The International Foundation for Gender Education

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



by Miqqi Alicia Gilbert

The richness and soul of a society is indicated by the way it cares for its differences, for those within it who don?t fit the general categories. In our western societies, we are more and more making room for those who are on the edges, who don?t fit in the mainstream categories and boxes. In many jurisdictions, for example, one can?t construct a new building without including facilities and access for the disabled. More and more elevators have Braille markings, more public transport has facilities for wheelchairs, and so on. This indicates that our society is beginning to take care of those who previously had to fend for themselves.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context

by Vern L. Bullough (Ed.)

Harrington Park Press ? 2002



a book review by C. Jacob Hale



This collection of fascinating biographies dispels myths that locate the Stonewall uprising as central to gay and lesbian activism in the United States. Here we learn about nearly fifty of the many people?gay, lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual, transgendered, non-transgendered?who made a tremendous difference in the quality of life for gays and lesbians in the U.S. today. We learn about the
ideological, personal, intellectual, and pragmatic reasons for their choices of strategies and tactics, and we learn about political disagreements among them.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



by Li Anne W. Taft



I once read a novel in which the only life choices for the characters were to look and act like John Wayne or Madonna. I trembled at the thought of such limitations being put on my own gender expression. Recently, when I read a letter to the editor in the Honolulu Weekly, the phrase ?the gender of our sex? caused me to shiver once more. Both writers seemed to assume that sex?our biological characteristics?is inevit-ably linked to the appropriate socially-constructed gender.



I calmed myself by reviewing my beliefs that gender identity need not follow any particular path or the social dictates of our assigned-at-birth sex. Realizing that not everyone feels the same and that society often chooses what is appropriate, I quivered once more, even as I sat in the warm tropical sun.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



At the recent Transgender 2003, IFGE?s Board of Directors

named Moonhawk River Stone to the position of Chair.

Mr. Stone replaces Julie Ann Johnson, who served as

Board Chair from March 2000 until March 2003.

At the Virginia Prince Awards Ceremony on Saturday,

Mr. Stone gave the following speech.

At his request, we are running it unedited?Ed.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.

I just received my Special Nostalgia Issue of Transgender Tapestry. Having recently resubscribed, I thought it a nice welcome back. I found it to be very interesting. I?m looking forward to my next issue.
--Savina A S

Several folks in the community have wondered why or been upset because they didn?t see themselves or their own personal inspirations in the nostalgia issue. We were concentrating on those who caught the popular eye, the darlings of the media. Perhaps, in a future issue, we?ll take a look at some of the worker bees. No doubt there will be folks who will feel left out there, also. ?Ed.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



by Kathleen L. Farrell



I was going through this, my tomboy phase, when I found out I wasn?t going to be allowed to play Little League. My eight-year-old spirit was crushed. My older brother played. Well, actually he warmed the bench, but he got to wear the uniform. I loved the uniform. I told my grandma, who stayed with us during the summers, that I thought I wanted to be a boy. ?Why on earth would you want to be a boy?? she asked, as she pulled a cookie sheet from the oven.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



by Gypsey Teague



Early films brought escape to the people with comedy, drama, horror, and romance. In the silent era, crossdressing was used for humor or comedy, often in conjunction with a situation that forced an individual to elude or escape from others. In his early films, Charlie Chaplin used this technique. In 1914, he played a prizefighter in ?The Knockout.? His girlfriend wanted to see him fight; since women were forbidden from entering boxing arenas, she dressed as a man. A year later, Chaplin donned a dress in ?A Woman? to escape the angry father of his beloved.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



This is the first in a series of twenty-four Transcending Genders letters being made available to the transgender community. Nos.2-6 will appear in future issues of Transgender Tapestry and the remainder will be released on a website. The letters are written to help enlighten mental health therapists and their teachers. Other interested people have found them useful too for learning about transgender folks and our issues.



Transgender people often pick mental-health therapists as the first people to tell of their anguish
and unfulfilled needs, sometimes after considerable anxiety and a series of false starts. The reaction of a
therapist, selected perhaps at random out of fear of being found out and the need to see someone close to home, makes all the difference. If he or she knows a bit about our people and tries to understand the
immensity of the revelation and the sensitivity of the client, healing can begin. If, on the other hand, the therapist reacts out of ignorance and prejudice, an unfulfilled life or even a suicide may be the outcome.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



by loocefer



As the transgender community struggles even today to gain recognition and actual inclusion within mainstream lesbian, gay, bisexual politics, pre-operative and non-operative transgenderists and gender-variant individuals also strive to overcome the oppressive hierarchy within the transgender community. Such hierarchy is based on a tranny?s process of transitioning, and it assumes that all transgenderists and gender-variant people ultimately wish to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. Indeed, the assumption goes that most if not all transgenderists break the norms of their assigned
gender in order to become the opposite sex. While that assumption may accurately apply to transsexuals and many transgenderists, it doesn?t by any means hold for the entire
transgender community.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #102, Summer 2003.



by Michelle Dixon



When I called myself a crossdresser, I would have dressed in fancy clothes if I had the money; however, I?ve been on an limited income for years. In the late 80s, the internal pressure to dress in public was intense. I adopted a mode of dress I called walking the line. I wore simple, solid tunic tops that could go either way. A few skirts, and I had a femme wardrobe.



I wore inexpensive gold-tone or silver neck chains bought at flea markets. It was a simple task to cut neck chains down to fit my wrists. This was all part of my walking the line wardrobe.