Now that Halloween is done people begin to turn their attention to the other holidays that are more family oriented. Thanksgiving and Christmas are approaching. For many people these holidays with with family focus are not joyful. They can be lonely and painful. Especially in the case of people who have been rejected by their families because of who they are. Sophie Lynne has a suggestion that may help some people through the holiday season.
Lorraine Anderson, proprietor of The Occasional Woman seamstress service, has been so busy all of October that she found herself the day before Halloween without a costume of her own for the big night. Being good with deadlines she went to a costume shop for inspiration and came out with an idea that she managed to sew together in one day. She recommends that you take a bit longer to design your costume for next Halloween.
Many girls have the desire to dress up as Elsa from the film Frozen and our contributor Amanda is no exception. This year she decided to do it and do it right with a professional Elsa costume. She and her friend “Cinderella” headed in to San Francisco where they found fun, excitement and some bigoted buttheads.
Christine-Jane has been commenting on the crossdressing lifestyle for years. First appearing in trans-magazines and newsletters before there was an Internet, she now comes to TGForum to skewer crossdresser foibles and fears with her pens and pencils. Today she illustrates how words that sound the same may not be even close in meaning.
Every year since 1968 Philadelphia jeweler Henri David has thrown a gigantic, fabulous Halloween party on October 31. Over 2000 people attend. People spend months working on elaborate costumes. In past years some have used only body paint to create a costume. From sensational to simple there are a lot of men wearing women’s costumes […]
Acclaimed Transgender Surgeon Outlines Pre-Surgical Considerations for Transgender Children (Philadelphia, PA) “Transgenderism has no age limit”, said Dr. Sherman Leis, transgender surgeon of international renown, and founder of the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery. Recognizing that people who are gender dysphoric are that way from birth, Dr. Leis points out that it should be no surprise […]
This week in TWIT: Esquire Magazine features people who transitioned in the 20th century. Caitlyn Jenner takes it on the road. The trans teen homecoming queen speaks out. Undergarments for transition. Asifa Lahore says queens should teach sex ed. Lou Reed wasn’t very nice, it seems. The Ab-Fab movie is looking for ab fab queens. Plus more about New York state’s expanded anti-discrimination move, the ghost of Julian Eltinge, trans sex workers, a new magazine featuring drag queens and whole ton of TWIT Awards. It’s all waiting for you in TWIT!
Dina Amberle has cooked up a big hearty pot of Diner stew to keep you warm on a cool fall day. She’s added in such ingredients as a short history of lady’s leg-wear, some Fook-Yi & Fook-Yu, a touch of jewelry designer Betony Vernon, a dash of a crossdresser robber, and she seasons it with some spicy Rocky Horror Picture Show. Take a seat at the counter or slide into a booth and order your entree down at Dina’s Diner.
David de Alba graciously allows us to re-publish his celebrity interviews. In October of 2000 David conducted the following interview with Carmen. Carmen became gravely ill early in 2003 and passed away on in March of 2003 at the early age of 52. David’s interview ensures that the name of this talented performer will live on.
There are myths and more myths about Thai Ladyboys. Most of these myths revolve around the assumption that everything is fine and wonderful with being Transgendered in Thailand. That Thai Ladyboys live a wonderful life; going about their everyday routines dressing and living as the females they were clearly meant to be. After all, isn’t […]
A close look at the Republican candidates for president shows that the only one of them who has been at all sympathetic to trans people is Donald Trump. He let a trans woman compete in the beauty pageant that he owned. As for the rest? They are not so good on trans rights. Find out how they all stand and how the Democratic candidates stand in our political contributor Babs Casbar Siperstein’s latest blog.
In this TGF Re-run we bring back a series on trans people in America history written by former TGF contributor Lauren Rene Hotchkiss. The series was published originally in the 1990s. Today Lauren introduces an example of female to male crossdressing with Mountain Charley, and touches on crossdressed males playing female roles in The Hasty Pudding Theatricals at Harvard.
A few weeks ago while researching stories to include in TWIT Angela Gardner came across a story about a trans woman folk singer who was upset about how she was treated at an open mike event. She got both kinds of mis-gendering; mis-gendering through ignorance of what might be offensive and through just plain rudeness. Angela has mulled it over and has a few thoughts on how to handle it if you are mis-gendered while out and about.
What have we been watching in the news? Lots and lots of trans news items. We learn that Nicole Maines and her family are the subjects of a new book. Puerto Rican schoolboys are allowed to wear girl’s uniforms. Conservatives in Canada are blocking passage of rights legislation for trans people. The TSA’s treatment of a trans woman is causing changes at the agency. Isis King was featured in Teen Vogue. Canada’s Girl Guides accept trans girls. Linda Gray portrayed one of the first TS roles on TV. There’s even more but it won’t fit in the allotted space. We haven’t even mentioned the TWIT Awards!
Tasi Zuriack lives on the fringe. Actually she lives in Mexico but she enjoys the fashion trend that has brought garments and accessories with fringe back into style. Today she teaches us all about fringe fashion, from the fringe on flappers’ dresses to the latest uses of fringe adorning skirts, accessories and even jewelry. Tasi takes you on a tour of the fringe phenomena that will leave you knowledgeable about all that is fringe.
Long-time TGForum writer Linda Jensen is in the middle of telling us about an interesting dating experience she had with a TG friend when both were in Montreal to attend a Canadian political convention. However, this week we put that story on hold to bring you the breaking story of an interesting encounter Linda had at the recent Southern Comfort Conference. It seems not all learning happens in the seminar rooms. The series Turnabout is Fair Play returns in four weeks.
Our late founder JoAnn Roberts called Halloween a holy day of obligation for crossdressers. It is the one day in the year that regular guys can experiment with wearing women’s clothing without repercussions from their friends. The Artist D believes that Halloween should happen everyday and what the world needs is more straight men wearing dresses. If they did that the whole world would shift and anything would be cool.
Emmy Award-winning trans filmmaker and long-time Las Vegas resident, Deborah Richards, is preparing to direct her latest film and she needs your help. Her goal is to make an organic, poignant tale about success and ambition.” Send Hollywood My Love,” set for a 2016 release, is a comedy that will poke fun at the Hollywood film industry. Amanda interviews her about her online fundraiser and her passion for film.
The writer who has been with TGForum longer than anyone, Pamela DeGroff, has another of her in depth musical columns for us today. First up is a review of the latest CD release from eccentric trans artist Baby Dee. Then Pamela has music news from David de Alba and Georgie Jessup, and mini reviews of new albums by Duran Duran, Leona Lewis and The Young Professionals.
Kimi Cole is a trans activist and Chair of the Douglas Country Democrats in her home state of Nevada. Recently her cellphone rang and when she answered it the person on the other end of the call was Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Why was Mrs. Clinton reaching out to Kimi Cole and what did they discuss. Kimi shares the detail with us.
For some reason many religious people, who claim to follow God’s laws, find that judging LGBT people is just fine. Even though it says in the Bible, “judge not….” And most of the time they judge us to be sinners. That leads to LGBT people who believe in God being abused and mistreated by their fellow Christians. They are tossed out of their congregations and must wander in the wilderness trying to find the promised land. Today Josy C blogs about her experience with religion.
The stars of Tangerine are on track to the Oscars. Landon Patterson’s schoolmates chased away the Westboro Baptist Hate Group. VP Joe Biden supports trans in the military. Geena Rocero admits she felt pressure to conform to beauty standards. Meggan Sommerville has a win against Hobby Lobby. More Brit shows ad trans actors. Nikki Araguz Loyd is honored by the President. Democrats are upset at the TSA. There’s all that and more waiting for you in TWIT!
Dana Bevan has been asked to speak to a youth group at her church on what her life has been like as a trans person. Today Dr. Bevan presents us with the outline she intends to follow for her talk. As you might expect from a person of scientific orientation she will tell the group of the scientific evidence she has gathered showing that being trans is not a choice but something you are born with.
Christine Zee has been blogging about her transition journey all summer and now in the fall of the year she is nearing the end of her trek. In this month’s installment Christine’s mother shows some progress is accepting her. Her legal name change is now in the works and she is set to take a several business trips in the next few weeks during which she will come out to more of her colleagues and associates.
Gen Zed is a new animated show that is set to debut this fall. It stars trans voice actor Julie Rei Goldstein as the trans comedian and blogger, Shona. Shona’s online friends all move in with her since they feel like there will be an advantage to having all those room mates. But…. Learn more about Julie Rei Goldstein and Gen Zed in this interview by Amanda F.
After hearing the advice “follow your dreams” for most of her life Cate O’Malley has decided that is good advice by it needs to be amended. Not everyone will want you to chase your dreams. There will be those in your life, those you care about deeply, who will not understand your dream. See what Cate advises if that happens when you try to follow your dream.
