Jamie Fenton, a founder of TGForum, has a post today that talks about the problems created when “fuzzy” terminology is used while people are having discussions in the the trans community. Misunderstanding can be exacerbated when two parties don’t have the same definition of a word they both use. Read Jamie’s post and decide if you’ve been using “fuzzy” words and having your meaning misconstrued.
Julie Gaum is 91. She’s been crossdressing since she was 15, after an earlier incident at age 7. Now she has written a book to share her story with the world. The book is called “Never Climbed His Mountain.” Julie shares her crossdresser memories today with TGForum users about all of those years of having a secret joy.
(Philadelphia, PA) – According to Dr. Sherman Leis, a transgender surgery pioneer and founder of the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, “There is a crisis in the transgender community in the U.S., resulting from a dramatic shortage of transgender surgeons and other specialized medical practitioners. This shortage results in an excessively long wait for those […]
It’s The Week In Transgenderism! Talleen Abu Hanna will represent Israel in the Miss Star International pageant. 54-year-old drag performer Shana Nicole hopes to win a pageant in North Carolina. Darcelle is an 85 year old drag performer who does six shows a week. A research study confirms that social stigma is what makes trans people depressed. A YouTube personality who stood up for red head rights comes out as trans. Estrogen shots are in short supply. A trans pianist performs for The Mets’ LGBT Pride Night. Gavin Grimm is still not allowed in the boys’ room. A Drag Queen Story Hour for kids. Trans truckers are hauling freight. There’s all that and more, plus a load of TWIT Awards. Don’t forget to TWIT today!
We’ve followed Amanda as she has wrestled with living in a strange place that is wonderful at times and oppressive at times. We have read about her anxiety and how it grips her so hard early in the day and eases off later on. We’ve seen her have fun times going out to dinner and seeing a concert. Today she wonders if she made the right decision when she took the blue estrogen pill and stepped fully into a new world. After six years she has questions. So many in the trans community don’t seem to have questions. They move ahead. Should Amanda move back into the Matrix? Read her blog today to see what she thinks.
In the heat of August the last thing on your mind is a costume for Halloween. It’s hot and sticky outside and you can’t begin to think about corsetry, velvet and elaborate wigs and makeup. But, if you want to look great at the big Halloween party, and maybe even win a costume prize, you should start working on your Halloween costume idea right now. Fortunately there is an experienced seamstress and costume designer who can help you create a fabulous October 31st look. She’s or very own Lorraine Anderson, proprietor of seamstress service known as The Occasional Woman.
Sophie’ family is going on vacation. Without Sophie. On the ride to the airport Sophie’s daughter asks a question that while on one hand is about attitudes and actions within Sophie’s extended family is also a universal question about why people act the way they do. The answer is too long and complicated to tell her daughter during that airport ride so Sophie dropped of her family and went home to write her daughter a letter, a letter she will receive when she is 18. You can read Sophie’s letter to her daughter today. Have some tissues at hand.
Angela takes a road trip to New York City to report on the book release party sponsored by Vine and Twitter in honor of How To Be You, the new book by social media star Jeffrey Marsh. It’s a self-help book for the LGBT community that provides a framework you can use to discover yourself. The book is positive, affirming of those who have grown up feeling and being different. It gives you the tools you need to find what is holding you down and helps to lift you up. And the party was a lot off fun, too!
It’s The Week In Transgenderism! What do we learn today about the trans news of last week? Marisa Richmond was the DNC timekeeper. The Westboro Baptist Church was stopped by a wall of love. The supermarket guard who attacked a trans woman in D.C. will face hate crimes charges. A woman named Dallas Coulter is the go-to designer for many famous queens. Australia adds a space to fill in a gender term on its census form. A look back at the good and bad parts of Too Wong Foo…. The New Yorker does a feature on the trans community of Christopher Street. A Pride School opens in Atlanta. A voice surgery clinic in South Korea is getting a lot of U.S. business. All that and more, plus a plethora of TWIT Awards is waiting for you in TWIT!
It’s summertime and the dining is lighter, or at least it’s supposed to be. So Dina Amberle has adjusted the Dina’s Diner menu to include some lighter fare that is still nutritious and pleasing to the palate. She starts of with a light seafood salad that features mermaids as the main ingrediant. Then she mixes in some crossdressers in swimwear, adds a dash of synchronized swimming and prepares a side dish of club kid culture, followed by a dessert that features tight Spandex® modern athletic garb that bares more than the Olympians of yore ever imagined. And she has photos to prove it. Check out this summer time menu at Dina’s Diner. Bon appetite!
The Rev. Yolanda Mapes is going to be celebrating her birthday soon and in honor of the occasion our trans music scene writer Pamela DeGroff has done an interview with the Rev. Yolanda. In case you don’t know about her drag queen gospel show you can learn a lot about it and how Yolanda came to be a minister and a drag queen who created Rev. Yolanda’s Old Time Gospel Hour by reading Part 1 of the TGF interview with Yolanda. Then Pam gives you some news about live appearances by several trans artists and reviews a new album from a band called St. Lucia. It’s all there waiting for you in the longest running column on TGF, Perpetual Change.
Our Hawaiian correspondent, Emyli Evyrling checks in with an update on her life circumstances. If you recall, earlier this year she was homeless for awhile. Now she has a roof over her head and through the kindness of a fellow human who was moving to the mainland and the Linux operating system she is back on the Internet with a real computer, not a tablet or smart phone. Things are looking up for Em.
Last year around this time we ran a post from Josy C. Josy had always felt more feminine than masculine. From early childhood she was more interested in feminine pursuits, and a bout with polio made sure that she could not engage in the more manly sports. After her retirement she and her spouse moved to Florida where she found a new beginning. Then at the beginning of this year more changes began and launched Josy into new adventures. Read what happened in her post today.
It’s all the trans related news brought together in one easy to consume place. It’s The Week In Transgenderism! Today we learn about a former Special Forces soldier who is now living as a woman. There was a trans woman delegate at the RNC convention last week and she used the ladies’ room. There will be a trans woman speaking at the DNC convention this week. The YMCA has a trans inclusive policy about locker room use. The NBA has left Charlotte over HB2. British Columbia has extended non-discrimination coverage to trans people. The TransNation Festival is coming in October. The teachers’ union supports LGBTQ students and staff. A pro bono law clinic offers name change help. There’s all that, a ton of TWIT Awards and much more waiting in this edition of TWIT!
Do you suffer from “closet stuffed with clothes and not a thing to wear” syndrome? It’s an affliction that can happen when you don’t stop to think how you will wear that cute new top or what to pair those chunky heels with. With the vast array of gorgeous femme fashion available in brick and mortar stores and online the temptation to buy every pretty thing you see can be overwhelming. Tasi Zuriack has a way to make sure you aren’t looking into the closet and being stymied about a choice of outfit. She suggests you remember the 9 timeless looks you can pick from quickly.
Thailand is perceived to be a trans paradise where beautiful ladyboys live lives of glamor and total feminine expression. As with all perceptions from afar this one is not completely accurate. While the ladyboys do draw tourists who come to see their elaborate shows the lives of those not fortunate enough to be in show business are often second rate. Thailand does not protect its LGBT citizens from discrimination and life for ladyboys can be hard. No wonder some turn to crime to survive. Fortunately for those who are sent to prison the agency that runs the prisons is becoming enlightened and is going to have a separate place for LGBT prisoners. Christine Burr has more information.
As always, our voice from the underground, The Artist D, offers a different perspective on the issue of safety and security. Her basic premise is that we live in a world of illusion and what we perceive as imminent danger, or as total security are both phantoms created in our own minds. As an infamous Secretary of Defense once said, “Stuff happens.” When “stuff” happens it’s good to not be in the general vicinity but we don’t have that kind of control. As a trans person, or LGBQ individual, is “stuff” more likely to occur around you because of who you are? Find out what The Artist D thinks in today’s post.
Captain Amanda invites you aboard her Trans Media Arts ship and promises to take you away from all the bad news to a land where trans characters and trans issues are front and center in television shows and films. Today she looks at a trans woman comic who is knockin’ ’em dead on “America’s Got Talent.” Then she points you to a story about a young drag queen who used a video about gender to get admitted to Harvard. She has news about Laura Jane Grace, Jazz Jennings and a young trans girl named Zay. There are videos you can view right inside her column. Keep up to date on trans people in the media with Trans Media Arts.
By Jennifer Kurtz Come on, come on, turn the radio on, it’s Friday night and I won’t be long. Gotta do my hair, I put my makeup on, it’s Friday night and I won’t be long. Put my makeup on, ah Sia! What a beautiful song! Reminds me of the task at hand. How to […]
Our resident cartoonist Sabrina Bria Symington has another commentary on the trials and tribulations of being transgender. Today a young woman, a princess no less, wants to join a course on womyn’s studies. However the professor in charge, Dr. Terfburger, has some problems about allowing the woman to sign up for the class. Scroll down after you read the first two panels to learn just what her reservations are.
Linda has a day on her own at a blues festival in Ottawa. While she’s checking her makeup in the hotel ladies’ room she ducks into a stall when she hears someone entering. It’s two women but one of them has a voice that’s not quite right. So Linda flushes the toilet to make it seem she was actually using the stall and steps out into the room. That’ when this month’s Linda Jensen adventure get’s interesting.
Jan Brown does a short review of a new book by Dr. Veronica Vera (headmistress at Veronica Vera’s Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls) titled “Miss Vera’s Cross Gender Fun for All.”
This week we learn about the Weho Cheerleaders. A native American tribe rescind their discriminatory anti-trans law. A trans woman graces the cover of a Malaysian women’s magazine. The doctors who mishandled the case of a trans shooting victim in Pakistan are punished. The Republican Party Platform calls for more laws like HB2 while the convention host city passes a strong anti-discrimination law. Survey says: 59% of trans people have avoided public restrooms in the past year. Bar Harbor has a Two Spirit drag queen. The Singapore man who got breast implants so he could “boost his confidence” is having them removed. There’s much more news and a few TWIT Awards waiting for you this week!
Lorraine Anderson counsels those who wish to be stylish, add some colors to your wardrobe! But don’t just toss on any color dress and head out. Different colors bring out different aspects of your natural coloring. Pinks can soften your look. Fuschia bring a vibrant touch. And we all know black can be slimming, but there’s no need to dress all in black to get that effect. Read on for Lorraine’s tip on adding color to your wardrobe.
Dana Bevan has been reading about the origins of the Prenatal Testosterone Theory of Being Transgender. That’s the theory that says you become trans due to different levels of testosterone exposure while you’re still in the womb. She finds the theory has roots in eugenics and “therapies” to “cure” homosexuality. The theory has been discredited but that doesn’t keep some people from still pushing for hormone therapy to “fix” gender and sexuality.
Babs Siperstein is a superdelegate and will attending the Democratic Party Convention in Philadelphia, Pa. from July 25 through 28. She reports today that the number of out transgender delegates to the convention more than doubles the number of trans delegates at the 2012 convention. She has a list so you can be informed about the trans delegates who will speak for you.
