On Tuesday September 22, 2015, Mayor Steven Fulop announced that “Jersey City would be expanding the health care it offers city employees to include coverage for transgender medical care and related procedures, such as gender affirmation surgery.” Jersey City will be one of only a handful of large cities across the country offering such benefits […]
David de Alba graciously allows us to re-publish his celebrity interviews. Today we bring you his interview with Joan Rivers favorite Joan Rivers impersonator, Gary Dee. The interview was conducted in the early 2000s while Gary Dee was living and performing in Aruba. Imagine we are transported to the beautiful Island of Aruba in the […]
Live, from TGForum, it’s The Week In Transgenderism! Our weekly compilation of all the news featuring a hint of transgenderism. Today we get a review of I Am Cait. We can report that Jeffrey Tambor won an Emmy for his portrayal of a trans woman in Transparent. Another trans modeling agency has opened. Restroom wars! A drag queen loses the big prize on South African Idol. The New Girlfriend opens in theaters. We meet a couple of young trans fashion designers. A trans man is elected president of his frat. Lady Bunny passes the drag festival torch to Bushwig. The Pope will meet a trans man and a CD at The White House. Richard O’Brien was back in Rocky Horror last week. There’s all that and a few TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Today Pamela DeGroff has an interview with the eccentric, hard to categorize musical artist Baby Dee. Baby Dee talks about old and new CDs, the types of venues that they have played on their last tour and what musical influences shaped their music. Then Pamela gives you music news, and does mini reviews of some new CDs by three women artists.
Tasi is visited by an old friend who has transitioned. She brings her sisters, her friend and her fashion consultant to Merida, Mexico where Tasi lives. They ladies do it all from the beach to dining and shopping. Tasi documents the visit and of course views it through a fashion lens.
In the last episode Linda Jensen started telling us about someone who happens to be named Linda who was visiting her favorite nightclub in Montreal, Canada when she met an old acquaintance. This person had been one of the many male friends Linda had encountered at the club. This time her old friend was presenting in a new way, very much as a woman. Our heroine, Linda, is about to suggest an idea to her friend. But first there were two handsome men to be dealt with….
Is it good to be seated at the popular girls’ table? Groucho Marx said he wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would accept him as a member. Being out in the open and popular could dim the glamor that shown so strong as part of the underground. Even a cool club get’s boring when the “bridge and tunnel” crowd shows up. This year Southern Comfort has moved from Atlanta to Florida. Will Florida be too “bridge and tunnel”? Ch, ch, ch, changes.
Here it is! The Week In Transgenderism! Today we learn how Gigi Gorgeous became a star. Find some tips on transitioning — your wardrobe for the fall season. There’s change in the air for Harvard’s Hasty Pudding theatricals. We learn the story behind Too Wong Foo…. Every leading man in Hollywood tried out for the part Patrick Swayze landed. A trans girl wins homecoming queen. An Indonesian trans rights activist graduates from law school. Another state has refused to let a trans girl get her photo ID. Learn Ashley Diamond’s story. Iowa welcomes the Miss Gay pageant. Plus a lot more and a few TWIT Awards!
Christine’s Journey continues. So far things have been proceeding according to her plan. She is on track to begin full-time as a woman on December 1. She has spoken to all the management people at her job and is getting a “coming out” letter for her clients. Intensive electrolysis is doing its job. There are a couple of problems though, with family. And so the journey continues.
In many people there is an innate need for a spiritual connection to something greater. For some it is God. Others feel one with nature. Still others see the universe through science and appreciate its complexity as an indication of a celestial planner. Dana Bevan sees trans-ness as a scientist does but she has a friend who sees it as a spiritual experience. Which one is right depends on who you are.
Hannah has come out of the closet for a week and allowed Dawn to help her be a woman. Dawn takes her out and treats Hannah like a lady. And a week is not enough. Now she is exploring her new world and learning what it’s like to be a girl, not the over-sexualized girl of her fantasies but a real trans woman who is finally free. Dawn continues to document how their lives have come together just when they both needed something.
Cate O’Malley has learned that no matter how supportive people in your life would like to be they may not be 100% on board with your gender choice. Sure, when you first tell them they be with you all the way but might that be them just wanting to not hurt your feelings with their doubts? Or maybe after some time spent with the new you negative feeling might surface. Today Cate runs through some of the “I support you but…” things she has gotten from family and friends.
When you’re contemplating gender transition it’s important to remember that there will be many challenges ahead. Even with the greater awareness of trans issues in recent years the trans road can be a bumpy one. It’s best to be aware of all the challenges that await you so you can do your best to prepare for meeting them head on.
It’s The Week In Transgenderism! An action packed distillation of TG news from around the world. Today we learn about Miley Cyrus and her prancing queens. Lot’s of items about The Danish Girl, more roles for trans actors, and Candis Cayne making a point. BD Wong plays trans, again. A gay Filipino TV host poses in glamorous pastels for a fashion magazine. The government may be expanding TG health care. Caitlyn Jenner is on Ellen. A theory about why trans women join the military, and a whole boatload of TWIT Awards! It’s all right here in TWIT!
The march from summer into fall and eventually to winter has a tendency to bring some people down. The falling leaves and the colder temperatures don’t evoke the pleasures that can be found in fall. For some it brings on depression. Sophie Lynne sees the world sliding into the autumn and she feels like this year we should seize the change and turn it positive by working to educate, agitate and make the world better for trans people.
Many trans folk have gone through the experience of purging their femme clothing in an attempt to deny their true nature. Of course this never works as the urge does not go away and you have to hit the stores again to rebuild. Often after crossdressers learn their lesson and realize they should keep their wardrobe intact they don’t take the time for a “controlled purge.” They accumulate, just like GG ladies, too many clothes that they will never, ever wear. Today Lorraine Anderson tells you more on clearing the closet. Shoes and lingerie!
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 the hazards of crossdressing when you “think” that you won’t be disturbed. Let’s see how that works out.
After you’ve almost sunk to the bottom a couple of times the Dating Pool becomes less inviting. It can take some time to feel like you’re ready to dive in again. Amanda F. has been underwater in the Pool a few times and now she’s beginning to feel that she’s ready to at least dip her toes in. Does she see love lurking in the depths of the Pool? Or is that heartache doing the backstroke?
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) held its Summer meeting from August 27 -29 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since next year is a presidential election year, this meeting featured a “meet the candidates” session, as four of the announced candidates. Our political correspondent Babs Casbar Siperstein was there and reports on the meeting from and LGBT perspective.
From time to time we dip back into the TGF Archives and bring back an article from the good old days. Today we re-run a piece by TGF contributors Ms. Bob and Carol Kleinmaier that originally appeared on TGForum back in the 1990s. Crosssdressers have always enjoyed having their pictures taken. Meet some of them who posed en femme for photos back in the 1920s and ’30s.
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. This first installment is about the man famed as the “governess” of New York, the crossdressing governor, Lord Cornbury, and the female pirate Ann Bonny who crossdressed as a man while she sailed the high seas in search of plunder.
What time is it? Time for The Week In Transgenderism! All the trans news from around the world condensed into one heaping helping. Today we learn all about Candis Cayne, hear about Dr. Drew’s shows devoted to trans issues and get informed about a new Stonewall movie that has the trans community up in arms. There are several stories about trans women from around the world. There is some criticism of The NYT’s coverage of trans issues but they did a cover article on Phyllis Randolph Frye. Wayne Brady will be the next to don the Kinky Boots. A Walk on the Wild Side video has surfaced. All that and a lot more is waiting for you in TWIT!
The grill down at Dina’s Diner is heated up and ready to cook up some new dishes with ingredients gleaned from the press. Today Dina brings us Caitlyn costumes, gender-nuetral clothing, and a McDonald’s worker who is becoming a star. She also throws in some lightly sautéed musings on whether greater visibility for trans folk means CDs have more trouble passing. And some breast reduction for a TV star rounds out the menu. Where? Down at Dina’s Diner.
Is too much diversity a bad thing when the transgender community is fighting for rights? Does the umbrella of transgender confuse people when they find everyone one from Caitlyn Jenner to weekend crossdressers standing under it? Christine Burr is concerned that it could be the case that the non-trans public won’t be interested in helping us since they can’t figure our who “us” is, leaving her asking “What Next?”
(Philadelphia, PA) Over the course of his distinguished career, renowned transgender surgeon and founder of The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, Dr. Sherman Leis, observed that transgender people, both male and female, think and act in ways often blending thought and behavioral characteristics of non-transgender men and women. A recent study on brain structure, reported […]
Professional writer Tanya Allan is doing a series of articles for us on how to write your story. Ms. Allan feels it is important for trans people to tell their stories, either the story of yourself as you are or as you long to be. The act of writing is something that you as a writer have control over and you can as Ms. Allan says, “. . .create something wonderful” while you tell your stories. Writing allows you to transcend negative voices and achieve things you have only imagined. Today we bring you Part 4 of Can I Write?
