Our Babs had, as you might expect, a negative reaction to The Wall Street Journal publishing Paul McHugh’s op-ed in which he said being trans is a mental disorder. She quickly sat down and dashed off a letter to the editor of the WSJ to give them a piece of her mind but for some reason they did not chose to print her letter, so we bring it to you here.
Why do right wing conservatives express so much fear and condemnation at GLBT people? What is it that makes them think we somehow threaten them and their clean and shiny little lives? Why do they constantly equate sexual preference and non-standard gender identities with immorality and degeneracy? Today Angela Gardner takes a look at how conservatives see us.
Paul McHugh is a former Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins who denies the existence of trans as a real condition. He claims it is a disorder that is all in the mind and that transgendered people don’t deserve to have their civil rights guaranteed. He believes SRS is a waste of money and doesn’t resolve gender dysphoria. McHugh can believe what he wants but when he publishes his beliefs in a major newspaper as fact he does major harm to trans people. Dana Bevan tells us why.
Angela Gardner produces parties for trans people in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania suburbs. The party is called Angela’s Laptop Lounge. While she was covering the Trans-Health Conference at the beginning of this month Angela ran into some ladies who commented that support groups seemed to be going out of fashion as many TGs preferred to go out to bars, clubs and parties to drink. In this Op-Ed Angela examines if it’s okay to be a TG party girl.
SF writer Robert Heinlein once wrote “TANSTAAFL.” That’s an acronym that means “Theres ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Even if the bar you are going to has a sign up saying that you get a free lunch with your drinks, you’re still paying for the lunch. Most things in life have to be paid for sometime, by somebody. Today Sophie tells you what she has paid for what she has gained by going full-time in her true gender.
It’s summertime, summertime and Lorraine Anderson, proprietor of The Occasional Woman, has some tips for your summer attire. Follow her guidelines put forth in this post and spend your summer in fashionable comfort. Ignore her words and be prepared for the consequences. Lorraine says “If it doesn’t fit, you must toss it.” Read on for more words of fashion wisdom from The Occasional Woman.
Dallas Denny has allowed us to republish a piece she posted on her Chrysalis website. While she has not read the book she has skimmed it and found evidence that “Gender Hurts” is not an actual scholarly work on transgender issues but instead a book with an anti-trans agenda. It is very similar, but better written, to another work published over 30 years ago that claimed transsexuals were a plot to replace biological women.
Our correspondent in Thailand has filed another report. In this one Christine Burr says that because generally speaking the Thai people have liberal attitudes toward trans people you will find ladyboys all over the place. They work in hair salons, shops and restaurants, and of course in cabaret shows aimed at the tourists. Does it indicate that ladyboys are movin’ on up?
Many crossdressers fear once their wives (70% of them) find out that you are under-dressing or dressing en femme secretly, their marriages will fail. If you want her trust in you or in your marriage — know that the TRUTH is essential and it will take time for her to even begin to make sense out […]
Everyone should learn to read. That’s a given. But in The Artist D’s world it’s what you read that helps you learn who you are. How many of us struggled through the books we were supposed to read in school? The books that didn’t speak to us about things that were important to us, not to educators attempting to provide a well rounded education? That’s why The Artist D thinks the Reading Rainbow program should add some more colors. See if you concur.
In Part One, I noted that to “pass” as a woman is both artful and propitious: propitious and artful in that with the right face and body, combined with skill in “doing” one’s face and taste in picking the best wigs and feminine attire/acessories, many CDs look more attractive, feminine, ladylike, sexy, pretty, lovely, stylish, […]
Our Sophie Lynne has taken the big step and begun living full time as a woman. Today she tells us what it is that helped her make it through the tough, dark moments and got her to where she’s at today — living as who she is, not who others want her to be. What is it that sustains her and keep her moving forward on her gender journey? There’s a clue in the title of her post.
The new play by Harvey Fierstein, “Casa Valentina,” as most everyone knows, is based on the real Casa Susanna. In the 1960s Virginia Prince attended a weekend gathering there to promote her idea for the Society for the Second Self. The play is a fascinating look into the transgender experience of the early ’60s and it is based on a book of photographs taken at Casa Susanna. In this article Dallas Denny reveals who took most of those photographs and how they ended up inspiring Harvey Fierstein to write “Casa Valentina.”
Nothing is quite as sexy as a sheer see-through blouse, but pulling it off so you look sophisticated too is another trick, and one rarely easy for the average crossdresser. Yet the sheer blouse can be the key element for a perfect feminine and elegant outfit. Wearing the blouse on Girls Night Out is easy, […]
The waters of controversy, we all know about water, and about controversy. They are both irrefutable. One we can see — the water; the other one — the controversy we swear we can see but it’s not physical, not like a statue or a chair. We feel it; controversy — it invades our psyche, quickens […]
Our correspondent in Thailand has filed another report on Ladyboys in that country. During her time in Thailand Christine Burr has met many Ladyboys and she says that after a bit their stories start to sound the same. And the stories don’t have a happy ending. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Things are looking up somewhat and Christine hopes we’ll hear more about Ladyboys moving up.
The people we need to come along at the right time usually do. It’s no accident that the universe crossed my path with Alana Nicole Sholar and Bobbie Thompson when it did. This amazing couple has some of the most enriching nuggets of wisdom when it comes to the world of transgender. That’s probably because […]
How do you live day in and out, year after year, decade after decade as a closeted crossdresser, or a transgender? Your minds must be consumed of being continuously ‘on guard,’ making sure your wife or significant other does not find out what you have CHOSEN to hide from her. Though you did not choose […]
A few weeks ago the 2014 Trans 100 List was published. Dallas Denny looked over the List and posted an op-ed about it on her Chrysalis Quarterly website. She has graciously allowed us to re-publish it here. In their work, Brevard is GRATEFUL for the accomplishments of other activists. They ASPIRE to be the best […]
A new contributor joins us today with her perspective on what it takes to successfully transform into an acceptable, or even outstanding woman. Serena Harris is talking about transformation via makeup, hair styling and flattering attire. She feels that while many men are just to manly to dress up, those with the proper attributes can do quite well en femme.
Today Nikki Nicole asks if you think TGs are weak or strong. She asks because she’s noticed that some of the community seem to embrace the word “sissy.” Are you a sissy if you have male parts but dress up like a woman? Doesn’t it make you a strong person to face the trials that crossdressing can submit you to and isn’t it being a sissy to hide in your closet? See what Nikki thinks and read Weak or Strong?
Continuing on from my last column, where I looked at some of the (many) labels often attached to people from within our community, let’s now look at some of the key myths we are plagued with. Coupling labels and myths together, it’s no wonder that we are grossly misunderstood by the public at large — […]
As the transgender world is dug into like an Alaskan snow drift it’s revealing all sorts of things to the world. The community is opening up to a world of questions from the media. With every positive outing there is always a negative shadow lurking somewhere in some other article. I see so much negativity […]
Dr. Dana Bevan has a confession to make. For fifty years she identified as a non-transsexual transgendered person. And as such she kept her TG feelings and desires hidden. She concentrated on service to her country and things stayed that way until the end of the cold war. That’s when her identity had to change and she realized she was a transsexual person. That’s when she also came to feel that no TS should put down non-TS TGs.
Nikki Nicole makes a case today for members of the transgender community to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. Or as she abbreviates it, “walk the talk.” What is her basic thesis? If you’re going to go out in public en femme then don’t dress like a hooker. Check out Nikki’s reasoning and let us know what you think of her thesis in the comment area.
Here at TGF we use “transgender” as an umbrella term to cover a spectrum of gender variant activity and expression. The terms used are seen by some (like The Artist D!) as “labels” that aren’t helpful. Maybe concern over labels is “in the air” since Christine Burr’s latest post turns out to be about labels used in the TG world and the myths surrounding them.
