Diana wrote
this about Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV), “For those of us who have transitioned it really doesn’t make too much sense, for us everyday is a TDoV. For those who crossdress what are they supposed to do, get dressed up and walk up and down the a street?”
Well, yeah.
I never walked up and down the street on TDoV. In fact, I don’t recall dressing pretty at all on the official TDoV. My TDoV occurred on October 31, when I crossdressed as authentically as possible and went to work.
First two times I did it (in 2000 and 2003), the office was having costume contests, so I had a legitimate excuse. Then I did five years in a row (2012-2016) without a safety net, that is, there were no costume contests.
What was I thinking?
First time, I encountered knowing smiles from a couple of my female co-workers as well as comments from other co-workers hinting that I looked too good for a one-shot female impersonation. So right from the get-go, I realized that I was outing myself, but I did not care. In fact, I was very open about it.
More than once, co-workers asked, “Who did your makeup?” I could have said my wife or daughter, but instead, I admitted that I did my own makeup.
One time, my pantyhose developed a run and I halted its progress by applying some clear nail polish to the run. When I mentioned it to the woman in the next cubicle, she remarked, “How did you know to do that?”
After my fourth or fifth on-the-job femulation, my wife commented, “Don’t your co-workers suspect something?” I figured my co-workers were idiots if they did not have some suspicions and that was confirmed when I finally came out to my boss and she responded, “I'm not surprised.”
And it was probably not a surprise to my other co-workers. After retirement, I was invited back to the company Christmas party and no one blinked when I showed up en femme. They socialized with me as if everything was normal — Stan is in drag again — nothing to see here.
So my Trans Days of Visibility were an unmitigated success.
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Wearing New York & Company |
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Sadri Alisik and Yusuf Sezgin femulating in the 1970 film Fistik Gibi, a remake of the 1964 film Fistik Gibi Masallah, the Turkish version of Some Like It Hot. You can view both films on YouTube — the 1964 version and the 1970 remake. |