september 2015 issue

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Pretty T Girls
September 2015
The Magazine for the most beautiful girls in the world
A publication of Pretty T Girls Yahoo group
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In This Issue
Editorial By: Barbara Jean
How Do We Tell Children Their Dad Is A Transvestite
19th Century Female Husband
Transgender Children’s Books Fill A Void & Break A Taboo
16Makeup Tricks Nobody Told You About
The Best Makeup for Your Eye Shape
Hair Today-Gone Tomorrow
Makeup Storage Ideas
Módhnóirí
The Adventures of Judy Sometimes
What Came of the Stonewall Rebels
San Francisco’s Stonewall
Teri Lynn Ryan
Humor
Angels In the Centerfold
Mellissa’s Tips
Diane Sikes
8 Ways to Look Better With Fashion
The Perfect Bra– How To Find It Once & For All
Tasi’s Fashion
Lucille Sorella
Goof Proof Guide To Painless Fashion
5 Crossdressing Tips To Help You Pass As A Woman
Tasi’s Musings
Cyndi Lauper Opens Shelter for LGBT Homeless Youth
From The Kitchen
16 Kitchen Skills Every Chef Must Know
The Gossip Fence
Shop Till You Drop
Calendar
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Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen
An Editorial by: Barbara Jean
Back in the 90’s I recall where the wife of a crossdresser referred to crossdressers as being
“teenage girls”. I really do think her statement is pretty accurate, especially for those who may
only be starting out with crossdressing, or those who are limited as to when and how frequent
they can crossdress. We do a lot of experimenting trying to find a look that is RIGHT FOR US.
For those of you who have daughters who are teenagers, look at them (for those with daughter
who are past their teens think back to their teen years) How many different shades of eyeshadow does she have? How many shades of lipstick nail polish, what does her closet look
like?
Go to the mall and look at the teenage girls there; pink hair, green hair, purple hair, (how many
other colors of hair are there?) Black nail polish and lipstick, Fashion that would make our
Dear Tasi or any other fashion maven cringe. Experimenting, trying to fit in with their peers,
trying to emulate some music celebrity, trying to find a look that is right for them.
I write this because in a Facebook group another TG was critical of Caitlyn Jenner’s everyday
look. The claim that she looked like a man in a dress. OK, sure Ms. Jenner has resources that
the vast majority of us do not have. Sure she could hire a makeup artist to do her makeup
everyda y, she could hire someone to pick out her outfits so they are perfect for her. But what
would she learn? No she has to be like we all at least once were, a teenage girl experimenting
with different looks, taking tons of selfies and being critical of the look, asking how she can
improve.
An artist does not start out by drawing or painting that picture that will sell for a million plus
dollars at auction, no they practice, practice, practice. Even the great Walt Disney, look at
some of the early drawings of Mickey Mouse or some of the other characters he has
developed, and then look at those that were done years later. No doubt with the artist many of
the original work has found it’s way to the trashcan. For us many of the selfies that we have
taken have found their way to the recycle bin (or in the days of film camera the trashcan.
For our dear teenage daughter Caitlyn, I do hope that she will join a yahoo group like ours, or
get into a support group, someplace she can learn from those who have tread the road before
her. Sure there will be those of us who will give her tips/advice, just as mother gave her
teenage daughter advice, but we will not be critical of her, and she will consider all that people
say and she will find the look that is truly Caitlyn.
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How do we tell the children that their dad is a transvestite?
Stephen, 45, is a happily married father of two. His alter ego, Stephanie, loves to dress as a
woman. His wife doesn’t mind but the couple do wonder how and when to tell their daughters
ab out their father’s secret cross-dressing
Nick McGrath UK Guardian
With his conservatively cropped hair, rimless designer glasses and unassuming sprinkling of
stubble, the 45-year-old man who is thoughtfully sipping a glass of red wine bears little
resemblance to the immaculately made-up, raven-wigged confection pouting at the camera
from his Facebook profile picture.
Alongside typical family snapshots of him with his daughters, Samantha, 10, and Sylvie, seven,
sit dozens of candid photographs of his alter ego Stephanie, dazzling in an ankle-length silver
gown, sipping cocktails in the Shard in a ruched cobalt blouson and even posing in a matching
little black dress with his French wife, Carla.
It’s a contradictory dynamic and one that Home Counties-born Stephen, managing director of
his own London web design agency, is endeavoring to assimilate into orthodox family life.
“There are certainly paradoxes,” acknowledges Stephen who, at 18-months into a course of
psychotherapy, is striving to pinpoint the roots of his transvestism. “At this point I’m better at
describing what happened rather than why it happened,” he admits.
Stephen’s cross-dressing began when he was a year or two older than his eldest daughter,
Samantha.
“I started buying women’s knickers, bras and stockings as I liked the feeling and texture,” he
says. “I wore them in bed and at that point my parents had no idea. I liked the secrecy. It was
like, ‘Look at me, I know something you don’t.’
“I hid them under the bed and then periodically I’d get massive waves of guilt and revulsion and
throw them all away. I’d feel ashamed that I was really weird and shouldn’t be doing it.”
Stephen’s liberal parents – his mother is a psychiatrist, his father a mathematician – remained
oblivious to their son’s clandestine habit.
“I felt isolated. I was worried I’d be rejected if people knew. So I never told anyone, which had a
secondary impact in that I assumed that although I appeared to have friends, in reality if they
knew about me they wouldn’t like me. And that’s a vicious circle because dressing up made me
feel a lot better. It made me feel special and interesting. So I’d do it more and then I’d feel more
isolated.”
Aged 17, studying for A-levels, Stephen finally unburdened himself to his friends, who, rather
than ostracizing him, embraced his revelation. Teenage girlfriends were largely accepting –
“Some of them were like, ‘Ooh, that’s interesting,’ while others said, ‘You’re never doing it in
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front of me.’”
Emboldened by his peers’ reaction, the frequency and ostentatiousness of his cross-dressing
escalated and when he was 24, Stephen plucked up the courage to tell his mother.
Again his fears were unfounded and, three years after his first fully cross-dressed public outing
when he was 29, Stephen met his wife, Carla. “I was open about my cross-dressing from day
one,” he says. In fact, he went to his second date with Carla in full drag.
“I thought, if she doesn’t like it then I’ve saved myself a lot of effort. But it went down very well.
I think she found it quite exciting. She’s from a small village in France, from a traditional
Catholic family and she’d never come across anyone so interestingly unique.”
Carla, whose parents and siblings still live in France, confirms that she was initially intrigued.
“At that point, I didn’t really look at him as someone I was going to end up with so I didn’t bat
an eyelid,” she says, “I just thought it was all a bit of fun.”
After their wedding – a photograph of Stephen in Carla’s wedding dress hangs proudly in their
bedroom – the implications of his cross-dressing slowly leaked into family life.
But telling their children has been the most complex challenge for the couple, one they are still
unsure how or when to fully address. “I never thought about the impact it might have on the
children until we had them and actually not even until they were a bit bigger,” says Carla.
It’s a view echoed by Stephen, who as well as regularly waxing his legs and chest pays a
professional makeup artist £70 three or four times a year to transform him into a persona he
says makes him feel “alive and glamorous”.
“We never really discussed the impact on the kids and it only came up when they were old
enough to walk about and look at things like the wigs in our bedroom, but I have said things to
them occasionally,” says Stephen, who owns 15 pairs of women’s shoes and a lavish lingerie
collection.
“When we were reading David Walliam’s’ book, The Boy in the Dress, we started talking about
gender identity and I said to my youngest, who is a bit of a tomboy, ‘Dresses are really
glamorous and interesting and nice and you can wear them,’ and she said, ‘I don’t like them,’
and I said, ‘I feel really jealous of you because I’d like to look that nice and lovely too.’
“When we go swimming we all get changed together in the same cubicle and quite often I’m
wearing women’s underwear, so the girls do notice.
“Syl vie says, ‘Most boys wear big long pants and you’re not,’ and I say, ‘I don’t like long pants
so I don’t wear them,’ and they are, like, ‘OK’.
“I’ve always told them that they should ignore what gender they are for the purposes of
absolutely everything. They will probably face sexual discrimination at some point so it’s good
to get into that mindset of being able to do anything, whatever your gender.”
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Laudably progressive as Stephen’s sentiments undoubtedly are, Carla’s discomfort with her
husband’s Facebook transparency remains. “I would love him to change his profile picture,”
she says.
“Some of his Facebook friends are parents at our children’s school. I don’t mind them knowing
as they are enlightened adults but I don’t want the children to be bullied at school because their
dad dresses as a woman.
“The children must have seen him with nail varnish on and the remains of his makeup after
he’s been out but they have never said anything.
“It’s normal for them so they just accept it and he’s quite good at acting consistently with the
girls, whether he’s been cross-dressing or not
“At some point,” concedes Stephen, “they will realize that their dad likes wearing nail varnish
and that’s just not normal dad behavior is it?”
So how will the couple tackle the issue? “I don’t want to keep it a secret,” says Carla. “I want to
tell them when they won’t just go to school and blurt out, ‘My daddy is a cross-dresser.’ I want
them to think rationally, ‘who can I tell about this? Who are the friends who would be able to
deal with this?’ and not go round telling everyone and getting called names.”
“I don’t think we have a specific plan,” concludes Stephen. “Our vague idea is just to get them
to be accepting and tolerant of differences.
“In a worst-case scenario they might turn out being scarred for life by not having a proper
father they could look up to. But I don’t think that’s the case and, with children, pretty much
everything you do is a compromise. There’s no manual for them. They are all different. There’s
never any best way to parent them. There are a lot of options and paths and alternatives and
you just do the best you can, given the circumstances, so this is the best we can do and I hope
it’ll be enough.”
Names have b een changed
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'Female Husbands' In The 19th
Century
James (Abigail) Allen. from the 1828 London publication "An Authentic
Narrative of the Extraordinary Career of James Allen, the Female Husband!"
Questions of gender identity are nothing new. Way before Transparent and Chaz
Bono and countless other popular culture stepping stones to where we are now
regarding gender identity, there were accounts of "female husbands."
Stories of women dressing and posing as men dot the journalistic landscape of 19th century America —
and Great Britain — according to Sarah Nicolazzo, who teaches literary history at the University of
California, San Diego.
Nicolazzo points to the late 18th century tale of Deborah Sampson, who called herself Robert Shurtlieff
and fought in the American Revolution. There was a novel written about Sampson's life, The Female
Review by Herman M ann.
"This genre of narrative was already a popular one by the beginning of the 19th century," Nicolazzo
says. "Readers of newspapers, novels, pamphlets and other print forms clearly found this kind of story
compelling and there was a long history of demand for it."
Consequently, she says, "the historical record we tend to have about these cases — newspaper reports or
fictionalized accounts — are texts written for a literary marketplace. They can certainly give us hints
about the lives of the people actually described in these accounts, but they're also clearly written to meet
the expectations of readers who are familiar with an established genre."
And the manners and mores of polite society.
Recurring Motifs
Sure enough there are common threads — such as abandonment and bravery — running through many
of the narratives. Here are several of the tales:
* The remarkable case of James Walker, "a female who was found intoxicated in the street ... dressed in
man's clothes" appeared as a Journal of Commerce item in the Aug. 26, 1836, issue of the Maine Farmer
and Journal of the Useful Arts.
James was arrested on a Friday night. The next morning, a "decently dressed woman called at the police
office and asked to see James Walker, who she said was her husband." The decently dressed woman was
"informed of the discovery which had been made." Though the decently dressed woman was permitted
to see James Walker, she did not speak to James.
In front of a magistrate, James Walker said her real name was George M oore Wilson and that she was
from England, where George was an acceptable name for a female. According to the report, she told the
judge that "both her parents died when she was very young and that when she was 12 years old, in
consequence of being ill-treated by her friends, she ran away from them, put on boy's clothes and made
her way to Scotland, the native place of her parents."
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Posing as a boy, Walker/Wilson worked in a factory for a few years, then married M iss Eliza Cummings.
Together the newlyweds set sail for Quebec. "A few days after her marriage," according to the report,
Walker/Wilson "imparted the secret of her sex to her wife; but not withstanding this the two females
have lived together ever since as man and wife. Fifteen years have passed since their union, during
which it appears they experienced a great variety of fortune, but kept the secret of the husband's sex so
well that it never before transpired and remains even unknown to the wife's father, who had resided some
years with them."
* The Spirit of the Times: A Chronicle of the Turf, Agriculture, Field Sports, Literature and the Stage – a
New York weekly newspaper for the upper crust — reported in its edition of M ay, 19, 1838, on a
"female husband" whose wife declared that "she only found out the sex of her partner by accident three
years ago. The parties had been married 17 years, and thus she had been in a happy state of ignorance
just 14 out of that number."
In witty commentary, the writer noted, "it is the first time, however, we have heard that married people
find out the sex of each other by accident."
* The picaresque tale of Lucy Ann Lobdell – "hermit, hunter, music teacher, female husband" – and her
life up and down the Delaware River made the obituary page of the National Police Gazette on Oct. 25,
1879.
Born circa 1829 to a poor New York lumberman, Lucy Ann married a raftsman when she was 17. They
had a child. A year later, the man disappeared. Lucy Ann sent her child to live with her parents and she
started dressing as a man and for the next eight years "adopted the life of a hunter" — living in crude
forest shelters and trading skins and game for supplies.
When the hardships of the hunter's life became too much, Lucy Ann re-entered society, began dressing
as a woman and wrote a book "detailing her adventures in the woods," noting that she had killed 100 or
so deer, 77 bears, one panther and a bunch of wildcats and foxes.
Eventually, though, she started dressing as a man again and calling herself Joseph Lobdell. She took a
job teaching voice in Bethany, Penn., where a young female student fell in love with Joseph. "The two
were engaged to be married," the Gazette reported, "but the sex of the teacher was accidentally
discovered and she was forced to fly from the place in the night to escape being tarred and feathered."
While living in a poorhouse in Delhi, N.Y., she met M arie Louise Perry Wilson from M assachusetts,
who had also been deserted by her husband. The two became quite affectionate. They left the poorhouse
together and began appearing in small villages near Lake Ontario – introducing themselves as the Rev.
Joseph Israel Lobdell and wife. They kept a pet bear on a leash. They were jailed for "vagrancy" and
"the discovery that the supposed man was a woman was made."
From then on, the couple wandered – sometimes living in caves. Joseph continued to preach. They were
arrested again in Pennsylvania — for vagrancy. Using a split stick for a pen and poke berry juice for ink,
M arie Louise drafted a plea for release – based on the failing health of her husband. The two bought a
farm in 1877 and Joseph (Lucy Ann) Lobdell died two years later.
'Boston Marriages'
So what do these stories tell us about life in earlier America?
History can be complex. Stephanie Coontz, who teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen
State College and wrote the 2005 book Marriage, A History, explains that it was fairly simple to pull off
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a "self marriage" before the 1860s. "M arriages were supposed to be registered, but authorities seldom
checked," she says. "The idea was that if you acted like man and wife, you were assumed to be married."
Lots of evidence exists, she says, "contrary to the idea that small communities are always judgmental,
that your behavior as a neighbor was often more important to other community members than your behavior in your own home. So people often turned a blind eye to behaviors or dress that in later years
might occasion more suspicion and hostility. "
She adds: "This is not to say that these communities were tolerant of open homosexuality."
After the Civil War, the government became more stringent about the definition of a legal marriage,
Coontz says. "But this was also the heyday of the doctrine of separate spheres and true womanhood,
when women were assumed to be pure and asexual — and also completely different from men, who
were often referred to as 'the grosser sex.'"
These shifting attitudes toward marriage, Coontz says, "opened up a different way for two women to live
together in what later came to be called 'Boston marriages.' Plus, it was considered perfectly normal for
heterosexual women to have crushes on each other, to be very affectionate, and so forth. So again, a pair
of women who actually had a sexual relationship could easily manage to be together without arousing
suspicion that it was anything more than feminine affection."
The irony: "It was only after the sexual revolution of the early 20th century, when men and women were
encouraged to explore their heterosexual attractions and sexuality began to be seen as a central part of
one's identity," says Coontz, "that same-sex relationships and signs of affection began to be regarded
with suspicion."
Lingering Questions
When considering the gamut of "female husband" stories from 19th century America, Sarah Nicolazzo
offers four possibilities to ponder. It is worth imagining, she says, that
* Not every participant in these marriages considered anatomy to be the truth of gender.
* Some wives of "female husbands" thought of their spouses as women but used the vocabulary of heterosexual marriage in order to attain social legitimacy and financial independence for what we might
today refer to as a lesbian relationship.
* Some wives of "female husbands" considered their spouses men. "We don't have airtight evidence that
all 19th-century American women necessarily believed that social maleness required one particular anatomical arrangement, and without that evidence, we shouldn't make assumptions."
* Some wives of "female husbands" thought of their spouses as occupying another gender category —
"perhaps one that is specific to the 19th century and might be harder to map onto our present-day
vocabularies of gender."
But isn't it possible that in some cases a "female husband" and the wife never became physically intimate? "Sure, that's certainly possible," Nicolazzo says. "We certainly don't have strong evidence
otherwise. And it's possible that some of them did — again, we don't have strong evidence otherwise."
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Transgender Children’s Books Fill a
Void and Break a Taboo
By ALEXANDRA ALTER
Sam M artin belongs to a small group of emerging
transgender authors who are writing children’s
literature in hopes of filling the void that they felt as
young readers. CreditDina Litov sky for The New
York Times
Sam Martin was browsing in a Boston record
store 23 years ago when an unusual photography
book caught his eye. Mr. Martin flipped through
its pages, which featured portraits and interviews
with wom en who had becom e men, and started to
cry.
“I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I’m not the only one,’ ” said Mr. Martin, 43, who started transitioning
to male from female after he bought the book. “When I was growing up, I never saw people like
me in m ovies or books.”
Mr. Martin is now on a mission to change that. He belongs to a small group of em erging authors who are writing children’s literature that centers on transgender characters, hoping to fill
the void they felt asy oung readers. His debut work of fiction — a semi-autobiographical story
about a transgender teenage boy who falls in love with an older boy on the beach in Cape Cod —
will be published in a collection this m onth by Duet, a new y oung adult publisher that
specializes in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer fiction.
“My goal was to write stories that would have helped me feel less alone at
that age,” said Mr. Martin, who works as a Starbucks barista in
Washington and writes at night.
A few years ago, gender fluidity wasrarely addressed in children’s and
young adult fiction. It remained one of the last taboos in a publishing
category that had already taken on difficult issues like suicide, drug abuse,
rape and sex trafficking. But children’s literature is catching up to the
broader culture, as stereotypes of transgender characters have given way
to nuanced and sympathetic portrayals on TV shows like “Orange Is the
New Black” and “Transparent.”
A memoir by a
transgender teenager
from Oklahoma.
Recently, the highly publicized transformation of the reality TV star and
form er Olympian Bruce Jenner into Caitlyn Jenner — revealed to the
worldvia a glam orous portrait on the cov er of Vanity Fair — brought even
m ore visibility to the m ovement for transgender equality.
More writers and publishers have started tackling the subject, not just with mem oirs and selfhelp guides tailored to transgender youth, but through nov els aimed at a broad readership. This
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year, children’s publishers are releasing around half a dozen nov els in a spectrum of genres,
including science fiction and young adult romance, that star transgender children and
teenagers. “In our culture, it was really something that was in the shadows, but suddenly
people are talking about it,” said David Levithan, vice president and publisher of Scholastic
Press. “As our culture is starting to acknowledge transgender people and acknowledge that they
are part of the fabric of who we are, literature is reflecting that.”
Several of the m ovement’s debut authors have published books drawn from their own
experiences. Last fall, a transgender teenager nam ed Jazz Jennings published “I Am Jazz,” a
picture book she co-wrote about a transgender girl. Sim on & Schuster released dual mem oirs
by Katie Rain Hill and Arin Andrews, two transgender teenagers from Oklahoma who m et and
fell in lov e.
Mr. Andrews, 19, said that books for y oung adults on the subject were scarce when he began
transitioning to male from female in 2011.
“When I first started transitioning, I m ostly had YouTube as a source,” he said. “I wanted to
write a book to help others because there were not a lot of sources out there, and I thought that
one book could save a person’s life.”
Mr. Andrews says he receives 15 to 20 Facebook m essages a day from readers about his
mem oir, “Some Assem bly Required,” including notes from children as y oung as 8 and readers
in their 60s and 70s who say the book helps them navigate questions about their gender
identity.
The body of children’s literature on the subject is still tiny and relatively new. When Julie Anne
Peters published “Luna,” a novel about a teenage girl whose brother wants to be a girl, in 2 004,
it was the first young-adult nov el with a transgender character to be released by a mainstream
publisher. Since then, m ore than 50 novels with transgender characters have been published,
m ostly for teenagers, according to Talya Sokoll, a librarian who com piled a reading list of
children’s books with trans characters.
Som e of the writers who are exploring the topic have faced criticism and online attacks. A
blistering Amazon review for “I am Jazz,” written for 4 - to 8-year-olds, called the story of a
transgender girl “inappropriate material for y oung readers,” while another reviewer scolded,
“We should not be indoctrinating young kids about ‘trans.’ ”
Alex Gino, the author of "George," identifies as
genderqueer, a gender identity that falls outside of
the male/female binary.CreditDina Litov sky for
The New York Times
But writers and publishers have been undeterred, noting that child psychologists and
L.G.B.T. advocacy groups argue that very
young children can question their gender
identity and that families should be open to
discussing the subject. The next frontier for
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authors writing about transgender people seems to be middle-grade literature, or books aimed
at 8- to 12-year-olds. In November, Disney Hyperion published “Gracefully Grayson,” a nov el
for readers ages 10 and up about a sixth-grade boy who feels like a girl.
In August, Scholastic will publish “George,” a middle-grade debut nov el about a boy who knows
he is a girl but doesn’t know how to tell his family and friends. George decides to try out for the
part of Charlotte in a school production of “Charlotte’s Web” in hopes that it will help others
see him the way he sees him self. For readers, it’s not much of a leap. From the first paragraph,
an omniscient narrator refers to George as “she,” so that when other characters use male pronouns to refer to George, it feels jarring.
The author, Alex Gino, who grew up in Staten Island and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area,
identifies as genderqueer, a gender identity that falls outside of the male/female binary, and
goes by the pronoun “they.” Alex started writing “George” 12 years ago, while working as a
tutor, and wrote m ore than a dozen drafts.
In the first draft, Alex didn’t even use the word “transgender.” “I was like, how would a 10-yearold ever come across that word, but now I’m like, of course they would,” Alex said.
Scholastic is facing resistance from som e teachers and librarians who question whether third
and fourth graders are ready for the discussion. About a m onth ago, the publisher sent 10,000
early copies to teachers around the country to get feedback, and the responses were largely
positive with som e mixed reactions.
But Scholastic is aiming to turn the book into a mainstream success. It increased the first
printing to 50,000 from 35,000 based on strong preorders and sent Alex to m eet with
booksellers and librarians at the ABC Children’s Institute in Pasadena, Calif., and at Book Expo
in New York. They hired Jamie Clayton, a transgender actress, to narrate the audiobook.
So far, early responses from parents of y oung readers have been encouraging. Marietta Zacker,
a literary agent who lives in South Orange, N.J., picked up a copy of “George” at the expo and
read it with her 11 -year-old daughter, Natalia, who loved it.
“It was not shocking to her,” Ms. Zacker said. “It’s the story of every person, the quest to be
your own self.”
Carolyn Mackler, a young-adult novelist who lives in Manhattan, gave a copy of “George” to her
10-year-old son to read. She told him that it was about a transgender child and explained what
that m eant. After he read it, she asked him what he thought.
“I said, ‘If y ou met George, wouldy ou be friends with him?’ ” she recalled. “Andhe said, ‘Mom,
it’s her, and I would be friends with her if she was nice.’ ”
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16 Makeup Tips Nobody Told You About
#1 Make the Best of Your Eye Shape
As important as your color choices are, the placement of
your shadows and liners is just as critical; you can create
just about any illusion that you want. With careful
placement, you can make your eyes appear wider,
closer set, more prominent, deeper set, etc. Determine
what shape of eyes you have, and then accentuate them
accordingly.
#2 Blush for Your
Face Type
In order to apply blush
where it will be most
flattering on you, first
determine your face
shape.
#3 Use a
Baby Toothbrush to
Exfoliate Your Lips
You can also make a homemade lip exfoliate
with sugar and coconut oil, or easier but not as effective, cover your lips in lip balm
or petroleum jelly before scrubbing.
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#4 How to Fix Clumpy Mascara
Add a drop or two of any eye drops into the tube, and then
rub the wand around inside.
#5 Scotch Tape Eye
Stencil
This unconventional beauty aid
will help guide you when
applying eye liner and shadows,
especially if you’re going for a
more daring look such as the
“cat eye”.
#6 Wash and Save Your Wands
Instead of tossing them in the trash when
your mascara expires, wash and repurpose
those wands! You can use them as an
eyebrow brush, even applying a bit of color
before sweeping across your brows. Or,
spray with hairspray and use them to brush
and keep your eyebrows in place.
#7 Instant Eye Lift
Draw an arch directly above your
eyebrow with your favorite highlighter,
and blend with your finger.
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#8 Eyebrows and Face Shape
A lot of us ignore our eyebrows not realizing how
important they are in defining our face. There isn’t
one shape that is the best, it really just depends on
your unique facial features and shape. Just like
contouring, your eyebrow shape and thickness can
help soften your face shape.
#9 Downward Strokes
Although you want to wash your face and apply
your moisturizer with upwards strokes to help
lessen fine lines and a sagging face, the opposite
is true for foundation and powder. Most of us have
a little bit of hair on our face, and it tends to grow
downwards. If you apply your makeup with
upward strokes, it will cause your “peach fuzz” to
stick straight up, making it more noticeable.
#10 The Line Saver
To keep your liner behaving, sweep loose or
pressed powder right under the eye liner on
your bottom lid. It creates somewhat of a
barrier, preventing your eyeliner from
traveling downward.
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#11 Proper Contouring
When applied right, contouring can define your cheekbones
and jaw line, reduce the look of a double chin, minimize a
larger nose, and lift sagging eyes.
#12 Match the Foundation Color to Your
Neck, Not Cheeks
This is the one thing that
no matter how well it’s
applied, if it’s the wrong
color, it will look terrible!
We all dread that our
foundation will give us a
ghost face or even worse,
that dreaded orange jaw
line. Because your neck isn’t exposed to the sun
as much as your face, it is much better for
matching your true color.
#13 Make Eyeshadows Pop
Have you ever purchased a vibrant color of shadow that once
applied appears rather dull? The key to making those colors
pop is a white base. Use a white eyeliner and cover your
entire lid before applying the color of your choice.
#14 Make Eyes
Appear Bigger
If you don’t already own a
white pencil, invest in one
now just for this simple trick!
Instead of lining your water line with dark eyeliner,
use a white pencil to create the illusion of a bigger
eye. If you squint your eyes a little at this picture
comparison, you’ll see what a difference it really
makes.
17
#15 Eye Highlights
The placement of highlights is very important when trying
to create naturally beautiful eye makeup. Your lighter
colors (whites, creams, and pearls) should be applied in
the inner corners, the middle of the eye, and just under
your brow bone. Apply your lightest colors first, and then
move on to your darker shades
#16 Clump-Free Lashes
It may seem like a waste, but if you want clump-free lashes (so hard to achieve,
right?), you have to wipe your mascara wand off on a tissue before each application.
This way you can apply several coats seamlessly.
The Best Makeup for Your Eye Shape
B y WendyRodewald, Daily Makeover
M akeup can completely change the shape of your eyes, but it's a two-way street. If you know the right
techniques, you can make your eyes look bigger and more lifted, but a makeup misstep can close off
your eyes in an unflattering way. Of course, there's no one-size-fits-all trick to playing up your gaze.
Instead, the method you use should make the most of your unique features. We tapped M AC Cosmetics
Senior Artist Cynthia Rivas (@MAC_ Cynthia_R) for her tips on the perfect makeup for your eye shape.
Before we begin, a couple quick tricks: "False lashes are an easy and quick way to change the
appearance of the shape of your eye without makeup," says Rivas. "If you can't figure out what eye
shape you have, remember that a smoky eye complements most shapes. When in doubt, smoke them
out!"
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Wide Set Eyes
"Contour the entire browbone/crease area with a
neutral matte tone. When applying mascara, brush
the inner corner lashes towards your nose. This
complements a false lash that is longer in the
center."
Monolid
"A smoky eye is great for this eye shape,
too. Begin by lining the entire eye with
your favorite eye kohl. Use a pencil brush
to blend it out. To make eyes pop even
more, highlight the center of the eye using a
shimmery shadow.
Downturned Eyes
"Apply shadow to the eyelid and blend the outer
corner upward. When applying mascara, comb
the outer lashes up towards the temple. This
helps open the eye. Finish with a set of false
lashes that 'lift' the eye."
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Hooded Lids
"A soft smoky eye is perfect for this shape. Stick
to eye shadows that are matte and use products
like M AC Cosmetics Paint Pots as a base to keep
shadow in place and prevent fading."
Deep Set Eyes
"Focus on the bottom lash line by using rich colors
and then apply mascara."
Close Set Eyes
"Apply most of your deeper color and matte
shades on the outer corner of the eyes. Highlight
the tear ducts using a shadow that has a shine. This
look is the perfect complement to a cat eye or a
corner false lash."
20
HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW
By: Joy Vanderberg CLT
The bain of every woman's existance is facial hair, followed (believe it or not) by toes and
fingers! Yes, bikini is up there as well...
Hair removal can be confusing so let's run through all the options and the do's and don'ts:
Understand that any home product will only give you temporary results. There is nothing
wrong with shaving or using a depilatory on your arms, legs or underarms. When is
comes to your face, fingers, toes and bikini, better to leave those areas to the professionals
and get permanent removal. You are worth the investment!
My list of DON'TS:
WAXING-the big lie about waxing is that the more you wax, the less and finer the hair
growth. That is far from the truth. Everytime you wax, your body thinks it's been
horribly injured and sends a profuse blood flow to heal the injured follicles. Being fed,
the follicles now increase in size and the blood stimulates additional hair growth in the
surrounding area. You will notice that your "few" thick hairs have now invited several
more friend to join the party, so you wax again and-well, you get the picture. Waxing also
allows bacteria to enter very easily into the dermas and forms pimples and/or ingrown
hairs, especially in the bikini area. I have never had a client that didn't pick at those
ingrowns, causing scarring. *Do not wax your eyebrows- probability of burning or over
waxing is very high.
TWEEZING/T HREADING-avoid at all costs. As far as eyebrows, leave sculpting/
tweezing to the professionals. Eyebrows are the only hair on your body, when tweezed
repetitively, will stop growing. Almost everyone gets carried away and over-tweezes.
Tweezing facial hairs leads to the same problem as waxing. It propagates new growth.
Continual tweezing bruises the dermas and causes a deep purple discoloration that is im-
21
possible to cover with make-up. It also distorts the follicle which makes electrology very
difficult.
THE NO-NO is a no-no. Don't waste your money. It's only a glorified razor.
HOME LASERS-again, save your money. It is virtually impossible for a low grade laser
to give you anywhere near professional, permanent results.
My list of DO'S:
It is my enormous priviledge and honor to be able to facilitate in the emergence of
butterflies who spent way too long wrapped in cocoons. With this in mind, I urge those
who are not yet in flight to believe that my advice is both professional, personal and
truthful...
ELECTROLOGY-I am a licensed Electrologist but I am non-practicing. As a woman
who was diagnosed with Hirsutism (excessive hair growth) when I was in my early
twenties, I experimented. ( Lasers were not used for hair removal back then) After years
of tweezing (yes, I had that ugly purple discoloration under my chin) and waxing, I turned
to electrology. Fast forward 20 years and 1,000's of dollars later, I never cleared. My
pores were enlarged from the electrology probe, my skin sagging from the constant
stretching and I still had visible hair-never mind the hours of painful treatments!
I'd had my cosmetology license for many years so I decided to become a certfied
electrologist. I believed I could do better on myself and others with a new and improved
electrology machine.
TRUT H BE TOLD...Electrology is like pin the tail on the donkey. It is impossible to
know when that probe has hit the hair bulb. If it is not a direct hit the electrologist is
merely tweezing the hair. Remember what I wrote about tweezing? We have
approximately 1,250 hairs per square inch. Numbers don't lie. You can easily calcuate
how many treatments you will need to remove those hairs. Each hair being removed
individually with a pain level akin to a bee sting. Factor in missed targets (30-50%) and
hairs that are in the dormant stage or have already released from the bulb. **If you do
not have a profient tech with a up-to-date machine you run the risk of burning, which is
all too common.
The truth is ELECTROLOGY IT IS NOT COST EFFECTIVE.
But...if you have gray,white, blonde or light/dark red, it is your only course of treatment.
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If your hair has retained some/most of it's color and you have the appropriate hair color
(light brownto black), choose laser hair removal. After you clear those hairs you can then
decide how you want to deal with the gray/white remaining hairs.
I do not practice electrology anymore. I could not bear to do to others what I had
experienced. I sent my machine to an electrology school in California who donated it to a
woman who was "starting over" and I went back to school and became a Certified Laser
Tech.
LASER HAIR REMOVAL-a very cost effective, permanent hair removal treatment. All
lasers were not created equal so do your homework before beginning treatments. With my
laser, depending on your skin color (the darker the skin, the quicker the results), you will
need at least 12 treatments-the very least. Consider the male hormone factor and the rate
of hair growth which is much faster than a female. It usually takes about 1 year to
complete and you will always need touch-ups since dormant follicles will emerge
throught your life. Pain level varies with different lasers. The faster the laser, like the
Aerolase, the less the pain level and the less the chance of your skin burning. The pain
level diminishes as the hairs are annihilated.
It seems that clients shy away from laser hair removal because of the fear of being
burned. If the laser is set correctly it should never be an issue. This should be discussed
thoroughly before treatment. I do not recommend having treatments at a laser franchise.
You want to be able to see the same technician at every treatment so they can evalute your
progress and, if need be, adjust settings and/or time between treatments.
I own a State-of-the Art Aerolase Laser which performs many services besides hair
removal. You can learn all about it (and me) on my website www.derma-lase.com.
If you can find a practioner in your area (usually a doctor) with an Aerolase laser I would
highly recommend using them. If you are in the Bergen County NJ/Rockland County NY
area please feel free to contact me!
You can also contact Aerolase, Tarrytown, NY at 914 345-8300 or www.aerolase.com
A final note: Judging from the smoothness of her skin and the lack of enlarged pores, it is
my professional opinion that Caitlyn Jenner was and probably still is laser hair removal
client.
23
Goodbye, Makeup Drawer! Makeup Storage Ideas from a
Beauty Expert
Martha Stewart
Try these great ideas for storing your beauty products, whether you are at home or on-the-go.
By Ramy Gafni of Ramy Cosmetics
Finding great beauty products is an endless search
through countless products – new and improved
skin care as well as makeup staplesthat ignite lifelong loyalty. As any beauty junkie can attest, finding these great products is only half the battle.
Storing them is the other half of the battle. Once
purchased, it’s human nature to keep even the
products that don’t become part of your beauty
regimen.
We’ve all witnessed the “makeup drawer” – either
your own or a friend’s – that is a seemingly bottomless pit of the good, the bad, and the ugly products set aside for possible use “someday.” I find
that whether storing products at home or when
traveling, it’s best to think outside the box and get
creative with your storage.
When I first started my makeup line, I ran all over
M anhattan with a clear see-through
backpack so that my products were clearly visible. Buyers often
commented on it. The clear backpack made it easy to find everything and served as free advertising at
the same time! Seriously, a clear bag does make it easy to find your products.
When I first became a makeup artist, I ran out and purchased a professional makeup case. I loved that it
was an authentic makeup artist’s case that had shelves. The problem with it was that it was heavy to
carry so it was an impractical choice for traveling. I tried a Rolykit that unrolls to reveal compartments. It did the same job as my professional makeup case, but was decidedly lighter to carry. I also
tried an actual tool box and then an aluminum Chinese lunch box. Basically anything that has compartments will function well. I would use one compartment for “complexion” products: skin care, concealer,
foundation. Another compartment for eye products, the next for lip products and so on. I especially enjoyed the Chinese lunch box,
because it came apart, and I wouldn’t have to set up my makeup station, but rather just reach into each compartment for whichever product I needed.
When I travel, I love using ziplock bags. They take up little space in your luggage and you can separate
your products into categories: hair, makeup, shaving, sunblock, brow tools, etc., which makes finding
everything so much easier.
24
Storing your beauty products at home offers other challenges. In my experience, if the product isn’t in
my field of vision, I forget to use it. You want your products to be visible. Think shelf as opposed to
drawer. Once it goes into the vortex that is the makeup drawer, it most likely won’t be seen again until
long after the product’s expiration date.
In New York City, storage space is a luxury. I once sacrified a coat closet in my apartment by transforming it into a beauty closet. Each shelf housed a category: hair, face, teeth, body, etc. When you work in
the beauty industry, you are often inundated with products. While I share with friends and family, the
products still pile up. But, when they are organized, I find that I use them. It’s easy to reach into the
“beauty closet” for a new shampoo or eye cream. The key is to create a dedicated space for your products. Whether you use a spare dresser or a set of shelves, organize your products in whatever category
suits you, creating a general lip product drawer, a shelf of all your red lipsticks, or a bowl of your favorite lip balms.
Now, some general rules:
Toss It or Keep It?
They say the rule of thumb for beauty products is if you don’t use it for three months, you should toss it
(or donate it). M ost products have a shelf life. How to know what to keep and what to toss? If a product
looks like the ingredients have separated, or if it smells rancid, toss it. M any products, like eye shadows,
lipstick, foundation and blush, have a shelf life of three to five years. Creams like moisturizer and sunblock have a shelf life of about two years. The one product that must be tossed after three months: mascara. Even if you only used it once,
bacteria will develop in the tube, which not only compromises
the formula but also can cause irritation to your eyes.
To Chill or Not to Chill?
I’m often asked about whether or not refrigerating your products is a good idea. The answer is it depends
on the product. Lipsticks and cream-formula eye shadow and blush will develop condensation when removed from the refrigerator. This will cause the product to lose its moisture. This type of formula is
best kept at room temperature, out of direct sunlight (hello, makeup drawer!). Fragrance can be refrigerated, but once refrigerated, it must remain so or the scent can be affected. It’s great to chill your favorite
fragrance and enjoy the cool feeling during summer months. Aloe vera gel is another great candidate for
chilling – use it to de-puff eyes or sooth a sunburn. Skin-care products can be refigerated, but like fragrance, must remain so once you chill it or the formula can turn.
Whether at home or on the road, the key is to create an organized setup for your products so that they are
easily accessible and visible. While it may hurt to part with the old products that are cluttering up your
life, keep in mind that tossing the old makes room for that fabulous new beauty product!
25
Módhnóirí..
VIETNAM TRIP 2015
PART ONE
BY
BARBARA MARIE DAVIDS ON
Let me preference this by saying that these 4 articles are more of
FYI nature than they are TS /TG.
In 1972 during the Vietnam war, Uncle S am and the US Navy saw fit to send me there from Naval
Hospital, Patuxent River, Maryland, with a surgical team out of Naval Hospital, Camp Pendleton,
CA. I flew to Manila in the Philippines and then flew on a C130 from there to the Naval Base at
Subic Bay. There I met the ship, the USS New Orleans (LPH-11 which was a helicopter assault
carrier). It looked like a small aircraft carrier, but had a squadron of helicopters and a battalion
of marines on board. It was there that I met the surgical team. We augmented the medical staff on
the ship but were also the medical support team in case the marines were deployed ashore (which
did not happened on our watch). A short time later I became a member of the “Gulf of Tonkin
Yacht club”.
Fast forward to November/December 2010 when I went back with a friend to visit her family in a
small village near Can Tho (about 5 hrs south of
S aigon. At that time, it was Bill (who took no guy
clothes) dressed as Barbara. However my
passport had all my masculine info with an ambiguous Photo. Her family accepted me with no
questions.. However, going through security
checks and customs raised a lot of eyebrows, but
nothing else.
Fast forward again to the summer of 2015 when I
went back for my third trip. Having had a legal
name change and a breast augmentation in 2012,
It was officially Barbara who went back with a
new passport with my feminine name but it still
said – sex-male. This time there were no raised
eyebrows and I was treated like any other
“female” going through the checkpoints. Of
interest, in February of 2015, after a number of
years on HRT, my testicles were nil but I was
having Bilateral Orchialgia (pain in the testicles.)
My urologist removed them and Medicare/
TriCare paid for the surgery.
26
For this trip, the 4 of us, Dao, Her uncle and his wife(whose daughter was getting married) and I,
arrived at the airport in Atlanta at 8 am for a 1130 flight to Tokyo. We actually lifted off at
approximately 1300 for a 13 hour flight to Japan. It was 0230 in the morning (Eastern S tandard
Time) when we arrived there. Afte several hour layover, we left Tokyo on Vietnamese airlines
heading to Ho hi Minh city (Saigon) arriving there at approximately 2330 local time, where we
were met by her uncle’s family. We left the airport about 0100 for a 5 hour trip to her other uncles
home which was located in a small village about an hour from Can Tho. Then her uncle that was
traveling with us went on to his home which was basically out in the country side (in the sticks as
some folks in the south would say). One thing I also learned quickly was the little universal
charger that one plugs into the wall that has the US B port to charge your cell phone is “universal”.
Read the back some times. It works on 110 as well as 220 lines with no converter needed. I did not
know this and had gone to RadioShack and bought an converter to the tune of $29.00.
After a hot shower (doing it the naval way)
and a little “down time”. We left for Can
Tho via motorbikes being driven by two of
her cousin to buy material to have two
formal dresses made. I bought a yellow
material with flowers and some material
that was green with a design on it. She
bought some green material as well as some
purple material. For my two dresses
(formal Vietnamese style) the material and
labor was approximately $80.00 (us) for
both dresses while hers was about $100.00
(us) for both as she had some intricate work
done on one of hers. We were told to come
back the following evening for a fitting. Following the fitting, we went for lunch then did some
shopping before going back home. (it is interesting to note that no matter where one went to eat,
the eating utensils were a pair of chopsticks and a spoon.
However, a fork was usually available upon request, which I
never used as I can eat with chopsticks with no difficulty.
The following day, we went by motorbike to her grandfather’s
home (also out in the country). S ince this was an area where one
does not normally see a “round eyed person”, we received a lot of
stares. Since we were “out in the sticks” a real bath room was out
of the question, one went into a “shed” where one either relieved
their bladder or took a cold bath. If it was your “bowels”, one
went down a path to an open ”outhouse’ built out over a small
creek. There one squatted with their feet straddling two 8-inch
wide wooden boards and relieved themselves. (One lesson I
learned quickly was to carry your own TP as most places did not
provide it for you.) At her other uncles house, the Outhouse was
27
the same but it was made out of concrete. The uncle in the house next to his had a real Toilet. At
her grandfathers it was it was made from bamboo and wooden post. All of our traveling to and
from her uncle’s house (whose daughter was getting married) as well as her grandfathers home
was by motor bike followed by a man or woman powered ferry ride across a river to get to their
homes which were also on the river or creek.
The following day was a trip to “temple” where we went as a family group to a “Buddhist Shrine”
about 4 hours from “home’. (S peeding is a no-no as the top speed even on the highways was about
40 mph tops. I would not want to drive over there as it takes forever to get somewhere. Also for
every one car, there are over a 1000 motorbikes and every one “has the right of way”. This was
noticed everywhere we went. It was easier to hire a car for the day for just under $100 US and
have the driver at your disposal for the whole day. He would pick you up in the morning and bring
you home that night when you were done. The next day, we hired a car for the day and went back
to Can Tho to shop and to pick up our dresses. Everything fit me fine just the pant legs were a
little long. (I will have them altered when I return to the US .) I wore the yellow one on the day of
the wedding.
Thus the following day, we were back out at her uncle’s
house to meet the future in-laws. The day before, six live
ducks and 10 live chickens were brought to the house.
They, the fowls, met their maker at the hands of 4 ladies
and one guy. One lady plucked the feathers from the neck
and using a sharp knife ended the bird’s life draining the
blood into a bowl for other use. One lady dipped the birds
in boiling water and handed then to one of the other folks
who then proceeded to de-feather them. The gentleman
was “dressing” the birds to be boiled for the meals.
After a nice visit, we sat down to a big meal. As was the
custom, men were at one table and the ladies at a different
table. One of her uncles , who knew my back ground, tried
to get me to sit with the men, but I refused and went to sit
with the other ladies. I am glad that I did as the men
finished their meals; they broke out their cigarettes and
beer (there were also several bottles of “homemade wine”
as well. At the ladies table, I met a very nice and charming
lady, who was the sister of the groom-to-be, who spoke
fairly good English. Comes to find out that she was married to an Australian gentleman (who I
would meet later) and they lived in Australia. She thought that because of I looked and acted as a
female I was female. I never told her any different. I was surprised to learn that she was 42 and
had grown children. (S he looked to be in her mid possibly late 20’s. Most Vietnamese look quite
about younger than their actual age.) There will be more on the wedding in another article. After
the meal and some visiting, the group walked back down a muddy path to the “ferry landing”,
crossed the river, got into cars for a trip back to Can Tho.
28
Thus, ends part one, however, there will be several more articles forth coming about the wedding
and other things. Please remember that there is basically no TS /TG as this is FYI only. Thanks!!
BARBARA MARIE DAVIDSON
The Adventures of Judy Sometimes
By: Judy Danials
Outed by a License Plate
After out doing some retail therapy I decided to put on some gas and get a car wash. While I
was filling my tank a service vehicle pulled into the pump two spots behind me. I didn't
recognize the vehicle, but I did recognize the driver. It was a guy I had worked with for 22 years
when I worked for the State of North Dakota.
Its been about 12 years since I've seen him and I had know idea if he knew about my dressing
or not so I chose not to approach him. I normally don't make the initial contact with people I'm
not sure about, just so I/we can avoid that awkward moment. I finished filling my tank, went into
pay, came back out and proceeded to drive to the back of the station and get in line for my
wash. As I sat there waiting my turn I see his vehicle coming around the corner of the building
and he pulls up next to me. I acted surprised to see him as I didn't want him to know I
purposely avoided him. First thing he says was, I didn't recognize you until I saw your plate.
(I've had the same personalized license plate for about 25 years) Oh yeah, I guess I look a little
different today and without so much as a flinch we chatted for about the next 20 minutes about
what we were doing now and a little about old times (he still works there).
Now, he has always been a pretty laid back kind of a guy and seeing me dressed didn't seem
to phase him so I assume he's cool about it. The again, why shouldn't he be ? I'm still the same
person he spent 10 hours a day, 4 days a week for 22 years with, lol.
I've been out to most everybody for about 9 years now, but up until recently have been
reluctant to drive my restored 1966 Chevrolet C10 to local cruise nights. Its painted Tantilizing
Turquiose and needless to say gets quite a bit of attention as I drive down the street. I've taken
it out dressed twice now and so far I haven't had any problems with my fellow car
enthusiasts. There are a couple guys that I'm not sure if they know about my dressing, but I'm
sure by summers end we will have crossed paths.
Most of you are in a much different situation than I am, that being that you don't dress around
family or people you know or even in the city in which you live so your chances of being seen
out dressed is limited. I'll admit the first few months I avoided places where I was likely to be
29
seen by people I knew, but once my wife became more comfortable being seen with me we
returned to are usually hangouts.
When I first came out and we were still in the process of telling people I had several incidents
of running into friends/acquaintances who didn't know and nothing was said about the way I
was dressed. Did I find it odd, yes, but its not the easiest subject to bring up, even when you're
caught red handed. We usually followed up with an email to people this happened with. The
problem with not explaining things on the spot is rumors can spread like wildfire. One gal was
so freaked out it traveled among my wife's coworkers from Fargo to Seattle (she used to work
for Microsoft) faster than we could even deal with it. I had went from being a crossdresser to
having a sex change in less than 30 minutes, lol. Believe me, damage control is no fun to deal
with, but my wife got pretty good at it.
Last Thursday night my wife and I stopped by Chub's Pub, a little neighborhood bar a couple
blocks from our house. As we sat sipping our cocktails a young man came up to the bar and
ordered a pitcher of beer. My wife and I looked at each other and said, is that Daniel (the son
of a friend of ours). We decided it wasn't him and if it was we didn't want him to get in trouble
for being under age. About 10 minutes later my wife decided to play a few songs on Touch
Tunes and while doing so the young man and his room mate approached her...and it was
indeed our friend's son Daniel. A few minutes later he came down and sat next to me and we
had a nice little chat. Turns out his 21st birthday was about a month ago.
Now, this isn't the first time he has seen me dressed, in fact he has seen me on and off for
many years. One could say he kind of grew up with it, buts its probably been 2 years since he
last saw me. An y way, last night we went to a birthday celebration of some friends and ran into
his mother. We chatted a bit and then she pulled me to the side and said I have to tell you
something. I said, what's that ? She said he hold told her about our little run in and just went on
and on about how normal it all seemed. He said they're such cool people and the fact that he
dresses like a women doesn't matter one bit, it just seems so natural.
I guess I'll take that as a huge compliment...I must be getting pretty good at this girl stuff, lol.
Judy L ynn
30
What Came of the Stonewall Rebels
June 28th marked the anniversary of Stonewall, we take a look at some of the people who
participated in the riots and how Stonewall shaped their lives.
BY Erin Faith Wilson and Trudy Ring
The riots at the Stonewall Inn, which began in reaction to a police raid in the early morning of
June 28, 1969, are generally credited with launching the modern LGBT rights movement and
paving the way for momentous strides in equality, like this week's Supreme Court ruling
legalizing marriage equality. Although it was actually one of several important uprisings, it was
a very significant one, and it’s one we commemorate with Pride celebrations this weekend.
Those celebrations, of course, will be all the sweeter because of Friday's Supreme Court rulling
for marriage equality. "For those of us who were there, we never dreamed that this day would
come," said Stonewall veteran and Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal in an
email Friday. "We welcome it with a sense of pride and joy." Here we look at a few of the
others who were there for the uprising at the bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, their
perspectives, and what they’ve done since. Some are still with us, some not.
Sylvia Rivera
Transgender woman Sylvia Rivera was dancing in the Stonewall Inn the
night of the raid. "We were led out of the bar and they cattled us all up
against the police vans," she recalled to Leslie Feinberg in a 1998
interview for Workers World. "The cops pushed us up against the grates
and the fences. People started throwing pennies, nickels, and quarters at
the cops. And then the bottles started. And then we finally had the morals
squad barricaded in the Stonewall building, because they were actually
afraid of us at that time. They didn't know we were going to react that way.
We were not taking any more of this shit. We had done so much for other movements. It was
time." Rivera continued for many years to be "a loud and persistent voice for the rights of
people of color and low-income queers and trans people," notes a biography on the website for
the Syl via Rivera Law Project, named in honor of Rivera, who died in 2002. The group "works
to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression,
regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence." Its
namesake recognized that Stonewall was a key event in the stuggle. "I am proud of myself as
being there that night," she told Feinberg. "If I had lost that moment, I would have been kind of
hurt because that's when I saw the world change for me and my people. Of course, we still got
a long way ahead of us."
Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P. Johnson, known as "the saint of Christopher Street," may have
actually started the Stonewall riots. In an interview for the 2012
documentary Pay It No Mind: Marsha P. Johnson,author David
Carter recalled witnesses telling him "that Marsha Johnson said, 'I got my
civil rights!' and then Marsha threw a shot glass into a mirror. And that's
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what started all the riots." He added, "When you look at the mythology, with the few known
facts that withstand scrutiny, I do not think that there is any doubt that she was there the first
night. And I think if we had to conclude, in all probability, that she was probably among the first
to resist the police in a physical way." Johnson became an advocate for trans people,
founding Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries with Sylvia Rivera — the group often
helped trans people find safe housing — and was active in the Gay Liberation Front. She also
was a model for paintings and photos by Andy Warhol. Johnson died in 1992.
Yvonne Ritter
It was supposed to be the night Yvonne Ritter celebrated her 18th birthday
as she headed to Stonewall the night of June 27, 1969. She lied to her
parents about where she would be and put on a dress she borrowed from
her mother’s closet. Once the police raid started, Ritter was put in a police
van with some of the other patrons, but when the door opened to put more
people in, Ritter and others jumped out and ran. Ritter, who had been
assigned male at birth but identified as female, although not to her parents,
was afraid they would find out where she had been, but they didn't, and the
following week she graduated from high school without incident. As an adult, Ritter completed
her gender transition and became a nurse, doing much work with HIV patients. "I feel that a lot
of those with HIV and AIDS may not have been given as good care if we hadn’t gone through a
change as far as it goes with our attitudes with gay and straight people," she told the blog Sang
Bleu in 2014. "I think the people who were at Stonewall that night had great impact on really
putting people in better perspective." She has also volunteered at the New York LGBT Center
as a peer counselor for transgender individuals. In the same interview, she recalled the major
role played by trans people at Stonewall: "These queens were the ones who were kicking it up.
Actually at the front of the bar [they] were screaming ‘We are the Stonewall girls, we wear our
hair in curls, we wear our dungarees above our knobbly knees.’ Truth be told the trans
community were the loudest there."
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San Francisco’s Stonewall: The landmark transgender
rights riot of 1966
by David Matthews
International Transgender Awareness
Day. It’s held on August 15 every year
to commemorate an event in 1966, at
Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in San
Francisco, a popular hangout in the
Tenderloin for members of the
transgender community. After police
raided the cafeteria and attempted to
make several arrests, Compton’s
regulars and allies protested and
rioted, leading to greater recognition
of transgender rights and the
transgender community in general.
The people who frequented
Compton’s did it for a number of
reasons, as revealed in Screaming
Queens, a 2005 documentary about
the riot and the San Francisco scene in
the 1960s.
“It would be open all night,” says one.
“It was its own little fairyland,” says
another. “It was beautiful because it
was clean.”
“Everyone would dive for window
seats, just to show off,” says yet
another.
Compton’s was also scene of several police raids throughout the years. One night, as police
officers entered the cafe, the patrons inside decided they’d had enough. Like a similar riot at
theStonewall in New York three years later, the Compton Cafeteria Riot was also a powder-keg
moment: After a cafeteria worker called the police on some unruly customers, there was an attempt to arrest one trans woman, who threw her coffee in the officer’s face. This led to a scuffle
where windows were smashed and other property was damaged. The message was clear
though: Enough was enough. From Queerty:
Trans people, hustlers and disenfranchised gay locals picketed the cafeteria the following
night, when the restaurant’s windows were smashed again. Unlike the Stonewall riots, the
situation at Compton’s was somewhat organized—many picketers were members of militant
33
queer groups like the Street Orphans and Vanguard.
That group, The Vanguard, had
been founded the year before to
protect gay youth, many of whom
were on their own in San Francisco.
It was one of the first groups of its
kind in the country.
The Compton Riot and the
subsequent protest did not become
quite the landmark event that Stonewall did – perhaps because the city reacted so positively.
Again, Queerty:
“The city’s response was quite different from the reaction in New York: A network of social,
mental and medical support services was established, followed in 1968 by the creation of the
National Transsexual Counseling Unit, overseen by a member of the SFPD.”
That SFPD member was Elliott Blackstone, who since 1962 had served as the official San
Francisco police liaison to the LGBTQ community (at the time, known as the “homophile
community”). Blackstone was appointed to his position after the city found out that “gayola” —
police extortion of LGBTQ people and business owners—was running rampant and needed to
be curbed.
Blackstone passed away in 2006 at 81 and is regarded as a hero in the LGBTQ community.
Just before he died, he attended an event where a plaque was installed and dedicated to the
riots.
You can learn more about San
Francisco, the riot, and the gay
rights movement’s early days
in Screaming Queens, which is
available in full on YouTube.
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Are There Too Many Transgender TV Shows?
By Terri Lee Ryan,
With the highly anticipated Caitlyn Jenner’s show on E! airing this week, it occurred to me that
the bigger issue than whether Jenner should have received the Arthur Ashe reward at the
ESPY awards, is are there too many TV shows depicting transgender people?
Is it just too much at one time for an audience to absorb? Are we in the TG community
attempting to force acceptance through highly scripted and well-staged reality shows that may
or may not be representing the majority of the TG community? Will having so many
transgender topic shows educate or turn off the very people they are attempting to appeal to,
because it is too much, too soon?
I can attest that after working in the unscripted TV world for five years that what TV networks
buy is entertainment. The sweet-spot age group they target is 25-40 years old, with television
networks like MTV, focusing on an even younger demographic of 18-25 years old. Bravo and
Lifetime’s audience is a bit older as they both have gone after the “soap opera” and the
“romance novel” audience.
TV networks and the lucky production companies who produce these shows for the networks
are not making shows to lose money. They are all looking for the next “fresh” topic. And many
reality shows are based on scripted series like Transparent, of which Becoming Us has
become the unscripted version of this show and can be found on ABC Family.
Besides Caitlyn Jenner’s show, I Am Cait on E!, there is I Am Jazz, about a teenage
transgender girl and her family on TLC. Discovery Life has a show titled, New Girls on the
Block which focuses on the lives of transgender women. Prime Instant (Amazon) has a show
called, This is Me, an unscripted show about the transgender and non-conforming transgender
communities.
There are (6) transgender community related shows on the air right now, and I suspect there
will be more, as long as there is a market for viewers and advertisers see the opportunity to
make money on this topic. This all seemed to happen overnight with turning point
when Transparent won an Emmy and prior to that Orange is the New Black received high
acclaim.
You can count on the fact that production companies, including Ryan Seacrest Productions,
were salivating to get into the transgender market. Seacrest has two shows in this space as the
producer of Becoming Us andI am Cait. Seacrest, who has said he wants to be the next Dick
Clark, is certainly following in his foot-steps.
The point is that TV networks provide entertainment and no matter how noble the reason for
doing a show is at the beginning, the show’s purpose, story lines and characters never remain
“real.” This is because in order to keep an audience interested, you need to step up “what is at
risk.” Bravo has accomplished this with its wildly successful Housewives shows. This franchise
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put Bravo on the map and though other networks have attempted to emulate Bravo, they can’t
quite attain the “bravo-formula” for success.
When the fanfare settles in for the public in being exposed to the transgender community on
TV, the characters on these shows will have become reality stars, eventually making a whole
lot of money, while the rest of the transgender and cross-dressing communities will be still be
fighting their own battle for acceptance and making a living.
Years ago, when I was casting for a show on cross-dressers, speaking at the Chi-chapter
meeting, I was asked by someone about how could they make money if the y came out on the
show and revealed themselves. He was so concerned with losing his job and having no money
to support his family and said, “If I come out and people know who I am, I will most likely lose
my job. How am I going to make money, selling woman’s shoes?”
I told him that anyone who was on a reality TV show would make money, probably more
money than you can imagine. He was doubtful, didn’t join in on the casting reel, and we have
become friends. Yet, the fact is that everyone doing these shows is poised to make money and
they will become “reality stars.” My hope is they remember where they came from and to give
back to the community that made them famous.
About Terri Lee Ryan
Author, Documentary Producer, Speaker
Terri Lee Ryan’s journey with cross-dressing began with her ex-husband who
was a frequent dresser. Needing to understand and know more about what
cross-dressing is and the profound effect it has in a relationship led her on the
path to her own self-discovery.
She is the Executive Producer of the documentary, I M arried a Cross-dresser,
which aired on Sky Living Channel in the U.K. November, 2014. She writes a
popular blog for the Chicago Tribune ChicagoNow site. Shades of Gender
offers insight on the current state of the cross-dressing and transgender community and the many faces
of this group.
She has been featured and/or written articles for the Chicago Sun-Times, Desert Woman magazine,
Entrepreneur magazine, Frock magazine, Repartee magazine, and the Transgender Group (TG) Forum.
She has made appearances on ABC-TV, WLS-AM -890, WGN-AM -720 radio and numerous radio
stations across the country.
Pages
36
Humor
37
Angels In The Centerfold
Barbara Martin
Jan Vesta
38
Rachelle Daniels
Mellissa Lynn
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Mellissalynn’s Tips & Tricks
Well, it’s September now. The summer is drawing to a close and fall is just around the corner. It’s almost time to put away the sundresses and start thinking about warmer clothes. And BOOTS! I have a
couple of new pairs that I’m itching towear, now that it’s almost time.
The summer has been mostly good, although I had a small scare
the other day. I woke up and my entire right arm was numb! I
was afraid I’d had a stroke in my sleep, so I high-tailed it to the
doctor as fast as I could. Thankfully, it was only a pinched nerve.
Decatur Celebration was a blast! I saw several concerts, as usual,
and had a great time. I ran into several of my students and other
friends. I had contemplated going the last day en femme, but it
turned out to be a great thing that I didn’t, as I ran into my brother
and my sister-in law! Close call averted…! The weather was a
treasure as well, it was perfect!
School and the salon continue to be my life otherwise. I’m
teaching myself how to do shellac nail polishes; they look really
good on the fingers and are SO durable! I’m also starting to learn
how to do acrylic nails; teaching yourself is a tricky task!
So tell me all about your month, ladies! Write me at
[email protected]. I answer any and all mail I get, so
feel free to tell me about anything you want to chat about, be it a
salon visit or transgender news, or whatever you like. I love
hearing from you all!
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Quick tip: put make-up remover on a Q-tip to fix your messed up eye liner without having to start over.
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Here are seven makeup steps you can take to cover imperfections and give yourself gorgeous hands.
1. Start by cleansing your hands and lightly exfoliating with a sugar scrub.
2. Apply a non-greasy moisturizer and let it soak in.
3. Apply a face makeup primer and let it soak in.
4. Take a white makeup wedge and dip into a foundation that matches the skin tone of your hands.
5. Apply a light coat of foundation to the back of your hands and fingers.
6. Use a cotton swab to remove any excess from your fingernails.
7. If you need more coverage for severe discoloration, use a full coverage foundation.
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You all should know by now that you shouldn't brush wet hair. Well, here's something you might not
have realized: Not only is hair weaker and more prone to damage when wet, but we actually tend to be
rougher on it. Water gives wet hair the ability to stretch more; you don't notice the tension you apply to
it as you mess with it. Tangles in dry hair, on the other hand, can be eye-wateringly painful, which
causes most of us to be gentler.
If you're prone to relentless snarls that can only be battled with a lot of conditioner, your best option is
brush from the bottom up to catch tangles at their source, and use a very wide-tooth comb. A generous
application of a detangler is always good as well.
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A new trend in applying eye liner is called tight-lining. This is where you apply your liner underneath
the lashes instead of on top, as is traditional. You’ll need a small brush and a gel liner. Basically, you’ll
take a small amount on the brush and carefully apply along and between your lashes. Applied correctly,
this will give your lash roots an added appearance of thickness. This may work well enough to skip
mascara altogether; personally, I prefer to apply a swipe or two.
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This is a quick DIY recipe for a clarifying shampoo. If your hair is starting to feel gooey or filmy from
too much product, add about a quarter-teaspoon of basking soda to your shampoo. Wash as usual. The
baking soda will remove the filmy or gooey feeling from your hair.
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Are you like me, in that you get extremely red after getting your brows waxed? Well, I found a trick for
this! Carry a bottle of eye drops with you. After getting waxed, apply a few drops where you’re red.
The drops will calm the redness down enough that you can go out in public in peace.
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My daughter gave me an eye-opener recently. I was upset because the compact that I’ve had for several
years was broken (thankfully, the hinge, not the mirror! . My daughter says, “Who carries one of those
anymore? This is why we have phones!”
And you know what? She’s right! There are several smart phone apps out there that turn your cell
phone into a mirror, so you can see yourself perfectly. M any come with backlighting so that you can see
well, as well as a zoom function.
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How long are your nails, girls? M ine are almost too feminine in their length; I can honestly say I have
better nails than most of the girls in my school. But not everyone is in my 8industry where they can get
away with this. So, for those of you with shorter nails, this tip is for you.
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Go with a sheer polish look! A light touch of color that blends in
with your skin tone will fool the eye into believing your nails are
longer than they really are. And a nude shade with just a hint of pink
looks good on everyone.
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We’re approaching fall, girls, so I’m starting to dig out the fall tips
for you. I now, you aren’t ready to give up the sundresses and
sandals just yet! Alas, it’s inevitable. So here is a fall tip for your
eyes.
As we all know, black is usually the accepted color for liner. But!
Black makes your eyes look smaller, generally. Try another color!
I’m going to recommend an eggplant shade for you. This is a shade
that works with every eye color. It’s rather a vibrant color and really
will pop against the whites of your eyes, causing them to look
brighter. You might want to try this trick by applying only to the
upper lash line. This will give you the appearance of having an eye
lift!
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Here I go again, taking money out of my own pocket for you girls!
Do you get puffy in the face after being outside for a bit? Well, here’s an at-home remedy you can try!
You’ll need two tea bags, a cup, and some eye rounds. Boil the tea bags, then pour the tea in to a cup.
Put this in the fridge and let it get cold. Take your rounds and soak them in the tea. Wipe your face
down with this.
Why does this work? Well, there are several benefits from this. The cold will always cause your skin to
contract. Tannic acid is present in tea, and will act as an astreingent to pull your skin tighter. Caffeine,
when applied in this manner, will draw fluids trapped in the skin out to the surface and reduce swelling.
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Here’s a quick professional tip for you all. Did you know baby powder can make your eyelashes thicker
and longer? After applying a coat of mascara, use a cotton swab or a clean mascara brush to swipe a
touch of powder on your lashes. Then apply your second coat of mascara.
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We've all been guilty of this from time to time; I know I have. Even most makeup artists confess that the
time-consuming brush-cleaning process is their least favorite part of the job. Remember this, though;
even if you don't care that dirty brushes can cause a potential break out in your skin, dirty brushes can
also your makeup application. Not only will the colors be all muddled together, but a precise technique
is rendered way more complicated. The bristles are already overloaded with pigment, blurring that
perfect cut crease to oblivion.
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And now, we turn to M ellissa’s Germ-phobic Corner for words of wisdom. Today’s topic is your
sunglasses. Whether your pair is a necessity, a statement accessory, or more low-key, you probably
wear your sunglasses every day. And even if you’re careful with them, they’ll start to show signs of wear
over time. Here are some tips for keeping your frames in good shape and bacteria-free.:
- Clean your lenses regularly, even if they aren’t prescription. M akeup and sweat can get on the inside of
your glasses, including into crevasses in the frames, and go a long way toward depositing bacteria on
your skin, around your eyes (already a sensitive area).
- Always use a sunglass cleaning solution and a microfiber cloth. As tempting as it is to just fog the lens
with your breath and swipe your shirt over it, resist! This can actually compound dust and dirt on the
lens and cause scratches.
- Don’t push your sunglasses up onto the top of your head like a headband. This will cause them to warp
and stretch out over time. (Guilty!)
- Be conscientious about carrying your sunglasses in a case, so your keys or anything else in your handbag doesn’t scratch the lenses. If the box they came in is too bulky, opt for a space-saving microfiber
pouch.
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This is a quick on-the-go tip that works year-round. Spray a couple of Q-tips with perfume and put them
in a baggy for a mid day scent touch up. Not only will this help you stay smelling fresh, it will keep
your purse smelling great!
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So you’re going out in the morning and you don’t have the time to come see me or one of my brethren in
the styling community. What will you do with your hair? Here’s a quick way to get some beachy
waves…while you sleep!
To wake up with perfect waves, simply shower at night and style your hair before bed. Allow your
strands to air dry until they’re damp, and run some light styling crème through with your fingers.
Depending on your hair type and what kind of waves you prefer, you can either sleep in braids or twist
your hair into buns. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Bed head has never looked so good…
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This is a fast way to give your fluttery fringe some loving with a DIY lash lengthening treatment. The
secret ingredient? Castor oil! This natural oil is rich in super-hydrating omega-6 fatty acids, which help
moisturize your lashes and prevent breakage.
This is how you do it: using a clean spoolie, gently brush the castor oil through your lashes each night. In
the morning, just rinse with warm water and wash your face as usual. You should notice healthier lashes
in just a few weeks!
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You’d like your hair to start growing faster. Well, girls, regardless of what you may have read, that just
won’t happen. Your hair grows at the speed it grows, no matter what you do.
What you CAN influence is how thick it grows! One great way to do that, and to enjoy it as it happens,
is a good scalp massage. Giving yourself a weekly scalp massage will increase the blood flow to your
scalp, which in turn will feed your hair follicles more, which will help them to grow. And it feels so
good!
Use a little bit of olive oil mixed with a touch of lavender essential oil. Dip your fingers in this and,
using the pads of your fingers, apply a medium-firm pressure to your scalp, making small circular
motions. Work from the hairline to the nape, then forward to the hairline again. Do this for about ten
minutes, then shampoo and condition as normal.
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And with that, we come to the end of the column! We’re in the last third of
the year now, girls, and while that’s sad, next month is October. And we all
know what THAT means! HALLOWEEN!
I’ve started boosting my fall wardrobe, as you can see in this picture. I
thought it was a cute look; what do you all think? My weight loss is starting
to show; I actually had to go down two sizes to find jeans that fit! I’m
working hard on the battle of the bulge…
So tell me what’s going on in your lives! Whether it’s having fun in the sun
or fighting your own weight war or telling me about some cute clothes, I
wanna hear it all!
Sending me mail is the easiest thing in the world to do, ladies. You can send
it to my e-mail at [email protected]; as you know, my inbox is
always open! You can also hit me up on Facebook; my name there is M ellissa
Lynn. I’ve been getting better about checking my account, so post with
confidence!
All right girls, for those of you in the US, have a great Labor day. For all of
you, talk to you in October!
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Color Wheel Clothing Combinations
The color wheel was developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, and has
been used in the decorative arts ever since. From painting and
landscaping to fashion and home décor, you can use the color wheel to
determine which colors “go together” in any of your projects. With just a
little imagination, you can find all sorts of fun ways to breathe new life into
your old favorites with color.
How can you do that?
Let’s start with the basics.
The three primary colors are red, blue, and yellow.
When you mix them with each other, you get
orange, green, and violet, which are referred to assecondary
colors.
Each secondary color sits directly opposite a
primary color on the color wheel. That opposite
relationship is called complementary.
When you mix the three secondary colors with the three
primary colors, you get six tertiary or intermediate colors,
which are lighter variations of the secondary colors
Colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel are
called analogous colors.
These twelve basic colors are
called “hues.” You can darken
them with black (“shade”),
mute them with gray (“tone”), or lighten them
with white (“tint”) to get different variations of the
same color.So how does this translate to
clothes? You can wear black or white with any
hue on the color wheel. That’s why I often show
black and white in my combinations – because
they’re so versatile.
45
But if you take the tint very light or the shade or tone very dark, it becomes harder to combine them with black and white. Just keep that in
mind moving forward.
Color Wheel
Combos
So what colors go
together?
The primary
colors all go
together…
...just as they all work with
black and white.
Notice how many grade schools,
high schools, and popular logos
use primary colors with black or
white.
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The secondary
colors all go together, just as
they do with black and white.
They also work with their complementary
or “opposite” color on the color wheel.
Notice how many professional sports
teams use secondary complimentary
colors for their uniforms.
Tertiary or
intermediate
colors also go together, along
with their complementary colors.
Different variations of the same
color can create
a monochromatic look.
47
Analogous colors – those that are
next to each other on the color wheel
– also create visual interest.
So how can you make color work
in your wardrobe?
First, if you haven’t already, organize
your closet by color. It’s the fastest
way to see what you have – and to
play with different color combinations.
Secondly, either print off this color wheel chart and hang it in your closet, or buy one at a crafts
store like Michael’s and keep it near your clothes for easy reference.
Next, start playing with different color combinations. Start with the primary colors, then add
black and white.
Once you feel comfortable, play with secondary colors. Then their complementary colors.
Then try tertiary colors and their complementary colors.
Have a scarf, belt, or shoes with a variety of colors? Use that as the element to pull different
colors together.
See how easy this is?
Once you get the hang of it, you’re only
limited by your imagination. You can come
up with dozens of combinations from just a
handful of pieces.
Another perk? If you work in a creative
industry, you can wow others with your
color sense – including your boss and
clients. Use is to spice up your
wardrobe and build your resume. It’s
totally “win-win.”
So what’s the bottom line here? Stop wearing the “same old, same old” combinations all the
time. Mix it up a bit with color and see how much fun it is!
Diana Pemberton-Sikes is an image consultant and creator of Fashion Style
Blueprint, an ecourse that shows women how to put clothes together for headturning, one-of-a-kind looks. Want to style yourself like a pro? Fashion Style
Blueprint can help.
48
8 Ways to Look Better with Fashion
Look Taller, Slimmer -- Even Younger!
By Cynthia Nellis
Women's Fashion Expert
Sometimes we women make the looks thing so much
more difficult than it really needs to be. Sure, you can
exercise, get injections or undergo cosmetic procedures
to look better. But what if you're looking for an simple,
attainable, instant fix? Use fashion tricks like scale, fit,
silhouette -- even color -- to help you look younger,
taller, slimmer and so much more.
1. Look Skinnier. Instantly!
Could it really be something so simple as a a small change in the way we wear everyday pieces to look
instantly slimmer? Oh yes! A few years ago I started buying longer-length jeans so I could wear heels
with them. Small change, huge difference. I not only looked thinner and longer legged, I also looked
more dressed up in heels and jeans. Shapewear, colors and scale also play a big part
2. Easy Ways to Look Taller
You can never look too tall! Even 6-foot, 50-something model Jerry Hall likes to look taller, in her
monochromatic look with a V-neck and black fishnets to continue the long line.
One of my friends said he wasn’t fat, his legs were just too short. I guess that’s a common problem for
many of us midlifers: we’d all look longer and leaner with maybe another foot of height.
3. Flatter an Apple-Shaped Figure
When it comes to finding clothing for your body shape, this is one of the more difficult shapes to flatter.
Looks that are too voluminous will only make you look rounder, while clothing that is too tight won't
flatter you either.
The goal is to use clothing and accessories to balance out the proportions of your body.
4. Hide a Muffin Top
Regardless of your size, shape or even age, there’s one body issue you are probably dealing with: the
muffin top.
This roll of fat – large or small, depending on your overall size – plops over the top of your waistband to
create the look of a muffin top. It can just spill over the front of pants, or it can pop up over the sides
49
and back of pants, too
5. Skip Clothes That Make You Look Older
I don't know any woman who would wear something that makes her look fatter. But you'd be surprised
by how many women wear styles that make them look older. It's not just vanity that keeps me wanting to
look younger. It's the fact that I don't feel old on the inside, so why would I want to portray an aged
image to the world? Banish tweeds, cardigans and old lady reading glasses to look younger
6. Flatter a Top-Heavy Figure
You basically have two options when dressing for a top-heavy figure, because things like skin-tight
t-shirts and halter dresses are usually too skimpy. Instead go with the options of flattering a full bust by
either creating an hourglass shape or create a column. M ore »
7. Dress a Bottom-Heavy Figure
For bottom-heavy figures it's about fit, silhouette and finding the right bottoms to compliment this
shape. Even prints and the visual location of the waist play a part in dressing this figure type.
The Perfect Bra: How to Find It Once and for All
By Joanna Douglas,
The perils of bra shopping. Photo by CorbisWe've all heard
that most women aren't wearing the correct bra size, but that
can't possibly be you, right? You've worn the same size for
years! It's fine! (M ost of the time, anyway.) Well, a new study
conducted by Triumph, a Swiss lingerie company, surveyed
100,000 women and found that 64 percent of women are, indeed, wearing the wrong size bra. Perhaps most is surprising is
the fact that 29 percent know they're wearing the wrong size. It
might not sound like a big deal but it kind of is: Women's
Wear Daily, which reported the study, said that 73 percent of
women also felt that poorly-fitting bras could ruin their entire
day. Yeah, been there.
It's too bad really, considering how easy it is for women to go
in and get a bra fitting for free at their local lingerie retailer.
The problem is that not all brands and styles fit the same way,
which means you're not necessarily always the size you think
you are. With Valentine's Day around the corner and many women on the hunt for special
undergarments, we enlisted Jene Luciani, a style and bra expert and author of "The Bra Book," for tips to
ensure that you are wearing the best, most flattering, and yes, most comfortable, bra possible.
Do you really think 64 percent of women are wearing the wrong bra size?
Through my research I think this number is more like 85 to 90 percent! The biggest complaint I hear
from women who go to bra specialty stores is that the fitters don't tell them what they're doing. They just
try to upsell and make shoppers reliant on them so they keep coming back. It's important for women to
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be educated consumers when it comes to bras, and that's part of why I wrote "The Bra Book," so women
could get educated first and have fun with it too.
S o how can you tell if you're wearing the wrong size? The underwire beneath the cups should not be
riding up or digging into breast tissue. This could mean that you need a larger cup size or the band size is
too big, causing the bra to shift around on your body. The bridge, which is the center piece between the
two cups, should lie completely flush against your ribcage. If it is extended away from your body, you
likely need a larger cup size or a different style bra.
Are certain styles of bras dramatically better for different shapes and sizes of breasts?
Absolutely. Most women have their favorite style of bra, but it's important for women to really shop for
bras based on their body shape and their breast volume and shape. M ost fuller busted women with large,
heavier breasts might not opt for a padded push-up T-shirt bra since that's just going to make them appear larger. Women whose breasts are fuller at the bottom do need a push-up of some sort, but they may
want a lace style with an underwire as opposed to a molded cup t-shirt bra that's going to possibly give
them gaping at the top. It's all about trial and error.
We often assume expensive is better. Is it possible to find a great-fitting bra on a budget?
My biggest recommendation is to go to a store with a large selection. Stores like M arshalls and T.J.M axx
are great choices because they carry a variety of really high-quality and brand-name lingerie at amazing
prices. With bras, you do get what you pay for, so you want to buy quality, but that in no way means you
have to go to a specialty shop and spend $100 on a bra. Since we need to switch out our bras at least
once a year due to wear and tear, you'll feel a lot better doing that when you've spent less on a bra
without sacrificing quality.
How tight should the band be, and which hook are you supposed to use?
Ideally, you can use the middle hook so you have a place to go when, for example, you have your period
and your breasts are a little larger you can switch to loosest hook. Or, if your bra is starting to stretch out
but it's too soon to toss, then that's the time to switch to tightest hook.
What does it mean if the band keeps riding up in the back?
This could mean a couple of things. For women who have very large, heavy breasts, it could simply be
the weight of their breasts. It could also mean that you're wearing a band that's too big. When it's fitting
properly, it should lie horizontally across your back. Also check your straps – if they are adjusted too
tightly it could cause the band to ride up.
What about straps? They're often either falling down or digging in.
If they're too loose, they either could be getting stretched out from wear and washing, or the band size is
too big. If they're digging in, you may need to adjust them or you may need to look for cushion straps or
something with a higher comfort level.
We've heard before that a 34C is about the same as 36B, and so on. Is this true?
Yes. Bra sizes are based on volume and the number works with the letter. They're not independent of one
another. Therefore, if you go down in band size and up in the cup, you generally get the same size bra.
However, there is no consistency in brands with their fit models so you could be five different sizes in
five different bras. It's trial and error at the stores, and sizing is only meant as a guideline.
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How often should you wash a bra?
They should be washed between every use! The dirt and oils in our skin really break down the elasticity
in the fabric, causing them to wear out faster.
And finally, how do you know when your bra has worn out and it's time to pitch it?
There are lots of signs to tell such as tearing or shredding, stretching out of cups or straps, bending of
underwire, and just not fitting right anymore. Then it's time to toss.
Drop Waist Dress -– ’20s, ’60s, and Now
Tasi Zuriack
The drop waist dress has come of age again
Fash ion Tip: “It’s a new era in fashion — there are no rules.” — Alexander McQueen”
And so it is with this marvelous dress that I had never really
given any thought to, but talk about a stylish and timeless
dress, the drop waist dress is it. Introduced by Dame Mary
Quant, a British fashion icon who also introduced the minidress and hot pants, this dress takes its origin s to the
1920s era flapper girl, was highly popular in the ’60s, and
has now been updated for ladies of all ages in this decade.
We can officially report the drop waist dress is back.
Rocking the drop waist dress used to be only an (ill-fitting)
dream for some
of us. Regardless
of your silhouette
history, rest
assured, the
updated styling has seen resurgence in much more
floating and flattering shapes that could camouflage
even the most body-conscious fashionista’s flaws.
’20s to the ’80s
The drop waist tend first appeared in the 1920s, with
the emergence of the flapper dresses that coincided
with female liberation. In terms of fashion, they were
a respite from the tight fitting corsets. The look was
most prominent in Coco Chanel’s creation
titled Garconne Look, which literally translates to
“boy” in French.
Drop waist dresses are characterized by a line drawn
around the hips instead of your natural waist, thus
giving you a longer torso. This seemingly shapeless
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silhouette has made a comeback this season, with many international designers taking a liking
to it.
By the mid 1960s the style became
popular again. The free movement the
drop waist dress gives allows for lots of
dancing, running and jumping — perfect
for the new freedom of women in both
eras!
’60s styles tended to fit a little more
closely to the body giving a sporty look
whereas the ’20s style was loose and
feminine.
Drop waist dresses then went into
remission until the ’80s when one was
spotted on the likes of Princess Diana, but in the =80s it was more about volume — adding
more shape to the body to create masculine strength instead of slenderness.
The Modern Twist
While the frumpy look of this
silhouette hasn’t been tampered
with, designers have given it a chic
modern look, wit h exaggerated
belts and waist bands. Interesting
patterns have been noticeable and
so has been color blocking, both of
which draw attention to the lower
half of the body. This also has the
effect of drawing attention away
from our wide shoulders while
giving us an overall fun and flirty look
Different Styles
While the 1920s were about
drop waists with hemlines
below the knee, there are
several modern variations to
the look. There are ruffled
skirts for that free flowing
look, A-line skirts for a more
slender look and a pleated look
as well. You can also play
around wit h the length of your
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drop waist dress, going short or long with it. As far as the trend if concerned, it is definitely on
the shorter side, with hemlines finishing much before the knees.
Wearing It Right
While the drop waist is one of the hottest trends of the season, it is important to wear it right.
Given the “shapeless” look of the trend, you can quickly go wrong with it . This look works
perfectly for slender women who have narrow hips, as it adds volume to the lower half of the
body. However, that does not mean that the more “hippy” ones cannot wear the drop waist.
• If you are slightly heavy at the bottom, stay away from the ruffled bottom half. Instead, go
for A line skirts since they give a slender appearance.
• For those wit h long legs and a shorter torso,
pairing the drop waist dress with flat boots or
ones wit h moderate heels works well. For those
with short legs and a long torso, drop waist
should be paired wit h high heels to balance the
long torso. The idea is to create a symmetrical
look, since the silhouette creates the illusion of
a longer torso.
• For an evening out, go for something more
glamorous in sequins and embellishments. For a
casual day out, drop waists in solid colors and
easy fabrics work well.
Fashion and style are meant to be limitless. It’s
a way to explore and find out not only what
kind of woman you are but determine how you want to communicate that to the rest of the
world. Styling for the more curvy and statuesque woman (meaning many of us that
crossdress) is not impossible it just takes more effort. The end result is both flattering and on
trend. As you can see below in this beautiful whit e drop waist dress with accessories. With
fearless bloggers such as Gabi of gabifresh.com that show that this trend can be pulled off
beautifully
Figure Flattery
Apple-shaped bodies, with thinner limbs and a thicker middle, can camouflage a tummy while
showing off their best features in a drop-waist dress. Slender or boyish figures can also rock
this style well — just be sure the skirt isn’t too voluminous or it may swallow up a smaller
frame. A pear or hourglass figure should steer clear of this style, as it does nothing to highlight
your defined waist. If you’re petite, the longer torso could cause your gams to look shorter;
ensure that the hemline is a few inches above the knee to preserve some leg length.
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Style Savvy
Style a drop-waist dress
traditionally with flapperinspired kitten heels, a long
pearl or tassel necklace and a
small clutch with a long strap.
Or instead, take a less
predictable approach by pairing
your dress with unexpected
pieces. Choose a blazer and
pumps for work, a denim jacket
and T-strap sandals for casual shopping, or leather booties and a moto-style jacket for a tough
-meets-girly look.
Look for buttery, lightweight fabrics and whimsical candy-colored prints. The new drop waist
dress is the perfect, breezy substitute to your structured, spring cocktail dress whether you’re
looking for a slouchy or slim fit. A floating top half is quick to hide any body issues, and a great
way to showcase better assets like legs or shoulders. If you’re a fan of wrap-style dresses, look
for similar shapes in the drop waist silhouette. V-necklines can be one of the most figure flattering shapes on any woman, and a sleeveless, tank cut is perfect for the fashionista looking to
show a bit more skin.
Look for layered silk chiffon’s in those infamous Spring Pantone colors for the simplest palette
to color block or showcase a bold bag. An all-over color dress also pairs perfectly with the
large-patterned lace trend. Top your drop waist dress with a lady-like lace jacket or slip a lace
top over your dress and turn it into a drop waist skirt/blouse combo.
Everyone can have a piece of this Gatsby-inspired elegance.
Check out these online sources for great looking drop waist dresses:
Bontons
Modcloth
Nordstrom
Kohls
About Tasi Zuriack: Tasi is transgendered, married, and a lifelong
crossdresser. She’s the founder of the Ladies of the Blue Ridge transgender
group in Roanoke VA, a prolific writer, commentator and blogger including
fashion articles for Tri-Ess, TG Reporter, Repartee, and Pretty T-Girls
magazine. Tasi currently resides in Merida, (Yucatan) Mexico. Her new
website, Sister House and her blog, the Fashionable TG Woman are
dedicated to fashion and style for the transgendered woman. Please visit
her. Tasi’s new book, "Top Ten Fashion Mistakes By Crossdressers and
How To Fix Them" is available on Amazon or on her site free to
subscribers.
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How to Get an Hourglass Figure (Male to Female
Transformation Tips)
By Lucille Sorella
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lucille Sorella is a GG (genetic girl) who
teaches crossdressers, transsexuals, and transgender females how
to look, act, and feel like real women. Her goal is to help T-women
express their inner and outer femininity and increase their confidence
as women. She has a professional background in fashion, beauty,
dance, and natural healing and has been working with the
transgender community for the past 12 years. Her website is loaded
with useful information and is located at
http://www.flat2fem.com/index1.html .
One of the best things about being a
woman is having CURVES galore!
But maybe you’re wondering…
It is really possible to look like an
hourglass if you’re built like a
rectangle or an apple (as many crossdressers and transgender women
are)?
The answer is YES!
Keep reading to learn how to slim
your waist and enhance your hips to
achieve a stunning hourglass shape.
1. Try corset training
If you’ve never worn a corset
before, prepare to be amazed: A
corset can take up to 6” off your waist
and make you look and feel ultra
feminine.
A corset can even be used for
permanent (or at least semipermanent) waist size reduction.
Corset training isn’t fast or easy, but it can work wonders when combined with a
proper diet and exercise.
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Check out Romantasy.com to learn more about corset training. They offer corsets,
training materials, and even a 3-month waist training coaching program.
2. Wear a waist cincher
As lovely as corsets are, they aren’t always practical. A big drawback is that
corsets can look stiff and bulky under most clothes.
Waist cinchers, on the other hand, are designed to be worn under clothing. A waist
cincher can take 1-4 inches off your waist while still allowing you to move and
breath easily.
Here are 3 top-reviewed waist cinchers available in small to extra-large sizes.
Flexees Instant
Slimmer Waistnipper
Squeem Magical
Lingerie Waist Cincher
Rago Waist Cincher –
Style 821
3. Improve your posture
Good posture can make you look 10 pounds lighter around the middle, so pay
attention to the way you sit and stand. Think stomach in, chest lifted, and
shoulders back.
Even better – put on your waist cincher! A waist cincher improves your posture by
forcing you to keep your tummy in and your spine straight.
4. Try the vacuum pose
Traditional exercises like crunches and sit-ups can overdevelop your abs and
increase the size of your waist.
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Have you ever noticed that many
modern bodybuilders have
bulging abdomens? Compare this
to the wasp-waist look of old
school bodybuilders like Arnold
Schwarzenegger or Jack Lalanne.
You obviously don’t want to look
like “The Terminator”, but these
classic bodybuilders were onto
something. Their secret was the
“vacuum pose”.
The vacuum pose is an exercise that tones the transverse abdominis – the
innermost ab muscle that holds your stomach in. Everyday crunches don’t target
this muscle.
The vacuum pose can take 2-4 inches off your waist, so it’s definitely worth a try.
(I personally lost 1 inch off my waist after vacuum posing for 2 weeks!) Here’s how
to do it:
Exhale all the air from your lungs.
Expand your chest and suck in your stomach as
much as possible. Imagine trying to touch your
belly button to your spine.
Hold this pose for 5-15 seconds and then relax.
Repeat for 3-5 minutes.
The vacuum pose should be done on an empty
stomach and can be done standing, sitting, or on
your hands and knees. Check out this article to
learn more about the vacuum pose.
5. Enhance your hips
A small waist is only half of the equation. Your hips
should appear approximately 10 inches larger than
your waist for true hourglass proportions.
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Padded panty
Gathered waist
Peplum
Here are some tips for enhancing your hips:
Wear padded panties. Classic Curves carries the best hip and butt enhancers for
crossdressers and transgender women. You can also find a big selection of
removable hip and butt pads on LoveMyBubbles.com.
Go for skirts and dresses with gathered waistlines. Gathers are the easiest
way add inches to your lower body and create the illusion of hips.
Look for peplum styles. A peplum is a ruffle or overskirt attached to the
waistline of a top, dress, or skirt. Besides adding fullness to the hips, the peplum is a very fashion-forward look.
I hope this article gave you some new ideas for getting the sexy curves you desire!
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Your Goof-Proof Guide to Painless Fashion
WebM D
Straps That Slice Into Your Ankles
You don't have to accept pain with sexy
shoes! When you go shoe shopping, try them
on in the afternoon, when your feet tend to
swell. That causes too-tight straps to cut into
your ankles. If your strappy shoes give you a
blister anyway, skip the Band-Aid -- it will just
rub off. Instead, apply a heap of ointment to
the area, which will let the strap slide around
while soothing the sore.
Back-Breaking Handbag
You probably can't get through the day without
toting stuff like your makeup bag and workout
gear. Choose a bag with strong, wide straps
that won't cut into your shoulder blades. A
cross-body bag takes pressure off your back
and shoulders. And if you're stuffing it with
everything you own, stop! You shouldn't carry
more than 10% of your body weight
Body Shapers That Put the Squeeze On
Body shapers are great if they aren't too small
and if you don't wear them too long.
Shapewear that's too tight can lead to blood
pooling in your lower legs and raise your risk
of varicose veins. If you wear a shaper that
controls curves, take it off and lie or sit down
with your legs raised for at least half an hour.
Do that twice a day.
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Too-High Heels
Sadly, we can't prevent bunions or
corns that come from wearing high
heels. The best way to protect your
feet from painful foot problems is to
wear a flat shoe -- with a footsupporting insert. Save the stilettos for
special events only. If you just can't
work a flat into your wardrobe, skip
high heels with pointy toes and stick
with heels under 2 1/4 inches.
Flats Can Make Arches Ache
Sometimes flats hurt, too. The reason
your feet hurt while wearing ballet flats
is they offer little to no rear-arch
support. If you have flat feet, wearing
this type of shoe will hurt less. But if
your feet have more of an arch, they'll
thank you if you slip them into a shoe
that provides more arch support. Look
for ballet flats with elastic around the
top. They grip your foot better
Itchy Wool Sweaters
Some fabrics, like wool, can cause skin
rashes because they irritate the skin. But
other clothes you wear can also cause
an itchy feeling, too. Layer your woolen
sweaters over fitted, long-sleeve cotton
shirts so you don't scratch all day. And
keep your skin moisturized, because dry
skin tends to be itchier.
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Heavy Earrings
They may be cute, but large or heavy
earrings can permanently stretch out your
earlobes. Prevent the droopy look:
Wear light plastic earrings instead of
metal ones.
Switch up heavy earrings with small ones
every other day.
Stick to studs altogether
Workout Woes: Chafing and Acne
Once you get sweaty, your workout gear
might give your skin a hard time. Your
clothes might chafe or cause breakouts.
Look for well-fitted gym clothes made of
synthetic fabrics -- not cotton -- that
draw moisture away from the skin. To
avoid breakouts on your back or chest,
change into dry clothes immediately
after working out, and shower with a
benzoyl peroxide body cleanser
Headbands = Headaches
As cute and festive as they may be, some hair
accessories can give you a headache. This is
because they press down on the nerves in your
scalp and forehead -- and it might feel as bad
as a migraine. Don't wear headbands or
barrettes that hurt, or wear them only for short
lengths of time
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Leg-Cramping Jeans
Getting into your skinny jeans can make
your day! But if they're so tight you can't
walk or sit comfortably, you should
loosen up. Your skinny jeans should be
fitted, but they should not pinch your
waistline or cut off your circulation.
Choose one with a little stretch so they
allow you to move freely.
5 Crossdressing Tips To Help You Pass As A Woman
Confidence This is one of the MOST important things if you are looking to be a passable crossdresser. Confidence is KEY. Walk & act like
you belong. CheckTHIS out for more on walking like a woman.
2. Dress For The Occasion If you are heading out intopublic, be sure
you are dressing appropriately for where you are going. If you look like
a street hooker...well...you look like a hooker.
3. Easy On The Boobs We all love a big old set of Pamela Anderson
jumbo boobs...but on crossdressers, they just look ridiculous and will
just draw all eyes onyou. Get a set of breast forms in the right size to fit
your natural shape and body.
4. Accessorize Necklaces, Bracelets, rings, watches, belts, scarves, even a pair of glasses can help to give
you a more feminine appearance. Carry a pocketbook too.
5. Makeup Really get your makeup skills up, especially the beard cover. Learn what products & colors work
best for you and your skin tone. If you are going out during the day..a dark smokey eye may not be the right
choice.
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Tasi’s Musings, September, 2015
Greetings from Merida
Romanticism is still alive on the streets of Merida, in the Bohemian
nights, and of course in the music of the “trios”. The main performers
of the Yucatecan trova, known for its tributes to women and their
beauty. The Yucatecan trio is composed of two guitars, one playing
the rhythm and the other the bass notes, and a smaller type of 6-string
guitar which produces a sharp sound and is very characteristic of this
musical style.
Yucatecan trova is the fruit of a
poetic and musical culture that
was born with the influences of Cuban styles and other
Latin American countries; it’s “golden age” was
between 1920 and 1950 and it became the principal
focus of the social life in the city of Merida and today
is considered a living national treasure. A more
compete history is here, but you may enjoy this special
music in this short video.
In the News
A Study in Sexism: What Happens When Trans Women Lose Their Male Privilege.
"A lot of trans women are aware that there is male privilege before we transition–that
women are not treated with as much respect as men," says Julia Serano, author
of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity.
"But there's a big difference between knowing privilege exists and the literal experience
of losing it." Trans(form) is a month-long series on MarieClaire.com that explores the
challenges, surprises, and victories of transitioning today. See the full collection here.
Can the Church Embrace the Transgender Community? CharismaNews addresses
the question and got some interesting results. Bottom line, the church needs to realize that
this is not an issue of sexual sin but rather of people dealing with a deep internal struggle,
one that drives many to suicide. Read a summary of the other points and the author’s response.
The New York Times on the legal battles over bathroom bills for transgender Americans.
The court have taken up the cases but it’s going to be a long, hard fought battle
64
Changing genders at work: Inside the
Fortune 500's quiet transgender
revolution. For more than a decade, some
of the nation’s largest companies have
stepped in where the United States
government has not by providing
nondiscrimination protections, healthcare
benefits, and transition guidelines to their
transgender employees, even as the
community remained marginalized in
mainstream American culture. AT&T is one such company. For Chien, 52, who had been
presenting as a woman everywhere but at the office for the past five years, it was also a
life-changer. Read her story.
Tricia and Katie. There are few stories
about couples staying together after one
partner transitions. Here is one such story,
of Tricia and Kate. The couple’s 34 years
of marriage were marked by the everchanging dynamics they always tackled
together. Now, feeling abandoned, to
whom could Katie turn? Be sure and read
the comments too as they reflect how we
are perceived, even when there is a
successful story.
Tonight with John Oliver:
Transgender Rights (HBO), one of the
best reviews that I’ve seen and done with
quite a bit humor. Highly recommended.
65
Books, Movies and Television
Honey, you don’t know how it is!. Is
Caitlyn Jenner willingly and
purposefully getting schooled on her
own show? That’s what episode 2 of “I
Am Cait” would suggest. It featured Ms.
Jenner’s family coming to terms with
her transition. If you pay attention to
transgender-themed news media and art,
it was the same old song that’s been
sung for years.
But in this episode, she invites six other trans women for dinner, all of whom have some
public visibility as artists, activists or community workers, and most of whom
transitioned a while ago. They are: Zackary Drucker, Jen Richards, Drian Juarez, Jennifer
Finney Boylan, Chandi Moore and Candis Cayne.
These seven hang out for most of the episode, and they spend most of their time telling
Ms. Jenner, in effect: Honey, you don’t know how it is. This theme continues into
episodes 3 and 4 too. Caitlyn has given us greater visibility but she hasn’t earned her
spurs yet through real life experience.
How trans people really feel about Caitlyn was the subject of an article in cut.com as
reported by the Daily Mail. 'Inept... Privileged... Goddess': Transgender people reveal
how they REALLY feel about Caitlyn Jenner in brutally-honest video
On the other hand, “Transparent” star Jeffrey Tambor spoke about how he thinks his
character, Maura, would react to Caitlyn Jenner’s very public transition.
“I think Maura loves a party,” Tambor said, according to Variety. “I think Maura would be
very empathetic or empathic to that. Unlike me — I’m a little shy — I think Maura would
welcome people in her closet.”
Tambor added that he and the “Transparent” team have met Jenner and feel very fondly
towards her. “We have met Caitlyn, and on a personal level, may I speak, we love
Caitlyn,”.
66
The Transcend Movement website has an article on Why Caitlyn Jenner is a bad role
model for (some) crossdreamers. You may or may not agree with her point of view.
A Special Issue of Vanity Fair on Trans America is out with Caitlyn on the cover. Be
sure and read it.
“We’re taking the gloves off” as Jeffrey Tambor and Jill Soloway tease
“Transparent” season 2 According to Soloway, the addition of the show’s first trans
woman writer has allowed the writers’ room to increasingly zoom in on Maura’s inner
life. “Having a trans woman in the writers’ room has really allowed us to tell the story
more from her own place of subjectivity,” Soloway explained.
Transgender sitcom Boy Meets Girl. BBC Two is making history with a sitcom that
revolves around a transgender character named Judy, who is played by trans actress
Rebecca Root. Created by writer Elliott Kerrigan, it won the Trans Comedy Award and
has now been turned into a six-part series. It begins on BBC Two on 3 September
Marie Claire’s series on what it means to be transgender
Fashion
The new layering rules. As fall approaches, the weather becomes highly changeable.
One day you are freezing and the next you are peeling the clothes off . What to do? Here
are some layering rules to help you:
The shirt and dress combo
Prada AW15; Alexa Chung
Summer’s apron dresses and A-line tunics are
transformed for trans-seasonal times by layering up
with a statement blouse. First seen on the street-style
set, the look has been picked up by designers and
stylists in their droves. It’s the perfect way to get more
mileage from your summer purchase.
Style tips
• Keep dress cuts simple: they’ll be great with bare
legs now and tights later.
• Shirts and blouses with stripes, ruffles, bows and
punchy colours will liven up even the plainest of shift
dresses.
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• Avoid dresses that are figure-hugging or have a tendency to ride up – a bulge is not a
good look! Read the other four tips here
8 Transgender Models You Need to
Know. These models are doing major
things—in the fashion industry and
beyond. Here are their inspiring stories.
Carmen Carrera
Tonight with John Oliver: Fashion
(HBO). This guy is something else. A
commentator equal to Jon Stewart with an
incredible sense of humor. He takes apart
the fashion industry in a way you haven’t
seen before.
Humor
The Transgender bathroom Myth by Jon Stewart (the Daily Show)
You’ve got to love European commercials! Right over the border of Northern Germany
in Denmark there are a couple of "Fleggard" Supermarkets (part of the the Costco
family) where you can find everything your heart craves, especially high tech and
household appliances; a lot cheaper than in Germany.
For this commercial, more than 100 skydiver women jumped from a transport plane, you
see them in free fall forming the ad text "SIEMENS washing machine for only 269
Euros" .
So until next month,
Hugs……Tasi
68
Cyndi Lauper Opens
Shelter for Homeless LGBT
Youth
True Colors Residence will be first
facility of its kind in New York City
BY MATTHEW PERPETUA
Cyndi Lauper is set to open a 30-bed housing facility for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans gendered youth in M anhattan on September 1st.
The True Colors Residence, named after her 1986 hit "True Colors," will be located on West 154th St.
near Frederick Douglass Blvd. in Harlem. The residence, the first permanent housing facility of its kind
in the city, was conceived by the singer, her manager and the West End Intergenerational Residence, a
non-profit focused on providing housing for homeless families and the elderly.
Lauper, a longtime supporter for LGBT rights, was moved to pursue this project because up to 40
percent of homeless youth in the city identify as LGBT. "These young people often face discrimination
and at times physical assault in some of the very places they have to go for help," she wrote in a letter
seeking donations for the residence. "This is shocking and inexcusable!"
The True Colors Residence is a new energy-efficient building with 30 studio apartments for youths aged
18 to 24, complete with indoor and outdoor community space. Residents will pay rent based on their income and will receive help with job placement.
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From
The
Kitchen
2 perfect creamy chicken recipes for picky eaters
By HilaryMeyer, EatingWell Associate Food Editor
As a cookand associate food editor at EatingWell Magazine,
developing, testing, retesting and eating every recipe that we
publish, I can’t afford to be picky. Even if I don’t love a certain flavor
profile or taste, I have to tryit. Luckily, in the end, I love just about
everything that crossesmy lips. (I wouldn’t be working here if that
wasn’t the case!) But not everyone has the broad spectrum of “likes”
that I do.
on the planet is a VERY picky eater. I’ve cooked for her on a
number of occasionsand no matter what I make, her plate ends up
with strategiclittle piles of uneaten food she’s picked off hermeal. It
drivesme nuts. I want to give up on her, but I can’t. Out of pure
frustration I’m tempted to just throw her headlong into the fire and
make her choke down some fermented fish product to desensitize
her taste buds so everything else tastes better in comparison. But
that would probably backfire, not to mention ruin our friendship. So
I’m going with a simpler approach. I’m going to start in a genre
that’s simple and deliciousand nearly everyone loves: creamy
chicken.
What could be more accessible to a picky eater than white meat slathered in white sauce? Nothing. And we have
some AWESOME creamy chicken recipes that get rave reviews from our readers. I’ll make my friend Chicken Breasts
with Mushroom Cream Sauce (see recipe below), a popular hit that has shallotsand shiitake mushrooms in a
lightened-up cream sauce. Next time I’ll make Sautéed Chicken Breast with Creamy Chive Sauce (see recipe below),
another simple recipe with a light and creamy sauce, this one flavored with chivesand mustard. Both are recipes that
she and I can enjoy, and who knows?Maybe she’ll get more adventurous as time goes on, but until then, I’ll happily
throw together a creamy chicken dish to keep us both satisfied.
Chicken Breasts w ith Mushroom Cream Sauce
Active time: 30 minutes | Total: 30 minutes
The secret to a good cream sauce is always the same: not too much cream orit can be overpowering, masking
the more delicate flavors. Here it containsa bountiful amount of mushrooms and is served over chicken breasts.
2 5-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and tenders removed (see Tip)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium shallot, minced
1 cup thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps
2 tablespoons dry vermouth or dry white wine
1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
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2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives or scallion greens
Season chicken with pepper and salt on both sides.
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once or twice and adjusting
the heat toprevent burning, until brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers
165°F, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.
Add shallot to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms; cook, stirring
occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Pour in vermouth (or wine); simmer until almost evaporated, scraping up
anybrowned bits, about 1 minute. Pour in broth and cook until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Stirin cream and
chives (or scallions); return to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan, turn to coat with sauce and cookuntil heated
through, about 1 minute.
Makes 2 servings.
Per serving: 275 calories; 15 g fat (5 g sat, 7 g mono); 84 mg cholesterol; 5 g carbohydrate; 25 g protein; 1 g
fiber; 373 mg sodium; 370 mg potassium.
Tip: It’s difficult to find an individual chicken breast small enough for one portion. Removing the thin strip of meat
from the underside of a 5-ounce breast—the “tender”—removes about 1 ounce of meat and yields a perfect 4ounce portion. Wrap and freeze the tenders and when you have gathered enough, use them in a stir-fry or for
oven-baked chicken fingers.
Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Creamy Chive Sauce
Active time: 35 minutes | Total: 35 minutes
Here’s a sauce so delicious, it’s missing only one thing: a little crunchy bread to dip in it. Make It a Meal: Serve
with steamed asparagus or cauliflower, mashed potatoes or orzo pasta, and a glass of Vinho Verde.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound), trimmed of fat
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 large shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup chopped chives (about 1 bunch)
Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until flattened to an
even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Season both sides of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place 1/4 cup flour in a
shallow glass baking dish and dredge the chicken in it. Discard the excess flour.
Heat 2teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden
brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover and keep warm.
Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring constantly
and scraping up any browned bits, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon
flour; stir to coat. Add wine, broth and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil, stirring often.
Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until heated
through and no longer pink in the center, about 6 minutes. Stir in sour cream and mustard until smooth; turn the
chicken to coat with the sauce. Stir in chives and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
Per serving: 244 calories; 9 g fat (3 g sat, 4 g mono); 72 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrate; 26 g protein; 0 g fiber; 679 mg sodium; 334 mg potassium.
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Chicken with Mushroom Stuffing
cook time: 4 hrs
servings: 8
ingredients
If you take a little time in the morning to
prepare thismeal and place it in the slow
cooker, dinner will be ready for you when
you get home. Seasoned chicken is
cooked together with the mushrooms and
breading to make thisenticing chicken
Nonstick cooking spray
2 tablespoons finely shredded lemon peel
1 tablespoon ground sage
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1-1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
8 small chicken legs (drumstick-thigh portion) (about 5
pounds), skinned
1/4 cup butter
4 cups quartered or sliced fresh mushrooms, such as
cremini, baby portobello,
shiitake, and/or button mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
8 cups sourdough baguette cut into 1-inch pieces (about
10 ounces)
1 cup coarsely shredded carrot (2 medium)
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
3 tablespoons snipped fresh Italian parsley
Directions
Lightly coat the inside of a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the lemon peel. In a
small bowl stir together the remaining lemon peel, the sage, seasoned salt, and pepper. Remove three-quarters of
the sage mixture and rub onto chicken legs. Place chicken in slow cooker.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet cookmushroomsand garlic in hot butter over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until
just tender. Stirin remaining sage mixture. Transfermushroom mixture to a large bowl. Add baguette pieces and
carrot. Drizzle with broth, tossing gently to combine. Lightly pack stuffing on top of chicken in cooker.
Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. Using a slotted spoon, transfer stuffing and chicken to a
serving platter; discard juices in cooker. In a small bowl combine reserved 1 teaspoon lemon peel, the walnuts
and parsley. Sprinkle nut mixture over chicken and stuffing before serving. Makes 8servings
Summer Sa ngria with Grilled Fruit
The refreshing combination of fresh fruit, wine and fizzy soda is the
perfect beverage for summertime entertaining. Before you grill your
food, char orange and lime slices on the grill to add extra depth and
sw eetness to this sangria. Photo credit: Sydney Kramer from Crepes of
Wrath.
Ingredients
Serves: 10
3 seedless oranges
3 limes
Sugar
1 bottle red wine, such as Zinfandel (750 ml)
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1 cup orange j uice
1/4 cup orange-flavored liqueur, suchas Triple
Sec
4 McCormick® Cinnamon Sticks
2 cups cold lemon-lime soda
3 cups ice cubes
Directions
10 mins Prep time
12 mins Cook time
Cut ends off oranges and limes then cut fruit crossw ise into 1/2-inch thick slices. Dip cut sides
of fruit into sugar. Grill fruit slices over medium heat 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly charred,
turning occasionally.
Mix w ine, orange j uice, liqueur, cinnamon sticks and grilled fruit in large pitcher until well
blended. Stir in sugar to taste, if desired.
Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. Just before serv ing, stir in soda and ice.
Coconut-Gin Sorbet
Ingredients:
250 g grated fresh coconut
5 dl water
250 g sugar
1 tbsp gin
Preparation:
Simmer the grated coconut in the water for 20 minutes.
Add the sugar and simmer for 5 more minutes.
Cool until at room temperature.
Strain, add the gin and pour in the ice-cream maker.
Freeze in the machine until stiff.
Banana-S trawberry S orbet
Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
2 tbsp lemon juice
1.5 cups frozen (unsweetened) strawberries.
0.5 cups apple juice
Preparation:
Cut the bananas into quarter-inch slices
Coat with the lemon juice
Place on a cookie sheet, and freeze.
After the bananas are frozen, puree them with the remaining ingredients
Serve immediately in chilled cups.
(Leftovers don't freeze well)
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16 Kitchen Skills Every Home Chef Must Know
From our (test) kitchen to yours, more than a dozen cooking tricks you need to
know.
From Real Simple
How to Sear Meat Like a Pro
You know that irresistibly crisp crust that comes on a
steak or a pork chop on TV? You can get equally
impressive results at home. Here’s how:
Step 1: Take the meat out of the refrigerator 30
minutes before cooking so it can come to room
temperature. Pat it dry with a paper towel.
Step 2: Get your skillet (not nonstick) good and hot—a
drop of water should sizzle on the surface. Add a splash
of oil. Season the meat just before adding it to the pan.
(Salt will pull juices from the meat if sprinkled on too
early.)
Step 3: Cook the meat and wait until it releases easily from the pan before turning
it. (It will release once a nice crust has formed.) Don’t tug. If there’s any
resistance, let it cook for an additional minute before checking again.
Checking a Thermometer for Accuracy
There’s only one sure way to know if meat is done: Take
its temperature in the thickest part of the cut. But if your
instant-read thermometer is off, you're cooked. Check its
precision in a glass of water mixed with enough crushed
ice to be slushy. (Be sure the tip isn’t touching the sides
or the bottom of the glass.) The dial should read 32° F
after about 30 seconds. If it doesn’t, the thermometer
needs to be recalibrated. Here are two easy methods:
For a Digital Thermometer
For models that you can recalibrate, submerge the
thermometer probe into the ice water and hold down the
Reset (or Calibrate) button (if it has one) or the On-Off
button for 6 to 8 seconds, until the display reads 32° F.
For a Dial Thermometer
Submerge the thermometer probe into the ice water and, using pliers or a wrench,
turn the nut just under the dial until the dial points to 32° F.
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Cutting Roly-Poly Vegetables Safely
To keep your fingers intact, use this technique on
wobbly vegetables, like potatoes and beets.
Step 1: With a sharp knife, cut a thin slice along the
length of the potato (or other vegetable) to create a flat
side.
Step 2: Turn the potato cut-side down on the cutting
board. Slice, stopping when the end of the potato
becomes unsteady and difficult to grip.
Step 3: Turn the potato so that the broad, flat side
from which you made the last cut is face-down on the
board. Continue to slice.
Reviving Wilted Produce
As vegetables lose moisture, their cell walls start to sag.
That's why they go limp. To get them firm and crunchy
again: Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice, add the
vegetables, and let them soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Dry
thoroughly before using. This method works with
everything from fresh herbs and lettuce to carrots and
radishes. (Slice first for maximu m water absorption.)
How to Pit an Avocado
It’s as easy as a firm whack and
a twist of the wrist.
Step 1: Using a sturdy knife, slice into the avocado
lengthwise on one side. With the blade resting on the
pit, rotate the knife around the avocado to create 2
halves. Twist the halves to separate them.
Step 2: Rest the avocado half containing the pit on a
folded kitchen towel. Give the pit a whack with the knife,
aiming straight into its center. Holding the avocado half
in the towel, rotate the knife to loosen the pit. Lift the
pit off while it’s still wedged on the blade. Knock the pit
on the edge of the sink to dislodge it.
Step 3: Use the tip of the knife to slice or dice the avocado flesh within the skin.
Scoop out with a large spoon.
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The Easiest Way to Segment an Orange
Don’t let the pith leave you bitter about using citrus in
salads and desserts. Get clean, juicy segments with
these easy steps.
Step 1: With a sharp chef’s knife or serrated knife, cut a
slice off the top and bottom of the orange. Stand it
upright on one of the cut ends.
Step 2: Working from top to bottom and following the
curve of the orange, remove strips of the peel, including
the white pith, to reveal the orange flesh.
Step 3: Working over a bowl, hold the orange in one
hand. Make a cut on both sides of each segment along the membrane. Release the
segment into the bowl and repeat, making your way around the fruit.
Getting Soft- and Hard-Boiled Eggs Just Right
Trying to determine when a yolk is slightly runny, or
firm but still creamy, can make any cook crack.
Don’t start the eggs in cold water; otherwise it’s tricky
to know when to start timing. A few bubbles? Full-on
boil? Instead, lower the eggs into gently simmering
water. Then start the clock right away. (It takes only a
minute to miss the mark). The deviled egg is definitely
in the details, so use this chart to get your favorite
every time.
3 Minutes
This is the ultimate soft-boiled egg: a warm, runny yolk with a just-set white. Slice
open (a butter knife works) and eat right out of the shell with skinny toast sticks
(which the Brits call soldiers) for dipping.
6 Minutes
The yolk is starting to set at the edges, and the white is firm. The shell is peelable, but the yolk still oozes when sliced.
9 Minutes
The yolk is set but still creamy and slightly runny in the very center. Best for adding a protein boost to green salads or for hollowing out to make deviled eggs.
11 Minutes
The yolk is uniformly set and light yellow. This is the hard-boiled egg that you
need for chopping into an egg or potato salad. Also makes a sturdy on-the-go
snack.
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Slicing Brownies and Bars
If you want neat squares or rectangles, a spatula won’t cut
it. Do this instead.
Step 1: Before baking, coat the bottom and sides of the
baking pan with softened butter.
Step 2: Line the pan with a strip of parchment, leaving an
overhang on two sides; press down so it sticks. Brush with
more butter and line with a second strip of parchment,
perpendicular to the first (also with an overhang).
Step 3: Add the batter to the pan. Bake and let cool as
directed. Then, gripping the paper overhangs, lift the
brownies or bars out of the pan and transfer to a cutting
board.
Step 4: Using a large serrated knife, cut into squares or rectangles, as desired,
then lift off the parchment.
Mastering Whipped Cream
Getting soft peaks—and not going too far (oops, butter!)—
is easy if you use these three tips.
Start with the right ingredients.
For fluffy, stable whipped cream, use cartons labeled
“heavy cream,” “whipping cream,” or “heavy whipping
cream.” (Save the light cream for coffee.) For sweetness,
add 2 tablespoons granulated sugar per cup of cream before beating.
Watch carefully.
In a chilled bowl, with an electric mixer on high, beat the chilled cream and sugar
until the beaters leave visible lines when drawn across the cream. Reduce mixer
speed to medium-low and continue to beat until soft peaks form. (When you hold
up the beaters, the cream should stand up, then flop over.)
If you do overwhip, don’t panic.
Add a splash of fresh, unwhipped cream to the curdled lumps and fold it in with a
rubber spatula. Repeat as needed until the mixture smooths out.
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How to Create and Use 3 Types of Zest
The aromatic oils in the skins of citrus fruits are the
secret ingredient in countless dishes, from pastas to
cakes. Zest adds bold flavor without the extra acidity
found in the juice. The key is removing the outer skin
while leaving behind the bitter white pith. Depending on
the type of zest you need, one of these tools will do the
trick.
Y-Peeler: Use a vegetable peeler to create long, 1-inchwide strips; cut away any white pith. Toss the peels into
braises or martinis—anywhere you want flavor but not a
mouthful of grated citrus.
Zester: This tool makes narrow, curly strips that add an assertive bite to pastas
and sauces or that can be used as a garnish. (You can also create julienne strips
by thinly slicing a larger piece of peel.)
Microplane: You'll get fine shavings, with little chance of unwanted pith, that
disappear into dressings, cookies, cakes, and pie fillings.
Holding a Cutting Board in Place
A board that slides around the counter while you're
chopping is an accident waiting to happen. Keep yours
anchored with a cut-to-fit piece of rug pad or shelf liner.
(The added cushioning also helps stabilize a slightly
warped board.) Wash in the top rack of the dishwasher
as necessary.
You Go, Grill! The Ultimate
Multitasker
It can do much more than
churn out burgers. To cook
an entire meal—say, steak,
vegetables, and bread—all at the same time, divide
the grill into three zones: a direct, high-heat area for
searing and fast grilling; an indirect, medium-heat
area for big pieces and long-cooking items; and a lowheat safe zone, where you can toast bread and move
food to if there’s a flare-up. It’s simple enough with a
gas grill’s nuanced settings, but it’s just as easy with a
charcoal one. Follow these five steps.
Step 1: Light the coals and let them burn for at least 10 minutes. They’re ready
when glowing and covered with light gray ash.
Step 2: Spread two-thirds of the lit coals in a double layer over a third of the bottom grill grate. This is your hot zone, for direct-heat grilling.
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Step 3: Spread the remaining coals in a single layer over the center third of the
grill grate. This is your medium-heat zone, for indirect grilling.
Step 4: Leave a third of the grill grate coal-free. This is the safe zone, where you
can move juicy burgers and skin-on chicken pieces that are flaring or foods that
need to be kept warm.
Step 5: Attach the top grate and get grilling.
Making Your Own Chicken Cutlets
Trim your food budget by turning boneless, skinless chicken
breasts into cutlets. It’s quick and easy, and it can save you
up to $2 a pound.
Step 1: Place a boneless, skinless chicken breast on a
cutting board. Hold it flat with the palm of one hand and,
with a chef’s knife or long boning knife in the other hand,
carefully slice it in half horizontally (parallel to the cutting
board).
Step 2: Open the breast like a book and, if necessary, make a cut to separate the
2 halves. Trim any ragged edges.
Step 3: Place one hand over the other. Use the heel of the bottom hand to press
down and flatten each piece to a 3/8- to 1/2-inch thickness. Voilà! Neat, quickcooking cutlets worthy of your best chicken Parm.
How to Chop Garlic
With these three actions, you can prep a clove in no time.
Trim: Use the tip of a chef's knife to slice off the hard root
of each clove.
Crush: Place a clove under the flat side of the knife, with
the blade facing away from you. Press the heel of your
palm or your fist down on the knife until you feel the clove
give way. Discard the skin.
Chop: Gather together the peeled cloves, hold your knife
by the handle, and place your other, nondominant hand
on top of the blade. Rock the knife up and down through
the cloves. (The tip stays on the cutting board.) Chop until the garlic is the size
you desire.
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Scrambled Eggs
For foolproof, fluffy eggs, you need to be patient—and
follow this step-by-step method.
Step 1: Whisk the eggs (two per person) in a large
bowl to break up the yolks.
Step 2: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a nonstick pan
over medium-low heat. Add the eggs and cook (don't
touch!) until just set around the edges, about 1 minute.
Push the eggs toward the center of the pan with a heatsafe rubber spatula. Tilt the pan so any uncooked egg
flows back across the pan's bottom.
Step 3: Keep pushing the eggs across the pan until still
slightly runny. (They will continue to cook off the heat.)
Transfer to a plate. Season with salt and pepper.
Why Quarter-Sheet Pans Are Kitchen VIPs
Measuring a trim 9 by 13 inches, quarter-sheet pans—
sometimes called small jelly-roll pans—are handy for
roasting foods with different cooking times. (Two
sheets fit side by side in an oven.) Here's what else
they can do:
Corralling recipe ingredients. Gather meat,
vegetables, and other perishables the recipe calls for
on a quarter-sheet pan in the refrigerator in advance to
make for quicker cooking later.
Catching drips in the oven. To hold the oozy
overflow of baked pastas and pies, place them on a
quarter-sheet pan. Bonus: This leaves space on the oven rack for the rest of the
meal.
Making deep-dish pizza. Lightly oil the interior of a quarter-sheet pan, press the
dough into the bottom and up the sides, then pile on your favorite toppings for a
Chicago-style pie.
Freezing cookie dough. The pan's slender size makes it ideal for freezing
drop-cookie dough (or berries). Slide the pan directly on top of the ice cream
cartons (no need to reorganize the freezer to make room). Transfer the items to a
container once they are firm.
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81
The Gossip Fence
Transgender In The News
Fort Lauderdale to Host Southern Comfort, Largest Transgender Conference in North America
In a year when transgender issues have been at the forefront of convers ation and headlines around the nation, Fort Lauderdale
will be the home of the Southern Comfort Conference, the largest annual trans conference in North America. In fact, Fort
Lauderdale has been announced as the host city for the conference for the next three years.
“ As a destination that welcomes all people with a diverse, safe, and open community, we aim to put trans people in the forefront of the LGBTQ community instead of being the often forgotten ‘T,’” said Richard Gray, LGBTQ managing director for
the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, via a news release. “ We are educating lesbian and gay travelers,
mainstream audiences and using our platform as a leader in the LGBTQ travel space to illustrate Broward County’s
commitment and respect for trans individuals.”
The four-day conference, which has been held in Atlanta in previous years, will be held at the Bonaventure Resort & Spa
from September 29 through October 3. More than a thousand attendees are expected at the various workshops, seminars, and
networking events.
Fort Lauderdale has the only Convention and Visitor Bureau in the United States with a department specifically designed to
target the LGBTQ community's needs. In 2014, the city commissioned the first-ever survey of transgender travelers in North
America in order to meet LGBTQ needs through marketing efforts, such as traveling likes, hotel preferences, and other needs
geared to meet the trans community's needs. Moreover, the Convention and Visitor Bureau of Greater Fort Lauderdale came
up with an ad campaign called “Where Happy Meets Go Lucky” that features authentic transgender models, as well as a webpage speci fically designed for transgender travel ers and tourists.
Registration for the 25th-annual Southern Comfort Conference is open and available at the event's website.
Leave choice of restroom to transgender workers
The general advice is to allow transgender people to use restrooms that correspond to their gender identity.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration this summer issued workplace guidance on that point: “ A person
who identifies as a man should be permitted to use the men’s restrooms, and a person who identifies as a woman should be
permitted to use women’s restrooms.”
Some states, including Colorado, Iowa, Washington, Vermont and Delaware, along with the District of Columbia, have
passed speci fic legislation concerning transgender individual’s restroom rights. Other states may follow, or the federal
government may enact overarching rules.
Just three days after OSHA issued its workplace restroom guidance it filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against a Minnesota
employer that allegedly denied a transgender employee access to a women’s restroom. The EEOC also recently settled a case
in which the employer allegedly fired a transgender employee becaus e of an identity change.
Human resource officers acknowl edge a sensitive balancing act in accommodating transgender restroom preferences: Many
employees are just plain uncomfort able about it. It can be a powerful morale issue that may even affect employee recruitment
and retention.
One solution to help accommodate all sides is for workplaces to have at least one single-occupancy bathroom that is
considered unisex. Anyone can use the facility in complete privacy. And it shouldn’t be marked for transgender use solely.
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But if a private unisex stall isn’t possible, the guidelines remain: Transgender employees should be allowed to use the facilities for the gender with which they identify.
Writing in the Arizona Employment Law Letter, attorney Kylie Crawford TenBrook recently advised workplaces with
“don’ts” on the bathroom issue. Among them, she said, employers shouldn’t “ require medical or legal documentation to
substantiate an employee’s use of a certain restroom.”
Target to phase out gender-based signs
Target announced plans Friday to start phasing out gender-based signs in its department stores. The retailer said it’s
responding to questions customers have raised about signs that offer product suggestions based on gender.
“ In some cases, like apparel, where there are fit and sizing differences, it makes sense,” the company said in a news release on
its website. “ In others, it may not.”
Signs in the kids’ bedding area, for example, will no longer feature suggestions for boys or girls, just kids. In the Toy aisles,
Target said it plans to remove the pink, blue, yellow and green paper on the back walls of store shelves that's now used to
reference gender.“ You’ll see these changes start to happen over the next few months,” the company said.
The news from Target comes as transgender people appear to be gaining ground in the fight for equality.
Federal judge dismisses Title IX claim in trans student’s lawsuit
A federal judge on Monday dismissed arguments that a Virginia school district’s policy requiring students to use restrooms
and locker rooms that correspond to their “ biological gender” violates Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972.
The Daily Press reported U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar came to that conclusion during a Norfolk hearing in a lawsuit
the American Civil Liberties Union filed against the Gloucester County Public Schools on behalf of Gavin Grimm, a 16-yearold transgender student who has been required to use a unisex restroom in the nurse’s offi ce since the policy took effect in
December.
The Justice Department on June 30 filed a “ statement of interest” with the court that argues Title IX requires school districts
allow trans students to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
Doumar on Monday did not rule on an injunction that would allow Grimm to use the boys restroom in school as the case
proceeds. The judge, however, said the student’s lawyers can continue to argue the policy violates the 14th Amendment’s
Equal Protection Clause.
“We are happy that the judge indicated he is likely to allow our equal protection claim to go forward,” said Joshua Block of
the ACLU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project aft er the hearing.
Court: SEPTA Can Discriminate Against You For Your Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
NBC 10 is reporting that a Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that SEPTA isn’t subject to Philadelphia’s city
ordinance which bans discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity.
“The Commonwealth Court ruled Friday that only the state’s anti-discrimination law applies to the Southeastern Pennsylvania
Transportation Authority. That law doesn’t cover sexual orientation and gender identity…The court says applying local law
to SEPTA would be unwieldy because it operates in many jurisdictions.”
The initial case stemmed from SEPTA’s practice to mark a rider’s gender on his or her bus pass. However, back in 2013, the
organization stopped issuing bus passes with the gender designations. Whether or not this ruling would change this has yet to
be determined.
Transgender equality to be historic first inquiry for new Women's Committee
The Government’s new Women and Equalities Committee has announced that its first inquiry will be around equality for
transgender people. The historic committee, which was created in June to scrutinise the effectiveness of the
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Government’s equality policy, is launching with look into how existing policies help trans people in Britain. Over the next
few months, it will consider how far the UK has to go before trans people have full equality - and how outstanding issues can
be most effectively address ed.
Committee chair Maria Miller said: “Many trans people still face discrimination and unfair treatment in their work, schools,
healthcare and other important services. “Transphobia and hate crimes are a cruel reminder that we have still have a great
deal to do to achieve true equality for everyone.
The committee will look at terminology used around trans issues, and whether existing laws discriminate against the trans
community.
A list in full of what the committee will look at regarding trans issues:
• The relationship between the Government Equalities Office and other government departments in dealing with transgender
equality issues and how the UK’s performance compares internationally
• The operation of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and whether it requires amending
• The aspect of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 which is referred to as the “spousal veto”
• The effectiveness of the Equality Act 2010 in relation to trans people
• Employment and workplace issues (including in the Armed Forces) affecting trans people
• Transphobia (including the portrayal of trans people in the media) and hate crime against trans people
• Issues affecting trans people in the criminal justice system
• Issues concerning the diagnosis of gender dysphoria, including the operation of NHS Gender Identity Clinics
• Access to gender reassignment treatment under the NHS
• Trans people and wider NHS services
• NHS services for trans youth
• Issues concerning trans youth in the education system
• Issues concerning trans youth and social care services (including looked-after children).
Everything You Need to Know About the Debate Over Transgender People and Bathrooms
This week a judge in Virginia district court will consider a question coming before lawmakers and school principals across
the country: should transgender Americans always be allowed to use the restrooms where they feel the most comfortable?
And is it discrimination when they’re forced to do otherwise? Here is a primer on why the bathroom question is such a hotbutton issue and why it’s likely to show up our newsfeeds in coming months.
Bathrooms and fights for civil rights go hand-in-hand
Transgender people have to fight for authenticity as well as equality.
To opponents, “bathroom bills” suggest that what transgender people feel isn’t valid.
Conservatives argue that such bills are necessary to protect people’s privacy and public safety.
No evidence has been uncovered showing that such fears are warranted
Bathroom policies affect transgender people in serious ways.
More political fights about this issue are coming
In the meantime, courts will continue to help decide the issue. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and
the Department of Justice have found that discrimination against transgender people—including denying them bathroom
access—is a form of sex discrimination covered under the Civil Rights Act. While some have said this proves that additional
protections are not necessary, advocates for explicit non-discrimination laws say that they’re important for enforcem ent,
educating the public and making sure a person doesn’t have to go to court to make their case. The decision from Virginia’s
district court will add to the precedents, spurring on the debate as LGBT activists choose their next battles after marriage
equality.
OSHA announces new guidelines for transgender restrooms
SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) - The National Center for Transgender Equality requested OSHA to develop a guide to protect
restroom access for transgender employees.
Additional Links
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OHSA guidelines for restroom access for transgender employees
In response, OSHA now requires all employers under its jurisdiction provide employees with restroom facilities. An
estimated 700,000 American adults identify as transgender. The new guidelines aim to protect the individual safety of
transgender employees.
According to the new guidelines, “Restricting employees to using only restrooms that are not consistent with their gender
identity, or segregating them from other workers by requiring them to use gender-neut ral or other speci fic restrooms, singles
those employees out and may make them fear for their physical safety. Bathroom restrictions can result in employees avoiding using restrooms entirely while at work, which can lead to potentially serious physical injury or illness.”
Despite Increased Visibility, Challenges Persists For Transgender Community
Stories of high-profile celebrities, like Caitlyn Jenner, have catapulted transgender issues into the national spotlight. Still, the
increas ed media coverage hasn’t provided a full picture of the challenges transgender men and women face on a daily basis.
Rates of unemployment, poverty and homelessness are higher in the transgender population. Discrimination is common and
one study found that suicide attempts among the trans population is 41 percent, compared to the general population’s 4
percent.
These sobering statistics show there’s more work to be done, says Rachael Hudson, the operations manager at the Gender
Health Center, a resource space for Sacramento’s LGBT community. The center has a special focus on helping transgender
clients.
Services At The Gender Health Center
Hudson says many transgender men and women deal with isolation, discrimination and harassment. “ Getting on the bus to
come to work, just walking down the street, that really is tough for people, and they need to talk to somebody about it,” says
Hudson.
The Gender Health Center first opened its doors in 2010, primarily to offer mental health services. Since then, the center has
expanded its services beyond counseling. In 2010, the center saw just eight appointments a week. Today, there are about 250
appointments per week.
Clients can get assistance on paperwork to change their gender. Twice a month, clients can come in, get blood work done and
receive hormone pres criptions. Twice a week, the center has respite hours, meant to be a safe space for those who attend. It
can be a casual group gathering or a place to go to if a person is in the midst of a mental health crisis.
Finding appropriate medical care can be diffi cult. Hudson explains that trans men and women often have difficulty finding
doctors they can trust. Sometimes there are disputes when health insurance companies refus e to pay for hormones.
“Currently, there’s discrimination, there’s lack of knowledge, people just don’t know how to serve transgender peopl e,” she
says. That discrimination can sometimes extend to the workplace. The unemployment rate within the group is twice that for
those in the general population. “ If an employer sees somebody they see is gender variant or transgender, they usually don’t
hire them,” says Rachael Hudson.
The center attempts to help with job searches, providing assessments and referrals to clients.
Ben Hudson, the center’s executive director, says these types of programs are critical for transgender people.
“Transgender individuals are an incredibly marginalized community,” says Ben Hudson, who is transgender and is married to
Rachael Hudson. “ Folks are experiencing high rates of suicidality, unemployment, substance abuse. The services are needed
everywhere.”
The center also provides educational training for local businesses and schools. Ultimately, the center hopes to help clients find
happiness by being themselves.
“That’s what being transgender is, to be that person who you are with your friends to everybody,” says Rachael Hudson.
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The True Meaning of the Word 'Cisgender'
Let's get one thing straight: The Oxford English Dictionary describes the word "cisgender" as an adjective and defines it as
"Denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity conforms with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex; not
transgender."
"The term is typically credited to biologist Dana Leland Defosse, who used 'cisgender' in 1994," explains Rawson. "Like most
subcultural terms, I would guess that it was being used informally with increasing frequency, but the print literature we have
available is slightly behind in representing that."
From an epistemological standpoint, the word is essentially a straightforward antonym of "transgender." Both words share
Latin roots, with "trans" meaning "across, beyond, or on the other side of" and "cis" meaning "on this side of." Add the suffix
"gender" onto either word, and both terms emerge as as strictly descriptive adjectives.
Last month the word "cisgender" was offici ally added to the Oxford English Dictionary. It was added along with 499 other
new words, including some more recently popularized, such as "meh," "Twitterati," and "twerk." Other news sites have
reestablished a practice of highlighting the most unusual new OED inductees, with Time pointing out "fo' shizzle,"
"Masshole," and "hot mess."
"In the past few years, 'cisgender' has gone from being a relatively specialized word to one which is commonly used in
mainstream publications without any comment, and is a notable addition to the general vocabulary of English," Martin
explains to The Advocate, noting that she was a member of the editing team that finalized the additions.
It's worth noting that the word "transgender" was offi cially added to the OED in 2003.
As for those who argue that labeling them "cisgender" is forcing an unwelcome label on their own, hard-fought identity,
Rawson has a powerful parallel: "Is 'heterosexual' a slur? No. It describes an identity and experience. Because straight folks
don’t typically experience their heterosexuality as an identity, many don’t identify as heterosexual — they don’t need to,
becaus e culture has already done that for them. Similarly, cisgender people don’t generally identify as cisgender because
societal expect ations already presume that they are. ...
"It’s an incredible and invisible power to not need to name yourself because the norms have already done that for you. You
don’t need to come out as heterosexual or cisgender because it is already expected. Since it isn’t a derogatory term, those who
take exception to it may be uncomfortable with trans issues or perhaps they are unwilling to confront their own privilege."
Updated MA Law Modernizes Process for Gender Marker Changes on Birth Certificates
The Commonwealth of Massachus etts recently modernized its vital records law, enabling transgender people to receive an
accurate birth certi ficate by providing proof of “ medical intervention” rather than proof of surgery. The change went into
effect on August 1.
“This is a critically important advance for the Commonwealth’s transgender citizens, said Jennifer Levi, director of GLAD’s
Transgender Rights Project. “When transgender people cannot get identity documents that accurately refl ect their gender
identity, they are vulnerable to discrimination, harassment, and violence.” GLAD will issue an updated tool kit to assist
Massachusetts residents seeking to make a change to the gender marker on their birth certificate. Anyone with specific
questions is encouraged to contact our legal information line, GLAD Answers.
Indiana County Clerk fired for opposing gay marriage
INDIANAPOLIS — A former employee of a southern Indiana county clerk says she was fired over her religious objection to
processing a same-sex coupl e’s marriage application.
Linda G. Summers of Corydon says in a federal lawsuit filed last week that Harrison County Clerk Sally Whitis (WY’-tiss)
violated her civil and religious rights by firing her last year aft er Summers raised objections.
Indiana had a same-s ex marriage ban that was struck down by a federal court last year. The suit alleges that Whitis told
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employees after the ruling that they were “ only doing the paperwork and not performing their ceremony.”
Whitis and the Harrison County attorney declined to comment.
Equality Maryland to remain open, curtail operations
Members of the Equality Maryland board of directors on Sunday voted to curtail the organization’s operations amid a
growing budget shortfall.
A board member donated office space aft er Equality Maryland closed its Baltimore location on July 31.
“ Yesterday the directors of Equality Maryland voted to continue the organization’s work to improve the lives of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender Marylanders,” said Equality Maryland in a statement it released on Monday. “This move comes
after Equality Maryland admitted its financial di fficulties, and heard a strong response identifying many needs left to be
addressed in achieving legal equality and reducing anti-LGBT prejudice and discrimination.”
Chris Christie Again Vetoes New Jers ey Trans Birth Certificate Bill
For the second consecutive year, New Jers ey Gov. Chris Christie has vetoed a bill that would make it easier for transgender
people to change the gender on their birth certifi cates.
Christie vetoed a measure that would have allowed trans people to make the change to their lived gender as long as they have
certi fication from a doctor that they have undergone clinically appropriate transition treatment, which could include hormone
therapy or other procedures and is not limited to surgery, reports NJ.com, a site for several New Jersey newspapers. Current
standards require the person to have undergone surgery, which many transgender people cannot afford and others do not seek.
Democratic Assemblywoman Valeri e Vainieri Huttle, one of the sponsors of the bill, said Christie, who is seeking the
Republican presidential nomination, is pandering to conservatives with the veto.
“ Instead of updating a standard state procedure to be more inclusive and reflective of our changing society, the governor has
once again chosen to pander to the right by masquerading behind baseless arguments,” she told NJ.com.
To date, nine states and the District of Columbia have updated their procedures for changing gender on birth certifi cates, in
keeping with current medical recommendations, according to the center. Its staff intends to continue working with New
Jersey LGBT groups to assure that a similar bill eventually becomes law.
Ohio judges can’t pick and choose what marriages they perform
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio judicial board has ruled that judges who perform weddings can’t refus e same-sex
couples based on personal, moral, or religious beliefs. The board also says judges who stop performing all marriages to avoid
marrying same-sex coupl es may be interpreted as biased, and could be disqualified from any case where sexual orientation is
an issue.
The Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct issued the ruling Monday after a Toledo judge who refused to
perform a same-sex wedding asked the board to clari fy his duties.
Municipal Judge C. Allen McConnell said he didn’t marry a same-sex couple because of his religious beliefs after the U.S.
Supreme Court made gay marriage legal in all 50 states in July. A message left with McConnell seeking comment wasn’t
immediately returned.
APA adopts guidelines for working with transgender, gender nonconforming people
TORONTO – Psychologists who work with transgender or gender nonconforming people should seek to provide acceptance,
support and understanding without making assumptions about their clients’ gender identities or gender expressions, according
to practice guidelines adopted during the American Psychological Association’s 123rd Annual Convention. The “ Guidelines
for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People” were adopted by APA’s Council of
Representatives at its meeting Aug. 5. They were draft ed by an APA task force in the wake of an APA survey in 2009 that
found less than 30 percent of psychologist and graduate student respondents were familiar with the issues that transgender and
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gender nonconforming people face.
The document lays out 16 guidelines aimed at helping professionals better underst and the lifespan development, stigma,
discrimination and barriers to care faced by this population, as well as the state of research surrounding transgender and
gender nonconforming people.
One of the guidelines explains that the concept of gender goes beyond male and female, and that people may experience a
range of gender identities that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth. Another guideline explains that gender identity and
sexual orientation are “ distinct but interrelated constructs.” “ For most people, gender identity develops earlier than sexual
orientation,” it says. “ Gender identity is often established in young toddlerhood, in comparison to awareness of sexual
orientation, which often emerges in early adolescence. … Just as some people experience their sexual orientation as being
fluid or variable, some people also experience their gender identity as fluid.”
Other guidelines address the developmental needs of gender-questioning youth and encourage psychologists to work with
other health care providers to coordinate the care of transgender and gender nonconforming clients.
APA practice guidelines are aspirational; in other words, they set ideals to which APA encourages psychologists to aspire.
The new guidelines encourage psychologists to use them in tandem with APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code
of Conduct and with treatment guidelines, such as those set forth by the World Professional Association for Transgender
Health Standards of Care and the Endocrine Society.
A copy of the guidelines can be found at www.apa.org/practice/guidelines/transgender.pdf
UConn helping transgender people change their voices
STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) – A program underway at the UConn campus in Storrs has been helping transgender people
develop a voice that matches their new gender. The program is run by speech-language pathologists at the UConn Speech
and Hearing Clinic.
The program is in its fourth year, and handles about a dozen people at a time. Most participants spend an hour a week in a
group session and additional time working with a speech pathologist one-on-one. People in the program learn not only how
to change the pitch of their voice, but also the resonance. UConn speech experts say men tend to speak more from the chest,
women from the head. Men also tend to speak with a more staccato delivery, women are more fluid. Speech pathologists use
a lot of voice exercises, including humming to find the proper pitch. The goal is to condition and change the vocal cords
without surgery.
UConn says most of the transgender clients it treats are transitioning from male to femal e. Hormone therapy helps naturally
lower the voices of clients who are transitioning from female to male.
UConn charges clients $192 for a voice evaluation session, and $10 per session for individual treatment. Group sessions are
$25 per semester. UConn is one of a growing number of programs around the country dealing with transgender voices.
For more information and to hear some of the vocal trans form ations, click here.
Transgender killings on the rise: ‘This is just so crazy’
2015 has been a year of milestones for transgender Americans, from the coming out of Caitlyn Jenner to the decision to allow
trans men and women to openly serve in the military. But underneath the banner year lies a dark truth: a higher profile for
transgender Americans hasn’t translated into greater protection.
In fact, just the opposite. According to transgender advocacy groups, at least 13 trans women have been killed so far this
year. Eleven of the 13 victims have been women of color. And four of the deaths have come in just the last month.
That makes this year even deadlier for trans women than 2014, which was already the highest on record.
Even as 2015 has proved a groundbreaking year for transgender Americans, with Jenner making international headlines and
the Armed Forces ending its ban on trans service members, violence against the community has increased. The evidence is
more than anecdotal. Although hate-motivated violence against LGBT Americans dropped precipitously in 2014, similar
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violence rose 13 percent for transgender people, according to a report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs
(NCAVP).
According to NCAVP, America’s transgender minority is by far the most at-risk population when it comes to being victims of
violence.
The reasons are complex but can be traced to lingering stigmas attached by many to transgender people, Sasha Buchert, staff
attorney at the Transgender Law Center, told Yahoo Health. Only 18 states have nondiscrimination policies towards trans
individuals, meaning that “in 32 states you can be fired for just being who you are,” she said.
That discrimination puts many trans people in a precarious position where they can’t get the documents they need and
sometimes turn to more dangerous, off-the-books employment, Buchert told Yahoo. “These same individuals are then often
the targets of the violent hate crimes and murders previously mentioned, made additionally vulnerable for either being sex
workers or being perceived to be sex workers,” she said.
Even worse, trans victims, their families or their friends often have to fight law enforcement to recognize their preferred
gender. Take the most recent trans death: victim No. 13 so far this year. Shade Schuler apparently chose to live life as a
woman, but Dallas police described her as a man.
Chris Christie Laughs About Veto of Trans Birth Certificate Bill
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie apparently finds humor in his veto of a bill that would make it easier for transgender residents
to change the gender marker on their birth certificate. When asked about the veto on The Michael Medved Show today,
Republican presidential hopeful Christie could be heard chuckling, reports NJ.com, a website for several New Jers ey
newspapers.
Christie vetoed the bill Monday, after having vetoed a similar one in 2014. The measure would have allowed trans people to
make the change to their lived gender as long as they have certification from a doctor that they have undergone clinically
appropriat e transition treatment, which could include hormone therapy or other procedures and is not limited to surgery.
Current law requires the person to have undergone surgery, which many transgender people cannot afford and others do not
seek.
Regarding the veto, conservative radio host Medved asked Christie, “You have no compassion for the Caitlyn Jenners of this
world?” The governor responded, “ Listen, for people who do not have a sex-change operation, all the bill required was
somebody that who would seek a doctor’s treatment and that that doctor would verify they felt like the opposite gender. … I
have to tell the truth, Michael, there are certain things that just go beyond the pale, and that’s not what I wanted the law to be
in New Jersey. It doesn’t make any sense to me, and that’s why I vetoed it again, and if they send it to me again, I will veto it
again.”
Medved observed that this position“sounds dangerously conservative,” and Christie could be heard chuckling.
According to many, though, such legislation is not “ beyond the pale at all.” Nine states and the District of Columbia have
adopted such policies, which are in line with current medical standards, and the Obama administration has a similar one for
changing the gender marker on federal documents, such as passports and Social Security identification. Having documents
that do not match their lived gender creates many problems for trans people.
Another Way California Is Better Than New Jersey If You're Trans
Californi a, which already leads the nation in protecting transgender students, now has stronger legal protections on the books
to protect transgender people of all ages. Gov. Jerry Brown today announced he had signed a bill, A.B. 830, that clarifies that
transgender individuals and others targeted for violence because of their gender expression can sue under a law that covers
crimes motivated by gender.
Just this year, 13 transgender women in the U.S. have been killed. That is one more than the total number of trans people
murdered in 2014.
Brown's signature on A.B. 830 comes the same day New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie chuckled as he discussed in a radio
interview how he once again blocked a measure to make it easier for trans people in the Garden State to change the gender
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marker on their birth certi ficates.
As The Advocate reported in May, both New Jersey and California have state laws offering transgender citizens protection
from discrimination, as do 17 other states, according to theTransgender Law Center. But today California expanded those
protections.
Already enacted into California law are measures that make it easier for transgender people to change their names without a
court order and modify their birth certi ficates, and one that prohibits health insurance discrimination based on gender
identity.
Colorado Court Rules Against Anti-Gay Baker, Finds Refusing To Bake A Cake Is Discrimination
The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled 3-0 against Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, for refusing to sell a
wedding cake to a same-sex couple. The ruling affirms a 2013 decision from an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) against the
baker.
Many of the Court’s arguments mirror what ALJ Robert Spencer originally wrote. For example, the panel rejected Phillips’
argument that refusing to sell a wedding cake was not discrimination, but a religious refus al to participate in a wedding
ceremony. “The United States Supreme Court has recognized that such distinctions are generally inappropriate,” the Court
writes, noting that a distinction between sexual orientation and conduct specifi c to a particular orientation cannot be drawn.
But the panel went further, noting that the recent Supreme Court marriage equality decision lends further credence to the
argument that refusing to recognize a same-s ex marriage is discrimination. “ In Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court
equated laws precluding same-sex marriage to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”
The panel’s conclusion was unequivocal: “ Masterpiece violated Colorado’s public accommodations law by refusing to creat e
a wedding cake for Craig’s and Mullins’ same-sex wedding celebration.”
Phillips’ is the latest in a fairly consistent line of losses for conservatives arguing that religious liberty should justify antiLGBT discrimination. These previous rulings, such as against Elane Photography in New Mexico or Sweet Cakes by
Melissa in Oregon, actually further informed the Colorado Court’s reasoning.
Seattle moves to require all-gender, single-stall restrooms in city buildings and places of business
The Seattle City Council adopted legislation requiring all City-controlled and privately occupied public accommodations to
designate existing and future single-stall bathrooms as all-gender facilities.
The legislation applies to such businesses as restaurants, coffee shops, hotels and stores. It mandates that all singleoccupancy City bathrooms, and those at public accommodations, must have signage that is not gender exclusive but allows
use by any gender identity.
The legislation includes amending the Seattle Municipal Code so single occupancy restrooms will no longer be restricted to a
speci fic sex or gender identity.
“The action taken by the City Council will make Seattle a more welcoming place for everyone regardless of race, gender or
sexual orientation: No one should live in fear when they use basic accommodations most of us take for granted,” Mayor Ed
Murray said in a statement.
State Blocks Some Transgender Health Care it Considers 'Cosmetic': Critics
CIVIC CENTER — A year after the state agreed to lift a ban on providing medically necessary gender-reassigning services to
transgender New Yorkers through Medicaid, offici als are still refusing to provide services by deeming some procedures
merely cosmetic, critics say.
New York State Department of Health's Medicaid rules for transgender people transitioning their gender currently exclude
voice therapy, drugs to promote hair growth or loss and breast augmentation, which lawyers say are fundam entally medically
necess ary to the process.
Under the state rules, breast surgery would only be covered for transgender people transitioning to female "in certain limited
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circumstances."
The state's rules also prohibit coverage for gender reassignment surgery in anyone under 21 if the surgery results in sterilization, and for hormone therapy for those under 18, according to the Legal Aid Society, Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Wilkie
Farr & Gallagher LLP, who filed a class action lawsuit against the state last year.
In first, White House hires openly trans staffer
The White House for the first time has hired an openly transgender person as a member of its staff, LGBT advocates and the
Obama administration announced Tuesday.
Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, who formerly served in trans advocacy as policy adviser for the National Center for Transgender
Equality’s Racial & Economic Justice Initiative, has been appointed to a senior position in the White House Office of
Presidential Personnel. She’s set to begin her new role as an outreach and recruitment director in the Presidential Personnel
Office on Tuesday.
Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, welcomed the addition of Freedman-Gurspan to the White House in a
statement to the Washington Blade. “ Raffi Freedman-Gurspan demonstrat es the kind of leadership this administration
champions,” Jarrett said. “ Her commitment to bettering the lives of transgender Americans, particularly transgender people of
color and those in poverty, reflects the values of this administration.”
According to the White House website, the Office of Presidential Personnel overs ees the selection process for presidential
appointments and works to recruit qualified candidates for service in departments and agencies across the government.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said she’s “ elated” about the addition of
Freedman-Gurspan to the White House staff. “That the first transgender appointee is a transgender woman of color is itself
significant,” Keisling said. “ And that the first White House transgender appointee is a fri end is inspiring to me and to countless others who have been touched by Raffi’s advocacy.”
The Obama administration has appointed openly transgender people into federal government positions before, but no appointee so far could be considered a White House staffer. For example, President Obama appointed Dylan Orr in 2009 as
special assistant in the Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, although he’s since left the government.
Another openly trans Obama appointee is Amanda Simpson, who’s currently executive director of the U.S. Army Office of
Energy Initiatives.
'Real Housewives of Atlanta'
Producers of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" have figured out a way to fill the shoes of NeNe Leakes ... and it starts with
the first transgender on the show.
TMZ has learned ... Amiyah Scott will join the cast next season. Amiyah is a model who was born Arthur and began her
trans formation 10 years ago when she was 17. The show is also adding Kim Fields from "Facts of Li fe."
Why Transgender People Are Being Murdered at a Historic Rate
For one particular community, these instances of violence happening around the country have higher chance of becoming
fatal. On Aug. 14 the number of transgender peopl e murdered in America this year hit a historic high of 15, according to advocacy organizations like the National Center for Transgender Equality. This somber milestone was hit when the remains of
Elisha Walker, 20, were discovered in a North Carolina field several months after she went missing. Like the majority of the
other victims, Elisha was not just transgender but a young transgender woman of color.
“These are all characteristics of people in the United States who are more susceptible to violence,” says the Center’s Mara
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Keisling, “of people who are more marginalized economically and educationally, people who end up having a bullseye on
their back.” The legal victories and increased media coverage of LGBT people in recent months has been largely positive for
the community, experts like Keisling say. More people feel com fortable coming out, giving others the chance to meet and
befriend someone who is transgender or gay, building the personal relationships that activists say are oft en the foundation for
acceptance.
But the heightened visibility has also put more people at risk of being harassed or hurt. While images of Caitlyn Jenner
receiving a standing ovation accepting an award in a Versace dress might seem to herald a sunny time for transgender
Americans, most of them are still greatly disadvantaged socially and economically.
“Right now we’re experiencing a Dickensian time, where it’s the best of times and it’s the worst of times at once,” says
transgender rights advocate Masen Davis, who form erly ran the Transgender Law Center. “We’re seeing a marked increas e in
the public awareness about transgender people and really incredible progress for trans rights, especially from a legal perspective. At the same time, we still represent and are part of a community that experiences incredibly high rates of unemployment,
poverty and violence.”
Transgender people are four times more likely than the general population to report living in extreme poverty, making less
than $10,000 per year, a standing that sometimes pushes them to enter the dangerous trade of sex work. Nearly 80% of
transgender people report experiencing harassment at school when they were young. As adults, some report being physically
assaulted trains and buses, in retail stores and restaurants. Greater awareness has not yet translated into broad acceptance, says
Kris Hayashi, executive director of the Transgender Law Center: “The majority of society does not understand who transgender people are in ways that lead to the violence and the murder and the harassment that we’re seeing.”
The risk is even greater for transgender women of color, who often grapple with both transphobia and racism. Sixteen of the
at least 20 LGBT people murdered in 2014 were people of color, according to the NCAVP; 11 were transgender women, and
10 were transgender women of color. “ People who are marginalized both because of their race and being transgender, it’s like
a double whammy,” says Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
Minter says that the murder rate, as well as the chronic harassment many transgender peopl e face, is best tackled through
better education and more community-based programs, like those white stickers in Brooklyn windows that create networks of
support among people who walk the same streets each day. Hate crime legislation is helpful in sending a message about the
value of lives, he says, but it’s not going to solve the problem.
“We all have a responsibility to stop this violence,” he says, “ and that means if you see a transgender person being harassed,
we all have an obligation to speak up, to do something.”
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