she shares them with you. See if your idea of what crossdressing is agrees with Pauline’s.
This Retro Rerun was written by Hebe Dotson in 1998. In it she lists 28 reasons why men dress up as women. All sorts of excuses to don femme attire have been used in real life and on film and TV. Hebe listed them in categories ranging from “forced to dress” to “dressing is fun.” Although Hebe’s TGF account is still active we have not heard from her in a long while so attempts to communicate with her through the site may not meet with success.
Sophie Lynne, Penn State University graduate student got and email from the school with the subject line, “Are You Prepared? Real Talk About Race and Identity in the Classroom.” The talk will be by Dr. Seria Chatters and will take place over Zoom. Participants are to submit questions ahead of time. Sophie felt it incumbent on her to ask the doctor what about transgender students on the PSU campus? How “safe’ can a transgender or non-binary student be at PSU? Read the full text of her question today and in coming weeks she will, if she gets one, post the answer.
Today Katherine Diaz, our Columbian Correspondent, looks back briefly at the roots of drag as performance and part of street culture. As long as there have been different attire for the sexes there have been males who adopt feminine presentations to entertain, to express their own femininity, or to poke straight culture in the eye. And Katherine, as always, provides a video to go along with the blog.
Dina Amberle has cooked up another tasty column that is sure to satisfy. Today she mixes together a portion of trans kids knowing what they are, beats in the history of trans man husbands, sprinkles on a show from the Philippines that featured a beautiful trans character played by a cisgender man and let’s it all cool for awhile. Then she stirs it all together, seasons with some homely sexiness, and garnishes the plate with some hot glam punk from the ’80s.
Today Rabba Rona, a disabled queer trans rabbi who served in the U.S. Navy writes that she was appalled and outraged when federal agents beat a Navy veteran on the street in Portland, Oregon when he did nothing wrong except ask them a question about what they were there to do. Whether you are conservative or liberal you should read Rona’s post and view the video of the vet being beaten. It should be a warning to all of us.
Today Chrissy Gann devotes The Butterfly Chronicles to the differences she has found between the time in her life when she was pretending to be a man and what it’s like to now be seen by her friends and co-workers as a woman. For one thing she has to accept mansplaining about things she already understands. And now that they see her as a woman co-workers feel free to comment on her weight. Her therapist says that’s good as they are accepting her gender and treating her within societal norms. Find out what other differences transition has shown Chrissy in the edition of The Butterfly Chronicles.
Dina’s Diner is always a good place to stop. There’s never any restrictions on seating and no matter the size of the crowd you can always socially distance. And the proprietress, chef, and hostess, Dina Amberle, always has a fresh dish cooking in the back. No matter what your tastes run to Dina has something savory to satisfy. Today she offers up a few specials. There’s the controversy over former members of male teams who now identify as females competing with cisgender females. Then a compote of info on those who had show biz careers in one gender then transitioned to have more success as their true selves. She mixes in some protests of the peaceful kind, and offers up some thoughts on masking and thing swimsuits. Don’t miss Dina’s Diner!
Rabbag Rona expresses her opinion on police murdering black people. “People who claim to value human life do not. Genesis 1:27 states (doubled for absolute emphasis) that we were ALL created in God’s image. The Talmud states that when one destroys a life it is as if one destroys the world. Yet when it comes to Black people, and particularly Black trans people, there seems to be a pervasive attitude in this country that they are somehow less than. This could not be further from the truth.”
With so much self-isolation time on her hands Linda is putting her mind to some of the deeper questions facing society. Why do people kill? How can we keep our plastic out of the oceans? Why is there such a drive to get an Earth colony on Mars? Why do crossdressers crossdress?
Dear Ms Rowling, You say you only want to be heard. That is a reasonable request. I read your essay. You say that you are being attacked, and are even receiving threats of violence. I’ll start my response by promising no violence, and the sincere hope that you don’t feel attacked by me. Tempers can […]
What is “Community Pride”? I think in the context of the LGBTQ it is a combination of stereotypes, truths, contradictions and drag queens. Anyone who has any experience within the community can recognize it sight unseen: the effusive interactions, over-the top grandeur and effete snobbery; but also the loving camaraderie. Oh, but let’s not be […]
Dina Amberle has been on the kitchen at Dina’s Diner cooking up a passel of good brain food. Some of her ingredients in today’s fare includes a trans woman who went from wearing frilly clothes, heels and makeup to being comfortable with herself in no makeup and more androgynous clothes. Then she stirs in several paragraphs on the male geishas of Japan, blends in some dish on a man who gave up med school to make copies of all of Madonna’s video costumes so he could wear them, and spices it all up with the inspiration she found in What’s My Line? and an experiment that put men into women’s bathing suits. To savor the full taste and aroma of today’s dish you have to step into Dina’s Diner.
In our legal system the judge is the top dog. The big kahuna. The big boss with the hots sauce. In other words they are in charge, totally. Kristine Holt learned early in her legal career that arguing with a judge is not a good idea, if you want to win the case. She did however disagree with a fellow attorney (who ironically is now a judge) and it turned out Kristine was right. How she disagreed led to a positive outcome in a later case. Read on and learn how.
Kristy Leigh takes a scholarly look at three of the films in the 1990s that presented transgender characters as not just freakish beings who defied gender norms but began to move toward more diversity for transgender characters. The films she discusses are “Paris is Burning”, “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, and “The Crying Game”. There are footnotes.
Today’s Diner special has an Asian flavor as chef Dina Amberle heats up her wok with pretty male baseball players competing in a beauty contest in Japan. Then she turns to another pot simmering on the stove that is filled with a female swimmer’s misunderstanding of drag queens. Meanwhile, baking in the oven is a bit on color matching for ballerinas’ footwear and a loaf of glamor gratification from a NYC lady who wears her party attire while working from home. Dina rounds it off with a tasty commentary about crossdressers and their attraction to swimwear. For a hearty lunch or dinner you can’t beat Dina’s Diner!
During the current crisis things are tough all over but marginalized transgender people are being hit harder than most. Today Claire Hall discusses the threats to trans people that were present before the pandemic and are exacerbated by it. She does see some positives however. Give her blog a read and see if you agree.
Living in the 21st century we are now able to use the internet to learn things, communicate with others and even set up musical jam sessions with players located at many different places. This wonderful technology is even more useful and important during the current pandemic. That said, some of the social networking that goes on seems to be more “anti-social.” Rather than unite the transgender community platforms like Facebook seem to be doing more to divide us. Today Julie Slowinski has some thoughts on this phenomena.
