Today Katherine Diaz, our Columbian Correspondent, visits Bogota’s headquarters for femme transformations. It’s called Tranxtienda and with the help of Angela Gardner, who asks questions about the service, Katherine get information on the business from the owner.
To our U.S. readers, happy 4th of July! And now the news. Today we learn that Jazz Jennings has had her gender confirmation surgery. Starbucks will cover GCS for its employees. The Atlantic article about those who “desist” gender change creates controversy. Angela Ponce won Miss Universe Spain making her the first trans woman competing for Miss Universe. A trans woman set herself on fire as a protest. Scotland is taking steps to ban discrimination based on gender identity. Drag queens offer beauty tips and tricks on a style website. David de Alba’s Judy Garland collection is featured on TV. There’s all that and more plus a load of well deserved TWIT Awards waiting for you in this edition of TWIT!
Dina Amberle, hostess and head chef at Dina’s Diner has whipped up another delicious confection to tickle your palette. She takes a dash of trans model Hunter Schafer, adds in some male ballerina spice and just a smidgen of African print dresses. Then she blends it all thoroughly and chills it for a bit before topping it off with an appreciation of the way new technology makes Elasticgirl’s body more bouncy in The Incredibles 2. Don’t worry about the calories! Enjoy!
Last month Sophie Lynne reviewed the graphic novel Crosswind in which a ruthless hitman and a frazzled housewife exchange bodies. Sophie gave the series a positive review and thought, due to a short bit of dialogue in the fourth book, that there was a trans woman character who might be featured in later books. Turns out that was true, and now that Sophie has obtained all of the books, and read them twice, she has decided to add something about the series in this month’s Page Pundit.
Claire writes today about meeting a controversial figure in the trans community. Caitlyn Jenner. Ms. Jenner arrived in the community when she came out at 64 with no ties to the community. She didn’t even know any transgender people. Then she made several mistakes that opened her up to attacks from some trans community members. Claire was aware of all that when Ms. Jenner came to her area for a college speech. Knowing some would not approve, Claire managed to meet Ms. Jenner and blogs about it today.
Our agender Youth Correspondent tackles the subject of dating while trans and queer. M prefers they/them as pronouns and that one fact makes it hard to connect with anyone for romance. Once M stepped outside the binary they found barriers. For example an online dating site that lets you pick your gender from a long list but then you have to chose how you want to be labeled in search results and you can only be a boy or a girls. Step into Dating While Trans and see what M ran into.
Cheryl Ann Sanders, a.k.a. Cassie, was a frequent contributor to Transgender Forum in the past. Back in the 1990s when TGForum featured and interactive bulletin board it bristled with challenges and responses. One of the challenges was to describe your first kiss as a woman. Cassie dips back into the past today to present her answer to that question and she challenges you to add your response in the comment area below.
It’s time for The Week In Trans! What do we learn this week, you ask? A drag queen story time in New York featured a lesson on gender identity. The World Health Organization has reclassified transgender. That reclassification could hurt the administration’s attempts to ban trans people in the military. A trans activist who knows the law was asked for ID to enter the ladies’ room. She ended up calling the police and they backed her up. The Trump administration will be housing trans prisoners according to their birth gender. Other legal cases are also in the news. Muxes in Mexico get phony Muxes stricken from the ballot. The North Carolina HB2 battle is still going on. Captain Hannah Winterbourne and her new husband are featured in a wedding planning TV show. Australia sets the first standards for treatment of trans youth. Need wig advice? Ask some queens. There’s all that and a host of TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Amanda F. Steele covers the transgender arts and entertainment scene. Today she talks about the event surrounding the San Francisco Pride March; digs into the #metoo controversy around Morgan Freeman’s treatment of female interviewers, including Janet Mock; and offers some info on Cynthia Nixon’s transgender son, and a trans model who is walking the runaway for major designers. She also has a look at a band who decided to support gender fluidity by putting their legs on display the same way they use women’s legs in their logo. It’s all waiting for you in Trans Media Arts.
In the internet age there are tons of bloggers and fashion influencers out there with their opinions about what to wear. The web is packed with styles from the runways and designer houses to the influence of street fashion, and the ideas of a legion of bloggers. What’s a girl to do? Who do you listen to for fashion ideas to try out? Tasi Zuriack, our Fashion Maven, has some ideas on where to look to find the styles that work for you.
The Artist D! has attended their first ever BDSM convention and with the sight of dominatrixes in head to toe latex walking their human “dogs” on leashes and the other somewhat shocking images to be seen at every turn The Artist D! finds a similarity between all conventions that celebrate life styles. And they wonder what the world would be like if the people at BDSM convention, furry conventions, and crossdresser conventions could be totally open and display their inner selves during their everyday life. Get The Artist D!’s other thoughts on the subject in “The Magic of the Gatherings.”
There is nothing like a cartoon to point out hypocrisy and double standards. That’s why we love Sabrina Symington. Today she takes aim at people who are prime examples of cognitive dissonance, who hold one idea about one group of people’s rights and another idea about their own rights.
Our Fashion Maven Tasi Zuriack lives in Mexico and her town has an annual Pride Parade. This year on June 16 Tasi was invited to ride on a local gay club’s float. But it didn’t turn out as easy as that sounds. You would think it would be show up, get on the float, wave at the crowd. But Murphy’s Law was being enforced that day. First off, it rained. But, we’ll let Tasi tell you the tale of how she finally made it onto the float and took part in the Pride event.
Linda (in drab) spots another t-girl approaching down the Walmart aisle. Do they meet? Do they chat? Will this be the beginning of a long and cherished friendship? No, not quite. Today Linda explores the things that kept her from meeting and befriending a fellow devotee of the femme lifestyle. And looking back on the almost encounter Linda wonders if her body language might have scared the gal off.
Pauline Estelle and her wife Gail have put together a slideshow of how you can take a basic dress or skirt and top and add accessories that can make the basic look more dressy, or keep it casual. A little black dress by itself projects class. Add a statement necklace, long earrings and a glittery clutch handbag and you have something to wear to that fancy dinner or cocktail party. The same dress with a simple scarf can be worn for shopping trip or lunch at your favorite restaurant. See all the looks in Pauline’s blog.
Guest Contributor Melanie Yarborough of Neutral Corner support group in San Diego attended San Diego’s annual LGBT film festival and saw a screening of the controversial film Anything. It’s the story of a man who loses his wife in an auto accident and moves to Los Angeles to live with a relative. Moving into his own place he meets a transgender sex worker and they connect in a complimentary way. The controversy is around the casting of a cisgender male actor in the transgender role. Read Melanie’s thoughts on the controversy.
Time now for The Week In Trans! What do we learn today? Iceland’s Independence Day parade is led by a drag performer. Reggie Bullock will ride a float in the NYC Pride Parade to honor his late sister. The Pentagon neglected to send out a memo recognizing Pride Month. During Philadelphia’s Pride event a trans woman tried to burn a flag in protest putting people in danger. The Portland police have a trans captain. More legal blocks for the trans military ban. One little bit of DNA snipped and a mouse is born female. An Alaskan trans woman sues the state over her health coverage. Texas is still going on about men in the ladies’ room. Get to know your trans candidates before the November election. Muslims who are transgender in Thailand have a difficult time. More on the male ballet dancer who is dancing as one of the female dancers. There’s all that and more plus a plethora of TWIT Awards in this edition of TWIT!
Dana Bevan has been asked to write a science book for doctors and other providers to help treat transgender patients. Her first step before writing a single word was to go out and assess the current state of health care provider/transpatient encounters. Her post today consists of three sections (1) State of provider education, (2) State of healthcare for non-transitioning transgender people (3) State of healthcare for transitioning transgender people.
Today our Correspondent in Thailand presents a piece of fiction that discusses the nature of time. Isn’t it funny how when you are anticipating something time seems to move so slowly. Then when that thing you have been waiting for arrives suddenly there just isn’t enough time to enjoy it as much as you’d like. While Precious Time is a work of fiction you may well see yourself in the main role.
Susan Grant is one of the lucky ones who got to patronize the legendary Finocchio’s nightclub in San Francisco back in 1958 when men were men and and men were women onstage. She visited the club while she was in the Navy and Finocchio’s was on the Navy’s “Off Limits” list. That only made her want to check it out more. She returned to visit the club 30 years later and found that it no longer the same experience. Today she writes about the club and passes on a juicy bit of information on what may have happened after Howard Hughes visited Finicchio’s.
Raquel and Mark, seemingly two parts of one person that became separated after drinking a strange potion, have been transported to another land, possibly another world. There they confront “the Magistrate” who is apparently responsible for their condition. In a house that is a duplicate of their childhood home Raquel meets her “mother” and then her “father.” Then she finds herself cast into darkness only to awaken in a horrid swamp confronted by a hideous creature with one eye. It’s Guug, an ogre who tries to protect her from wolves but the wolves attack and Guug is injured. Raquel is in serious peril! Is all lost? What will happen next? Read Chapter 21 of Metamorphosis.
Today Lorraine Anderson, the woman in charge at The Occasional Woman seamstress service, talks about what she saw when she to a party for trans people. She observed attendees who were otherwise well dressed as women walking like guys. Shoulders were hunched forward and high heel shod feet were planted apart. Then there were the body language errors she observed while attendees were sitting down. Lorraine will go into everything in much more detail and if your goal is to be accepted as a woman in public you should make note of what she says. As a bonus we include a video of a group of men who are trying to walk in high heels for the first time. It illustrates some of Lorraine’s comments.
Today Kimberley continues her adventures out and about en femme. She has tips on how to blend in with the other ladies and become comfortable presenting yourself as a woman in interactions with members of the public.
And now the news! It’s The Week In Trans! Today we learn that a gender fluid ballet dancer who uses male pronouns is hired as a ballerina. The Gavin Grimm case grinds on. A trans woman has wins a battle with Sam’s Club. Two Iowa trans women sue the state and win Medicaid coverage. Jockey Victoria Smith rode 250 races as a male. She’s back in the saddle. Legislation news from Japan, the U.K., Denmark, and the U.S.A. A trans actress in Pakistan gets her starring film role. More employers are looking to hire trans people. Where did birth certificates come from? You may be surprised. Singer/rapper Azealia Banks starts a Twitter war with RuPaul. Check out the oldest performing queen’s makeup routine. There’s all that and more waiting for you in TWIT!
As someone who has fought the Darkness of suicidal thoughts Sophie Lynne is very qualified to write about the subject in the wake of the recent celebrity suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. Transgender people are very prone to the depression that can lead to taking one’s own life and Sophie has been at that place, in that moment, more than once. What pulled her back from the edge? What is needed to prevent suicides? She addresses that question and more in today’s blog.
Last week Jan Brown and some of her friends attended the Out Films CT festival at Trinity College in West Hartford. They were there to see the short films with transgender themes. Seven films from all over the world were featured. All were from twelve to thirty minutes in length and covered various perspectives on transgender issues. See what Jan thought of the films in her review.
