In this lesson Sabrina focuses on another method of training: Staccato — hitting a note in a repeated sharp effort. It helps hammer home your ability to perform said note, as well as trains your ability to suddenly stop and start, which will allow you to more easily flow between tight and relaxed, high pitch and low pitch, and blend your voice into whatever you want it to be.
Claire Hall spent 58 years presenting to the world as a male. When she reached a certain point and could no longer live the lie she came out and transitioned. That was many months before the pandemic arrived and leaving the lie behind felt wonderful for almost a year. But then COVID struck and that along with other issues sent her into a tailspin. Today Claire talks about healing and how it isn’t a linear process.
Recent triumphs for trans people gain praise for their achievements. While Rabbah Rona Matlow acknowledges their triumphs they take a look at it from a different angle. Rabbah Rona wonders why are there are not more people from minority communities being successful in areas that require higher education?
The column that’s all about transgender people appearing in films and videos. Today it’s Jamie Clayton in a gender switched version of Hellraiser. Laverne Cox in a YA classic. Alexandra Grey and Trace Lysette in Dope Queens. Zackary Drucker in Framing Agnes and more.
Our Retro Rerun today is an interview conducted for TGForum and LadyLike magazine in 1996 with a noted female impersonator of the ’60s and ’70s, Pudgy Roberts. Ms Bob & Carol Kleinmaier conducted the interview over two days and cover Pudgy’s life from when he was a child dressing up and walking around his neighborhood to his long career in drag clubs and burlesque.
Transgender icon April Ashley passes away at the age of 86. State Legislatures are preparing to return to work crafting legislation to take away trans people’s rights. Gavin Grimm won his court case but only got $1.00 of the settlement. A Mixed Martial Arts fighter is Outsports Transgender Athlete of the Year. Demi Lovoto shaves their head. Judges in the U.K. are instructed that use of preferred pronouns is “common courtesy”. A well known storm chaser comes out as a trans woman. Internalized transphobia holds people back from the help they need. Amy Schneider keeps winning on Jeopardy! There’s that and more plus some TWIT Awards awaiting your attention in TWIT!
Linda had recently contacted another Linda — who had told her the story of growing up in the 1950s with trans feelings but very little realistic chance to act on those feelings. That is until one fateful Hallowe’en when three of the cool girls at school intervened to help set the other Linda’s life on an unexpected path. Got it? Linda was keen to learn more.
Bria made some new year’s resolutions and even though we’re hardly into 2022 at all her friend finds her involved in a debate with a trans denier who insists she is a man. We thought she had resolved not to talk to that dude in 2022. What’s up? (Perceptive viewers will note that the cartoon says Bria had made her resolution for 2018. It’s still relevant so we’re running it again.)
Tory Waltman, along with her partner Stacey Hamilton, two image team professionals closely affiliated with Oklahoma-based HeartlandTG, the largest transgender live music venue in America, started a wonderful program in 2021, they call TransTrunk OKC. Learn more about the couple in this edition of Tell Shelley Anne.
Today we welcome a new contributor to TGForum. Misha Monroe started her education in femme transformation in 2017 and feels her sexiest when presenting herself to the world as Misha. In her first blog here she introduces herself to TGForum subscribers.
It hasn’t been all that long but Jennifer and Amy have made the big decision to move in together. Will their love be as strong when they are living in the same apartment? See how things go in Chapter Six of The Stained Glass Dream.
Santa came down Pauline Estelle’s chimney and left her four pairs of new stockings. The hosiery inspired her to write about hose for TGF. She shares some tips on how to wear both the stay-up kind and the kind of hose that require garters. Read on for her take on the joy of hosiery!
The trans mayor of Palm Springs delays her state senate run. Montana considers dropping surgery requirements for updating birth certificates. Writer and podcast host Rebecca Juro passes away. The U.S. Air Force has a new pronoun policy. A Muxe woman wins elective office in Mexico. The Wachowskis comment on the trans allegory in their Matrix movies. A quidditch league decides to change the name of the game to distance from J.K. Rowling. Rumor mongers are saying that the president of France’s spouse is trans. She is suing. A Lutheran minister in Chicago made the papers with his drag sermon. There’s all that and a bit more plus we hand out a number of TWIT Awards in the spirit of giving.
Dana Bevan feels that the proposed Standards of Care for transgender people concentrates heavily on care for those who are seeking to transition, and ignores a large segment of those who fall under the transgender umbrella. She also finds fault with the WPATH process for commenting on the proposed Standards and with the WPATH data gathering.
It’s a tradition for many people to use the new year as a time to set goals they hope to achieve. Lose weight, give up some vice, do some regular exercise. In this post Eden Carlsen suggests that it takes more to realize your feminine goals for 2022 than just making a list of things to adopt in the new year.
Kandi shares a list of things she’s learned, about herself and other humans, since she started being Kandi part time. If you are only dressing in your home with the blinds shut tight and dream of being able to walk among others without fear pay attention to Kandi’s list.
So what’s new? A jury awards a trans student $4,000,000 because his school kept him from using the boy’s restroom. Stars from Pose are nominated for Golden Globe awards. A new study finds that trans kids getting puberty blockers have a lower incidence of depression and anxiety. Doctors don’t know enough about treating trans men. The producer of James Bond films is open to a non-binary Bond. In Britain conservatives are pushing for a photo I.D. to vote. France has outlawed conversion therapy. South Africa has a shortage of injectable testosterone. J.K. Rowlng makes another ignorant statement about trans rights. There’s all that and more than a bit more in this edition of The Week In Trans! Don’t miss your TWIT!
It’s the last TransTainment of 2021! Isis King stars in a new streaming show. Season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race features a straight guy who does drag. Ghana’s first out transgender musician stands against the oppression of that country’s LGBT people. The CW’s 4400 features a nonbinary actor who plays a Homeland Security officer. That’s just the tip of the trans entertainment iceburg! Check it out!
Sophie Lynne is sick as a dog today, so she wrote, “I’m going to have a guest writer. I share this piece every year on Facialbook. It was written by my dear sister Lisa Empanada in 2012 — her last Christmas. It really shows who she was. She died in September 2013.”
Purge is a word with several meanings. Authoritarian dictators remove anyone who threatens their power in a purge. In the past few years the word became part of movie titles for films in which once a year any crime could be committed with no punishment. Have a beef with a neighbor? Wait for The Purge and get rid of him. But, the most common application of purge as used by trans women is getting rid of all their feminine clothes and accessories. Usually in the middle of the night in a dumpster far from their home. Christy Lewis writes about several meanings of the P word.
The holiday season is upon us and Lorraine Anderson, the lady in charge of The Occasional Woman custom clothing service, has some tips on how to take your glamor up a notch for all of your holiday parties.
After the stress of her sister’s wedding Savannah is glad to just relax and unwind at her mother’s house. With a few more days of her trip home still pending she wants to enjoy visiting with her mother and not thinking about her return to work as a male. Then a conversation with her mother brings up the idea of getting treatment for her male “condition.”
What’s new and exciting? A trans woman is the new mayor of Palm Springs. Another trans woman was elected Atlanta’s city council. The Advocate names a trans woman as one of their People of the Year. Swimmer Lia Thomas gives an interview to a swim magazine. West Side Story makes clear that one character is a trans man. The Nash Bridges reboot adds a trans woman detective. A pastor who appeared in drag on an HBO show is fired. New Zealand passes a law that lets transgender people self-identify. First Nation tribes in Canada have formed 2-spirit council. There’s all that and a hogshead more news from our community to be found in TWIT!
It’s holiday time and while Dina Amberle is cooking up the usual holiday fare she is also throwing in some recipes from other places and times. Today’s menu at Dina’s Diner offers a tasty haggis from Scotland in the form of a Scottish lord in the early 2oth century who was born female but inherited the lordship. Then there is a recipe from China that features computer coders who find crossdressing makes them better at their job. There are other treats waiting down at Dina’s Diner. Don’t miss tasting all that’s on offer!
The end of year holidays are meant to bring joy and happiness but for many people, particularly members of the LGBTQ community, the holidays can be the opposite of happy. Holiday cheer can turn to depression as loneliness, unemployment, and other issues make problems seem insurmountable. Rabbah Rona Matlow reminds us that there is help and you are not alone.
If no one sees trans people out and about, participating in our culture, they won’t spend much time trying to guarantee that trans people will have all of their rights. That means that spotting a trans person in public, in a television show or film, or at a favorite dining spot should not be a rare occurrence. Claire Hall writes about representation.
