Category: Transgender Opinion

Work Transition For TG People

| Feb 12, 2015 | Reply

Whether you need to have a special on-the-job TG transition or you are currently looking for a new job that would better fit your new life coordinates, you can start by visiting the online Center for Gender Sanity and take a look at the useful resources there. Don’t add up to the number of unemployed […]

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Restroom Wars — Discussions about TG in the WC

| Feb 9, 2015 | Reply

Question: What do members of the TG community in Ottawa, Canada have in common with Florida State Representative Frank Antiles? Answer: They both had discussions about the use of rest rooms by members of the TG community. Their views are quite different. They were having an online chat but it was as if they were […]

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Be Kind, Rewind

| Feb 9, 2015 | Reply

The Artist D feels that our western society has gotten so enamored of the idea that everyone should get their fifteen minutes of fame that it’s gotten out of hand. Andy Warhol would be appalled. What’s wrong with just “being”? Why do people seem to feel they need to be “something”? And what’s wrong with being a purple penguin? Read The Artist D’s “Be Kind, Rewind and see.

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Out & About With Angela

| Feb 9, 2015 | Reply

Recently our columnist Dana Bevan wrote a piece promoting the idea that we must change the culture and not rely on laws and ordinances to make trans people an accepted part of society. I think that’s true and I have always counseled people to not be afraid of mingling with the general public. Only a […]

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Culture Change for TSTG Issues

| Feb 2, 2015 | Reply

Every week we make more progress in acceptance of trans people and more and more localities amend their human rights anti-discrimination laws to add protections for trans people. But while this goes on in the legislative bodies and the courts are charged with enforcement we still hear of incidents of violence and discrimination against us. What can we do to change that? Dana Bevan believes we need to work harder at changing our culture. Today she tells you how.

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Left Behind

| Jan 26, 2015 | Reply

The weekend before last Sophie Lynne wanted to get out to have fun with her trans sisters at a local TG gathering spot. But snow arrived and icy road thwarted her desires. That left her home alone with nothing to do but settle in and try to write her column for TGForum. Since she was alone again, naturally her thoughts turned to her gender journey. She got a few of those thoughts compiled and here they are.

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Who Gets to Say They’re Transgender?

| Jan 26, 2015 | Reply

It’s only words. But words can break apart a community that needs to stand together against ignorance. Divisions over who gets to use the word “transgender” as a gender identity descriptor are still around in the transgender community. Do crossdressers get to call themselves “transgender”? That’s the question Angela Gardner comments on in this op-ed.

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Dina’s Diner 1/19/15

| Jan 19, 2015 | Reply

Do you know what a “trap” is? It’s a biological male who takes photos dressed as a female and posts them on social networking photo sites. The idea is to fool men into believing they are females. Who knew? Dina Amberle knew and she tells you about that today along with news about former Playboy Bunnies, harnesses, and a runner-up in Brazil’s Miss Bum Bum contest who paid a price for her vanity. Find it all in Dina’s Diner!

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Your Suicide is Not Acceptable

| Jan 12, 2015 | Reply

The recent suicide of a young trans woman who was faced with total rejection of her gender from her parents has caused a stir across the world. No one should have to believe that only ending it all will give them peace. While many call for more education and more support for trans teens The Artist D says it’s not that simple and other things will be required to stop people from ending their lives.

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Now What?

| Dec 29, 2014 | Reply

Sophie Lynne has been living as a woman full time for nine months. Today she pauses to reflect on what, after facing several challenges in the past year, she can expect in the new year. What will 2015 hold for her? Learn what she imagines things will be like in this essay titled “Now What?”

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Video Fashion Tip: Body Type

| Dec 29, 2014 | Reply

Before you can choose flattering femme attire you must first learn your body type. A dress that looks fabulous on a slim hipped body can look disastrous on a pear shaped body. Today Victoria Williams talks about how to figure out your body type so you can choose the best fashions to flatter your figure.

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Breaking the Rules

| Dec 22, 2014 | Reply

For those that read my columns, you’ll know that I advocate some rules and guidelines to help us look our best as we don’t go through the fashion experimentation stage that most young girls do. Many of us come to dressing late in life and our fashion sense is, well, lacking to be frank. I’ve […]

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Dina’s Diner 12/22/14

| Dec 22, 2014 | Reply

When she’s looking for the ingredients to cook up a good Dina’s Diner column our Dina Amberle visits many media outlets on the Web and digs out the tastiest bits. She adds her own special spices and sauce and mixes, kneads, bakes and broils it to create the final delight. Today she has menu choices that include; What do S&M practitioners think of CIA torture? Inappropriate prom dresses, the erotic power of a leather mini, and a guy who wants to look like Kim Kardashian. Bon appetite!

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The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

| Dec 22, 2014 | Reply

In the 1960s scientists launched a quest to contact other intelligent life in the universe. (Some would say we have yet to discover intelligent life on Earth, but that’s another article entirely.) The scientists were hopeful that not only would extra-terrestrials be discovered but that we might communicate with them and one day meet them. To that end a binary code was created that contained information about us. In light of how humans can’t seem to get along with humans (Oh no Madge, it’s a man in a dress!) Graham Holmes has devised a more appropriate message for E.T.

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Calls from the Bone Garden

| Dec 15, 2014 | Reply

You can always count on The Artist D to provide a counter viewpoint to almost anything in life. Today she lines up opposite the cheery, happy and bright universe to praise rainy days and dreary nights. But don’t assume it’s just doom and gloom. There’s a little gleam of light poking out a bit from behind the dark clouds. Give it and read and learn just what it is.

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The Trans Military Situation

| Dec 15, 2014 | Reply

Recent changes in the military have given some hope that the estimated 15,000 plus trans soldiers will be able to serve openly in the near future. Is it reasonable to assume that since a few signs of progress have been seen that the services will quickly change their transgender policy? Babs Casbar Siperstein takes a look at the progress made.

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I Don’t Get It!

| Dec 8, 2014 | Reply

As a trans woman coming to femininity later in life there are plenty of things that Cate O’Malley is finding frustrating about her new femme lifestyle. Shoe shopping for male feet was simple. Not so with shoe shopping as a lady. And why can you try on two dresses, both the same size, and have one that hangs off your body and one so tight you can’t zip it up? Cate has other things too that make her say “I don’t get it!”

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Love Versus the Sword

| Dec 8, 2014 | Reply

Too often people on this Earth who claim to be religious and pious are instead intolerant and show bias. The worst of the religious right don’t just condemn LGBT people to Hell for being who they are. They want to put LGBT in Hell by having them executed. This is not just a trait of radical Islamists, or of Christian sects in Africa. Today Meggan Sommerville points to two “ministers” who preach hate.

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Dr. Sherman Leis’s Predictions for TG Trends in 2015

| Dec 8, 2014 | Reply

(Bala Cynwyd, PA)  Dr. Sherman Leis, founder of The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, one of the leading resources for transgender surgery and medical support in the United States, has identified 10 important trends that will affect America and its transgender community in 2015. “Although society has made a great deal of progress for the […]

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Holiday! It’s Gonna be…

| Dec 1, 2014 | Reply

Sophie Lynne welcomes the holiday season with this post. She discusses greed and giving. While the greed part makes it hard to stay on a positive note Sophie manages to veer away from greed and the materialism that seems to plague the season. She suggests an excellent way to give to your brothers and sisters that is special at this time of year. And she manages to work in a shameless plug for Angela’s Laptop Lounge. Now that’s the spirit of giving.

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Dina’s Diner 11/24/14

| Nov 24, 2014 | Reply

Dina Amberle has been working on a pot of stew to serve at Dina’s Diner and here it is for your edification and enjoyment. Today she mixed in several ingredients including how boys are discouraged from wearing feminine Halloween costumes; powerful women are relaxing about dressing more femme; high heels are sexy, and a dash of corsetry for spice. Stop into the Diner and get your fill.

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Ladyboys by Degrees

| Nov 24, 2014 | Reply

A recent interaction with a group of ladyboys got Christine Burr thinking about transgenderism. The women were modeling wedding dresses at an event promoting various wedding salons to prospective brides. Christine started talking to them about what it means to be a ladyboy in Thailand. After listening to them and ruminating on transgenderism in general she has come to some conclusions.

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Transgender Day of Remembrance 2014

| Nov 17, 2014 | Reply

The Transgender Day of Remembrance is this coming Thursday and Babs Casbar Siperstein blogs about the event and the its significance to the transgender community as a whole. It’s not just about hate crimes against trans people. The violence we suffer is indicative of a pervasive atmosphere of discrimination against trans people in employment, housing and civil rights. Read what Babs has to say about the progress we’ve made and the progress that is still needed.

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True Happiness on Holiday

| Nov 17, 2014 | Reply

Can trans people really go home for the holidays? They can but do they then limit themselves to the role their family insists on seeing them in? Even if they are “out” to their family do they still have to “tone it down” or be more demure? The holidays always bring stress and if a trans person’s family is just “putting up” with their trans relative can we really expect to have happy holidays? The Artist D has some advice for the approaching holiday season.

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I Remember Her Well

| Nov 17, 2014 | Reply

November 20 is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Every year when November rolls around Linda Jensen thinks of a trans woman she met while on vacation in California. She was an aerospace technician and she told Linda she was on the road to living full-time in her chosen gender role. They stayed in touch now and then but after no communication for awhile Linda saw her friend’s name in the newspaper.

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Sirena Attends the Fair — FanFair 2014

| Nov 10, 2014 | Reply

We welcome Sirena Rivera as a TGForum Contributor. Sirena was at Fantasia Fair 2014 last month and she promised to write something for us about her experience there. It took her s few weeks to get settled down from the feelings of liberation and peace that she found there so it’s taken till now for her to share her report with us.

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