The StLGF is a non-profit, non-sexuall, social end educational organization open to all adults who believe in freedom of gender expression, Although our members are primarily male-to female crossdressers and male-to-female transsexuals; all members of the transgendered community, as well as supportive family members and interested professionals.

"The Gazette" is published bi-monthly in January, March, May, July, September, and November. The deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month prior to publication. For information please use our voice mail number (314) 367-4128.

All submissions become the property of StLGF, and should be accompanied by a release-to-print statement. Letters, articles, and/or pictures that include nudity, profanity, or obscenities will not be published.

We also reserve the right not to publish any other materials that we consider inappropriate. All issues are copyrighted. However, any nonprofit organization or publication may reprint articles or other information from this publication, provided they allow the free use of their materials by other non-profit organizations.

If you have any questions please write:
StLGF,
PO Box 9433, St. Louis, MO 63117,
or call us at
(314) 367-4128 or
Email the StLGF: StLGF@aol.com

Erika's Desk

March Meeting Canceled... Well, as I'm sure you all now know, our monthly meeting place, has closed it's doors for good. Because of the limited amount of time available to arrange for a new location, we were forced to cancel the March 9 meeting. Hopefully, everyone who was not notified in person received the cancellation notice or heard of the cancellation after calling in to mailbox 6. If by some chance you missed hearing the news, we apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused.

Spring Fashion Show Re-Scheduled... The Spring Fashion Show, originally scheduled for March 9, will be held on April 20 at the new location. Categories include: glamour/evening, career wear, sportswear, and "club" wear. If you're interested in participating and haven't already signed up please leave a message for Shannon Gale on our voice mail. Remember to bring cards describing your outfits (Print large... your Prez has poor eyesight).

Goodbye to Gloria

by JoAnn Roberts

The transgender community at large does not know what it lost with the untimley death of Gloria Fredericks (at a construction accident). I only knew Gloria briefly, but it was obvious to myself and others that she was a person dedicated to the betterment of the transgender community.

Gloria was the only transgender person to actually see and speak with a U.S. Senator during the National Transgender Lobby Days last October. During that meeting, she impressed the Senator so much that he left a Russian delegation waiting 10 minutes in his outer office while he discussed transgender issues with Gloria.

After that experience, Gloria became a one-woman transgender political action committee. She developed the idea of selling "shark's teeth" buttons to raise money for ICTLEP, which she did during the 1995 Fall Harvest weekend in St. Louis. She also collected email addresses from the Fall Harvest participants so we could all stay in touch with one another.

Many of the transgender leaders involved in creating the GenderPAC were very impressed with Gloria's energy and dedication to transgender activism. So much so that Gloria was considered for an "evangelist" role with GenderPAC to help educate the middle American transgender community about the need to become politically active.

The Gloria Fredericks I knew so briefly was a wonderful person with a terrific outlook on life. Her star was rising on the national transgender scene and it saddens me deeply to see it extinguished so suddenly.

The groups that make up MAGGIE (Mid-America Gender Group Information Exchange) have lost two bright lights in the past three months, Jennifer Richards and Gloria. My sympathies and my condolences go out to all the MAGGIE members. Your loss is our loss. [Editor's Note: JoAnn Roberrs is a national transgender activist, and cofounder of Renaissance]

Fun at the Follies

by Stephanie James

As a Follies first timer, I must say I was blown away by the talent and enthusiasm of our members. I've come to know each of you gals without ever suspecting how good you really are. Wow!!! Organized by Joyce LaFontaine and Scott Simon, MC'd by Terry Jons (in drag as John Terry) and appreciated by all, the Follies was a great succeess raising over $300 for StLGF (a new record according to Past President, Jamie Edwards)! It was SRO at The Front Page as these images remain with me: the three Shannons (could there be a trio in our future?) Shannon Gale in electric blue turning the beat around, Shannon Jackson so feisty out west and Shannon Brown stepping up for the new members... Sharon Love with my vote for best dancer... the outrageously over-the-top Rita Amore with a kinky Hanky-Panky... Edith Piaf, Jordynne Lobo that is, touching us all with No Regrets... Erika Cantrell, da Prez, prancing in a black slip??? nah, must have dreamed that one ... John and Betsy with great piano and voice... Joyce, radiant with enthusiasm and talent Scott so moving with his closing tribute to Jennifer Richards That's What Friends Are For. All in all a very special night! Many thanks to those who performed and those who came in support. See you next year!

Rita's Oh So Rambunctious Ramblings

by Rita Amore

DEAR ONES...A special thanks goes to that butt-building mistress Jamie Edwards for her butt-and- hip-pads seminar at our January meeting. Also thanks to Chrissie "the Carp" for being our demo model when we reproduced the "Joann Robert's Cleavage Illusion" trick. It's amazing what a little tape and contour/highlighter can do to build one's confidence. And we all know that Chrissie is upfront with her confidence at all times.

STOP THE PRESSES...Here's a twist to the man-bites-dog story. A woman, mistaken as a crossdresser, won a recent drag look-alike contest. Last week Chrissie, Miss Coco, and The Lovely One (Editor's note: that's Rita for all you new members) attended a Premiere Party in celebration of the home video release of "To Wong Foo...Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar." Whiz Bam sponsored this wild party at the Way Out Club, encouraging everyone to come in character. The characters were out in full force that night (was the moon full?), and Wong Foo drag was everywhere! Chrissie won the Powder Puff Toss, getting seven out of eight of those poofy little things in the makeup case. The Lovely One barely missed winning Pin the Earring on the Drag Queen when she planted one firmly in Vida's neck and another in Aurora's eyebrow. Miss Coco, as a dead ringer for Chi Chi Rodriquez, finished dead last in the pie eating contest, preferring a loss to getting whipped cream in her eyelashes and tiara. All three of us were asked, and we shyly (yeah, right) agreed, to perform as a backup group to two butch guys singing along to "Brick House" from the movie's soundtrack. But the fun was only beginning. Five guys in drag and three gals in their own versions of drag were contestants for the grand prize of a huge movie poster autographed by Miss Julie Newmar. After preliminary interviews and catwalk struts, the field was narrowed down to a Divine look-alike; a Mary Poppins look-alike (with beard); and Miss Coco posing as Chi Chi. The winner was determined by crowd response, and it was tough to out-yell the Divine contingent. But Chrissie came through with that ultra-feminine voice of hers, and the poster now hangs in Miss Coco's dressing room. Her response: "Who says spouses of crossdressers can't have fun?"

MARDI GRAS REPORT...The queens were out in force at the recent Soulard Mardi Gras festivities. Quick math...200,000 spectators present, half are men, three percent of those are crossdressers. That means about 3000 folks there know the feel of beard cover and/or foam hip pads. However, my Lovelies, of the potential 3000 sisters, only about 100 were actually man enough to be out to the world that day. Where were you? My sources told me that the "HighHeeled Drag Race" sponsored by CleMENtines had many more straight men than usual this year. Over at the Front Page, our Miss Bobbi Fox and the naughty Miss Ashley truly held court. Ashley was resplendent in her biker jacket and purple demi bra, and the crowd went wild when she responded in her unique way to the traditional Mardi Gras chant of, "Show us your ****!" As for the parade itself, Trish LaDish walked the entire 2-mile-plus parade route in 3 inch black patent pumps as part of the Grey Fox Pub float. Those shoes were certainly not your basic parade Nikes and Reeboks, but they made her calves look great.

LET'S GO GENDERING...A fad which recently hit St. Louis, cigar smokers, now has a twist. Morton's of Chicago Steakhouse in Clayton just had their "First-Ever Smoker for Women Only." Besides luxury cigars, the smoker offers a four-course dinner, vintage wines, and Godet white Belgian chocolate liqueur for $95. When I found out about it, I immediately called to book a table for four .... STLGF members only. Informed that they were oversold for this event, they happily put The Lovely One on their events mailing list and promised to have another smoker in the near future. Any brave souls want to attend this "For Women Only" function with me?

MOVIE TIME...During the Arctic blast of early February our cars froze up, so Miss Coco and I stayed home and had another video extravaganza while huddling under a down comforter. I can now highly recommend "Queen" and "Split, Portrait of a Drag Queen," both of the documentary-style genre. "Queen" is about a drag pageant circa 1967 in Philadelphia. It was much better than I expected and captured 1960's styles and social attitudes. "Split..." is really the life story of that gender socialite, Chrysis (pronounced Crisis). Chrysis is the archetype of the tragic gender heroine with good footage of the late sixties up through the seventies. The trifecta of our movie extravaganza was "Just Like a Woman." If you liked "Tootsie" you'll adore this flick. It stars Alan Pasdar as a hetero TV given the boot by his wife. Julie Walters, star of "Educating Rita" (no wonder she's a favorite of mine), plays a sympathetic landlady who rents him a room, meanwhile becoming captivated by the gender duality. This is a good movie to see with your spouse! All three of these can be rented at Whiz Barn, located on Grand South Grand.

LATEST FASHION...You know the couture scene is getting weird when transgenders are being used as sizzle props for designer shows. (Whatever happened to the concept of the clothes providing the sizzle?) Joey Arias, one of the Wigstock Divas, was featured at a recent Todd Oldham show. Poor Joey could have used some advice from Chrissie on proper chest taping techniques to add a little more realism in the cleavage department.

LOCAL MEDIA...Wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles. St. Loo media have discovered local gender personalities and has given them some positive and upbeat high-exposure. St. Louis Magazine featured Dieta Pepsi in its "Persona" feature in the Jan/Feb issue. Ms. Pepsi is a local F.I. performer of some national renown. She scored two full pages of photos and bio. Way to go, Dieta. And this on the heels of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch feature on Vicki Vincent!

UNTIL NEXT TIME, MY LOVELIES,

Remetnber to do your situps every day. After all, a waist is a terrible thing to mind.

Rita

StLGF is on the Web!!

by Christy Kay

While visiting with other new members at our last meeting, I found that StLGF had gained a lot of exposure, and several new members, from a tiny listing posted by another organization on the Internet. After adding 2 plus 2, I got 9, and put together a prototype of what StLGF could look like on the World Wide Web. After review, we decided to commit to an even larger presence on the Web, and now have several "pages" describing who and what we are. We've already received compliments on the content of our pages, which was taken from our existing informational brochures and the current edition of the "New Member's Manual."

There are 2 reasons why this is significant to you. First, these are your pages, not mine or those of any of the officers of the club. We have a listing of favorite Internet Links, but have purposefully left this sparse, because it's your list, not mine. I will add any that you feel are appropriate.

Second, we have room for a limited number of personal pages. We would like as many of you to tell your stories as possible. If you'd like to be listed, get with me at a meeting, or E-mail me at . My own story, which is already available, tells others why I joined a group, what a support group has meant to me and how denial of my gender status affected my life. Since we are using these pages to tell people about StLGF, and ourselves, perhaps we could get some more of the same from others.

For those of you with a web browser, we are located at:

http://members.aol.com/stlgf1/
http://www.transgender. org/tg/stlgf
http://www.3dcom.com/tg/stlgf

We are also entered in several of the Web Search Indices. Some of the entries are currently active (March 6), some will become active in the next weeks as the directories are updated. In addition, we are attempting to get listed by as many other support groups "Link Lists" as possible. We've told a few organizations, but can not possibly get them all. Let me know what your favorite ones are, what their URL (address) is, and I'll contact them.

Hopefully the StLGF web pages will become a valuable tool for attracting new members, and for educating the community about transgendered people. As Rita stated in a column last year, "there is a proliferation of TV, TS, Gender News on the net." Well girls, now we're a part of it!

Shannon Jackson Submits Winning Design

Well, it's another first for StLGF. Our own Shannon Jackson submitted the winning logo design for the 1996 Gay/Les/Bi/Trans Pride Celebration. The design, which was submitted under her femme name with acknowledgment of her StLGF affiliation, was selected from among several attractive submissions. After securing the majority of the votes, Shannon's design was unanimously approved by the members of the Pride committee. The logo will appear on the cover of the 1996 Pride Guide, Pride Buttons, Pride tee-shirts, and all official Pride 1996 memorabilia and publications. The 1995 Pride celebration hosted over 20,000 attendees for the two day event which is held in Forest Park.

Shannon's graphic art designs have recently been featured on the cover of "Kolours" magazine. Shannon also designed the new StLGF letterhead and business cards, as well as the nametags for Fall Harvest '95. The former graphics will also soon be featured on StLGF's new homepage. Way to go Shannon!!!

Carmen's First Time

by Carmen M.

Vicki and I have been married for almost ten years. I first told her about my CDing in early February. Thank goodness my worst fears didn't come true! Vicki has been very understanding.

I dressed for Vicki for the first time in late February... we arrived home about 3:30 one Saturday, and I began changing for her. I started with a close shave and applying make-up. When I was done, Vicki was surprised at how little color I wore. She thought I would look really gaudy. I do my best to try to look pretty. I guess I don't do too bad for what I've been given to work with! Vicki says I look like my mom when I'm dressed! Hmmmmm ...... I actually thought the same thing the first time I saw myself fully dressed. I think the glue on nails were particularly interesting for her to watch. They really make a difference.

After I finished my make-up, I put on my favorite casual outfit for her. I call it a short blue jumper. Vicki calls it too young for my age. Oh well, I guess that's what I get for not being a girl during high school. Trying to make up for lost time I'm afraid.

Vicki knows a lot more about being a woman than I do. (Imagine that! It's not fair!) She helped me learn how to walk and sit better. I wasn't standing up straight enough or holding my head up high enough. I was kind of hunched over I guess. I realize now that my cleavage is something I should try to take pride in even though it is very small. We both had a number of good laughs over the NERF balls I had cut down to fill my bra. They may not be high tech or feel too realistic, but they certainly are inexpensive!

We set up our tripod, and Vicki helped me take some pictures. In the past, I had always done this alone by using the timer on my camera. I would press the button and run across the room in my heels and try to pose... Vicki worked real hard at posing me, and I can't tell you how much I appreciated her coaching and encouragement. We had a great time. I definitely need to work on my walking and sitting like a lady!

I got undressed in the evening so we could go out. (How depressing!) There's nothing worse than looking like a woman one minute, and a man the next. We went to The Front Page for the first time. It was quite an adventure! The performers were amazing. I definitely have a lot to learn about being a woman.

The next day, Vicki took me shopping! Yeah! The first thing she bought me was a nice feminine cubic zirconium wedding ring. I really love it! When we were married, I know Vicki was very excited about her wedding ring. I had a hard time understanding her feelings at the time. Now, I'm VERY excited about my wedding ring. I can hardly wait to pick it up and see how it sparkles! I could never have imagined how Vicki would take my CDing prior to telling her. We are closer now than ever.

Before shopping, we measured a lot of my clothes to figure out what was fight and wrong. The sleeves were too short on most of my blouses and dresses. If you ask Vicki, my skirts are too short. The cups on one of my bra's were too close together. (Never thought about that one!) Obviously, I have a lot to learn. Vicki helped me pick out a beautiful, long, black, full, silky looking skirt with a rose floral print. We also got a beautiful black silky looking blouse (with long enough sleeves). I've never felt so pretty/beautiful. I bet my walking will even improve when I wear it!

As you can tell, Vicki is very special. One thing which is especially nice is Vicki and I are close to the same size, so she can wear some of my clothes if she wants to.

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