The pin-up girls in the mid 20th century had amazing rocket nose cone breasts. Were they somehow differently endowed than modern women? No. Madonna proved that when she brought the “bullet bra” back in 1990. It’s the shape of the bra that gave the pin-up girls that conical silhouette. If you want to look like Madonna on her 1990 tour or be a pin-up girl, Tasi Zuriack has some tips on where to find your bullet bra.
All the TG news that’s fit to print! It’s TWIT! Today we learn that a trans woman has won a battle with the army. Elton John and Michael Stipe scold Georgia for mistreatment of a TG prisoner. Bruce Jenner news and controversy. Your DNA may reveal why you’re trans. Kristen Beck is honored. The White House condemns “reparative” therapy. Chinese trans TV hosts and Japanese transvestite TV host robots. More on the soldier who killed a Filipina woman. A remake of Rocky Horror? All that and more is waiting for you in TWIT!
What’s happened lately in the world of transgenderism? Lady Ellen’s finishing school for CDs was in the news. NCTE pulled an April Fool’s joke. Female athletes with too much male hormone and a trans woman athlete facing discrimination were in the news. The DOJ has weighed in on trans issues in schools and prisons. Trans Mormons are coming out. A gay and trans gang is getting into the fashion biz. The International Transgender Day of Visibility happened. There are more roles opening for trans actors. All that and a few TWITs make up this edition of The Week In Transgenderism!
Hollywood, CA – What do you get when you mashup Comic-Con, BeautyCon and Hello Kitty Con? RuPaul’s DragCon, of course. It’s the first ever convention that celebrates “the art of drag, queer culture and self-expression for all” and will launch May 16-17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. RuPaul’s DragCon will kick off the Gay […]
Candy Magazine features 14 famous TGs on their cover. Chelsea Manning had a birthday. Michelle Kosilek gets a set back in court. The Marine who killed a Filipino TG is going to trial. Women’s colleges are dealing with the differently gendered. A Salt Lake photog takes pix of drag queens. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 can work for you. New York state will pay for trans healthcare. Janet Mock speaks to the press. All that and more, plus several TWIT Awards are waiting for you in TWIT!
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!
Nicole Maines has won a $75,000 settlement with her former school. A US Dept. of Education memo protects trans students from the kind of thing Maines was subjected to. Drag stars are doing holiday shows in NYC all month long. Minnesota TG student athletes can pick their teams. Another photographer document Cuban TGs. India’s first trans newsreader advocates for change. Miami-Dade has extended protections to TGs. Panti Bliss gets her just reward from Stephen Fry. All that and a lot more is waiting for you in TWIT!
Lypsinka is back! Philadelphia drag performers attempt to set a world record. Elle Fanning portrays a trans teen boy. Miami-Dade County is set to enact trans protections. Mexico City simplifies name and gender change. Australia is urged to treat trans kids differently. Andreja Pejic is in the news. A Thai modeling agency reps trans models. Hijra in Bangladesh celebrate pride. TDOR is this week. Drag queens cavort at Indochine. College drag shows! RuPaul’s makeup man has a photo exhibit. Another photo exhibit documents the East London drag scene. L.A.’s Bad Suns release a music video on gender identity issues. All that and more is in TWIT!
Pamela DeGroff interviews drag rockers Jodi Jolt and The Volt. The band is from Rhode Island and it performs all around New England. Learn all about them in the interview. Then Pamela does mini reviews of several new music offerings you may want to listen, dance to — or both. We feature tracks from the artists and some video. Check out news from the music segment of entertainment in Perpetual Change.
It’s all the TG news we could find as we scoured the publications of the world! NYC Comic Con had a panel on trans in comics. A trans man doesn’t meet the requirements to head the diversity program. Jazz is on the list of 25 Most Influential Teens. A former male radio host’s fans want her back on the air. We’re getting a vibration — a drag psychic will have her own TV show. Voter ID and trans voters. “Transparent” is looking for trans writers for the second season. All that and more is waiting for you in TWIT!
A drag performer in South Africa satirizes the government, 20 years later. No more “homo panic” or “trans panic” defense in Cali. Facebook apologizes to the queens. Trans candidates stand for election. A fashion show featuring a trans model is canceled. Hijra participate in an Indian festival. Walton Goggins was changed by his role as Venus Van Dam. A trans girl in Canada gets support after being bullied. Who makes those hot drag videos? An Amazing Race contestant is a drag queen. Grayson Perry is in the news. All that plus a bunch of TWIT Awards is waiting for you in TWIT!
David de Alba is not only the Cuban Legend of female impersonation but is also a documenter of the other practitioners of the female impersonation art. He has done scads of interviews with those who trod the stage in gowns and high heels. He has published his FI celebrity interviews on his website but has given TGF permission to bring you select interviews. Today we present David’s 2001 interview with Wynnie La Freak, a British performer who is still going strong in 2014.
Fortunately for posterity home video cameras were around in 1980 and David de Alba’s partner Paul Ryner had one. He shot this video in 1980 which documents one of the finale productions featuring The Eve-ettes at Finocchio’s in San Francisco called, A Tribute to Cabaret Night 1980. There is a production number followed by David de Alba […]
The stars of female impersonation in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s were all about glamor and beauty. Only an act devoted to comedy would over-do things and exaggerate feminine characteristics in search of a laugh from the audience. The exotic and beautiful female impersonators worked to be indistinguishable from the actresses and singers they portrayed. Thanks […]
Our celebrity female impersonator expert, the one and only David de Alba, has kindly granted us permission to run his interview with former Jewel Box Revue star Robbie Ross. Robbie was on the scene in the 1950s and ’60s. While on tour with The Jewel Box Revue he fell in love with Hollywood, decided to stop touring a settled down to work as a wig and hair stylist. Learn all about his drag career and his work with the stars in David’s interview . And there’s a bonus photo gallery with more rare photos of Robbie.
Today Dee Levy offers a reality check on the nature of the controversy over drag queens using the t-word and other “objectionable” words. We thought that thing was over like last year’s hot dance track but Dee offers a good reason why the fight should not just be over — but why it’s muy importante for the drag community and the trans community to work together.
You are packing for a long weekend en femme and you realize that you’re going to need a whole separate suitcase to carry all the shoes you simply must bring to go with every perfect outfit. It’s been an unavoidable fashion burden for years. Now there’s a solution to this fashion burden. They’re called High Pheels and they offer women, and other devoted wearers of women’s fashions, a simple way to change their shoes by just changing the covering using High Pheels “skins.” Read on and learn more.
Pam DeGroff interviews the “world’s tallest and hairiest drag queen” Martha Graham Cracker, a Philadelphia, Pa. sensation who is taking her hairy drag persona nationwide with a trip to Texas in the near future. Graham Cracker is an actor, dancer and vocalist who hostesses a weekly cabaret show in Philadelphia. Meet her and get TG music news and some mini-reviews of new music — and a cute cat video — in TransVocalizers.
The Cuban Legend, David de Alba (who has a show coming up at The Onyx Theatre in Las Vegas next month) has series of Celebrity Interviews on his website and he graciously allows TGF to run the best of them every month. The interviews were all done in the early 2000s. This interview is with the […]
Latina cooking queen Soraya Sobriedad has won a prize. Sobriedad hosts a cooking show on cable channels in the New York City area that instructs viewers on how to cook delicious Latin dishes while keeping them healthy and low fat. This year she took a large cash prize in the Eighth Annual Queens StartUP! Business Plan Competition by cooking up a business plan the judges found to be very tasty.
Gypsy has been performing since 1950. At 82 you think he’d retire, take of those pumps and relax. But that’s not the plan. We met with Gypsy and his manager last week in Los Angeles and they told us about their plan to build an exciting new venue for female impersonation where Gypsy will be the host and M.C. And they’d like your help to get it started. Read all about it in our interview with a super performer — Gypsy.
Pamela DeGroff introduces you to a San Francisco band called Pepperspray. They combine The Spice Girls with the Sex Pistols and pull drag into the heart of rock and roll. Pam interviews vocalist Precious Moments and we learn all about Pepperspray. Then Pam bring us music news from Georgie Jessup and Coco Peru along with others, and does a couple of mini-reviews of new CDs. Meet Pepperspray and keep up with the TG music scene with Perpetual Change.
Our political reporter Babs Casbar Siperstein is not all politics and activism. She likes to slip into an ostentatious outfit now and then and what event is better for that than Night of 1000 Gowns. That’s the Imperial Court of New York’s coronation of their Emperor and Empress. Babs was there this past Saturday night and she filed a report and a photo gallery.
To interview the legendary female impressionist Ricky Renée for me is one of the highlights in my Celebrity Interview Series. A wonderful emcee and friend of mine, Carroll Wallace who I worked with for years at the world famous Finocchio Club of San Francisco, would mention Ricky’s name fondly, along with Danny La Rue’s in […]
Lorraine Anderson is a seamstress and theatrical costumer who has been making clothing for the crossdressing community for many years. What started as a sideline to help her crossdressing friends has become a business called The Occasional Woman. Tell Lorraine what kind of dress you want and she can make it for you. Today she begins a new column on TGF giving advice and counsel to those who wish to dress in women’s clothing and look good doing it. Today — the basics.
