Recent Transgender Articles
Dina’s Diner June 3, 2019
While our chef Dina Amberle is always serving comfort food down at Dina’s Diner, she’s not afraid to experiment with different ingredients. No matter what she whips up it’s always sure to please. Today she takes a collection of old-time ladies garments, combines them with an 87-year-old Parisian female impersonator, sprinkles in the attraction of “homely girls,” adds a dollop of the fashion mask craze and tops it off with the delightful spice of young men in drag for “womanless beauty pageants” or YouTube transformation videos. Check out this flavorful specialty of the house down at Dina’s Diner.
Transition Means Changes
It’s been seventeen months since Claire started her transition. In that time she has lost two hundred pounds, had over 150 hours of electrolysis, slowly ramped up hormone therapy, and had a little filler and Botox in her face. It’s been expensive and painful at times but she is pleased, and more than slightly amazed at the results she has achieved. Her friends say she looks twenty years younger. Read all about Claire’s changes during the past seventeen months in today’s blog post.
June Brides: Behind The Bridal Mystique
Our Retro Rerun today is from 1996. It is apropos since June is the “wedding month.” TGF contributor Coreen Clark wrote about the urge many crossdressers have to wear a wedding gown, or in some cases have the whole bridal experience. She admits to having tried on her wife’s wedding gown at least once or twice but she wonders what the real fascination is for some people. To investigate she conducted some research with cisgender women and asked several of her crossdresser friends why they were attracted to the idea. It led to this essay on TGF about The Bridal Mystique.
The Week In Trans 5/27/19
Prepare for a deep dive into all the transgender news that fits! It’s time for The Week In Trans! Today we learn that Laverne Cox gave a commencement address and urged trans men be included in the abortion debate. The Trump administration is changing housing rules to remove protections from trans people, and they’re also revising the ACA language to let healthcare providers who take federal money deny treatment to trans people. Danica Roem is up for reelection this year and her opponent is an anti-trans candidate. The trans man running for judge in Philadelphia lost his race. A trans man teen won prom king. A 14-year-old trans girl is a trans advocate. Transitioning? There’s an app for that. A film shown at Cannes was the first to star a trans woman of color. We’ve got a video called Drag is Magic. A judge says Brazil has to classify attacks on trans people as crimes. Something they’ve avoided for 18 years. There’s all that and a lot more in this edition of TWIT!
Dreams Take Flight: Part 4 Discovered (or How it Hit the Fan)
It was the 1970s. Patrick, the gay flight attendant liked singing karaoke en femme and he was pretty good at it. When his airline colleagues caught his act they conspired to have him work a shift as Patricia. He was pretty good at that, too. One of the pilots who had always been a bit cold towards gay Patrick seemed to take an immediate liking to the new Patricia. No one could figure out why. After returning from a short vacation at a Palm Springs Gay Pride Week Patrick decided he wanted to spend more time, including work time, as Patricia. His crew mates were all for it but would the airline agree?
A Sabrina Symington Cartoon 5/27/19
While he was running for president Donald J. Trump said he would be the best president ever for LGBT people. He must have a different definition of the word “best” than we do. Because of his positive statements about the LGBT community many people in that community supported him with their vote. Surprisingly there are still some who support him. Sabrina Symington makes an editorial comment on that in today’s cartoon.
Trans Media Arts — Transgender Entertainment News
Amanda F. Steele gets out her lasso and rounds up a whole herd of tidbits about trans people in the arts. From trans actresses and singers to a trans man Alaskan singer/songwriter, and the world’s only trans woman mariachi, Amanda has all the news about trans people in the arts and entertainment. Ruby Rose is Batwoman, Dana International, the 1998 winner, returns to the Eurovision Song Contest, and much more! Videos included! Catch up on all the trans art and entertainment news that Amanda has rounded up this month! It’s Trans Media Arts!
Transmute: Episode 3.1: Friends & Enemies
In a future which has gone wrong Zealots seek to purge the nation of LGBT people. Gay people are illegal. Trans women who don’t “pass” turn to black market meds in order to fully transition and blend in with the population of cisgender women. Spying, paranoia and secrecy are the norms for trans women and being “outed” means more than just mockery and verbal abuse. Raquel Swann is back with a science fiction tale of a future world that could be all too real. Read Episode 3.1: Friends & Enemies.
Product Review: Gold Seal Hip & Rear Padded Panty
Sometimes male-bodied people who love to dress in feminine attire find they need extra help to achieve a feminine figure. Okay. Lot’s of times. That’s why there is such an online shop as The Breast Form Store. In addition to breasts they sell all the items a guy might need for temporary body modification to […]
The Week In Trans 5/20/19
It’s The Week In Trans! Today we learn that Jazz Jennings has been accepted at Harvard. The Republican candidate selected to run against the Democrat in North Carolina is the sponsor of the “bathroom bill.” The House of Representatives of the USA passed the Equality Act. Don’t expect it to make it through the Senate. House Republicans attempted to amend the Act to the point where it would have been anti-transgender. Chelsea Manning is back in the slammer for refusing to testify. Danica Roem has made a name for herself in the Virginia legislature. Texas doesn’t want trans people eating at Chick-fil-A. Trans women have a lower risk of breast cancer than cisgender women. A trans man complained of belly pain in the ER. He was in labor and didn’t know it. Google has created gender fluid emojis. SnapChat has a filter that changes a person’s gender in the app. For some cisgender people it’s just fun but it has possible benefits for trans people. The English cabbie who won £4 million in the lottery and changed genders has passed away. There’s all that and a whole lot more, plus several important TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Wanted: New Word for Transgender
Dana Bevan feels that the words we use to describe members of the transgender community are no longer adequate or proper. Many of the words, like transvestite, transsexual, and others, were coined by psychiatrists or academics and over the years have picked up bad connotations or been applied in error to people who were not in that category. Why should we let the psychiatric profession label us and dominate the words used to describe our behavior, and our demographic and social groups? Dana thinks it’s time we got some new words and she would like your help in coming up with some.
Diane’s Weight Loss Tips
For those born male bodied who wish to fit in with females in our culture, clothes, hair, and makeup are all important. But since our culture views being thin as a positive, which isn’t necessarily so, you may want to work on your figure by losing some weight. Which brings us to the point of this post from the 1990s by Diane Hutchinson which we have resurrected from the TGForum Archives. Here are Diane’s tip for weight loss. Follow them and perhaps you’ll be able to slip into that size 8 dress.
The Crossdressing Journey
Today Pauline describes the steps on her crossdressing journey as riding a bus. Each step forward is a “bus stop.” They include first becoming attracted to wearing women’s clothes, then searching the internet to find a support group nearby. Attending meetings and getting to know other people with the same desires, then becoming more open about crossdressing and reaching the point where she is so comfortable presenting herself to the world en femme that she goes to the dances held in her semi-gated community every Friday as Pauline. See if her story sound familiar to you and find out which bus stop you have arrived at.
San Diego Police wrongly criticized by flawed NCTE report
TGForum received this press release from the Neutral Corner group in San Diego. Neutral Corner, San Diego In a Monday, May 6, 2019 article, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the findings of a study conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) on San Diego Police Department’s (SDPD) handling of encounters with the Transgender […]
Emily at The Church Dance
Emily and all her girlfriends attend the church dance. The dancing is slow to start until one of the boys crosses the floor to politely ask Emily if she will dance with him. She accepts and is thrilled by his attentions, and his compliment about her beauty. Then, after walking her to the refreshments table he thanks her for the dances and leaves her with her friends. But other boys soon ask her to dance and it gets to the point that there could be some jealousy among the other girls over Emily’s popularity with several boys. Find out all about Emily’s night at the church dance in this chapter of Emily.
The Week In Trans 5/13/19
Today in TWIT we learn that the first transgender member of the Brazilian congress has been elected. 58% of respondents to an NCTE survey said they were harassed or abused by law enforcement. The Colorado National Guard refuses to institute the trans ban. Students denied access to restrooms and locker room corresponding to their gender identity are more likely to be victims of sexual assault. Colorado’s governor signed a bill cutting off state funds for trans health care. Mexico’s Supreme Court has upheld people’s right to have their birth certificates updated. A trans woman weight lifter has her wins rescinded. A court in Canada has ordered a father who constantly misgenders his trans son to keep his mouth shut. 11-year-old drag queen Desmond is Amazing is featured in a sneakers ad campaign. Indya Moore is on the cover of Elle. There’s all that and a whole lot more, plus several TWIT Awards waiting for your perusal in TWIT!
The Occasional Woman: What’s my size?
When a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of dressing like a woman one of the first questions he must ask himself is, “What sizes do I wear?” In the old days this was where the Sears catalog came in handy. Now that the catalog and its size charts is ancient history how do you determine what size dress will fit?You can find that info on the web but Lorraine Anderson, the lady behind The Occasional Woman custom clothing service has a way for you to be sure that hot red dress will fit and look good on you.
Memento Mori
Thoughts of mortality begin to appear the older one gets. Your mind can wander down paths where you begin to think about what your lasting impression on the universe will be, or just wonderwhat will happen to all your “stuff.” We accumulate a great deal of “things in the course of a lifetime. What will happen to those thins, our stuff, when we’ve left? And, for transgender people, “who” will be remembered by those left behind? Will it be the person who expressed their true gender for part of their life or will it be the old persona the closed the door on? Sophie muses on all that in today’s blog, Momento Mori.
How to Be Completely Femtabulous
Lynda Martini is on a mission. Her goal? To find other humans, of any gender, to date. Today she discusses the importance of dressing on-mission. Looking like a soccer mom will not help you to attract potential partners when you post you pic on dating apps. Also it’s important to learn to present the proper pose when perched on a barstool out in the world, as well as when to utilize the all important hair flip. Lynda has realized that in order to attract potential dates it’s important to be “femtabulous.” That’s a word she coined, so she is an expert in being femtabulous. Join her as she explores the dating scene.
A Trip To See Mom
The week before last Amanda got into her car and set out to visit her mother in Florida. You might think she would have timed the trip for Mother’s Day but she wanted to be there for her birthday — she turned 50 on May 1. In today’s blog she talks about the trip, only mentions her anxiety troubles a couple of times, and concentrates on how nice it was to be with her mother for a few days, very near a restful, peaceful beach on the Gulf Coast. And she describes the birthday cake her mom “surprised” her with.
Princessas de la Noche
When Katherine Diaz started sending us reports from Bogota, Columbia she was a solo crossdresser who would venture out into the night looking for places where she could feel she fit in. In the course of the years she has been putting her story on TGForum she has evolved. First came meeting others into the crossdressing lifestyle, then gaining admittance to the world of drag performers where she learned more about glamor and makeup. Today she is known all over town as a culture advisor on LGBT issues. Here is her latest report with an accompanying video.
Trans in Ancient Greek & Roman Theatre
The theater of the ancients of Greece and Rome was different in several ways from theater today. At that time all of the actors onstage were male, no matter if the the character being portrayed was male or female. This type of casting was present up to the first century BC when female actors began to appear. Former TGForum contributor Hebe Dotson wrote about the presence of crossdressing and transgender characters and themes in Greek and Roman plays back in 1998. We bring her article back as today’s Retro Rerun.
The Week in Trans 5/6/19
What do we learn in today’s edition of The Week In Trans? Ten transgender asylum seekers have been granted asylum. The Trump administration issues a rule allowing doctors to deny treatment based on their faith. Arizona courts can compel parents to provide counseling and treatment for trans children. In an AARP survey 46% of grandparents would accept LGBT grandchildren. Iowa votes to not allow taxpayer dollars going toward transgender care. Gavin Grimm will get his day in court in July. Tennessee makes being in the restroom of your gender identity comparable to indecent exposure. More on the story of the Welsh woman who reacted badly to hormone treatment. Caster Semenya is not transgender but her excess testosterone could influence treatment of transgender women athletes. The creator of Friends admits that lack of knowledge about transgender issues led the show to some bad transgender plot lines. Pose returns in June. There’s all that and a boatload more of news from the transgender world waiting for you in TWIT!
Dina’s Diner – May 6, 2019
Today Dina Amberle takes a variety of tasty ingredients and whips up a satisfying soufflé that is sure to sell well at the Diner. It features one part, how the Jewish community is changing to deal with gender fluid b-mitzvahs. The she stirs in some gender changing that crosses the borderline. Adds a soupçon of male Filipinos walking in high heels and stirs in a few female spies. Then she garnishes with a bit about the true gender of a Revolutionary War hero, giving you another scrumptious repast available only at Dina’s Diner.
Family. What does it mean to you?
Many times transgender people suffer in silence and present their birth gender face to the world because they are afraid of what will happen if their families know about their secret identities. There is the fear of rejection and there is guilt for the continuing deception. Often it is only when the pressure to live as their true self gets so great it cannot be ignored that their secret will be disclosed. How do you deal with family? Claire Hall has not written much about her relations with her own family. Today she gives you a look.
Custom Made Press on Nails
Back in 1997 one of TGForum’s contributors offered a solution for crossdressers who want to have beautiful nails for an evening out but can’t find press on nails that fit. Since young cisgender women with tiny fingers are the biggest market for press on nails what’s a crossdresser to do? Jayne Nicole enlisted the help of the nail techs training at her local beauty school and had them make custom acrylic nails she could save and apply with 3M double sided tape. She did not provide any photos or diagrams but she explains the process throughly. See if her technique could work for you.
