While he was running for president Donald J. Trump said he would be the best president ever for LGBT people. He must have a different definition of the word “best” than we do. Because of his positive statements about the LGBT community many people in that community supported him with their vote. Surprisingly there are still some who support him. Sabrina Symington makes an editorial comment on that in today’s cartoon.
Amanda F. Steele gets out her lasso and rounds up a whole herd of tidbits about trans people in the arts. From trans actresses and singers to a trans man Alaskan singer/songwriter, and the world’s only trans woman mariachi, Amanda has all the news about trans people in the arts and entertainment. Ruby Rose is Batwoman, Dana International, the 1998 winner, returns to the Eurovision Song Contest, and much more! Videos included! Catch up on all the trans art and entertainment news that Amanda has rounded up this month! It’s Trans Media Arts!
In a future which has gone wrong Zealots seek to purge the nation of LGBT people. Gay people are illegal. Trans women who don’t “pass” turn to black market meds in order to fully transition and blend in with the population of cisgender women. Spying, paranoia and secrecy are the norms for trans women and being “outed” means more than just mockery and verbal abuse. Raquel Swann is back with a science fiction tale of a future world that could be all too real. Read Episode 3.1: Friends & Enemies.
It’s The Week In Trans! Today we learn that Jazz Jennings has been accepted at Harvard. The Republican candidate selected to run against the Democrat in North Carolina is the sponsor of the “bathroom bill.” The House of Representatives of the USA passed the Equality Act. Don’t expect it to make it through the Senate. House Republicans attempted to amend the Act to the point where it would have been anti-transgender. Chelsea Manning is back in the slammer for refusing to testify. Danica Roem has made a name for herself in the Virginia legislature. Texas doesn’t want trans people eating at Chick-fil-A. Trans women have a lower risk of breast cancer than cisgender women. A trans man complained of belly pain in the ER. He was in labor and didn’t know it. Google has created gender fluid emojis. SnapChat has a filter that changes a person’s gender in the app. For some cisgender people it’s just fun but it has possible benefits for trans people. The English cabbie who won £4 million in the lottery and changed genders has passed away. There’s all that and a whole lot more, plus several important TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Dana Bevan feels that the words we use to describe members of the transgender community are no longer adequate or proper. Many of the words, like transvestite, transsexual, and others, were coined by psychiatrists or academics and over the years have picked up bad connotations or been applied in error to people who were not in that category. Why should we let the psychiatric profession label us and dominate the words used to describe our behavior, and our demographic and social groups? Dana thinks it’s time we got some new words and she would like your help in coming up with some.
For those born male bodied who wish to fit in with females in our culture, clothes, hair, and makeup are all important. But since our culture views being thin as a positive, which isn’t necessarily so, you may want to work on your figure by losing some weight. Which brings us to the point of this post from the 1990s by Diane Hutchinson which we have resurrected from the TGForum Archives. Here are Diane’s tip for weight loss. Follow them and perhaps you’ll be able to slip into that size 8 dress.
TGForum received this press release from the Neutral Corner group in San Diego. Neutral Corner, San Diego In a Monday, May 6, 2019 article, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the findings of a study conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) on San Diego Police Department’s (SDPD) handling of encounters with the Transgender […]
Emily and all her girlfriends attend the church dance. The dancing is slow to start until one of the boys crosses the floor to politely ask Emily if she will dance with him. She accepts and is thrilled by his attentions, and his compliment about her beauty. Then, after walking her to the refreshments table he thanks her for the dances and leaves her with her friends. But other boys soon ask her to dance and it gets to the point that there could be some jealousy among the other girls over Emily’s popularity with several boys. Find out all about Emily’s night at the church dance in this chapter of Emily.
Today in TWIT we learn that the first transgender member of the Brazilian congress has been elected. 58% of respondents to an NCTE survey said they were harassed or abused by law enforcement. The Colorado National Guard refuses to institute the trans ban. Students denied access to restrooms and locker room corresponding to their gender identity are more likely to be victims of sexual assault. Colorado’s governor signed a bill cutting off state funds for trans health care. Mexico’s Supreme Court has upheld people’s right to have their birth certificates updated. A trans woman weight lifter has her wins rescinded. A court in Canada has ordered a father who constantly misgenders his trans son to keep his mouth shut. 11-year-old drag queen Desmond is Amazing is featured in a sneakers ad campaign. Indya Moore is on the cover of Elle. There’s all that and a whole lot more, plus several TWIT Awards waiting for your perusal in TWIT!
When a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of dressing like a woman one of the first questions he must ask himself is, “What sizes do I wear?” In the old days this was where the Sears catalog came in handy. Now that the catalog and its size charts is ancient history how do you determine what size dress will fit?You can find that info on the web but Lorraine Anderson, the lady behind The Occasional Woman custom clothing service has a way for you to be sure that hot red dress will fit and look good on you.
Thoughts of mortality begin to appear the older one gets. Your mind can wander down paths where you begin to think about what your lasting impression on the universe will be, or just wonderwhat will happen to all your “stuff.” We accumulate a great deal of “things in the course of a lifetime. What will happen to those thins, our stuff, when we’ve left? And, for transgender people, “who” will be remembered by those left behind? Will it be the person who expressed their true gender for part of their life or will it be the old persona the closed the door on? Sophie muses on all that in today’s blog, Momento Mori.
Lynda Martini is on a mission. Her goal? To find other humans, of any gender, to date. Today she discusses the importance of dressing on-mission. Looking like a soccer mom will not help you to attract potential partners when you post you pic on dating apps. Also it’s important to learn to present the proper pose when perched on a barstool out in the world, as well as when to utilize the all important hair flip. Lynda has realized that in order to attract potential dates it’s important to be “femtabulous.” That’s a word she coined, so she is an expert in being femtabulous. Join her as she explores the dating scene.
The week before last Amanda got into her car and set out to visit her mother in Florida. You might think she would have timed the trip for Mother’s Day but she wanted to be there for her birthday — she turned 50 on May 1. In today’s blog she talks about the trip, only mentions her anxiety troubles a couple of times, and concentrates on how nice it was to be with her mother for a few days, very near a restful, peaceful beach on the Gulf Coast. And she describes the birthday cake her mom “surprised” her with.
When Katherine Diaz started sending us reports from Bogota, Columbia she was a solo crossdresser who would venture out into the night looking for places where she could feel she fit in. In the course of the years she has been putting her story on TGForum she has evolved. First came meeting others into the crossdressing lifestyle, then gaining admittance to the world of drag performers where she learned more about glamor and makeup. Today she is known all over town as a culture advisor on LGBT issues. Here is her latest report with an accompanying video.
What do we learn in today’s edition of The Week In Trans? Ten transgender asylum seekers have been granted asylum. The Trump administration issues a rule allowing doctors to deny treatment based on their faith. Arizona courts can compel parents to provide counseling and treatment for trans children. In an AARP survey 46% of grandparents would accept LGBT grandchildren. Iowa votes to not allow taxpayer dollars going toward transgender care. Gavin Grimm will get his day in court in July. Tennessee makes being in the restroom of your gender identity comparable to indecent exposure. More on the story of the Welsh woman who reacted badly to hormone treatment. Caster Semenya is not transgender but her excess testosterone could influence treatment of transgender women athletes. The creator of Friends admits that lack of knowledge about transgender issues led the show to some bad transgender plot lines. Pose returns in June. There’s all that and a boatload more of news from the transgender world waiting for you in TWIT!
Today Dina Amberle takes a variety of tasty ingredients and whips up a satisfying soufflé that is sure to sell well at the Diner. It features one part, how the Jewish community is changing to deal with gender fluid b-mitzvahs. The she stirs in some gender changing that crosses the borderline. Adds a soupçon of male Filipinos walking in high heels and stirs in a few female spies. Then she garnishes with a bit about the true gender of a Revolutionary War hero, giving you another scrumptious repast available only at Dina’s Diner.
What time is it? Time for The Week In Trans! Today we learn there is a transgender woman candidate for president. The SCOTUS will hear arguments in the case of the trans woman fired by a funeral home. More on Kirsten Gillibrand and the drag show. The CDC says one out of seven trans woman have HIV. A Canadian drag queen was instrumental in decriminalizing homosexuality. Several states have announced their National Guard will not follow the Mattis Plan. Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied about trans in the military. San Francisco opens a shelter for homeless transgender teens. A Honduran trans woman has been granted asylum, after waiting a year. The police in one area of Pakistan are recruiting trans community members. There’s all that and more plus a good helping of TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Sabrina Symington is with us today and she’s brought along a cartoon that should make you laugh out loud. If you don’t, what’s the matter with ya? It’s getting near time for those of us in the northern hemisphere who want to think about wearing a swimsuit, out in public, when the summer arrives, to get to work on our winter bodies and tone them up. But what if there was another way? Sabrina has a new swimsuit design that takes advantage of what you’ve got.
Patrick was a closeted gay flight attendant with a major U.S. airline a few decades ago. He and his crew-mates were based in Denver but often had to stay overnight in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and San Diego. It is during one of those layovers that our story starts to unfold. Patrick is outed to his crew-mates and instead of rejection he is encouraged to present himself as Patty. After being Patty around his fellow crew members while off duty the women on the crew presented Patrick with a women’s flight attendant outfit. Then they helped him with hair and makeup so he could work as Patty. Find out how that goes in this part of Dreams Take Flight.
Amanda F. Steele covers the trans entertainment beat and today she files her report from the road. She has info on trans people on TV, trans children of Hollywood stars, the drag queens of Glasgow, and more. Settle in and keep up with transgender people and themes in entertainment with Trans Media Arts.
In a future which has gone wrong Zealots seek to purge the nation of LGBT people. Gay people are illegal. Trans women who don’t “pass” turn to black market meds in order to fully transition and blend in with the population of cisgender women. Spying, paranoia and secrecy are the norms for trans women and being “outed” means more than just mockery and verbal abuse. Raquel Swann is back with a science fiction tale of a future world that could be all too real. Read Episode 2.4, New Beginnings.
Gianna Israel provided nationwide telephone consultation, individual and relationship counseling, and gender specialized evaluations and recommendations since 1988. She passed away on February 21, 2006 after a long illness. Her writings on gender issues had a significant impact on the field. TGForum published many of her columns in the 1990s. Here is a Retro Rerun column from 1999 on how trans women can handles aggressive men who harass or attack them.
Time for all the transgender news we could find! It’s The Week In Trans! Meet the new transgender member of Thailand’s parliament. Learn more about the effects of the trans in the military ban. A beer company brews up a beer named for Marsha P. Jackson. The AMA tells a judge that trans kids need to be allowed to use the restroom of the gender they identify as. A university in England runs an online survey about the trans community’s take on transgender athletes. Presidential candidate Kristen Gillibrand hung out with drag queens backstage at a show in Iowa. All-male Morehouse College will admit trans male students. Beto O’Rourke got so worked up over the Texas bathroom bill he broke a promise not to cuss. Harry’s Shaving Company features a trans man in their TV ad. The stars of Pose will lead the New York Pride Parade. A trans teen from Brunei fled that country to seek refuge in Canada. There’s all that and much more along with several TWIT Awards in this edition of TWIT!
Dana Bevan follows up on a couple of stories she previously reported on in her blog. One is the fallout from the paper by Dr. Lisa Littman purporting to prove that Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria is a thing, and is being caused by kids following trends and experiencing peer pressure to claim they are transgender. The second is the rise in stories about “transgender regret” or “detransitioning.” The conservative media latches onto any story about a transgender person transitioning and then having regrets and going back to their birth gender. Dana has facts to refute those claims.
Young Robert, a boy small for his age, begins to consider what it is about girls that makes them so different from boys. As part of his research he tries on his sister’s clothes — and gets caught by his sister. Instead of being mad, after she gets over her initial surprise, she helps him transform more fully into a girl. Then his mother finds out about what has been going on and agrees that he should explore femininity. Now he is Emily, a cousin from Portland, who is staying with the family for the summer while Robert has told everyone he is going to work on his uncle’s boat. Emily has moved into Robert’s old room, which has been feminized, and even talks to some of Robert’s friends who have no idea who she is. In fact one of them seems to be crushing on Emily. Find out what happens in Chapter 4.
Back in the 1990s Dov Sherman wrote a column for TGForum on Japanese manga and anime. While much of the manga Dov reviewed is no longer available the runaway success of Ranma 1/2 has made it so popular around the world that the manga and anime are always available. Ranma is on interest to us because in the first adventure he falls into a cursed spring and it changes him into a girl. Hot water can change him back into a boy. Think that might make life and love a little difficult? Here is Dov Sherman’s Manga Focus column on Ranma 1/2 from 1997.
