When We were Against the Law

 

Phil Donohue on left with singer (male) 
Grae Phillips.

I am old enough to remember the days in Dayton, Ohio when transvestites and or cross dressing men were loaded into police vehicles and arrested. 

Since I was just discovering my attraction to feminine clothes, of course the whole process scared me. I did not want the police to come in and arrest me. Then, the Stonewall Riots happened in New York City in 1969 and all of a sudden there was a glimmer of hope for me again. The outside world was changing, or so I thought as I watched and learned from my home in faraway Ohio. I was in my second year of college and the world was changing for me also. As the world on occasion seemed to tip in our favor when movies such as "Tootsie" were released in 1982. 

Then there were the flood of talk shows from "Phil Donohue" to" Jerry Springer" who focused on the the so called married cross dresser and wives. Many were trash and did the transgender or cross dressing community any good.  Donohue ran from 1970 until 1996. Sadly we were left with being items of ridicule on "Springer. " We were not against the law but close. 

Now of  course we face the most difficult times a transgender woman can face. If the orange menace and his cronies find their way into power, we in the entire LGBTQ community face a real threat to our very existence. I live in Ohio and the anti-transgender political ads against Democratic Senator Brown have been ridiculous. In fact they out and out lie. What amazes me most is when I encounter a pro-tRumpt transgender person. I have had them tell me they believe him when he says he had nothing to do with Project 2025 and they are safe with him in office.

I stand with all women and support their right to control their own body. I also stand with the candidate which does not threaten our future existence as transgender women and trans men. I think you know who I am referring to. 

I know nothing I can say can influence your vote. In fact, you may have already done it. I just hope enough see through the barrage of lies and vote in our first woman president.  

When Every Night is Girls Night

Grae Phillips is still active
on Facebook if you want to 
see more. Or just keep up. 

I know I make a big deal out of my second huge transition, when I mentally moved from being a serious part-time cross dresser into being a novice transgender woman.

Sometimes I feel as if I am putting myself on some sort of a gender pedestal when I write about not considering myself a cross dresser anymore. If it comes off that way, I don't mean it to. On occasion, the written word gets in my way. Getting back to the cross dresser versus transgender statement I made, I think in my case, it was a matter of me judging my own life. Originally, as I was working my way through my early years of admiring my girl self in the mirror, I knew it could never be enough. There had to be more. I was so tired of cross dressing for one day and then two or three days later wanting to do it again. 

As I always mention, all of this occurred back in the pre-internet information era when any news and contact with like minded gender individuals, be they transvestites or transsexuals, was very difficult and rare to come by. This was even before the barrage of talk shows led by the late Phil Donohue who interviewed female impersonators such as "Grae Phillips", all the way to transvestites seeking approval from a doubting world. It was quite a bit for me to sort out. But I did. I knew I could never be as beautiful and talented as Grae but I could reach the standards of most of the transvestites I saw on my television. There was hope for my future after all.

As I progressed into meeting more and more diverse cross dressers or the women known as the new transgender group I began to think what it would mean if I went all the way and every night became girls night. In other words, a time when I would never have to go back to my old male self and live. Deep down I knew there would have to be some sort of line drawn in the sand if I did. As much as I loved all the fun of the newness of applying makeup and picking out clothes, I wondered what would happen when the newness wore off and I needed to settle into the daily routine of the transgender womanhood.

It turned out, I had nothing to worry about. I settled into my new feminine routine as if I had always should have been living this way. I found I didn't have to do much special on many days such as most cis-women do and then again still have the fun of dressing up for special occasions. It was true, once I jumped the gender border from cross dresser to transgender, I could experience what life could be like if every night was girls night.