Since I moved to Las Vegas, I have had the greatest opportunity to become acquainted with the world-famous singer and theater performer, David de Alba. David is renowned for his female impersonations as a legendary ensemble member at San Francisco’s Finocchio Club; and even in retirement, David performs two shows a year here in Las […]
Dallas Denny takes us back to the days of Germany’s Weimar Republic, a socially liberal, progressive democratic government that ruled Germany after World War I. During that time trans people became bolder and began to be seen out and about in public places. The good times ended when Adolph Hitler was elected chancellor and his National Socialist party came to power. Dallas feels that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it and she finds chilling similarities between the fall of the Weimar Republic and what is currently happening in the U.S.A.
Have you ever wondered how Linda Jensen got her CD name? Do you want to know how she discovered the crossdressing world and when that was? The answer to the last question was in the late ’60s. Linda wrote all about it, and some of the story is a bit risque, on TGForum back in 1998. We bring the article back now as a TGForum Retro Rerun. Step back in time and learn how Linda first made contact (intimate contact) with the drag community at a club in Toronto called the St. Charles.
Welcome to The Week in Trans! You may wonder where the ‘genderism” went, and we are happy to answer. Dropping that part made sense since it’s easier to type “trans” than “transgenderism.” Also, the term “transgenderism” is outdated and offensive to some. What do we learn in TWIT today? A trans woman performance artist is suing Chicago so women can bare their breasts in bars. A research study shows that trans people’s brain structure is different. What does the Bible really say about trans people? Samoa prepares for its annual drag pageant. The DOJ creates a training video for police interactions with trans people. HB2 news! Courtney Act interviews people at a Trump rally. Steven Colbert revives that video with Rudy Giuliani in drag. Wigstock sets sail. All that and more plus a load of TWIT Awards is waiting for you in TWIT!
[youtube]zlTjKBg0GfU[/youtube] You’ll want to be a part of this special show, My Golden Years at Finocchio’s, on August 14 as David’s documentarian will be filming his performance for use in the documentary film about David and Finocchio’s. Speaking of which, here is a rare photo of David at Finocchio’s with Paul Ryner, David’s partner, and […]
Time for another blast from the past. Now and then we unlock the vault and take a look at what’s stored away down in the TGForum Archives. This article from 1997 was the first of Britanny Rose’s long series on crossdressing and trans characters in comic books, Brittany’s Cartoon Corner. In this article she explored the four times Jimmy Olsen, Superman’s pal and intrepid cub reporter went undercover in a dress and high heels.
In honor of Mother’s Day we present a segment of video from the forthcoming David de Alba documentary in which David talks about his mother Tila and her great influence on his life. The video was shot in David’s Las Vegas home.
Angela Gardner takes a visit to the online Transgender Archive hosted by the University of Victoria. This Vancouver based university has solicited contributions of trans related documents, publications, ephemera, and photographs over the past several years. Just recently they announced that the Archive is online. Angela checks it out and finds the negatives and positives in this review.
The Cuban Legend, David de Alba, made his name in the female impersonation world when he performed at the legendary San Francisco nightclub Finocchio’s. David is the last of the Finocchio’s stars to still be performing. Last month he did a show in Las Vegas, where he resides, and there was a video camera recording […]
It’s the 2015 Week In Transgenderism Wrap Up! It’s selected stories from our weekly news digest column for every month from January to December 2015. Return with us now to the beginning of 2015 and work your way through the year. Keep on scrolling! The news goes on for a long while.
In May of 2000 David de Alba went to see Steven Wayne in the La Cage Revue in Las Vegas and was mesmerized by his perfectionism performing as Cher and Celine Dion. David was also impressed with Wayne’s appearance, from the styling of the wigs he wore to his make-up, and of course his costuming. That’s why David conducted this interview that he has kindly allowed us to re-publish today on TGF.
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 writes about the women who adopted male identities to fight in the Civil War.
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.
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.
Step back in time and see a video of Rene de Carlo, the International Dancing Star, performing onstage at the legendary Finocchio’s in San Francisco in 1980. No, we don’t have a hot tub time machine. The video was recorded by David de Alba’s long-time partner Paul Ryner and it presents a clip out of the heyday of female impersonation in the City by The Bay.
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 […]
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.
Dana Bevan has filed this report from the Transgender Word War. She feels that transgender people have been engaged in a war to find words to adequately express the phenomenon that we share. The war of words has proceeded along three fronts. In this post she outlines what those three fronts are and engages in a bit of hand to hand combat with the psychiatric establishment.
David de Alba interviewed The Lady Chablis after her appearance in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. With David’s kind permission we share that interview here on TGForum. When I saw the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, I didn’t know what to expect, although I was told that it […]
The play Casa Valentina was based on a book created by two artists/antique dealers. It was titled Casa Susanna and was comprised of photos from the crossdressing resort that one of them found in a box at a flea market. Here is a report from Sex TV on the in which the artists talk about […]
David de Alba sold out The Onyx Theatre on June 21 in Las Vegas. All the seats were filled for his Judy Garland Tribute Show. David was surprised during the show to receive and award for his portrayal on stages across the country of Garland. After the show he got another award from his inspiration from Cuba. See a slideshow of the performance.
Renowned gender illusionist Jim Bailey passed away on May 30 due to complications from pneumonia. He was 77. Bailey was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born on January 10, 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Sara and Claude Bailey. He had one brother, Claude. As a teenager he studied opera at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. In the 1960s he […]
This is a story of synchronicity, or perhaps coincidence. Our friend-of-TGForum, David de Alba, was a performer at Finocchio’s nightclub in San Francisco up until the 1980s. He also owned a hair salon in the Potrero Hill District of that city by the bay. Being a female impersonator, Finocchio’s only Cuban F.I. at that, brought […]
Dorian Wayne was an Anita Ekberg look-a-like who performed with The Jewel Box Review and at the 82 Club in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Dorian was the glamorous creation of Rick Colantino. Dorian starred in several “B” (or more like “D”) movies. Here is a short film about Dorian Wayne that includes film and still photos. It’s narrated by Rick Colantino.
Dallas Denny gave the keynote address at the 9th Transgender Lives: The Intersection of Health and Law Conference in Farmington, CT on April 25, 2015. The title of Dallas’s speech was “Dismantling the Gender Binary.” Just recognizing that there is a gender binary is the first step toward dismantling it. Dallas discusses a few of the milestones along the way to the acceptance of many gender identities.
