pring 95 issue # 4 $ 6 2 & (US/Can) issu e # 4 Cf€«de'itx<z4(i (ISSN 1198-8479) is published 4 times a year & gives a voice to transsexual/transgendered people, who have been discouraged from speaking out & communicat­ ing with each other. editor Mirha-Soleil Ross production dir. Xanthra Phillippa contributors Marie Alexandra Christine Tayleur Lofofora Contreras CaiRa Sandra Laframboise/Debarah Brady Xanthra Phillippa Mirha-Soleil Ross Selena Anne Shephard Michelle 3 * d e tte n & 3 3 7 t« 7<*« *7ervtonid4it- front cover CaiRa Janou, Montreal 1991. Photographer 37 T^Ouctontf o£ u n k |io w n . 41 Puiticutco*u & 'Heuxitett&uy layout & design Mirha-Soleil Ross & 45 “Pen&oHat& Xanthra Phillippa 46 Jle 3a6rflevut published by iji^fcrprest B^Qfc.62, 5 *311'$&■ PtoH ect: j4 @OH<un<uzt£o4t 552 C hu^h Street, e u itH ^oHcitup/o £ayte S ftfrU t Torof"ift)pOntario Mirha-Soleil Ross i M4Y 2E3 r * (416) 92^350 (voice) 1 0 HtcH&U. '3Sa*uUc4Zfr 1 (416) |p 2 S © 4 (fax) on a P 6yUc<U 25 ** call firSron voice line Sandra Laframboise and Deborah Brady to set up fax 11 c/titup Out to t&c 7C»tne<xcA<xAte: I All reprints & rights revert to individual ^Mtenulceu cutty tfo6cit authors, artists and/or creators upon publi­ Mirha-Soleil Ross cation, unless otherwise stated, The opinion* expressed,in the pages of are not 1 7 T&tci&cu WPouen iu necessao® those of its editor or publishers (Commu n ity unlessl^Sgfrically stated, Publication of any Christine Tayleur ndveijffljKiwnt does not include endorsement of them! or advertiser bv . We at 20 qcmicrprcss ivVerve the right to refuse any Michelle/Vernon Maulsby adujjJ^ement that we feel is contrary to our political gWals. ,oiul/or spiritual beliefs, 25 *Vicca fitouc ~7ne6ti4t6u » ^ f |y cr stated or not. Publication of the Lofofora Contreras name, photograph or likeness of any person, 24 “Putty Pcn&uoAiou |Lnisines^>rgani/ntion or group is not to be Selena Anne Shephard taken an indication of that person's or group's sexual orientation, gender identity 32 niu TZeut TOonJU or personal beliefs. Selena Anne Shephard printed in toronto i © 1995, genderpress — <$e*dt*Oux4 6 # 4 — underwear. Also, include a picture if possible (please mention who took it) or any other kind of artwork to accompany your piece. Anonymity can be preserved; Just tell us the pseudonym you wish to use. Submission does not necessarily grammar and spelling. We’ll repair it the best we can. Don’t forget a SA.S.E. ifyou want your materia* to dc returned guarantee publication. Submissions are all subjectChristina’s to editingsake,name includefor and lengththe a brieftitleand clarity bioof your so sopiece don'tthat on freakweevery out page.& our too Mentionreadersmuch if abnoicanyour pieceknow a hasbit been more publishedabout you somewhere & the else.colour ofPlease, your for handwritten but should be double spaced & must be legible. Include your name, address, and phone number. Put your submit a writtensend piece us photos,on a drawings,3.5" floppy poetry, disk essays, (ASCII cartoons,text fileetc. Gender-positive- PC HD/DD geneticsformat). areSubmissions also encouraged may alsoto submitbe typed You canor :snoissimbuS We encourage transsexual (both ftm’s ands), mtf* transgendered and intersexed people to cartoon by Marie Alexandra Marie by cartoon We're always looking for new bookstores/ gen­ der boutiques other TS/TG-positive estab­ lishments to carry yead&ifocuA. If you are one of those or know of a place that might sell yencten&iOAA,, please contact us at: (416) 929- 23 5°- Contact Xanthra Phillippa at the same number foT advertising rates and deadlines. - — ^ ^ \ Urpori Oil (lie Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviour of Transgendered People in Cainnjjl itSf' ■§W w m l * 8 m •Emm I fm Wh\M ® — # 4 — efforts in creating a voice & a forum where we & our friends can speak about our selves, our­ selves. Sincerely yours, Dale Anderson Dear Xanthra: Thank you for the latest issue of You do a remarkable job with it. Thanks for the but­ Dear Mirha-Soleil & Xanthra: reflection of society’s jaundiced tons; they arrived just in time for I wanted to write to tell you how eye towards us as actual breath­ me to wear the “I’d Rather Be impressed I was by issue #3 of ing, feeling persons and not Dead than Genetic” one last The format & articles merely as walking genital ques­ weekend at the conference in were certainly challenging & tion marks. North ridge. thought provoking. I also want to The survey regarding Women’s What I liked most about qouU*- take this opportunity to thank you Shelters’ accessibility to TS wim- is how radical you are. for the support you have given us min was also rather sobering. It Issue #3 seemed a bit less angry as an organization through your gives one pause to reflect for a than nos. 1 & 2 (loved the elec­ patience & teaching. moment, or two or three, on just tric epileptic transsexual poem). You and your magazine have how easily we can slip through Please don't lose your edge. made a difference to us in the the holes in the social safety Sincerely way we think, and the manner in net... Dallas Denny which we offer service. Your con­ That said, however, I must say tribution has also had a positive how much the initial two issues’ Dear Xanthra: impact on at least one individual generous soupgons of irreverent Two and a half years ago, when I who has made use of our Centre. wit & self-righteous anger served was media relations co-ordinator We want you to know that your to help empower my thinking not for Buddies in Bad Times caring & constructive influence only towards myself but to fellow Theatre, someone suggested I has not gone unappreciated. travellers as well. call you to ask if you would be Truly this individual would not I showed the Genetic Jerk Quiz interested in speaking with a have made the gains she has to someone who I thought pretty journalist from The Toronto Star without your support. much knew the score, at the who was researching a piece I imagine the struggle in which time, and he said, “Wow, they about transsexualism, drag cul­ you are involved can be tiring & sound really angry...” he himself ture and cross-dressing. You often frustrating. As you move sounding somewhat baffled by answered a resounding NO and forward, please know that your the thought of a TS having any­ said that your experience with efforts have & will continue to thing to be angry about. “They?” I the non-TG press had left you create change. asked. It was cathartic... eventu­ mistrustful of their ability and Irwin Elman ally. interest in sensitively addressing Supervisor/Facilitator That spark helped bring me to and furthering transgender liber­ Pape Adolescent Resource now: unencumbered (stripped & ation issues. I don't know if Centre (PARC) deprived I would have said at dertfuuH was in the works back that time) by a (mis) understand­ then (Issue #3 is my first), but Dear ing lover-boy; alone-but-not too may it stay and stay! It's a Yours is the magazine I was lonely, looking towards a future & tremendous read that has elabo­ imagining creating after becom­ present of my own, rather than rated my understanding of your ing hep to the ‘zine scene sever­ serving as a footnote to anoth­ objections and my admiration for al years ago and sensing, well, a er’s. the courage of transgendered gap, a space, an unfilled open­ To know that I’m not the only one people who live and write out ing. Congratulations on your first, who finds this a bit confusing, their experiences with pride. second and third issues welcome sometimes arbitrary & mind-bog­ I wish you and Ms. Ross the best & long overdue arrivals. gling road to tread, to be able to of enterprising luck and will I‘ve noted a certain maturing in laugh at the absurdities & speak watch the stands for Issue #4. tone in issue #3 as befits the out against mindless & thought­ Fanfully yours, subject matter of the Michigan less indignities has helped imbue Robin Williamson Womyn's Music Festival’s TS me with a sense of strength & inclusion/exclusion issue vs pride of self & I thank you both, allowing TS’s to self-define, as a Mirha-Soleil & Xanthra, for your AEGIS suggests Electrolysis to The Rainbow Book The Ontario Directory of Avoid Problem of Hair in Community Services for Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, Transsexuals, Transgenderists N eo va g in a and Transvestites published by: the Coalition for Lesbian & Gay Rights in The Problern: Ontario, 519 Church Street Community Centre, Lesbian Vaginoplasty using the penile and penoscrotal inversion meth­ Gay Bi Youthline, and Project ods, with or without skin grafts or skin flaps, can result in a neo­ Affirmation. vagina which is lined with hair-bearing skin. As the hair grows, the vagina can become choked with hair. Not surprisingly, many The best thing about transsexual women fmd this extremely embarrassing. this book is its subtitle "the Some sex reassignment (SRS) surgeons do not appreciate the Ontario Directory of Community Services for extent of this embarrassment. During a presentation given at the Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals, October, 1993 meeting of the Harry Benjamin International Transsexuals, Transgenderists and Transvestites" (emphasis Gender Dysphoria Association, one prominent surgeon added) because first we’re there and secondly we’re not dumped remarked that although his procedure sometimes results in hair­ into a poorly-fitting category like "others." Transgendered people bearing vagina, his patients do not seem to mind.