Month: March 2017

Proposed Minnesota Legislation Against the Transgender Community

by Hannah

44 MN House Republicans back ban on transgender employees using the bathroom

From thecolu.mn

A striking forty-four Republicans have cosponsored a bill in the Minnesota House that would block businesses and other employers from providing gender-neutral restrooms or from enacting policies that allow transgender employees to use appropriate restrooms. The bill, like one introduced in the Minnesota Senate on Friday, amends the Minnesota Human Rights Act, the nation’s first nondiscrimination law barring discrimination based on gender identity.

House committee hearing set for anti-transgender bill

From thecolu.mn

HF3396 will get a hearing in the Minnesota House Civil Law and Data Practices Committee on Thursday, March 31. The committee meeting starts at 8:15am in room 10 of the State Office Building.

HF3396 is a bill that targets Minnesota’s longstanding ban on discrimination based on gender identity, enacted in 1993. It would block gender-inclusive policies at school districts and local municipalities and force transgender people to use a restroom that does not correspond to their gender — putting many transgender people at risk for discrimination and violence, according to research at UCLA’s Williams Institute.

Every once in a while, someone sends me an email where the writer says that Republican’s don’t hate or discriminate against transpeople and I think about those emails when I read articles like this.  I wonder why 44 people, Republicans or otherwise, would care if a private business offered a gender-neutral restroom.  I also wonder why anyone could vote for a law that would reverse a ban on discrimination.

I hate reading news like this.

Love, Hannah

An Amazing Night!

by Hannah

corrieLast night I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Corrie, a superstar in the Twin Cities trans community.  I’ve been hearing about Corrie and her business Midwest Makeup for a few years now and I am kicking myself for not meeting her sooner.  Midwest Makeup not only sells amazing makeup I’ve never heard of before (they custom make lipstick!), but she is absolutely the most talented makeup artist I’ve ever met.

Corrie also specializes in male to female transformation services and has a website called Femme Makeovers where she does makeovers and gives lessons for those who are looking for an absolutely incredible life and gender changing experience.

Corrie was the host of the MN T-Girls March event last night where she kindly invited our group to her shop for an after hours event where she demonstrated different techniques such as beard covering, contouring, eyelash application and many other skills.

 

I’ve been using a color correcting technique for beard cover for a few years now and it works rather well, but I was amazed at a product she demonstrated  called Camouflage Creme by Kryolan.  I highly recommend it for those of us who have trouble covering facial hair.

After the demonstrations were over, Corrie and her associates Hexa and Ben helped the girls shop for makeup and provide one on one tutorials.  I love watching amazingly talented makeup artists work their magic.

It was a wonderful, beautiful evening.  Every time I talk to a makeup artist I realize how much more there is to learn and how many possibilities makeup has.

Thank you Corrie, Hexa and Ben for a truly magical evening.

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Love, Hannah

Nancy and Nathan

by Hannah

I think many of  us feel that we have two sides and that out two sides are very different from each other.  Sometimes I have a hard time believing that both my male persona and Hannah are the same physical being.  We are two souls in one body, in a way.  There is overlap of course, but I feel there are parts of me that come out depending on the gender I present at on any given day.

I couldn’t help but think about this as I read about Nancy Clench and Nathan Sparling.  In male mode, Nathan is one of the Scottish National Party’s most trusted senior political advisers.  As Nancy, she is one of London’s most beloved drag queens.

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As Hannah, I feel pretty fearless but I can’t imagine what it would be like to be so out and open in both of my genders.  I keep both sides of me pretty separated, probably less than three people know “me” and Hannah.

You can read more more abut Nancy and Nathan here!

Love, Hannah

 

 

 

Cross-Dressing Academy Helps Put Men In Touch With ‘Femmeselves’

by Hannah

I remember reading about Miss Vera’s Finishing School for Boys Who Want to be Girls around the time I was graduating high school.  I was thrilled and astonished by such a school and wanted to go there so badly.  I tried to find out as much information I could about Miss Vera and a little later I found a copy of her book.  I must have read it a million times before it was tossed in a purge.  Thankfully, I own it again, along with her second book.

Last year I read about a similar organization in Japan called the Onnanoko Club (Girls’ Club) that that, according to the article, ‘is not a drag bar with theatrical outfits and shows, but rather a relaxed space where a man can arrive straight from the office, perhaps in a suit, and indulge his feminine side with a complete transformation.’

NPR has an article about Miss Vera that is totally worth your read.  Has anyone hear visited Miss Vera or a similar place?

Love, Hannah