If you’ve been following our west coast correspondent Amanda F. Steele’s posts for the last few years she has been living in northern California where she gets by on a minimum wage job while she fights with anxiety and keeps leaning toward going back to the east coast. In today’s post she again wonders why she stays there. She lists the positives and the negatives and talks about her state of mind. Will she make the decision to pack up and head east? Read on and find out.
And now — The Week In Trans! Today we learn that Christine Hallquist, the trans gubernatorial candidate in Vermont has gotten death threats. Another trans candidate is running for a seat in Colorado. The trans students in the restroom stories continue. The Oklahoma family whose trans daughter was threatened are moving. Actor J.J. Totah has come out as transgender. The court case over the military trans ban marches on. Pennsylvania now has a Human Relations Commission. The Vets Administration considers covering GRS. LGBT students preparing to study abroad, take heed. PM Justin Trudeau marched in the Montreal Pride Parade. There’s all that and more, plus a few well deserved TWIT Awards waiting for you in this edition of TWIT!
Slide into a booth or take a seat at the counter. Wherever you sit you’ll always get a tasty mental meal at Dina’s Diner. Today Dina’s specials include some well aged older drag performers. Add a bit of seasoning from the Tour de France’s method of handing out trophies to the winners which relies on attractive women in heels and short skirts. For a main course Dina offers some Crazy Pretty Asians, and a side dish of the late Bill Cunningham’s millinery creations before he became a photographer for The New York Times. For desert Dina offers some comments on “odd-vante garde” drag. You’ll find it all delicious and nutritious, and a bit of fun. Don’t miss Dina’s Diner.
Our Page Pundit is Sophie Lynne. Today she reviews She’s Not There, the first book by Jennifer Finney Boylan. The book tells her story from her youth in Devon, Pa. to her transition. Full disclosure: Sophie has met and hung out with Ms. Boylan so she had to step back a bit to write this review. That doesn’t stop her from writing about the book and its message to all transgender people. Read on and learn what Sophie feels is important about She’s Not There.
Claire Hall has only recently transitioned and for her everything has gone pretty smoothly. One problem she has faced is criticism from people who can’t wrap their heads around the fact that trans women are real women. It’s the old complaints — “He looks like a man in a dress.” “All this person is about is clothes and makeup.” “It takes more than a pair of heels and some lipstick to be a woman.” Claire hits back, in a ladylike manner, in today’s post. Does she seem to take delight in feminine attire? Yes. Because for years she denied herself those clothes and the other things that go with her true gender. Read her post for all of her thoughts on what it is that makes you a real woman.
Time for The Week In Trans! What do we learn today? Trans woman Christine Hallquist in the Democratic nominee for governor of Vermont. A trans man was elected to a college board of directors. The trans military ban trial marches on. A trans girl got so many threats for using the girl’s restroom in her school that school was canceled for several days to keep her safe. Does your makeup melt in the heat and humidity? We have drag queen tips to keep it dry. Utah legislators want to impose an age requirement for legal name changes. Germany now has a third gender option for birth certificates. The cake shop owner has refused to make a “transition celebration cake.” Drag queens keep getting younger. A heckler yelled at Kate Bornstein when she came on stage during a Broadway play. The star advised the heckler to never come to the show again. And that’s just the tip of the stories waiting for you in TWIT, along with a few TWIT Awards!
Amanda F. Steele covers the arts and entertainment beat for TGF. Today she has the news about Nicole Maines in Supergirl, a project by a coalition of Hollywood organizations to promote the casting of transgender actors, a controversy around Amanda Lepore on album artwork, Dame Edna in hot water with the T community, and more. Keep up with what’s happening with transgender people in the arts and entertainment scene by following Trans Media Arts.
It’s The Week In Trans! What do we learn today? The newest preteen drag queen is the U.K.’s 11-year-old Violet Vixen. The trans in the military ban is still slogging through court. Judges in three different cases have upheld trans student’s restroom rights. Miz Cracker was mugged in Dublin. Laverne Cox’s makeup artist was turned away from a chicken restaurant along with other trans people. 67 members of Congress signed a letter promoting trans prisoner’s housing rights. Another Representative has introduced a bill to improve the TSA’s treatment of trans travelers. Transgender vets are as healthy as cis vets. Two trans politicians were profiled in the press. Caitlyn Jenner wants to play a Marvel villain. There’s all that and more plus a few TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Our science writer, Dr. Dana J. Bevan, has embarked on the USPATH. That’s the US Professional Association for Transgender Health. She has been elected to join the USPATH by the U.S. members of the WPATH, The World Professional Association for Transgender Health which publishes the Standards of Care (SOC) document for transgender health and treatment. As a new USPATH member Dana is looking to the community for help in identifying issues of importance to the trans community.
Just you’re no longer a “spring chicken” doesn’t mean you have to become a dowdy old lady. Today women over fifty have many fashion options they can explore. Finding the looks that work for you and say that you’re an attractive, vital woman who isn’t done having fun can be as easy as an internet search. But it’s helpful to have a guide. Someone like our own Pauline Estelle. Today she gives you some pointers on fashion for those over fifty.
Kimberly writes about the early years when she would step out into the world in her female persona. The exhilaration she felt was indescribable. Many who would love to follow in her footsteps and feel that same rush are too reluctant to ever get all dressed up and go out in public. There is always a fear that someone will cause problems. Kimberly has found more people who are accepting and helped her feel accepted as a woman.
Rev. Yolanda has made a video of her song Transcendence. The song is available now on a 3 song EP and it is part of the upcoming autobiographical musical The Church Of The Alien Love Child Presents: The Passion of Rev. Yolanda to be premiered Oct 11, and 12, 2018.
Award Winning Public Servant and Transgender advocate Karen Kendra Holmes shares her passion for helping others transition and to foster acceptance and support from those around them, and how life can be fulfilled by being true to oneself and to others. Karen educates others who are not transgender to foster understanding that she and others […]
PHILADELPHIA, PA: Bebashi: Transition to Hope is creating a safe space for the trans community of Philadelphia. Trans Necessities is a program that seeks to promote the voices of trans Philadelphians and provide a haven to learn about LGBTQ health and wellness. Individuals under the Trans Necessities program will receive resources and services, such as […]
And now — The Week In Trans! Today we learn that Pantene Thailand is featuring trans women in their ad campaign. Jeff Sessions announces a Religious Freedom Taskforce that could be trouble. Montreal holds a trans march. The Planet Fitness case is back. The State Department assures us that surgery is not necessary for a passport in your true gender. A judge is sued for a pattern of denying trans kids name changes. Delaware did not adopt extra protections for trans kids in school. Bosom Buddies is out on DVD. Will we get a transgender emoji? Freemasons let trans men join. A trans rugby player is on the women’s team but he has grown a full beard after testosterone treatments. ICE releases 14 transgender asylum seekers. There’s all that and more plus a few TWIT Awards in this week’s edition of TWIT!
Amanda F. Steele continues to wrestle with her anxiety. If being exasperated by her hormone treatments? Is it just due to the instability of her life in California? What ever the culprit is it has Amanda in its grasp and will not let her go. Read her report today and if you want to offer counsel or advice use the comment area at the bottom of the post.
Tasi Zuriack joins us today in departure from her normal fashion beat. Today she is blogging about her attempt to join a Facebook support group for transgender women over the age of 39. Tasi considers herself to be a transgender woman and she admits to being well over 39. But after she was initially approved for membership the group’s leader rejected her. Read her blog today and decide for yourself if it was a case of not being “trans enough” or if she wasn’t allowed in for some other reason.
New Content Monday brings us another edition of our hard hitting news feature — The Week In Trans! What do we learn today? The 14-year-old whose drag act was banned from his school talent show gets support from the drag community. It’s been a year since President Trump proposed his trans military ban. The lawsuits are almost set to get underway. The State Dept. is not renewing trans women’s passports without proof of surgery. The Gay Queen of Veracruz 2018 has been murdered. Courts are ruling that trans students in school restrooms of their preferred gender do not infringe cisgender student’s privacy rights. A trans teen was denied communion. Was it because she was chewing gum, or because she was trans? Luxembourg will stop requiring surgery to change gender markers on documents. There are not only those stories but more! And a list of TWIT Awards waiting for you in TWIT!
Dina’s Diner is always loaded with tasty treats. On the Specials menu today we find a large helping of four young boys in the Philippines who dress in drag and sell peanuts. Then Dina gives us a soupçon of the Chinese talent show contestant Wang Ju, followed by a hefty helping of Serena Williams in fishnets and a tennis dress. Then she spices things up with a search for Russian crossdressers, and brings it all together with the strategies used by Takoyaki vendors in Japan to move more octopus balls. It all adds up to a satisfactory feast that we call Dina’s Diner.
Today our Youth View contributor M writes about how their dysphoria has changed during the past few years. The word dysphoria means an extreme discomfort or a feeling of unease. It has manifested differently for M over the years. For example when M was 14 their Adams Apple and chest caused deep feeling of discomfort for them. Now they sometimes feel the dysphoria centered on the chest but because, due to hormones, their chest is getting more feminine. Read all about M’s dysphoria in today’s Youth View.
Sophie Lynne is our Page Pundit and today she reviews a 2004 young adult novel title “Luna” by Julie Anne Peters. The story of trans teen Luna is told through the eyes of her younger sister. While Luna is the reason things happen the way they do the sister is a bit preoccupied with how Luna’s transgender nature effects her life. See what else Sophie has to say about the book in today’s Page Pundit review.
As Claire moves forward into her new life as a woman she is buoyed by support from friends and associates. For the most part her circle has approved of the move she made. But she is also a public official and that means she is open to a wider range of criticism than a private citizen. Her friends said she shouldn’t read the comments on her Facebook page but she did. Was that a good idea? Give her newest blog entry a look.
Today, as always, Sabrina Symington uses her cartooning talent to highlight some aspect of trans life. This time she tells a short tail that makes you wonder why those who believe that trans women aren’t “real” women need to be so angry and aggressive about it. They seem to take their objections and lack of tolerance to new heights. In the case of the TERF portrayed in this cartoon they do so literally.
Amanda F. Steele cover the arts and entertainment scene that features trans actors, characters, writers or musicians. Today she has news about the Scarlett Johanssen casting controversy; a transgender character being added to General Hospital being portrayed by a trans actress; news about Laura Jane Grace’s band Against Me! and more. Stay up to date on transgender people in the arts and check out Trans Media Arts!
