Nicole Maines

Transgender activist and actor Nicole Maines knew she was a girl around the age of 3 or 4.

“My case is kind of unique because I have a twin brother (Jonas),” she told Ellen Degeneres during an appearance on “Ellen” in 2018. “So, growing up with him, he was identifying with all these male things and feeling very comfortable in his body, and I wasn’t.”

Maines, the subject of this month’s One Book One Valley community read “Becoming Nicole,” slowing began publicly transitioning in the first grade, and officially presented herself as female in the fifth grade, when she changed her name from Wyatt to Nicole.

Nicole Maines stars as Nia Nal/Dreamer, television's first transgender superhero, in The CW's "Supergirl." Season five premieres Sunday, Oct. 6. 

2011 Transgendered Milestones

Lavern Cox

As the the year comes to a close it seems everyone has a year in review.       
In our transgendered world 2011 was a very active year with several positive milestones.
"Laverne Cox"  recently wrote about transgender acting milestones in the "Huffington Post".
From "Chaz Bono" and "Harmony Santana" to her own acting career, she covers many transgendered acting successes in 2011 and the hopes for more in the future.
Here's a short look at the past year.

Yasmin Lee

In an article about transgender performers in the December 8-14, 2011 issue of Backstage, Simi Horwitz writes, "Casting director Sig De Miguel ... looks forward to the time when a character's transgender status is incidental to the script and an actor's trans identity is irrelevant to casting. 'You may be born male, but you're a woman now,' De Miguel says." De Miguel represents a growing number of industry professionals who are open to casting trans actors in roles that aren't necessarily written as trans. He cast three of the films in which I acted in 2011. He also cast Harmony Santana in Gun Hill Road. In 36 Saints, one of those films, I play the effusive party promoter Genesius. Nowhere in the script does it say that she is transgender, nor is it inauthentic to the story that she is.
The highest profile fictional transgender film character of 2011 was the controversial role of Kimmy in the blockbuster The Hangover 2. The role was played by transsexual adult film actress Yasmin Lee. I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Yasmin a few years ago. She seemed very sweet. I hope this high-profile role has opened other doors for Lee.

As always, follow the link for more!

Must See Transgender Television

From "The Advocate":



Oprah's TV network, OWN, is premiering two new documentary specials on Sunday: Being Chaz (the follow up to Chaz Bono's award winning, Becoming Chaz, from last year) and I Am Jazz: A Family in Transition. The latter, stars Jazz, an 11-year-old transgender girl, her three siblings, friends and parents, as they navigate the world with a gender-variant kid and grapple with the possibility of hormone blocking therapy as she reaches puberty. Director Jen Stocks' doc is an engaging, heartwarming, and moving look at a trans kid. With her parent's support, Jazz has been living as a girl since she was a toddler.

My Transsexual Summer’s Drew-Ashlyn Cunningham.One of the participants of  the UK's Channel 4's new
reality documentary, My Transsexual Summer.

Pretty Boys Make Pretty Girls!

Over the years we have seen pretty boys become pretty girls in several teen orientated shows. Here is another!
From Wingin' It 2x19 "I Carlie" comes this story line,
"After a clueless Carl offends Denise on their first date, she shows him what it is like to be a girl by turning him into one. It is not long before Serge falls for Carlie, the new girl at school, and the pressure is on Porter to find a solution. He turns Denise into Denny to give her a taste of her own medicine, but the only way to reverse the magic is for Carlie and Denny to have a perfect date"
Here are a couple
YouTube" links:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HRuGS3HO2c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ti-1Tmy1R8   plus I will post a couple more pictures on our picture gallery page.

I'm sure you agree he looks good!

New Shows Taking Springer's Place?

All of the sudden I'm seeing more transgendered folks fighting it out legally on the television "judge" shows.
I'm too embarassed to mention all of them I watch when I'm bored or need a distraction when I write.
I'm seeing primarily drag queens fighting over beauty pageant gowns and wigs or clothes.
On occasion though, a divorce court judge ruled on a case where the man was transistioning to female and appeared as a female.
At the least, it is a step up from Springer!

Trans Star Rising?

Every once in a while it seems transgendered lives are spotlighted in a "normal" informational format.
Recently "Chaz Bono" made history as the first transgendered contestant on "Dancing With The Stars" Chaz has been a remarkable role model for the transgendered community
Yet another program was shown last night (Wednesday, August 31st) on ABC's "Nightline Primetime".
Nightline aired an extensive, five-part examination of the issues facing transgender people.

From 10 year Jack (upper left) to pop star transsexual "Kim Petras" the show presented an intelligent look at the trials facing our culture.
If you haven't seen it, I'm sure there will numerous places to view it on line. Of particular interest to me was the story of Jack/Jackie who happens to from a rural Ohio town. (I too live in Ohio)
I believe there is still a lot to be said for the values of "Middle America". If Jackie is any indication, we are on the road to a better future as transgendered individuals!
What really impressed me was the resolve of a couple of the parents... Just courageous and amazing!

Candis Cayne On "Necessary Roughness"

On the "USA" Channel is a show called "Necessary Roughness"
In the episode called "Dream On" Candis Cayne plays Gerald Daniel at a class reunion of the shows female stars Jeanette and Dani. Gerald as you might have guessed has become a beautiful Geraldine.
Quickly, Candis introduces herself to Jeanette. Stunning as ever, Candis confides Jeanette was her dream girl growing up...she (Geraldine) was so in love with her. Her confidence, beauty and effortless femininity...how she wanted to be her.
I thought, wow that is just the way I felt about a couple girls growing up.  How did they ever come up with such a plot?  They certainly didn't pick it up with out having some inside knowledge! (No they didn't call.)
Geraldine is shown and mentioned a couple times in the last fifteen minutes of the show, including the classic ending. Dani and Jeanette  are sitting around chatting about the reunion. They both were fairly certain they were the hottest women there except for Geraldine.Dani gave Jeanette all the credit for being a great fashion role model.
The two when on to girl chat about Dani's ex husband and Jeanette's unfulfilled dream of the dream guy and the white pickett fence. Without missing a beat Jeanette says "No worries. It turns out Geraldine is a lesbian and there is still hope!" What a sequel we will never see!
If you can catch this episode...you have to wait at least halfway to catch Candis...who is always worth the wait!

Transgendered Actresses Playing Trangendered Roles!

The "New York Times" recently featured several transgendered actresses in an article called "When They Play Women, It's Not Just An Act." Pictured above is Harmony Santana who stars in “Gun Hill Road”

One of the other featured actresses is "Laverne Cox" pictured above who has being living as a female since the late 90's and was a star on VH1's reality show , “Transform Me.”

Yet Another Transgendered Model!

26 year old Nikkley Chawla is making a bid to be the next well known transgender model.
She is busy doing Indian and international ramp shows and will next be seen on a popular reality show. 

 Chawla's story is very typical.  Her journey hasn’t been easy. “I come from a orthodox family and they did not talk to me for five years when I told them I wanted a sex change. I went through hell. I never had a good life as a man.”

Quote of The Week!

"He's a man who is fundamentally a woman." I heard the quote in a movie called Kinky Boots
The movie is an independent film from 2005.  A man inherits a failing conservative shoe factory from his Dad in England.
By accident he ends up helping a drag queen getting beat up out side of a club.  The two form sort of a bond and the idea of manufacturing a line of boots and shoes for performers etc comes to fruitiion.
Slowly, the factory workers come to accept the idea and the person behind it.
The link above will direct you to a YouTube trailer on the movie.
Worth a check if you haven't seen it!
Cyrsti

Coming Soon

'Born Male, Living Female' Special Airs 7/16 on The Style Network.

 Tune in for the thought provoking new documentary special "Born Male, Living Female" airing this Saturday, July 16 at 9p ET/PT on The Style Network. Photo of Nina – Marco Ovando

 

Transgender Love Scene Coming To The Small Screen

From TV Guide and William Keck, the Hung series will take a transgender turn.
Ray Drecker, the male prostitute played by Thomas Jane will bed down with transgender beauty Jamie Clayton.
 Initially, Jane was not so sure of the idea. "When Thomas first got wind of Ray's new adventures, "the idea of kissing a man was not a comfortable one for him, but he did great," says creator Colette Burson, who is exploring the possibility of making Kyla Ray's full-time girlfriend in Season 4. "They had to kiss for hours. After his initial shyness, she became a woman for him."

Any insecurities Thomas had disappeared when he arrived on set. "I asked, 'So where's the guy?' and was told, 'That's her!'" he told me at the 2011 Saturn Awards. "There was this beautiful girl who blew me away."

Agreed!.

I Don't Get Out Much...Or Not Enough?

I have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of MTV;s "America's Best Dance Crew". I didn't know Leiomy (center above) "Mizrahi" Maldonaldo is the transgender principal diva at the center of Vogue Evolution, and has showed America just how far voguing has come since Madonna paid tribute and "Paris Is Burning" scorched movie screens.Now you are going to ask me what "voguing" means????

Flying Under the Radar.

We are a transgendered community noted for going "stealth".
The goal for so many of transgendered individuals is to attain a level of comfort in their chosen gender and simply disappear into society. The man or woman next door may be a transsexual and you would never know it...Wonderful, a terrific transgendered success story.
The whole "stealth" situation is a complete win for the transgendered person and I respect it. Why shouldn't they be allowed to live a complete "normal" life?
I used to believe there were too many "stealth" individuals in the transgendered community. Too few role models to help the younger individuals.
Fortunately the situation is beginning to change.  Transgendered individuals are stepping out of the shadows to explain who we really are as a culture.
In the preceding post I wrote about a new documentary on the "Style Channel" as one example. 

The public has seen the "Alexis Arquette's" (above)  of the world. Unfortunately, Alexis doesn't represent me or probably you well. Her media "wow" factor probably hasn't inspired many gender confused teens to run for school council.
On the other hand the transgendered woman in Spain who was just elected to a regional parliament does.
Compounding all these problems is the "L" (looks) factor. The trials and tribulations we all go through to present convincingly as our chosen gender. The fact of the matter is we all want to be viewed as "attractive". It's just human nature.
More importantly though, we need to be viewed as how we feel. Sure it takes courage and perseverance for a transgendered person to take the first awkward steps as a woman or a man.
The true heroine/hero in all of this is the person who steps out of "stealth" and says I started where you are. The finished product you see was not easy to achieve but you can get there.
I get the question frequently "do you think I can pass?"
Everyone can on a certain level if they are not passing.  When they become the person they are striving to be, they move away from the "Show Biz Arquette's" and into the real world. You stop passing  and start being.
Maybe some day in the future when that happens they will step out of stealth and pass forward their knowledge to someone who desperately needs it!

We Are Not Ready!

Take a second and try to think of the number one transgendered entertainer in the USA.
Times up..you can't think of one can you? Good Ole macho Uncle Sam hasn't produced any "Harisu's" from Korea or "Dana Internationals" from Israel. I won't even go into transgender stars from Japan and India.
It seems we can't even produce a sitcom (or reproduce) with  good convincing cross dressing actors. A new show called "Work It" is being put together with the good old tried and true idea of men not being able to find jobs as guys and go after employment as women. What a wild and crazy idea!
Sure, the USA has produced notable big screen parts for Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Dustin Hoffman to show off as women. The television has basically  given us guys playing women for laughs. "Milton Berle" and "Flip Wilson" are two that come to mind. We always knew they were taking the dress off when they got off the stage.
If "Work It" casted "Jai Rodriquez" for the starring role instead of an actor who brought back memories of "Tom Hanks" in "Bosom Buddies" there would be no way the show would ever make it. "Hanks" interaction with the public as a girl was humorous. He didn't make a convincing woman.  "Rodriquez" on the other hand does  look convincing as a girl No humor there when a guy hits on him. I suppose the question would be could he "butch" it up enough to handle the male scenes? Would America buy the fact an "out" gay man was playing a married guy who had to go out a get a job as a woman? NOT!
The sad fact is the entertainment industry just reflects "life as it is" for transgendered people.Stay hidden go stealth and you will not see one of us on a weekly television show.
Maybe in the future we will make the huge leap from murderers and thieves to the trans girl or guy next door.
Until that time watch all three episodes of "Work It" before it goes stealth and disappears!

Jai!

This shot is of Jai Rodriquez dressed as "Amanda Knot" in "Harry's Law."
As you can see Jai looks terrific and this not his first time in a dress in front of the cameras.
For a couple more shots follow this link!
The legs and heels are worth it,
Thanks Jen and Tina!!!!

Two Queens in a Deck.

Yet another fascinating look into the various subcultures we live with are "Queens dating Queens".
I ran across a interesting article on the subject from "Edge" from Boston.

Sahara Davenport and Manila Luzon 

"In the gay world, drag queens are expected to go out with more masculine-appearing men. But when that expectation is violated, it is sometimes met with derision or surprise. Still, some drag queens are attracted to other drag queens. And these "ki kis" (pronounced kai kai) - defined by Urban Dictionary as drag queens having sex - are often alluded to with an amused or slightly negative tone. "
I too bought into the stereotype. Many years ago my wife had a couple male employees who were beautiful drag queens. At no point in time did they ever indicate they were sexually interested in other than gay guys. At all of the drag shows I have ever been to the queens are always flirting with guys not other queens.
Shame on me! A notable drag couple is pictured above.
Luzon, the wife of "RuPaul’s Drag Race" Season 2’s Davenport, is very committed to her ki ki relationship. "Our relationship is really great because we share a passion for drag, we love being creative together, and we have doubled our wardrobes," said Luzon. "The worst part is that our apartment can become a disaster really easily: rhinestones embedded in the carpet, wigs everywhere, sequins in every nook and cranny. It’s like an episode of ’Hoarders: Drag Edition!’" she said.
Luzon admitted she used to hide all of her wigs, high heels, and sequin dresses in her closet, just in case she decided to bring someone home with her. Five years ago, she met a boy at a bar. They hit it off and began seeing each other. "After a few weeks, we discovered we were both drag queens," said Luzon. "By that time, it was too late. We were hooked on each other!"
As they said. "It's not about the art...it's the sex!"

From Thailand to India

Look for her on NBC's Thursday Night sitcom "Outsourced". Episodes 121 and 122 to air in April and May 2011.
	Ms. Aneesh Sheth is a transgender actress and activist. Born in Pune, India.

"Dana International"

According to the BBC Israel's transgender pop diva, Dana International, has been selected to represent the country at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, with a Hebrew-English song titled Ding Dong. The flamboyant singer,  was known as Yaron Cohen before a sex change.