LGBTQI - youtube is awesome!

[Ormond]

Can I have some clarification on drag queens? I'm a bit confused as to their gender identity (in general of course). Do they not identify as trans*?

There may well be some serious differences in how the term "drag queen" is used at different times and places.

But in the modern United States, most people who refer to themselves as "drag queens" are gay men who like to dress as women for entertainment purposes (though most of them are amateurs rather than professionals.) They do not identify as women, don't want to live in a female role full time, and don't want to do any major permanent body modifications.

Also, when "drag queens" are dressed as women, they really don't want to look like average every day women. They want to look like a glamorous movie star. They want to be "larger than life" in terms of their self=presentation, not just a regular woman going about her everyday business. The names they choose for themselves when they are dressed as women reflect this -- being either glamorous movie star names like Jennifer Foxx or trashy punny names like Beneatha Sheets.

Now this is a general statement and of course among the seven billion people on the planet you are going to find particular individuals who combine aspects of the "drag queen" idea and a more transgender self-concept. Plus there have probably been many MTF persons in the past who went through a stage of thinking of themselves as "drag queens" because that's the only label they knew for themselves at the time.

[protar]

Thanks for the info :). Was pretty much the general impression I had gotten, just needed some clarification.

In other news, I'm visiting a friend in a few weeks and they've agreed to do my makeup. So I will be outwardly presenting as female for the first time, even if it's just in their room. So that's exciting. I just wanted to put it on here so I couldn't chicken out.

[brook]

Protar that's super exciting! :-)

On drag, I think it absolutely is a matter of gender identity for some and can get quite complex. A very old family friend of mine is a 70 something ex drag queen who absolutely identifies as a gay man and yet also will usually refer to herself as female, switches between male & female name depending on context (with us she has always used female name and pronouns which makes it impossible for me to refer to her any other way despite the fact I've never seen her presenting other than male) and I know used to present female part of the time in her day to day life.

Were she young today she maybe might identify as bigender or something similar but she doesn't so all I can say is while she certainly doesn't identify as trans it's also very clearly a lot more than just performance as well.

[Robin Of House Hill]

Thanks for the info :). Was pretty much the general impression I had gotten, just needed some clarification.

In other news, I'm visiting a friend in a few weeks and they've agreed to do my makeup. So I will be outwardly presenting as female for the first time, even if it's just in their room. So that's exciting. I just wanted to put it on here so I couldn't chicken out.

This board really needs to bring back the like button.

[Lily Valley]

Protar, that's fantastic. Have fun.

In the good news:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/04/us/alabama-court-refuses-to-delay-same-sex-marriages.html?_r=0

Alabama is a common law state so this will extend health insurance and protections to those couples.

[TerraPrime]

Awesome Protar! :-)

And good news for Alabama. Though j am a thorough cynic and I predict legislative moves to ban common law marriages. :-p

Another piece of news: Glee is going to feature one of their characters as a transitioned ftm character (Coach Beiste).

Sorry can't link from phone but Google search will show a good result.

[karaddin]

Thanks for the info :). Was pretty much the general impression I had gotten, just needed some clarification.

In other news, I'm visiting a friend in a few weeks and they've agreed to do my makeup. So I will be outwardly presenting as female for the first time, even if it's just in their room. So that's exciting. I just wanted to put it on here so I couldn't chicken out.

Doesn't matter if it's just in their room, it's exploration and will help you decide if you like how you look/want to look better or don't like it at all. It's a really positive step. I did the same, a friend of mine came over and did my make up while I was living alone and we tried a few different wigs. I showed the photos to someone else a week ago, as while I look terribly awkward those photos were also a big part of convincing myself with estrogen I could do it.