Dear Sue

You recall that you wrote a letter to Sally Watson on 12th June. I'm sorry to have not written back sooner, but things have been rather hectic around here for the last few months. Not only do I have a lot of theatre engagements at this time of the year (with their associated rehearsals), but my fiancée has moved over from the US to marry, which meant having to deal with Immigration and the Home Office. I'm also considering changing my job of 20 years, which is no small step to undertake. Fortunately, most of this crap will be concluded soon, and we can go on our long-awaited Caribbean honeymoon in peace later this month.

But back to your letter. The fact is that Roses has been rather tardy at implementing my request to remove the details of my femme persona from their publications. About 18 months ago, I stopped wearing false boobs, and have since also decided that I don't need a wig, heavy make-up or a female name. But I'm far from having reverted to male mode - I wear a smart skirt and high heels to work every day (with my company's approval), I wear casual skirts of various lengths from mini to ankle at home and around the town, and this week, I'm wearing a formal long black skirt and jacket for a professional musical engagement (with the support of the Musicians' Union). In short, I wear women's clothes, or a male/female mix, 24/7, and consequently have no interest in putting on a wig and make-up to go shopping "as a girl".

The right to adopt this mode of dress has become something of a political crusade for me, and I've taken time out along the way to develop some theories about trannying - in particular, I've sought answers to why trannying is still almost exclusively a male pursuit in the 21st-century western world, why it takes the form that it does, and why so many of our number feel that they have to remain in the closet.

In my opinion, the extreme nature of the change of appearance and personality which most trannies regularly undergo is an indication of one of two things (or possibly both):

But the only thing which is going to begin changing the perception of male crossdressing is if we do confront society as men wearing women's clothes - actively, and en masse. Masquerading as, or impersonating, women can never achieve this, because it simply perpetuates the myth of the two-gender system (man = masculine, woman = feminine) which crossdressing by its very nature ought to be trying to expose. It also actually does very little for the realisation of our right as men to wear women's clothes in public, since, crucially, the public is never exposed to an image of a man wearing a dress. But most importantly, it does nothing for our credibility. Do we really believe that we can gain the public's respect and acceptance from behind a female disguise? It won't happen, because people will always be suspicious of what we're trying to hide.

Unfortunately, Martine Rose is one of the worst culprits in this respect. Take a look through the personals columns of Repartee, then remember that this magazine is on sale to the general public. If you think this sort of material does us any favours, you're sadly mistaken. Not only does it degrade the individuals concerned, but it carries the implication that all trannies dress like prostitutes and tout for gay sex - including happily married men like you and me. You've read in the magazine that even some Roses members have concluded that the majority of trannies are bisexual or gay - what the hell is the public supposed to think? It's no wonder that our wives have a hard time with it all! You might like to chew on that next time your subscription comes up for renewal.

So why don't more of us leave our wigs at home, and just wear the clothes we love? I'll tell you why - because we're afraid that the general public won't accept us in that mode of dress. And where does this perceived fear come from? Well, it mainly comes, paradoxically, from crossdresser support groups. It seems to be an unwritten rule in most such groups that all trannies should aim to pass as women - which is tantamount to saying that if we don't pass reasonably well, we shouldn't go out in public. In my opinion, this is the primary reason why so little progress has been made over the last 30 years towards full-scale acceptance of the crossdressing lifestyle, and why so many of our number are still either in the closet, or feel that they have to wear a female disguise in the street to prevent themselves being recognised. This is an issue over which I've come to verbal blows with several members of the Beaumont Society - in particular, my public life as a man in a skirt has gone down like a lead balloon, causing me to wonder whether the Society wants its members to stay oppressed and misrepresented. After all, that would provide a good basis for the shame and guilt necessary to keep closet trannies in the closet, wouldn't it? And closet trannies form the vast majority of the Society's membership! So here's a question for you: do crossdresser support groups act in their members' best interests, or are their policies purely self-serving?

Well, that's where I'm coming from, and where I'm going. So the moment I saw your photograph, I doubted whether we really had very much in common. But if I'm wrong, and you do value your freedom to wear whatever clothes you wish without having to pretend that you're a woman, then by all means get back in touch. You might like to provide a photograph of your real self next time.

From personal correspondence.

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