Transgender Events
An important step for a transgendered woman to take in her journey to womanhood is to attend a transgender event. Participation in one of the many events held throughout the year allows crossdressers, transsexuals, and other transgender individuals to make connections with other transwomen, to improve upon their feminine images, and to explore life as a woman for an extended period of time in a loving and supportive environment. Indeed, those who have attended TG events leave with the knowledge that they are a part of a sisterhood and with a better understanding of themselves. These are the events that I have attended and have found particularly worthwhile:
Esprit is the Pacific Northwest’s annual transgender event held each May in Port Angeles, Washington. It is the first TG event that I attended and for the past dozen years I have returned to take part in what I feel is the most self affirming experience a transgender woman can have. Sponsored and organized by the lovely ladies from the NorthWest Gender Alliance (of Portland, Oregon), the Emerald City Social Club (of Seattle), and the Cornbury Society (of Vancouver, B.C.), Esprit is a week long celebration featuring classes, shopping, parties, fashion shows, and presentations by doctors who offer gender reassignment therapies. A special feature is the Little Sisters Program in which first time attendees are paired with a “big sister” who helps to make sure the Esprit experience is fulfilling. Esprit also offers special courses and events for couples with a transgendered partner.
Held every year in September in Atlanta, the Southern Comfort Conference is the world’s largest transgender event. It’s an amazing experience to enter a ballroom and see hundreds of other transgender women. You’ll have a lovely time attending educational sessions, enjoying entertainment, chatting with old and new friends in the lounge, taking advantage of the wide array of vendors, catching up with sisters from the Southern Belle Society, and sampling the Atlanta nightlife. While you are in Atlanta, make sure to visit Friedman’s Shoes for a great selection of stylish large size high heels; it’s a real treat for those of us with larger feet to be able to actually try shoes on in a store.
West Coast ladies will want to make sure and attend the TGSF Cotillion held every January in San Francisco. Sponsored by Transgender San Francisco, the TGSF Cotillion is a weekend long celebration which culminates in the crowning of Miss TGSF. A special treat for first time attendees is the Debutante Walk marking their coming out.
Other noteworthy transgender events include Fantasia Fair (the grandmother of all TG Conventions held every October in Provincetown, Massachusetts), the Be All Convention (June in Chicago), and California Dreaming (April in San Jose, California).
