by JoAnn Roberts - CyberQueen

"A word to the wise ain't necessary -- it's the stupid ones who need the advice." -- Bill Cosby

Well, well. Guess who just slapped the gay community across their collective face? The Georgia State Attorney General's office, that's who. See, there was this woman who was offered a job with the Attorney General's office there which was later revoked when it was discovered the woman was lesbian. Now, I'll bet you thought that she was protected from discrimination because of her sexual orientation. And well she might have been if that would have been the argument used to rescind the job offer. It wasn't. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the woman was let go not for her sexual orientation, but because she seemingly did not appreciate the importance of appearances. They said the case was about "conduct" and "appearance" not "sexual orientation." Gee whiz! Appearance? Now I wonder what law that gets covered under? It's certainly not covered under the recently proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) supported by the gay community's Human Rights Campaign (HRC). But, it might have been if the 1997 ENDA proposal had been tg-inclusive where appearance is the heart of the issue. If the ENDA backers are smart, they'll learn from this.

Maybe HRC is starting to see the wisdom of a tg-inclusive policy. They're sending lobbyist Nancy Buermeyer to this year's International Conference on Transgender Law and Employment Policy (ICTLEP) to present a Q&A session on HRC and its relationship to the tg community. That's easy. It doesn't have one if HRC thinks talking to one or two people from the community is a relationship. Phyllis Frye, ICTLEP Executive Director, has an interesting take on the tg-exclusive ENDA bill. She calls it a bill asking for "special rights" for gays, lesbians and bisexuals. That should put a knot in HRC's pantyhose. Finally, Frye announced she will no longer produce the annual conference after this year. No word yet on whether the ICTLEP board will continue to hold the conference.

A TG Banner carried in the Houston Pride Parade in June read thus:
HRC: Next time use K-Y

Want to understand more about appearance on the job? Maybe we should ask Kristine Holt to talk to HRC. Holt, a male to female transsexual in transition, was fired from her job for allegedly violating her employer's dress code. Holt responded by filing suit alleging her firing violated the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA). The court ruled Holt had no claim under PHRA and on appeal the lower court ruling was affirmed by the state's Supreme Court. The higher court clarified the ruling that a person seeking protection under PHRA must demonstrate a physical or mental disability that substantially limits one or more of life's major activities and they noted that transsexualism does not fall within that definition.

You lose one and then you win one. A federal district court in New York held that transsexuals are protected under New York State and City Human Rights Laws. (Maybe Holt should move to New York.) Although every federal court that has considered the question of transsexual employment discrimination under federal Title VII has generally rejected it, this court found that the "interpretation of the [state] HRL and city HRL is independent of federal analysis."

I received a review copy of lesbian writer/activist Pat Califia's Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism. I was not at all pleased with it. Califia totally ignores the contributions of crossdressers to tg politics. She builds her case solely on the ideologies of transsexuals, as if they had an exclusive right. In fact, speaking of transvestites she states, "Their cultural history overlaps and is linked with the politics of the transgendered community but is not identical to it." She lost me right there. That one sentence told me Califia doesn't have a clue as to who and what make up the "transgender community" and its "politics." She reviews, extensively, Virginia Prince's The Transvestite And His Wife and refers to Virginia as "he" totally ignoring the fact that Virgina created the word "transgender" and that she has lived as a woman full-time for the past 30 years. Instead Califia uses this 30 year old book as if it is the TV Manifesto, and we all know how outdated it is. I find it hard to believe that Califia could not find any positive contributions to tg politics by crossdressers. I wonder if she ever heard of the Bill of Gender Rights? Or maybe she wasn't told that CDs played a major role in forming GenderPAC or that Drag Queens were at the heart of gay liberation? This book needed a lot more research before publication.

If you haven't yet seen Con Air with Nicholas Cage, John Malkovich, and John Cusack, then you've missed one of the great summer blockbuster movies. But there's another reason to look for Con Air -- Sally Can't Dance. That's the name of one of the convict characters in the movie and Sally is transgendered, most likely transsexual. Sally is played by New York actor Renoly (just the one name) who says that, "...Sally is the bravest character in the film. I wanted her to be feminine and sexual and daring, and that's who she is." Apparently some of the gay watchdogs didn't appreciate Sally and were enraged according to the July 22 issue of The Advocate. I say who cares if a few gays were upset over Sally. She isn't one of theirs; she's one of ours, convict or not. I thought Sally was played quite well. Renoly has his thoughts about the gay ire: "I often see gay people making fun of drag queens and looking down on transvestites and cross-dressers. To me, for someone to look at their own image and criticize a gay person for being feminine is a sign of not really caring for and accepting your own kind." You go girl! Sally can dance.

Southern Comfort Conference 1997 announced the launch of their website. Here you'll find maps and directions to the conference, a preliminary schedule of workshops and activities, and even a photo gallery of images from the 1996 event. The Southern Comfort Conference will be held from Wednesday, October 1 to Sunday, October 5 at the Atlanta Central Holiday Inn (418 Armour Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30324). Please join us for our Seventh Annual weekend of seminars and activities. To contact Southern Comfort Conference: Write: P.O. Box 77591, Atlanta, GA 30357-1591 Call: (404) 633-6470. E-mail to SCCAtl@aol.com.

A cosmetic surgeon will do consults online. He will even take a still video image and alter it to show you what you might look like after cosmetic surgery. Dr. Edward James Domanskis at www.plasticsurgery-video.com has set up the site. All you need is a video camera connected to a computer connected to the net (try Kinko's) and $250 for a 30 minute consult. Right! Not.

Right up there with cosmetic surgery is liposuction. Now there's a new method called lipo-dissolution or LD. The procedure claims to remove fat without dieting, surgery or scars. The technique uses high energy ultrasound to melt the fat cells right through the skin. Only problem is no one seems to know where those melted fat cells go. The procedure is very experimental at this time and has its critics as well as supporters. We'll keep you posted on developments.

I was really pleased to be invited to participate again in the Citizen Ambassador Program sending sexologists and educators around the world. Last time, I was invited to go to China. This time it's to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. I could not attend last time and I can't go this time either, but it was nice to be asked.

Some of the Fashion Buzz was about the auction of Princess Di's gowns and who was after them. It was rumored that RuPaul would be submitting bids. Not bloodly likely! Ru is a bit chunkier than Di, doncha think? Actually, I have it on good authority that Joan Rivers impersonator Frank Marino did buy one of the gowns. Frank, who is a slim size 10, has no intentions of wearing the gown. He says it will be used for some good old Vegas-style PR and then probably be resold to another collector. Spealing of RuPaul, have you seen him on the new episodes on VH-1? Miss Thing is putting on a little pouch and should not stand sideways to the camera (dish, dish). Come to think of it, he shouldn't turn his back either. And lose the corset, too, while you're at it.

While we're sweating it out in July and August, you need to start thinking about the Fall and what fashions are coming into vogue. Fortunately for most crossdressers we're going to be "IN" fashion for a change. The Buzz for Fall is all about stiletto heels and micro-mini skirts. The stilettos can be pumps, sling-backs, short boots or calf-high boots as long as the toes are really pointy and for maximum effect should show toe cleavage. Check out the fare in our Shopping Mall. I've already got mine. How high is high? On the runways, spikes topped out around 5 inches. In real life, most will be between 3 to 4 inches high, which can be pretty dangerous. Combine that with ankle straps, open heels and pointy toes and you gotta be careful in these things. Sounds kinda like "Don't-wear-these-at home-I'm-a-professional-crossdresser" type shoes.

Meanwhile micro-mini skirts that flirt with indecent exposure laws were seen everywhere on the runways. One can only hope that what shows up in the stores will be designed with a modicum of good taste. Ha! A transvestite with good taste in clothes. There's an oxymoron for you. The micro's for Fall are short, tight, slit, side split, or wrapped, take your choice. Richard Tyler claims that the ultra short skirts are "...not shocking. It's an accepted classic length." What the Hell, if you've got the bod, flaunt it. Everyone else will be jealous.

Also returning for Fall are menswear and the power suit (a.k.a big shoulders). This menswear thing happens every few years and women are encouraged to go raid the men's closests and stores. Now what do you think would happen if men were encouraged to go raid women's closets and stores? They'd be arrested, that's what. There's gender inequality for ya! Meanwhile, the power suit of the 80's has been reinterpreted with strong shoulders, tiny waists, short skirts and stilettos.

The evening look for Fall is another piece of good news for crossdressers -- sequins and beads are back in favor. And it's about time, too. I have far too many sequin dresses languishing in my closet and no where to wear them. As usual, there's always at least one eccentric fashion idea per season and this Fall it is pairing something beaded (a top or vest) with some simple, understated daywear. Where is Christine Hochberg when you need her?

Finally, oval or rounded nails are back in style. I favor oval shaped. They make your fingers and hands appear slimmer and longer and I'll take any help I can get to appear more feminine.

I got this nice note from a reader:
"I can't recall whether you've plugged Bobbi Brown makeup lately. I decided a couple of weeks ago to ditch all my stuff, for both color and age reasons, and start again. After getting the right Dermablend I tried Prescriptives for foundation and powder. I wasn't dressed, but wasn't hiding who I was shopping for. The assistant told me the [Prescriptives] stuff would be too light and recommended Bobbi Brown instead. I've found that the Bobbi Brown Essentials stick foundation and powder one shade lighter work perfectly. I really like the way, like Dermablend, they simply identify colors by numbers, which solves all problems of decoding names. In my case Dermablend # 2 1/4, Bobbi Brown Essentials loose powder #3 to set it, her Foundation Stick #3, and her pressed powder #2 work perfectly, and really do meet the "use-as-little-as-you-can" test. It also helped a lot in passing the teen-age kid test a number of times the next day. It isn't cheap -- I was in New York and had to trek from Macy's where I got the Dermablend to Bloomingdale's for the Bobbi Brown, which meant Bloomie's prices. But it's worth it.
Take care, Emily"

So, those are my opinions, but, hey, what do I know? I think being "in fashion" is a victimless crime. Comments? Write care of this publication or email them to CyberQueen@cdspub.com.