Mister?

No surprise this year's Thailand womanless beauty pageant winner was again a total beauty. Quoting the news release "a captivating ladyboy named Nek was crowned Miss Tiffany Universe 2013".

Here is the part of the release I found humorous:


"The dazzling ladyboy who captivated the judges to win the crown of Miss Tiffany Universe 2013 was Mr. Natenaphada Kalyanon or Nek."  Mister?????

For more...go here.

Transgender Diversity

Wrapping up my "coverage" of the Trans Ohio Symposium was the final workshop of the weekend we attended. It was called the "Trans Feminine Caucus".

I felt the title was a bit vague and I didn't really know what to expect.  From experience I knew the "caucuses" I have attended were heavily influenced by the skill of the moderator. A skilled moderator can keep a caucus moving.

Fortunately, we had a skilled moderator and a very diverse group. Several in attendance were "older" professional types such as a doctor of some sort and an attorney. I would place about three or four others in a group defined as middle aged trans women such as me and then there were a couple young transsexual women. One of the TS women was essentially an ex "street kid" who had lived an incredible tough existence on the streets.  The other was a very vocal and outspoken young trans woman.

What was solved? Nothing. The only positives you can take from these workshops is knowledge from others.  Personally I love to hear from others.  Topics such as the meaning of trans lesbianism, male privilege, transgender culture in fighting, stealth and therapy all were discussed.

The caucus was a fitting end to an informative and fun weekend. I had very little idea of what to expect from this symposium. I came away with a new respect of the diversity within our transgender ranks - female and male.

Most importantly to me though were the transgender youth I observed. I was impressed and feel the future of our culture is in the best hands ever!

Put Eden Lane on the View!

Who is Eden Lane?

Well, she's the first transgender woman on-air broadcast journalist with a major network. Since 2009 she has been the host of the KBDI-TV show "In Focus with Eden Lane"  - the popular Colorado local arts and culture news magazine.  

Eden has also been a part of  OUTSpoken, a prime time special series devoted to the LGBT community- on the air for 20 years. Plus, she was  a reporter covering the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver for PBS.

Actually, there is a campaign complete with a change.org petition that seeks to have ABC's popular daytime gabfest The View invite Eden Lane on the show. If you haven't heard,  Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck are leaving soon. What a way for a transgender broadcast pioneer to break the gender barrier on mainstream network television show!

Anthony Berry

I have always loved Anthony Berry as Shania in this Coronation Street video from YouTube! Found it again and thought I would pass it along on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

Oh No Canada!

From CBC News Saskatoon:

"A transgender bride who was not allowed to try on wedding gowns at a shop in Saskatoon says she will be filing a formal human rights complaint. Rohit Singh said her experience, at Jenny's Bridal Boutique, deeply affected her, in part because she had higher expectations of Canada. "I like to say Canada is so acceptable [with] equal rights for everyone," Singh told CBC News. "At least they should learn a lesson, so after seeing this no other bridal store — or any store — will do this in the future like they did with me." Saskatchewan's human rights commissioner David Arnot told CBC News Friday any discrimination, whether it is direct or indirect that a transgender person experiences as the result of a store's policy or rule, is still a human rights violation."

I just can't wrap my mind around the thought pattern of not letting this young trans woman at the least spend money with you?????? Then again  I'm assuming this bridal shop is run by women. Over the years, I have experienced much more transphobic behavior from women than men.

35 years of Cross Dressing Photos

From Behold the Photo Blog comes this very good article about a photographer you may have already heard about or have seen her work:

Kay, ex–Green Beret by Mariette Pathy Allen 

" Mariette Pathy Allen’s 35-year journey documenting the transgender community had a serendipitous beginning. In 1978, Allen and her husband went on a trip to New Orleans and happened to stay in the same inn as a group of cross-dressers. One morning after breakfast, the group began taking pictures by the swimming pool, and Allen, already with her camera equipment, gently asked if she could take a few shots as well. “I lifted the camera to my eye looking at these people and one person standing opposite me looked back at me and I felt I was looking into a soul, not a man, not a woman, but the essence of a human being, and I thought, I have to have this person in my life,” Allen recalled. That person, Vicki West, ended up living about 20 blocks from Allen in Manhattan and started introducing Allen to parties, friends, and conferences of people involved in the cross-dressing community. “I found it beyond fascinating,” Allen said. “I discovered I had something I could contribute. When I started doing portraits of transgender people, no one was doing it and I had to figure out what would be the most helpful way of doing it, what would be the meaning of it?”

To the right is another of Allen's photo's featured in the article which you can see by following the link above.

An interesting sidelight I'm noticing when I feature excerpts from other blogs is I have noticed my Google spell check is now highlighting "transgendered" as a miss spelling.  I took the liberty of correcting it twice in this excerpt.

Drag Out the Tupperware!

Turns out the leading Tupperware salesperson in North America is Aunt Barbra. Plus Barb is a guy.  So when Aunt Barbra is dragging out the plastic at her next party- she isn't kidding.  Yes a drag queen selling Tupperware and it turns out women are turning out in droves with their plastic credit cards to buy Barb's.
I'm fairly certain Aunt Barb isn't the only queen peddling their plastic wares but she was one of the features tonight on Entertainment Tonight who said "Babs" was making in excess of six figures a year in income!
I couldn't find that yet so I'm passing along an older video of Aunt Barb on the Cyrsti's Condo big screen:

Big Day on the "Tube"

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to see a short interview with Jennifer Finney Boylan.  Jennifer is an   author and professor plus one of the best known transgender people in America. She appeared on the NBC Today show with wife Deedie and son Zach and talked about her new book Stuck in The Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders.

According to TV.Broadwayworld.com  later Friday night, 10p/9c on "Rock Center with Brian Williams," viewers will hear more from Jennifer and her family, including her wife Deedie who opens up about her reaction to the news, how she handled the transition and her fears about how it would affect their sons. A must see!

Jenna Returns!

From the Hollywood Reporter:

" TORONTO – E! Canada has ordered a reality series about the Canadian transgender beauty queen Jenna Talackova. The Toronto-based model -- born as Walter before a sex change -- failed in her bid to compete in the Miss Universe Canada pageant.  But Talackova has secured from Canadian broadcaster Bell Media and producer Peacock Alley Entertainment an eight-episode order for a series, Brave New Girl, about her headline-grabbing effort to work as a model. Joining her for the journey are friends, including a documentary filmmaker, and an outspoken model and student."

I will have to start checking for availability in the United States when it's completed!