Grayson began his transition from female to male in 2016, first by dressing and living as a boy and then by legally changing his gender identification and his name from Grace to Grayson. MPR News is not using Grayson’s last name to protect his privacy.
He and Mayo, though, are at the front of a revolution in care for transgender people driven by the federal Affordable Care Act. The law effectively stopped insurers from refusing to cover hormone therapy and other interventions involved in the transition. Suddenly once-unaffordable medicines and procedures were within reach.
Mayo and other major hospitals across the country have responded with new clinics and consolidated mental and physical health services to meet the needs of trans people. But as they work to meet that rising demand, doctors are also navigating some difficult medical and ethical questions.
I love seeing hospitals making efforts to understand and service our community.
Hi Hannah. I have been looking for a trans friendly hair stylist. Can you make a recommendation. Good info is hard to get.
I’ve never had my hair done (because it comes mailed to me), so I don’t have a of experience to draw from on this topic.
However, I did have a makeover at Rita Ambourn in Saint Paul last year. They offer hair care, waxing, skin care and manicures. They were super friendly and I know a few other t-girls who go there and they’ve always had an amazing experience.
It’s Pride weekend in Minnesota and the MN T-Girls were there celebrating with about a zillion others. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun meeting people, talking about the group and being part of the community.
The day started early with Mari and I setting up the tent, the table, the Wheel of Fabulosity and decorating our booth. And yes, I did this all in three-inch heels.
It was amazing to see so many resources and allies of the transcommunity.
Liz and I both wore dresses with a rose pattern and I promise that wasn’t planned and we both looked amazing.
One of my favorite things about Pride is seeing so many people in our community. There were so many people happy to find others like them.
Tygra Trinity Slarii, Miss Saloon 2018
So, this is the one 😉
Pride weekend goes all weekend long, unfortunately the MN T-Girls won’t be there on Sunday. We all had an amazing time and we are so grateful to be part of our community. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and to the MN T-Girls for making this happen. See you all next year!
In celebration of Twin Cities Pride kicking off this weekend, The Minneapolis/St. Paul Journal listed the largest LGBTQ-owned businesses in the Twin Cities, as ranked by the number of employees. I believe in supporting businesses owned by our community. If you’re looking for LGBTQIA friendly businesses, this list is a good place to start.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal recently published a list of the largest LGBTQ+ businesses in the area, and three of the top five are prominent entertainment venues. In order to qualify for this list, “businesses must be headquartered in the Twin Cities 24-county metro area and be majority owned by a person who identifies themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer.”
First Avenue comes in at third overall. The nightclub was an endeavor that owner Dayna Frank (who now oversees 317 employees) took over from her father Byron Frank. Her wife Ember and their family together are what originally spurred Frank’s decision to proudly state First Avenue’s stance on same-sex marriage, Frank said in a 2013 interview. Frank had purchased a billboard in downtown Minneapolis that read “Don’t limit the freedom to marry. First Avenue supports same-sex marriage and equality for all people.” The club currently sells Pride merchandise to benefit RECLAIM.
I love a bold eye, especially when paired with false eyelashes. However, I am not very good at putting them on…but no worries as Corrie Dubay is back with tips on how to apply fabulous falsies!
Femme Makeovers She is a friend and hero to girls everywhere. She is beyond talented.
Corrie has a newsletter that she sends out with helpful makeup tips like these and is reprinted here with her permission. I am certain you’ll find this useful! You can sign up for her newsletter here.
Happy Summer Solstice! I hope you’ve all been well.
We are celebrating Pride this week here in Minneapolis and the glitter is flying. I love it! If you’re out and about this weekend – be safe, stay cool and sparkle on! Have a super-duper weekend!!! XOXO from your favorite makeup guru,
Corrie FemmeMakeovers | Midwest Makeup
I don’t know about you but I am a sucker for gorgeous eyes! I mean, who doesn’t love a great smoky eye and a full set of lashes!?!?! Yes, please!
Next to “How do I cover my beard shadow?” the second most popular question I get is: “How the f*ck do I put on fake lashes?? PLEASE HELP!!”
Never fear!! I’ve got a few awesome tips and tricks that will help make the whole thing less intimidating and frustrating for you. And!! With a little bit of practice (Yes! You must practice!)…you’ll be a lash master in NO time!
When I apply lashes it’s one of the last things I do. Why? Because I don’t want to have to work around them. Especially when I’m working with larger, fuller lashes – it can be really hard to get your eyeliner just right or glitter on the lid without getting it tangled up in the lash.
So – after you’ve done your eye makeup (primer, eye shadow, liner, etc.) choose your lash. The more dramatic the eye, the fuller and more dramatic the lash I tend to go with. There really aren’t any rules when it comes to makeup (guidelines, yes. Rules? No way!) so you can really wear what you want. However, I try to find some sort of balance between the eye makeup and the lash.
An example would be – if I do a very natural, daytime eye makeup, I really don’t want some giant lash clogging up my nice, simple look. Now – on the other hand – if I’m heading out to the club and rocking a dramatic smoky eye, I need to use a lash that has a little oomph to it. Otherwise – my lashes will essentially disappear…therefore, looking a little unbalanced. Or, you can think of it this way – if you cannot see the lash against makeup that is behind it – you might want to consider bumping the size, fullness, etc. up just a touch.
Next! Use a good glue. There are several lash glues out there – and let me stop right now and say: WEAVE (or hair bonding glue) glue is NOT safe for your eyes so don’t use it!!! Wanna keep your eyelashes, and most importantly, your eye sight?? Use glue that is specifically for eyelashes!!) Okay back to what I was saying. Use a good glue – my favorite is AdGem (from Mehron). It is a latex-free, very moisture/water resistant, clear drying glue…and works awesome! There are others – DUO, Ardell, etc. but AdGem is my favorite. I find it works the best and can keep a pair of the biggest lashes on all freaking day! If you are a newbie to this – I suggest a clear drying glue over a black glue. If you mess up with a black – you’ll see exactly where you messed up.
The next step is to gently remove the lashes from their packaging, ideally from the outer edge. I suggest removing by grabbing the outer edge in case we accidentally bend or pull a few lashes off. If we do – it’s no big deal as we oftentimes have to trim the lash to make it fit, and we typically want to trim from the outer edge.
Next, hold the lash up to your eye, following your natural lash line. If the lash extends way beyond where your natural lash line stops, then we want to trim it (it will be much more comfortable to wear if it fits your eye properly) from the outer edge.
Now we’re ready for glue. Instead of applying the glue directly on to the lash from the tube – squeeze a little bit out onto the lash carton (see image 1). Then – break a Q-tip in half (image 2), dip the stick end into the glue and apply to the edge of the lash band (image 3).
Using something other than the tube to apply the glue to the lash will save you a lot of frustration. You have more control with the amount of product you are applying, you wont get glue all over your fingers, lashes, etc. Trust me! It’ll make things MUCH easier for you.
Once the glue is applied to both lashes. Set them down. Do not touch them for at least 45 to 60 seconds (image 4). Normally during this time I line my lips.
You can tell when the glue is starting to dry when it looks like it’s getting thicker and starting to turn clear. We want the glue to start to dry before we even try putting them on. If the glue is slightly dry before we apply, the lash will stick to your lid and you wont have to worry about dropping it and you can typically get the corners to stick down very easily.
When I go to apply the lash (I use a tweezers for this because I cannot get my fingers in close enough), I pick it up and set the false lash on my actual lash, getting the band as close to my natural lash line as possible, but sticking it to my lid (we don’t want to glue them to our lashes). Once the false lash is in place, I can adjust it to get it positioned correctly without it falling off or gluing my eye shut. Until the glue fully dried, you can manipulate the lash as you need to make it comfortable.
Once my false lashes are in place, I touch up my eyeliner quick and add a light coat of mascara to my natural lashes to blend them in with the false ones (I only apply mascara after the false lashes are on, not before). I try to avoid putting too much mascara on the false lashes to extend the amount of times I can wear them.
To remove – gently pull the lash off starting at the outer corner. They should come right off. If not, take a Q-tip and a little makeup remover and gently rub along the lash line – it will loosen the glue and you’ll be able to pull them off.
Just a few more notes before I wrap this up: one, you CAN re-wear them multiple times if you carefully remove them from your eye, remove any excess glue (just gently pull it off – don’t use makeup remover) and put them back in the case they came in. Storing them in their original case attached to the carton (there’s usually enough glue residue to get them to stick) will help them keep their shape longer.
Lashes with thinner bands are more fragile and won’t have the same life as a pair that has a thicker band (so handle gently). You can clean your false lashes using a Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol, but again – do not use makeup remover. It messes with them and will significantly shorten their life span.
And there you have it my dears! An overview (albeit a little lengthy) on how to apply false lashes without going crazy or gluing your eyelids shut! Easy, peasy, right??? 😀
As per usual – any questions, please feel free to shoot me a message or drop by the store.
Be sure to visit our newly updated website for more info and updated services.
Who we are starts at a young age. This is likely not something the boy in this article will outgrow.
This section had a profound impact on me:
“Boys can like beautiful things, too!”
But they can’t. Not without someone looking askance. To embrace anything feminine, if you’re not biologically female, causes discomfort and confusion, because throughout most of history and in most parts of the world, being a woman has been a disadvantage. Why would a boy, born into all the power of maleness, reach outside his privileged domain?
As the weather warms I always worry about sweating while all dressed up. How do you tackle that issue? Personally I think it’s important for me to wear hosiery even on the warmest days, but I’m wondering if I could perfect my appearance without a wig. Have you ever presented as Hannah without wearing a wig? “Hot heads” everywhere would love to know.
Of course you can perfect your look without a wig. Cis-women have a zillion different ways that they wear their hair. Some cis-women have incredibly short hair and so can transwomen. There is no standard your hair must meet in order to identify as one gender or another.
Personally I always wear a wig, but I don’t have to, and neither does anyone.
I also always wear stockings, nylons or tights. I like how nude stockings even out my skin tone, for example. Summer is not a t-girl’s friend as some of us wear padding breastforms, wigs and makeup. Foundation and the heat do not get along. Luckily Corrie from Midwest Makeup Supply and Femme Makeovers has some valuable advice for sweatprooofing our makeup.
Summer isn’t all bad. You can’t wear a dress like this outside in January…at least not in Minnesota.
According to publisher Seal Press, Trans Like Me by CN Lester, is a personal and culture-driven exploration of the most pressing questions facing the transgender community today, from a leading activist, musician, and academic.
In Trans Like Me, CN Lester takes readers on a measured, thoughtful, intelligent yet approachable tour through the most important and high-profile narratives around the trans community, turning them inside out and examining where we really are in terms of progress. From the impact of the media’s wording in covering trans people and issues, to the way parenting gender variant children is portrayed, Lester brings their charged personal narrative to every topic and expertly lays out the work left to be done.
Trans Like Me explores the ways that we are all defined by ideas of gender–whether we live as he, she, or they–and how we can strive for authenticity in a world that forces limiting labels.
I was given the privilege of being sent an advance copy of this memoir. I’ve read many books by transgender individuals and I was reminded how the term ‘transgender’ means something different for every transperson. So yes, Trans Like Me is what being trans means to CN Lester, and if you or I were to write a biography with the same title it would be a very different book.
But this book is different than what I’ve read before. The cover states that the book has ‘conversations for all of us’. Although every transperson is different and has different experiences, our collective history is the same. Chapter 11, titled ‘The Denial of History’ is particularly interesting as it covers the evolution of the different terminology, such as ‘transsexual’ and ‘transvestite’, that is, or was, associated with being transgender. Lester also touches on how transgender people are portrayed in works of literature of film and cites The World According to Garp and The Danish Girl.
Speaking of how transgender people are portrayed in the media and viewed by the public, Lester has a very well written chapter on Caitlyn Jenner that eloquently summarizes the conflicted perspectives I have on who is arguably the world’s most famous transwoman.
Of course, the flip side of history is where we are going. As the public becomes more…acquainted with transgender people, whether in entertainment, the public, or in the media, more people are becoming more familiar with how complex and varied gender is, and can be. Of course, there’s no guarantee how people will react to us, but that’s another story. The chapter ‘Beyond Binaries’ end on a what I read as an optimistic and realistic perspective. Lester writes “Our steps toward equality are still tentative — this is not a done deal. For every example of positive change I could provide, I could show multiple negatives. But the changes I have seen, over my lifetime, at least show that change is possible. What I have learned about our histories shows me that the gendered bars and limits placed around us need not be permanent”.
Trans Like Me is a well-written book that is a not only a very personal biography but is also very refreshing in how it’s not only about Lester and their life. Lester discusses history, the media, the limits and potential of gender and the shared experiences that all trans and non-binary individuals have in a way that we can relate to. However, I would say that the book’s true strength is Lester’s ability to tell our history and complexities in a friendly, direct, and approachable way to the non-transcommunity as well.
Thank you to Seal Press for the opportunity to read this book in advance.
Hi Hannah. I have been looking for a trans friendly hair stylist. Can you make a recommendation. Good info is hard to get.
Use glue that is specifically for eyelashes!!) Okay back to what I was saying. Use a good glue – my favorite is AdGem (from Mehron). It is a latex-free, very moisture/water resistant, clear drying glue…and works awesome! There are others – DUO, Ardell, etc. but AdGem is my favorite. I find it works the best and can keep a pair of the biggest lashes on all freaking day! If you are a newbie to this – I suggest a clear drying glue over a black glue. If you mess up with a black – you’ll see exactly where you messed up.
the tube to apply the glue to the lash will save you a lot of frustration. You have more control with the amount of product you are applying, you wont get glue all over your fingers, lashes, etc. Trust me! It’ll make things MUCH easier for you.
As the weather warms I always worry about sweating while all dressed up. How do you tackle that issue? Personally I think it’s important for me to wear hosiery even on the warmest days, but I’m wondering if I could perfect my appearance without a wig. Have you ever presented as Hannah without wearing a wig? “Hot heads” everywhere would love to know.
Hannah McKnight 