Yesterday was the first MN T-Girl outing since February.
It was wonderful.
I look at our group as a social and support group, but between the protests in Minneapolis and COVID-19, yesterday was more therapeutic than anything else.
It was a small group, and we just enjoyed catching up over coffees at Creators Space Coffee in Saint Paul.
Here’s a picture from the day showing our social distancing. 🙂
I look forward to our next outing in July.
Love, Hannah
The MN T-Girls had our monthly adventure this past Saturday and we attended a wonderful performance of the play ‘Superman Becomes Lois Lane‘ put on by the History Theater in Saint Paul.
From their website, Superman Becomes Lois Lane tells the story of the gender transition of Bob Sylvester, a former President of the Saint Paul City Council and successful investment banker, to Susan Kimberly, the first transgender woman to become the deputy mayor of a major American city. This is Susan’s story written in her own words with passion and humor that has been a hallmark of this remarkable St. Paul figure.
I love learning more about the brave women from our community who came before us and Ms. Kimberly is a remarkable woman.
Before the play I was lucky to meet Freya Richman who plays Ms. Kimberly. We chatted about the show, our community, representation, and Ms. Richman’s own experiences. The play was written by Ms. Kimberly and tells the story of her career and her marriage. It discussed gender identity in a clear, simple, but effective and powerful way. It was moving and inspiring. The play was set in the early 1980’s and it was fascinating to see how gender was perceived and portrayed back then. In some ways society seemed more progressive and tolerant than it does today.
Another highlight of the play was meeting Ms. Kimberly herself who attended the performance. We talked about the play and her experiences. Meeting such an important and inspirational member of our community and our state’s history (in this case herstory) was truly humbling.
As much as I love eyeliner, shopping, and fashion, I think it is vital for us to know as much about our history as we can. If you would like to know more about Ms. Kimberly and the play, I encourage you to read these articles:
If you can, please catch a performance of this production before it closes on March 1st.
Thank you to the History Theater for putting on such a wonderful play!
Love, Hannah
Is there a better way to spend a Saturday night than shopping for lingerie?
Spoiler: No.
Last night was the first event of the year for the MN T-Girls. We started 2020 off in a fun and sexy fashion as we had a private shopping event at Allure Intimate Apparel in Saint Paul. This was our second visit there and I promise you that there will be a third.
T-Girls want to find places where we feel welcome. Lingerie shopping is one of the most intimidating and potentially one of the most frustrating things we can do. Allure not only has beautiful lingerie but they also are incredibly welcoming to our community. I don’t think you can ask for a more supportive and enthusiastic ally. And we need all the support we can get.
Ten t-girls had a wonderful time shopping for pajamas, bras, panties, and lingerie. We had bra fittings and found beautiful things to wear. I love what I bought.
I want to thank the amazing and welcoming staff at Allure. Their passion to lingerie is unmatched. They know their merchandise and are enthusiastic when it comes to the lacy strap of a bra to the style of panties. If you have an Allure in your city, I absolutely recommend a visit.
Love, Hannah
I am thrilled to share with you a sample of the pictures from the recent photo shoot with the MN T-Girls. These photos were taken by our friend Shannonlee who surpasses my wildest expectations with each picture.
I’ll be posting more pictures of each dress over the next week or so.
I hope you like them!
Love, Hannah
Does anyone glow brighter than a t-girl at a holiday party?
Last night was the annual MN T-Girls holiday party and we shone like stars in the night. The evening was filled with sequins, glitter, and cheer as we celebrated the holidays and looked back on the year.
It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. I’m so lucky to know so many fabulous girls and fortunate to have so many good friends. The holiday party is one of the most popular events of the year and I can’t think of a better way to close out 2019 than by celebrating in a sparkly little black dress with my friends.
Here’s to a fabulous 2020!
Love, Hannah
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. No, not the holidays, but the annual MN T-Girls photo shoot!
For the past few years, the MN T-Girls have booked a studio and had the pleasure of working with our friend and amazing photographer Shannonlee for professional portraits. It is one of the highlights of the year and a day the group looks forward to each fall.
Like previous years these photos were taken at the Casket Arts building in Minneapolis and I think it’s safe to say that these pictures are going to turn out to be some of the best photos we’ve ever taken.
The girls all looked amazing and I can’t wait to show the finished pictures to you!
Love, Hannah
This weekend marks the sixth anniversary of the MN T-Girls!
Almost every month (one month was canceled due to… reasons) for the past six years t-girls from all over Minnesota, and often times from outside the state, have met for coffee, plays, shopping, makeup demonstrations, as well as for support and friendship.
Having planned almost one hundred of these monthly events, I am still a little surprised at the success of these outings.
I tell myself that I will keep planning these outings as long as others show up. There have been outings where only two t-girls come, and there have been events with close to thirty. Some events are hits, some are… well, not so much. Each event and each t-girl teaches me about how to run a club (if you will), but I also learn so much about our community.
So, in honor of the sixth anniversary of the MN T-Girls, I wanted to share six things about our community that I learned after meeting hundreds of girls like us.
You are not alone
I think the internet has made us realize that there are more people like us than we could have imagined. However we identify, there are others like us. Whether we live between genders or we live somewhere in the middle, or we are starting hormones or have transitioned, there are more like us than you ever knew.
We T-Girls can be anything
Although many of us are protective of any details that are associated with our male lives, there are equally others who are open about the other side of their closet. We can be husbands, boyfriends, fathers, sons, and brothers. We can also be airline pilot, forklift drivers, realtors, retail managers and engineers. You can never be sure who the male presenting individuals are in your life really are… or what they wear under their suit.
Different like you
One of the hardest things about coming out is explaining who we are. Yes, I am transgender but identifying as transgender is different than Caitlin Jenner identifying as transgender. I like to present as a girl, but I don’t always want to or need to. I love feeling beautiful, I have no interest in men, I don’t feel I was born in the wrong body. We understand each other. We know who we are, we don’t need to explain it.
I’ll be there for you
We need each other. We need to have friends who are like us. Not only do we need people in our lives who understand us, but we often have complicated lives and having people around us who we can relate to is incredibly important.
No one cares
I have walked across malls, parking ramps, downtown, parks, auditoriums, and restaurants.
I have used the ladies room at coffee shops, Target, theaters, book stores, nightclubs, and grocery stores.
I have chatted with servers, baristas, lingerie clerks, gas station employees, makeup artists, and police officers.
I have been out in the real world for a long time and although there have been a couple unpleasant moments, I’ve realized that most people rarely give a girl like me a second look or a second thought.
The MN T-Girls have been all over the Twin Cities, and yes, it’s not every day you see a group of transgender women at a restaurant and we do get a few stares, but I am happy that each outing has been free of incidents and have always had positive interactions with others. Safety is my number one priority with the group and I do what I can to make sure we are going somewhere safe and welcoming.
T-Girls just want to have fun
After six years of planning events it’s not always easy to come up with something for the group to do. I like to get ideas from the girls about what they would like to do en femme. The suggestions are always rather small. Go out to dinner, go shopping, meet new friends. T-girls aren’t necessarily looking to something HUGE and AMAZING, but doing something as normal as getting a cup of coffee en femme is an amazing experience many of us have dreamed of for years. Something mundane that we do in male mode suddenly becomes super fun when dressed up.
When I started the MN T-Girls, I did so with the goal of making friends with other t-girls. Yes, going out en femme is fun, but after a while it gets lonely. I wanted friends I could go to the mall or out to dinner with. Beyond simply making friends, I wanted others to experience the real world. Going out en femme is amazing, especially those first few times. I understood why it’s scary, but it was more wonderful than I had hoped it could be. Leaving the house is not easy, it’s a scary world for a girl, but going out in a group, or at least with a friend, makes it a lot safer and more fun.
My final goal wasn’t necessarily for girls like us. It was for the rest of the world. I wanted the world to see girls like me out at restaurants, shopping, at a museum, or at a play. I wanted the world to see us doing normal, boring, everyday things. I wanted the world to see that girls like us are girls like other girls. This goal was a little ambitious but a girl can dream.
I am fortunate to be a part of this group. I feel that the group is important and has achieved what I wanted it to achieve. I am not sure what the group will do next but the membership keeps growing which makes me happy, but the simple fact that the group has existed for as long as it has is surprising to me.
To every t-girl out there, it is an honor to be a member of our community.
Love, Hannah
Yesterday was the very first MN T-Girls Halloween party!
I think for many of us Halloween was one of the first times we dressed up in public. I grew up wanting to be a princess and I always thought Halloween would be a perfect opportunity to do so. Even though I no longer need a holiday as an excuse to glam it up, I have always wanted the chance to wear a cute costume and go to a party.
Last night was an amazing night as many of us finally had the opportunity so many of us have been dreaming about for years. Although the MN T-Girls have existed for almost six years, we have never done a Halloween themed event. But thanks to MN T-Girl Marcia who hosted the party, this finally became a reality.
The party was a big success with almost 30 girls attending. It was a super fun night and we’re already dreaming about next year’s party. Thanks to everyone who came and brought food and extra special thanks to our fabulous hostess, Marcia.
Love, Hannah
The MN T-Girls spent yesterday admiring beautiful works of art as well as each other’s fabulous style at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, one of the city’s amazing art museums. An art museum was one of the first places I went en femme (during the day, anyway) and even still I find it is one of the most wonderful things to do when dressed to the nines.
The day started with an amazing makeover from Corrie Dubay who was in town from Las Vegas. Corrie had recently relocated her fantastic makeover service to Nevada and is in town for a few weeks. She is taking appointments in case you are looking for either a makeover or a makeup lesson.
After my makeover, the group met up and we spent the next two hours enjoying sculptures, paintings, and the sounds of our heels clicking on the floor of the museum. Speaking of heels, here’s a piece done entirely out of shoes.
It was a fun way to spend the day and I look forward to our next adventure!
Love, Hannah
It’s hard to believe that summer is almost over! It feels like yesterday when I was dreaming of wearing short dresses and feeling the warm sun on my skin but now my thoughts are turning towards…well, short dresses and fall weather. 🙂
Yesterday the MN T-Girls had our monthly outing and it felt like forever since we have all had a chance to sit down and catch up. It’s been a busy few months for the group so I thought it’d be nice to relax and have girl talk over coffee, so that’s exactly what we did!
We met at Nina’s Cafe in Saint Paul, a beautiful coffee shop with delicious food and friendly staff. We chatted about everything from makeup to the next few MN T-Girls events. It was a fun afternoon and a nice way to spend a Saturday.
Love, Hannah
