Recent Transgender Articles
Movin’ on Up!
She called this post “Movin’ on Up” but she hasn’t gone to the east side. Our long-time contributor Sophie Lynne has moved to the center of Pennsylvania to become a schoolgirl, again. She is enrolled at Penn State University in the graduate program. Today she shares her first dispatch from the hallowed halls of academe. Don’t miss the first of her PSU blogs.
It’s Different for Girls
As the summer winds down some of Lynda Martini’s social whirl slows and she takes time in this post to look back over how she started her transgender journey. As in many tales of the transgendered Lynda’s begins when her marriage ends. Then, on her own, she began to dress up at home. After doing that for awhile she realized she needed to go further. As in out the door and into the world.
Princesses of the Night — Diary of a Crossdresser III “Memories in the air of how I started”
Out correspondent in Columbia, Katherine Diaz, writes about her progress from a closeted crossdresser to a life that includes doing performances at nightclubs, lip-syncing and dancing for the crowds. Like many young people when she was young she was attracted to girls and she wanted to be able to look like one. Like many she also waited until she was in her 30s to take those first steps. Read about how she got to where she is and view her video in Princesses of the Night.
The Occasional Woman: Accessorize Summer Fashions for Fall
Summer is slipping away and with it the chance to wear sexy summer attire like flouncy floral print dresses, sleeveless tops and toe baring sandals. Lorraine Anderson has some fashion tips to allow you to slide gently into fall wearing everything you love from the summer, except the sandals. She can’t help with that. Accessories are the key! Add a denim jacket and a pretty scarf over a floral print dress and viola! Topped off with a fall style leather bag and booties you’re all set. See what other tips Lorraine has to offer in this edition of The Occasional Woman.
A Beginner Goes Shopping
Have you ever wanted to go shopping for lady’s clothes but were too afraid? This story is about Brittany Chambres’ first experience buying clothes for herself in a lady’s clothing store. Brittany was a contributor to TGForum back in 1996. She wrote this hoping it would alleviate any fears you may have about stepping into a woman’s clothing store. From the TGF Archives, it’s A Beginner Goes Shopping.
The Week In Trans 8/26/19
Welcome to The Week In Trans! Today we learn that Kim Petras performed at the Manchester Pride Festival this past weekend. Democratic candidates state their positions on transgender issues. The Gloucester County School Board won’t give up, files an appeal in the Gavin Grimm case. A man who was in love with a trans woman is found dead after being abused for his choice of partner. A trans woman in Virginia is serving a 33 year sentence in a women’s prison. Lana Wachowski has a script for The Matrix 4. More news about violence toward trans women of color. Five people are eliminated from a lawsuit over the trans military ban as they have been allowed to stay in the service. A trans woman says she was fired for gender discrimination while her employer claims she was no good at the job. Wisconsin must pay for surgery related to gender dysphoria. Antonio Bandaras is rescued from a motorcycle accident by a drag queen. The man who makes RuPaul’s gowns speaks out. A rare audio interview with Marsha P. Johnson has surfaced. There’s all that plus a good bit more, and a plethora of TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Dina’s Diner 8/26/19
Welcome to Dina’s Diner! Take a seat anywhere you like and we’ll get you a cup of java. Dina Amberle has cooked up another selection of delicious entrees that are sure to please any palette. First she whips up some frothy news about trans actress and model Hunter Shafer. She spices it lightly with a little touch of Nicole Maines and… heavenly. Then she stirs up some coverage of the trans scene in Puerto Rico. Muy caliente! Dina adds in a pinch of a doctor from Myanmar who decides to become a sexy model, shakes – not stirs – two ladies from the late ’60s who give her inspiration, and finishes the repast with a light desert outlining how a Brazilian gang leader tried to escape from prison disguised as his 19-year-old daughter. Don’t miss every morsel of Dina’s Diner!
Op-Ed: A Lesson From “What Would You Do?”
Last week the ABC show What Would You Do? featured a segment with a transgender woman being harassed by another patron of a restaurant after the trans woman asked where the ladies’ room was located. The female patron doing the harassment had a young girl with her and used all the tired arguments about safety […]
Is Social Media Helpful?
Claire Hall writes about what it was like when she came out. Social media wasn’t that much of a factor for her at first. The web helped her find a support group that wasn’t too far from her home and after attending some meetings she got a few Facebook friends in the trans community. Then the government signaled that things were going to get tougher for transgender people in the USA and Claire’s friend requests jumped. And the people who have connected with her all have stories to tell. Some heartbreaking and some inspiring. So has social media been a help on her journey? Read on.
Crossdressed Lover: I Like It!
Back in the late 1990s TGForum had a couple who contributed to our content. Vanessa, the crossdresser, and Linda, her partner. They wrote separately and together. A topic they always returned to was couples issues. One of the issues was sex. Many times women look at a crossdressing lover as something to put up with. They may not even want to see their man dressed in women’s clothes, let alone make love with him while he is en femme. Linda Kaye was concerned about what sex would be like with Vanessa. Sex with his male self was great but Linda was dreading the first time with Vanessa. Then Vanessa entered the bedroom and Linda forgot about her concerns. From 1997 we bring you this article from the TGF Archives, I Like It!
The Week In Trans 8/19/19
Set the Way Back Machine for last week! We bring you all the news about transgender people and issues in The Week In Trans! Today we learn that an Indian woman has won Miss World Diversity for the third time. The Department of Justice is suspending justice for transgender people. Protections for trans people in health coverage is threatened as the administration seeks to remove those protections from the ACA. The administration is also hard at work changing the rules requiring federal contractors to not discriminate against LGBTQ employees. Sense a theme? More trans women have been murdered and one suspect in one case has turned himself in. California institutes a retroactive change of names and genders on student records. IMDb will remove the dead-name of any performers who request it. Janet Mock is interviewed on Fresh Air. Over 7200 drivers licenses have “X” as the holder’s gender. There’s a video interview of the first drag queen to hold elected office in the U.S. Mj Rodriguez won an award for her performance on Pose. There’s all that, and it’s just the tip of the trans news iceberg you’ll find in TWIT! Along with a few TWIT Awards, of course.
Craig’s List Dating is Alive and Well and Living in Montreal
In 2018 Craig’s List closed down their immensely popular but controversial dating service. A phone call from an old friend helped Linda discover that in some places folks are using a simple work-around provided by Craig’s List itself.
Trans Media Arts and Entertainment
Amanda F. Steele covers the arts and entertainment beat. Armed only with her trusty laptop computer she dives deep into the waters of film, TV, art and music to compile the blog we dedicate to transgender artists, actors, musicians and more that we call Trans Media Arts. Today Amanda has the scoop on Caitlyn Jenner’s desire for another child, Janet Mock’s ascendence because of Pose, Nicole Maines statement that Women Rule the World, and more! Don’t miss a moment of Trans Media Arts!
Meet Julie Slowinski!
Our newest contributor is Chicago-land lady Julie Slowinski. A few weeks ago Julie met up with our contributor Lynda Martini and they shared an adventurous evening in Philadelphia. We learned that in addition to being a fan of heavy metal karaoke Julie is a girl who loves to get out and about en femme and have some fun. But then, girls just wanna, don’t they? She will be blogging for us on TGForum and sharing her adventures. Read her introductory blog and say hello in the comment section.
A Sabrina Symington Cartoon
Why can’t people understand that LGBTQ people aren’t a threat? They’re people just like everyone else and they have many of the same needs that aren’t blotted out by the one thing that makes them different that the majority of humans. Today Sabrina Symington has penned another cartoon that offers commentary on the real agenda of the LGBT movement.
Transgender Rock & Roll! Part One: Beginnings, 1955-1970
Back in 1996 Aleisha Michelle Emerson contributed some columns to TGForum that explored the transgender side of rock and roll. She began the columns in the 1950s and covered up to 1970 with her first column. We unlocked the vault and ventured down into the dusty Archives of TGForum past to bring you that first column. Today she looks at The Beatles, Little Richard, The Who and The Kinks.
The Week In Trans 8/12/19
New Content is here! First up is The Week In Trans! What do we learn on this sunny summer day? Danica Roem is campaigning for reelection and she is opposed by anti-LGBTQ groups. Leaked emails show the Department of Education fast tracking an investigation into cisgender girls’ complaint about trans girls on their team. New HUD regulations will hurt trans people seeking housing. Have you had your Bone Mineral Density tests? News flash: People who pass in their preferred gender are treated better. Drag queens in San Francisco are forming a union. More trans women of color have been murdered. One suspect is in custody in one case. No one tried to help a trans woman who was beaten by 7 teens. Gavin Grimm has won his case. More about the transgender angel hired by Victoria’s Secret. Geena Rocero makes her debut in Playboy. The first transgender reality show star dies in mysterious circumstances. There’s all that and a few TWIT Award waiting for you now in TWIT!
Amanda’s East Coast Anxiety
After a long sojourn in California Amanda is back on the East Coast. She stopped in her home town in Western Pennsylvania and then went on to Baltimore where she has lodgings with a friend and drives for Lyft. While she was in California she felt that the area she was in was beautiful but there was something wrong. She had anxiety attacks that were crippling. She felt that it might help to return to the east. Now she is in Baltimore and while things have improved she is still subject to anxiety. She wonders if California was only partly to blame for her condition and if perhaps it is her estrogen that is the culprit.
Is Being Transgender a Spandrel?
Are transgender people the spandrels of humanity? A spandrel is a space created in architecture by the active elements of a structure that have on purpose on their own. Spandrels occur in the space between the upper corner of a rectangular arch and its oblique brace. Dr. Dana Bevan takes the spandrel concept and applies it to transgender people. Her blog today is speculation on this subject. Read her thoughts and see if you agree that transgender people may have no purpose in the evolution of our species. Or, they might.
Pauline’s Lingerie Guide
Pauline Estelle goes under cover, well, under our outer garments, to blog about the things we wear under our dresses. There is a remarkable variety of lingerie women can wear. Either it has a purpose, such as molding a body needing a little help to reach the popular conception of an attractive shape, or to add spice to romantic encounters. Some say that just wearing lingerie can make you feel better and more sexy. Pauline explores the foundation and night time garments that she enjoys. See if you are a fan of those items as well.
Emily: Back to School as Emily
The summer of being Emily was coming to a close and Emily realized she didn’t want to be Robert ever again. With the support of her mother and sister she saw a doctor to begin hormone therapy and came out to all of her girlfriends and their parents. The die was cast, she would return to school as Emily and see what happened. Would anyone miss Robert? How would she be accepted by the other students who didn’t know her like her friends? So far her story has been positive with acceptance and support from everyone. What lies ahead during the school year?
Book Reviews: Dean R. Koontz and John Leslie
Elizabeth Parker wrote book reviews for TGForum back in the ‘90s. While some of the books she covered are no longer in print and in some cases contain dated characterizations of trans people it’s interesting to see which tales still hold up. Today we dig into the Archives and rejuvenate Elizabeth Parker’s reviews of a book by Dean R. Koontz, a M.A.S.H. influenced work but the crossdressing nurse is much prettier than Klinger, and a murder mystery by John Leslie.
The Week In Trans 8/5/19
Time for all the transgender related news we could find! It’s The Week In Trans! Today we learn that Laverne Cox was picked by Megan Markle to be featured on the cover of British Vogue. Three dozen member of the House of Representatives sign a letter to ICE protesting treatment of trans prisoners. The World Health Organization has changed its classification of gender incongruence. If you want to change your name and gender on your driver’s license in Alabama get sterilized first. The woman who hacked Capital One is transgender. Mario Lopez made ignorant statements about trans issues and wasn’t save by the bell. A trans woman weight lifter wins two gold medals and a silver in the Pacific Games. They came with a load of blow back about her gender status. Marvel Studios is searching for a trans woman to appear in an upcoming film. Pose rewrites the history of the fight against AIDS, but in a good way. Sade’s son has had confirmation surgery. Victoria’s Secret hires their first transgender Angel. See photos for the 2019 China Drag Queen Contest. There’s all that and more plus a few TWIT Awards in this edition of TWIT!
The Occasional Woman: Let’s Talk About Pants, Baby
Who wears the pants in your family? Anyone who feels like it. In the early days of fashion a woman in trousers was scandalous. But then, along came World War II and many women had to go to work in the factories and mines. Wearing dresses was uncomfortable in the plant and frilly frippery could be unsafe around machinery. So women started wearing trousers. After the war trousers on ladies stuck around and today there are many different styles of pants for women to choose from. Some show a lot of leg and other kinds cover the legs completely. From shorts to loose fitting tropical prints, Lorraine Anderson writes about the pants that may be a fit for you.
A Place for my Breasts
Like many in the trans community, when Sophie’s need to express her feminine nature finally pushed her to begin exploration of her desires she found that the box in the basement labelled “boxed games” was no longer going to hold the things related to becoming Sophie. For one thing she felt a constant concern that the box would, for some unexplained reason, be opened by someone she didn’t want learning what was inside, and for another thing her latest purchase, a large pair of silicone breast forms, would not even fit inside the box. So she took the next step — renting a storage space. Today she writes about bidding that space goodbye, as she moves on in life.
An American Girl Takes It on the Road
A few weeks ago Lynda Martini got a message from someone on Facebook proposing that they get together when this out-of-town girl was in Philly for a conference. Lynda thought “What’s this?” but after corresponding with this lady from Chicago she agreed to go out on the town with her. It turns out the out-of-towner had done her research and found several places outside the usual gayborhood haunts were two ladies could have some fun. Read about their adventures, from playing pool in a dive bar to visiting a heavy metal karaoke bar.
