Category: Editorial

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #101, Spring 2003.

I first saw our cover girl, Trankila, at Southern Comfort 2001. She was, shall we say, different. It wasn?t the day-glo blue and orange wigs she favored that made her distinct in the midst of more than 500 crossdressers and transsexuals; rather, it was the fact that although she was dressed en femme, she sported afull beard.

This community has a history of being freaked out by male crossdressers who don?t shave. One conference, in particular, was famous for its ?no facial hair? rule. Those who didn?t shave were not only not allowed toparticipate; because they didn?t exemplify the Phyllis Schaffly ideal of womanhood favored by the conference?s organizers, they were dressed down, told they were a disgrace.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #101, Spring 2003.

Introduction to the Transgender Education Section of this Special issue of Transgender Tapestry

The transgender community?s educational nonprofits have always had a difficult time finding the money necessary to do education on the scale they would like. A number of reasons have been cited for this: our community is too small to support national organizations; many of us are in the closet; many of us transition and abandon the community; many of us purge and abaondon the community; community members give disproportionately to the jazzier political groups; the internet has changed everything; and, my favorite (just kidding)?transgendered people are basically selfish and would rather buy another pair of shoes or attend another conference than donate to a nonprofit. Whatever the reasons, nonprofits like FTM International, Gender Education & Advocacy, IFGE, and Renaissance are and have been chronically underfunded, and this situation is unlikely to change.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #098, Summer 2002

by Dallas Denny

Several years ago, at the Southern Comfort conference, I found myself at a reception hosted by the good folks at TG Forum, for whom I wrote a monthly column. As I noshed on veggies and crackers, I chatted with other activists about the dreaded, the ominous, the outrageous flip-flopping crossdresser.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #98, Summer 2002.

by Dallas Denny

It was not transsexual people themselves but the system which arose for their treatment which resulted in so much human tragedy: bitter and unfulfilled transsexual men and women, disillusioned and disgusted physicians and psychologists, and a literature which unfairly stigmatizes persons with gender dysphoria. We must all of us, service providers and consumers alike, strive to understand what has happened and what continues to happen in too many instances today, for only by acknowledging the problems of the past and the present can we hope to move into the future.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #096, Winter 2001.

As I write this, it?s September 12th. Workers in New York are searching for survivors amidst the rubble of what was until yesterday the twin towers of the World Trade Center. In Washington, at the Pentagon, fires are hampering rescue efforts. The nation is reeling as estimates of fatalities begin to come in. We know the final toll will certainly surpass the 3800 Americans who perished in the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor; how much so is unknown. Many of us haven?t been able to get in touch with friends and family members and don?t know if they are alive or dead.

To our readers who have lost loved ones, our deepest sympathies.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #096, Winter 2001.

International Foundation for Gender Education, Inc.

I would like to address the condition of the International Foundation for Gender Education with you, our readers and supporters. I feel it necessary for you to have firsthand knowledge of where we are and where we are going.

IFGE offers a variety of programs. The most visible is our quarterly journal, Transgender Tapestry. While we maintain this journal as a separate program, it is in reality fully integrated with the rest of the organization.

Many people feel that in this day of the Internet Transgender Tapestry is the primary reason for IFGE?s existence. I would ask that you read not only about the magazine, but about our other projects and services, and what we are doing about IFGE as an organization.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #097, Spring 2002.

I?ve long been a supporter of the Standards of Care of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association. I felt they made great sense in a time when transsexual and other transgendered people were typically confused, frightened, and ignorant of their life options. In this postmodern age in which more and more of us are strong and sure of ourselves, I?m no longer certain about the appropriateness of the Standards of Care, and I?m becoming more and more convinced that it?s unethical to apply constraints to a class of people without solid evidence that they are needed.

Just as I?m an opponent of seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws which eliminate freedom in the name of the greater good, I?ve decided to come down in opposition to Standards of Care which give therapists gatekeeping powers over other human beings. I routinely use my seat belt, and I wouldn?t ride a motorcycle without a helmet, and I didn?t have sex reassignment surgery without having lived 24/7 for more than a year, but I assert my right and the rights of others to live free without such constraints.