Dina Amberle has cooked up another tasty column that is sure to satisfy. Today she mixes together a portion of trans kids knowing what they are, beats in the history of trans man husbands, sprinkles on a show from the Philippines that featured a beautiful trans character played by a cisgender man and let’s it all cool for awhile. Then she stirs it all together, seasons with some homely sexiness, and garnishes the plate with some hot glam punk from the ’80s.
All the hot news from the entertainment world that features trans people is condensed into a tasty soup every month that we call TransTainment. Today we’ve got news about a lack of trans characters in films, news about the “beauty boys” who are social media stars, cartoons featuring trans and non-binary characters and more!
Claire Hall is surviving the Covid-19 pandemic like many other folks. She is able to work from home most of the time and still attends many meetings everyday. What’s different about those meetings is that they now take place via the internet and the attendees are all on her computer screen as tiny people in stacked boxes. After many months of working this way Claire’s attention to her beauty routine had started to slip. After all, she’s wearing a mask much of the time. Who needs lipstick? Read on and find if she managed to get her groove back.
Our new contributor Christy is back this week with the story of how she slowly, very slowly, made a transition at work. Like many in the transgender community she used Halloween as a way to introduce herself as a feminine person in her workplace. She feels that by taking the introduction of Christy to coworkers and management she was more successful in fitting in with very little, if any, problems.
Beginning as always with the news we learn that several trans women have won elections, including Peyton Rose Michelle. Colorado outlaws the use of sexual orientation or gender identity as a defense in a criminal trial. Maine allows undeclared gender markers on birth certificates. Some non-binary people feel as if they’re not seen. There’s more violence against trans women of color. Sistahs are doing it for themselves in Memphis where they provide housing for trans women. Black trans women in New Orleans are getting new homes from the House of Tulip. The first trans person to enlist in the U.S. military is discharged after an injury in basic training. New York City drag performers have had to adjust their performance techniques to cope with Covid-19. 60% of trans and non-binary youth report self harming in the last 12 months. Zeke Smith talks about being outed on Survivor. J.K. Rowling’s book sales are slumping. RuPaul takes Drag Race north of the border for a Canadian show. There’s all that and a lot more, along with a few TWIT Awards, waiting for you in TWIT!
Sabrina Symington has been letting us publish pages of her horror/suspense graphic novel and it’s pretty darned scary. To counter that she sent along a new Bria cartoon that offers a light, positive message.
Rev. Yolanda is a singer, songwriter, trans-femme genderqueer performance artist and interfaith minister, originally from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, ‘The Hit Recording Capital of The World.’ Rev. Yolanda and husband Rev. Glen Ganaway are the founders of the monthly ‘spiritual happening’ Church With A 2 Drink Minimum. Yolanda will soon be releasing her new EP of “ambient kundalini dance rock” titled”YolandaNanda.” She is interviewed today by Shelley Anne about the EP and her life.
Today we learn a trans model graces the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue. Oregon offers a non-binary ID option. MasterCard extends True Name to Europe. TLDEF and a coalition of other organizations sue the administration over its move to undermine the ACA. Several more trans women of color are murdered. One missing trans woman is found. Boulder, Colorado opens a shelter for women, trans women and non-binary people. Nicole Maines counts her blessings. Halle Berry announces she’s playing a trans man in an upcoming film and blowback causes her to give up the part. Trans kid Kai Shappley gets a role in a Netflix show playing a trans kid. Kim Petras promotes a program that gives young trans people ID that will let them vote. A gay porn actor wins a drag contest. More kerfuffle over J.K. Rowling’s cosiness with TERFs. The Netherlands is adding LGBTQ protections to its constitution. There’s all that and a lot more plus a few TWIT Awards in this edition of TWIT!
Today Pauline Estelle imparts her wig wisdom. She gives her take on whether synthetic or human hair is right for your look and your budget. What style is most flattering and and how do you take care of your new hair are among the questions she answers. For some, growing their own hair is an option, but if your own hair has left the building your best bet is a wig. Pauline shares her thoughts on the subject in To Wig or Not to Wig, That is the Question.
Today Dr. Dana Bevan explains why there is confusion over the difference between sex and gender. Conflating the two endangers the idea that transgender people exist. More attention needs to be paid to terminology and we demand that people define their terms and define them using objective criteria—things that can be observed, including behavior. We do not need vague notions about “identity” or “dysphoria”. Learn why sex and gender are not interchangeable terms and why they using the wrong terms creates confusion.
Today Chrissy Gann devotes The Butterfly Chronicles to the differences she has found between the time in her life when she was pretending to be a man and what it’s like to now be seen by her friends and co-workers as a woman. For one thing she has to accept mansplaining about things she already understands. And now that they see her as a woman co-workers feel free to comment on her weight. Her therapist says that’s good as they are accepting her gender and treating her within societal norms. Find out what other differences transition has shown Chrissy in the edition of The Butterfly Chronicles.
It’s The Week In Trans! Today we learn that Google celebrated Pride month’s end with a doodle of Marsha P. Johnson and did a bit more. Parents say their trans kids are doing better with distance learning than they did attending classes. Meet D D Decor, a trans woman who lets the world know Black Trans Lives Matter. The Trump administration rule changes would put homeless trans women into men’s shelters. Violence against trans women continues. Reddit dropped a subreddit that was critical of trans female gender identity. Two identical twin trans girl models are making waves in Paris fashion. Godzilla has a trans daughter. RuPaul deletes her Instagram account. There’s all that and so much more awaiting you in TWIT!
Today Lorraine Anderson writes about the importance of the proper fashion accessories. In this particular time in history that means masks and gloves. It’s hard to be glam when you’re no longer alive so wearing a mask and gloves helps to make sure you have years of livng it up as a lady ahead of you, and it protects others as well. And, masks and gloves don’t need to be plain and boring. Gloves especially come in all sorts of designs. Masks can be playful or mysterious, or even give you a space alien look that’s sure to take people by surprise. See what The Occasional Woman advises on stayin’ alive.
Sophie Lynne takes a trip to a cemetery to indulge her appreciation for headstones and funereal monuments. There, while walking among the worn away sandstone grave markers, she has some thoughts about the impermanence of the flesh and how even memories carved in stone will over time fade away.
Christy Lewis’s driver’s license had a photo of her before her transition and even though she had renewed online and changed the gender marker and name the pandemic kept the photo centers from opening. That meant she had to carry the old license with the old photo along with her proof she was who she was. in June the photo centers reopened and Christy headed out to get her photo taken. She wore her mask and was prepared to stand in line. Today she tells you how the whole experience went.
TWIT time! A trans woman has become the first one to every win an election in West Virginia. An openly transgender police officer on the Chicago force is featured in an interview. Many ripples are passing through the legal pond after the SCOTUS ruling on Title VII. Laverne Cox is interviewed on Today about her new documentary Disclosure. Black Lives Matter protests feature black trans women. San Francisco’s Transgender District almost shut down due to lack of funds. The Stonewall Inn is also in financial trouble. The Trump administration is still bent on taking away transgender people’s rights. A Baptist minister came out to her congregation on a Zoom service. Candidates who oppose transgender rights are losing elections around the country. Four authors fire their literary agent who represents J.K. Rowling. Backlash on Rowling’s stand on trans women continues with some fans getting their Harry Potter related tattoos inked over. Zaya Wade was the photographer who took her step mom’s photo for a magazine cover. Divine is being honored with a line of designer t-shirts. There’s all that and much for waiting for you in TWIT!
Dina’s Diner is always a good place to stop. There’s never any restrictions on seating and no matter the size of the crowd you can always socially distance. And the proprietress, chef, and hostess, Dina Amberle, always has a fresh dish cooking in the back. No matter what your tastes run to Dina has something savory to satisfy. Today she offers up a few specials. There’s the controversy over former members of male teams who now identify as females competing with cisgender females. Then a compote of info on those who had show biz careers in one gender then transitioned to have more success as their true selves. She mixes in some protests of the peaceful kind, and offers up some thoughts on masking and thing swimsuits. Don’t miss Dina’s Diner!
We call it TransTainment and it’s news about transgender people in the arts and entertainment! Today we look back to the 1968 documentary The Queen which follows drag contestants in 1967’s Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant. Then we learn about the first trans character coming to The Chi. A Southeast Asian trans activist and artist is mixing art and activism. Laverne Cox has produced a film about the way transgender people have been featured in film and TV. Doctor Who, in the audio adventures, has a new Companion and she’s transgender. Josie Totah is starring in an updated Saved By The Bell as a popular cheerleader. And that’s not all of our trans entertainment news.
Claire Hall had a higher profile than most who begin transition. She was prominent in county government and before she came out to her colleagues she had concerns that there would be opposition to her gender change. Happily she didn’t face very much negativity when she announced her transition and the ridicule she had been anticipating didn’t occur. Things went well — until the arrival of the COVID019 pandemic. After her county made a decision on mandatory masks the anti-mask crowd descended on her like evil pigeons on someone in a birdseed covered suit. Today she writes about how tough the abuse has been.
Oru newest Contributor is Charles James and today is his debut blog. Charles will be writing from time to time about the awakening of his sexuality after the passing of his wife. Suddenly he realized that he found trans women sexually attractive. His first blog is about his tentative steps into a new world, one that he had no experience with before.
Today we learn Brianna Titone runs for reelection to her seat in the Colorado House of Representatives. Several parents share stories about their transgender children. Having a hairless body wasn’t always a feminine trait. Two online health clinics cater to trans patients with tele-health services. Lots of movement from the Supreme Court on Title VII and DACA. Kim Petras says she wasn’t seen as a performer and musician when she came out but was judged on her gender status. The same stereotypes that hold trans women back also hold cisgender women back. More back and forth about the J.K. Rowling situation. Even John Cleese weighs in. Protests continue in the streets with a Black Trans Lives Matter march and a Drag March for Change. More violence against trans women of color occurs. One murderer is arrested in Chicago. People want Dominique Jackson, known for Pose, to play the part of Storm in the next X-Men movie. We’re got all of that and more plus a few TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Dallas Denny is renowned for her work on advocacy, policy issues, and health practices involving transsexual and transgender people. She has served as adviser to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, The University of Michigan, the Centers for Disease Control, the city of Atlanta, journalists, and filmmakers. Shelly Anne Baker interviews her in the first installment of Tell Shelley Anne.
Time for that weekly condensation of all the trans related news we can find, The Week In Trans! Today we learn that a trans woman has become the first elected in West Virginia. The NCAA may move their tournament games out of Idaho over the state’s ban on trans women in sports. More fatal violence against transgender women of color and a march in their honor. A trans woman arrested during protests in Seattle is placed in a male prison for two days. A lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense over a trans woman’s military service is dropped when she is given a waiver allowing her to continue to serve. After being forced to drop coverage for transgender rights the Jacksonville City Council passed the changes again. A 99-year-old vet of WWII raises money for LGBTQ youth. Testosterone appears to not affect the eggs of trans men. Rebecca Root portrays the first transgender companion of Doctor Who. Munroe Bergdorf is back on the job as a spokesperson for L’Oreal. There’s all that and a lot about the blowback to J.K. Rowling’s statements on trans women, plus a number of TWIT Awards, waiting for your eager eyes!
Our correspondent in Columbia, Katherine Diaz, reports on how the drag entertainment scene in her city has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As in many other areas what used to happen as a live performance inside a theater or nightclub is now to be found on YouTube, social media streams, and on people’s websites. As always Katherine has a video as well as her blog.
Dear Ms Rowling, You say you only want to be heard. That is a reasonable request. I read your essay. You say that you are being attacked, and are even receiving threats of violence. I’ll start my response by promising no violence, and the sincere hope that you don’t feel attacked by me. Tempers can […]
What is “Community Pride”? I think in the context of the LGBTQ it is a combination of stereotypes, truths, contradictions and drag queens. Anyone who has any experience within the community can recognize it sight unseen: the effusive interactions, over-the top grandeur and effete snobbery; but also the loving camaraderie. Oh, but let’s not be […]
