Last Thursday I was invited to a shindig by my friend, Erin, who lured me in by saying something persuasive along the lines of, "something blah yappity yap Mister Trans Sister something tonight blah yap". Mister? Trans? Sister? All in one name? I didn't know what Erin was yapping on about - if Mister Trans Sister was the name of a performer, the event, or what, but the name was all I needed to know. I was in.
So off we went to this night club where I hugged her from behind on the back of her motorcycle. Erin, keep in mind, is far more masculine/transitioned than I am just due to some innate mass production of testosterone. Or so I theorize. She frequently jokes about how maybe, just maybe, I'll catch up to her one day. "Jokes". Ha...
By the time that we arrived the club wasn't packed just yet, but out of the few people already there, two were very glammed out drag queens. Definitely up my alley.
As time went by, more and more gender variance popped up. I continuously heard the word "stray", which apparently meant something about "straight" and "gay" together, all being stray. Cute. There were girls in leotards packing, boys with wigs and mascara. Trans people, cross-dressers, drag performers, and strays galore!
I felt completely at ease, knowing that I was around people who were not only trans-friendly, but were even celebrating and reveling in gender variance. In general, on the few occasions I do go to a night club, they're so gender binary and awkward for me that I feel "shy" about them thar' social waters. Girls are girls, boys are boys - one is meant to approach the other and everyone seemingly navigates the terrain, the bathrooms, the social dynamic, with complete behavioral inferences and ease.
Meanwhile, I'm floundering about how to interact, what this or that means, why this or that happened, what's expected, what bathroom to use. Thursday night? None of that.
The bathroom situation, in particular, was sah-weet. I initially went to the mens restroom, but it smelled like salty balls and urine and there wasn't a mirror. Since I wanted to ensure that I still looked purdy after a motorcycle ride, I walked directly from the mens restroom to the women's. People saw me walk from one to the other. No one cared. Women in the bathroom didn't care. I walked in - no reaction. Just hand washing, chatter. I used the restroom. Washed my hands. Wiped a smudge off my face. No big deal.
Even better, I was later introduced to this super adorable lanky girl with geek glasses who a.) turned out to also be trans and b.) might very well be my in-reverse trans doppelgänger!
From what I gathered and understood, she's variant with gender pronouns, but is just becoming comfortable with expressing that she actually likes feminine pronouns better. Her family is loving and supportive. Her sister and her sister's boyfriend were there with her ... on and on, lots of stuff. We clicked right away.
We exchanged numbers and finally met up today for sack lunches, chit chat, slurpies, and thrift store perusing. We talked about hormones, about how she's considering starting, about difficulties with job hunting (she had an interviewer actually directly tell her that he wasn't quite sure that his clientèle would be ready for someone like her, but if it was Portland or...), so on and so forth.
I think I have an in-reverse trans doppelganger crush. Just a little bit.
In other news, after 2 weeks of NOT going to the gym (I know, I know...) I went on Monday and,... I'm stronger! Despite being a lazy schlob, I was able to lift about 30-40 lbs more on average than I did just 2 weeks prior. I was astounded.
So off we went to this night club where I hugged her from behind on the back of her motorcycle. Erin, keep in mind, is far more masculine/transitioned than I am just due to some innate mass production of testosterone. Or so I theorize. She frequently jokes about how maybe, just maybe, I'll catch up to her one day. "Jokes". Ha...
By the time that we arrived the club wasn't packed just yet, but out of the few people already there, two were very glammed out drag queens. Definitely up my alley.
As time went by, more and more gender variance popped up. I continuously heard the word "stray", which apparently meant something about "straight" and "gay" together, all being stray. Cute. There were girls in leotards packing, boys with wigs and mascara. Trans people, cross-dressers, drag performers, and strays galore!
I felt completely at ease, knowing that I was around people who were not only trans-friendly, but were even celebrating and reveling in gender variance. In general, on the few occasions I do go to a night club, they're so gender binary and awkward for me that I feel "shy" about them thar' social waters. Girls are girls, boys are boys - one is meant to approach the other and everyone seemingly navigates the terrain, the bathrooms, the social dynamic, with complete behavioral inferences and ease.
Meanwhile, I'm floundering about how to interact, what this or that means, why this or that happened, what's expected, what bathroom to use. Thursday night? None of that.
The bathroom situation, in particular, was sah-weet. I initially went to the mens restroom, but it smelled like salty balls and urine and there wasn't a mirror. Since I wanted to ensure that I still looked purdy after a motorcycle ride, I walked directly from the mens restroom to the women's. People saw me walk from one to the other. No one cared. Women in the bathroom didn't care. I walked in - no reaction. Just hand washing, chatter. I used the restroom. Washed my hands. Wiped a smudge off my face. No big deal.
Even better, I was later introduced to this super adorable lanky girl with geek glasses who a.) turned out to also be trans and b.) might very well be my in-reverse trans doppelgänger!
From what I gathered and understood, she's variant with gender pronouns, but is just becoming comfortable with expressing that she actually likes feminine pronouns better. Her family is loving and supportive. Her sister and her sister's boyfriend were there with her ... on and on, lots of stuff. We clicked right away.
We exchanged numbers and finally met up today for sack lunches, chit chat, slurpies, and thrift store perusing. We talked about hormones, about how she's considering starting, about difficulties with job hunting (she had an interviewer actually directly tell her that he wasn't quite sure that his clientèle would be ready for someone like her, but if it was Portland or...), so on and so forth.
I think I have an in-reverse trans doppelganger crush. Just a little bit.
In other news, after 2 weeks of NOT going to the gym (I know, I know...) I went on Monday and,... I'm stronger! Despite being a lazy schlob, I was able to lift about 30-40 lbs more on average than I did just 2 weeks prior. I was astounded.
Yay to the whole thing and all of it. Looove the end. That makes me happy!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a good time at the club, I can only imagine your excitement and glee
Loves
xoxo
I just had a thought we should figure out a way to extract the T from me and give it to you. I am pretty sure I have more than enough to spare at this point.
ReplyDeleteToday after lunch Jeanster said... Mel looks so buff now, you can really tell he's been working out.
WEEEE!