This past Saturday was the monthly MN T-Girls event! And! It was extra special because our little group met up with another t-girl social/support group to have a super fabulous t-girl team-up.
This aforementioned group has different events around the midwest and their event just happened to be in Minneapolis and sometimes the stars align in life and we decided to celebrate together.
Planning any sort of social event can be tricky. They need to be held in a location where girls like us feel comfortable but for this event we wanted there to be an opportunity for everyone to socialize and make friends. Additionally, showing off some of the more beautiful parts of Minneapolis to out-of-town girls wouldn’t hurt either.
After some planning we decided to meet up at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I looooove MIA and it more or less checked all the boxes. It’s a beautiful museum, even if you don’t care for art. We could socialize in the cafe, we could meander, we could be on our own and just enjoy being out en femme…
And I think it was a successful event! Between the two groups I think there were about two dozen of us. Amazing! I did my best to chat with everyone by walking around and socializing whenever I saw someone.
It was so wonderful just seeing so many t-girls in a public space and out in the community. Almost every exhibit I walked into there was a t-girl already there admiring the art. Can you imagine living in a world where we all felt comfortable and safe to the point we could live our lives authentically? Can you imagine walking into a cafe or a work meeting and seeing a girl like us there? Just, you know, existing? Existing because the world is no longer afraid of us and has stopped believing the lies hurtful people spread about our community?
Can you imagine?
For a few hours on Saturday I saw a glimpse of it.
What was really encouraging was watching other people in the museum react to us. What I mean is that there was no reaction. A member of our group would walk by a couple of people and… nothing. No pointing, no sideway glances, no suppressed smiles…
Part of the goal for the group having public events is letting other people see girls like us. To notice girls like us. To see that girls like us are just living our lives and we are not strange or dangerous. This is how acceptance begins.
I really want to thank everyone who spent their afternoon with us and to MIA for promoting a place where all are welcome.
Love, Hannah
Hannah McKnight 
I had a nice interaction with a woman at the museum who noticed our group. I was sitting on a bench with another T-girl, resting our high heeled feet and discussing stick-on nails when a middle aged woman in a summer dress approached us. She liked how we were “so dressed up” for a visit to the museum, and that so many other people were dressed so casually it was “kind of refreshing to see you guys”. I told her I don’t need to be going to a gala event to be dressed pretty and complimented her on her dress. Everyday is special when you take the time to wear a nice dress! She thanked me and as she was leaving she turned back around and apologized for calling us “guys”. I told her I didn’t take it as a negative comment and thanked her again for her respectful interest in us. It just added to the wonderful feeling of sisterhood I get when I’m out with the T-Girls! Thanks again for your leadership, Hannah!
Angie
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What a wonderful outing! Should you ever find yourself on a field trip to the Seattle area, please reach out to The Emerald City Transgender Club Seattle!
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Sounds great, yes definitely the more visible girls like us can be the less likely folks will think we are just like them, people just trying to be ourselves and living in their communities
Would enjoy attending something like this in my area
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It was such a lovely way to spend an afternoon!
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I had commented to others several times that I had the feeling we were in one of those old mystery movies where the two protagonists where moving through a maze, and as one would step out of a room, the other would step in, only to catch a glimpse of the other. It seemed every time I stepped into a new room, there were others in there just getting done. I was really fun to know that we were everywhere in the MIA!
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