Category Archives: History

June 2021 Trans Talk on 90.1 FM KKFI

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We have another busy show this week that you will not want to miss! We will start with the transgender news of the month as presented by Mistress Nightshade, then continue our series of transgender film reviews with a look at “Kiki,” a 2016 film about the drag and voguing culture in New York City. We will then have a roundtable discussion about Pride and the trans community, the growing numbers of LGBTQIA+ persons in America and what that means for the future, and an essay on lateral violence in the community and an example of how it is so destructive. Finally Fiona will give you the highlights of the community calendar update.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, June 26th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

April 2021 Trans Talk on 90.1 FM KKFI

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We have another busy show this week that you will not want to miss! We will start with the transgender news of the month as presented by Mistress Nightshade, then have an interview with K.J. Rawson, the Director of the Digital Transgender Archive, to tell you all not only about the Digital Transgender Archive itself, but about their new effort to expand their collections of black and indigenous persons of color. Then we will continue our film reviews with a group review of the film “Paris is Burning,” about the 1980’s and 1990’s ballroom culture of New York City and the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities. Finally Fiona will give you the highlights of the community calendar update.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, April 24th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

January 2021 Trans Talk on 90.1 FM KKFI

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Greetings! Welcome to the first episode of Trans Talk for 2021. We have a jam-packed show this week that you will not want to miss. We start with a news rant from Una, follow up with a conversation with the amazing Erika Dapkewicz, after that a discussion of the documentary Disclosure and end with Fiona and the community calendar.

Our guest Erika is a fascinating and very talented woman.She is currently the Lead Editor on the SONY Animated Pictures & Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, “VIVO”. She is an ACE, ASCAP, WIA and Academy Awards Member. During her career Erika has helped create such DISNEY films as (Lilo & Stitch – Mulan – Pocahontas) and DREAMWORKS films (The Croods – Puss In Boots – Monsters Vs Aliens – Flushed Away) In addition to Animation and editing, Erika has written and directed many live action short films including the 2012 sci-fi feature film, “PARADOX ALICE” for Orchard Pictures.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, January 24th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

November 2020 Trans Talk on 90.1 FM KKFI

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Hello everyone! Welcome to the November edition of Trans Talk! Today we are going to start out with the transgender news of the month, then we will have a celebration of the life of author, historian, travel writer, and transgender pioneer Jan Morris! Leading the retrospective will be celebrity biographer and historian Eve Golden, who will speak about Morris’ work and life, as well as the personal and professional friendship they shared.

After that we will continue our transgender film review series with the Trans Talk Krewe discussing the brand new film “Born to Be,” a documentary about gender confirmation surgeon Jess Ting, and about the state of the art in surgery to help our community. Finally, we will finish out the show with our community calendar update.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, November 28th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

Special Episode of KKFI’s Every Woman

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Third Eye Sadie’s School Logo with rainbow iris in Eye of Horus

Hello everyone!  I don’t usually talk to you about our other show that we produce on KKFI, Every Woman, but this week’s episode is rather unusual.  We are interviewing Kacey Carlson, who manages Third Eye Sadie’s in Lawrence about the role of gender in Wicca.

We’ve interviewed several women from various religions – Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and even humanist/atheist (no religion) before about how their religion treats women and how that affected their perceptions of themselves and their role in the world and their religion, but this conversation moved so far beyond that, into how the natural world and the Wiccan path is beyond the gender binary, both in approach and liturgy and training.  Join us on Saturday March 14th at 3pm Central Time for a fascinating discussion on 90.1 FM KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio!  You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

 

January 2020 Trans Talk and Community Calendar for January-February 2020

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Hello everyone! We’re kicking off the new year with the transgender news of the month as usual, and then we are going to be talking with four special guests in our studio – a coterie of Kansas City drag kings: Dick von Dyke, Buttwiser, Victor Shawn, and last but not least Boris Tudeth. They are going to talk about what is the art of drag and what being a drag king means, their inspiration and their lives, and some of the fun things they have going on in the community.

After that lively subject we will be talking with some other lively folks, Michael Grayman-Parkhurst and some of the cast and crew of the latest Spinning Tree Theatre production “Girlfriend,” a coming of age story of two Nebraska boys in the summer of 1993 who slowly fall in love while bonding over their love of music.

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, January 25 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

Monthly Community Calendar – by Fiona

Hello I’m Fiona Nowling with the Kansas City community calendar. As usual, all the calendar can be found on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TenthVoice/

Every month, I lead the Kansas City SOFFA group for Significant Others, Friends, Family, and Allies of Transgender and nonbinary persons.  We meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month. In February, we’re meeting on the 5th in the conference room & on the 19th in Study Room 116.  That’s at Leawood Pioneer Library, 6.30 – 8pm. For driving directions and other SOFFA information, you can visit transascity.org/SOFFA or email soffakc@yahoo.com

UMKC’s Trans Social group is back in session – it is for trans and nonbinary student and recent students.  For more details, you can reach out to the UMKC LGBTQIA office in the Student Union building.  They’re also holding an LGBTQIA+ Leadership retreat for current students on February 1st and you can get details and register for it at http://bit.ly/umkc-lgbtqia-leadership

Every third Thursday, the Equal Trans Support Group meets at 5:00 PM at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, a couple of doors down from our studio at 3911 Main Street, Kansas City Missouri.  The Center has lots of other events too, which can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/InclusiveKC/

JoCo Q-Space is a youth group for LGBTQ youth. They meet every Thursday from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at Saint Andrew Christian Church 13890 W 127th St, Olathe, KS 66062. For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/jocoqspace/.

Passages, the LGBTQIA youth group in Kansas City, Missiouri, has started back up and is every Wednesday from 6 – 9 pm at 205 West 65th Street, Kansas City, Missouri, 64113.  You can find details at https://www.facebook.com/kcpassages/

There is an MTF support group at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6pm. There is an FTM support group elsewhere, both for adults and for youth, so if you are interested, please text or call Gus at 816-785-8686.

Authentically Me is a social group for gender diverse children in KC and their families, aimed at children 12 and under.  If you are a parent of a gender diverse child in Kansas City, you can find their page at https://www.facebook.com/AuthenticallyMeKC/ and join their group https://www.facebook.com/groups/AuthenticallyMeKC/ to get scheduling information and support for your family.

The Kansas City PFLAG chapter, which is Parents, Families, Friends, and Allies of LGBT people will meet on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, and the 4th Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion.

I’m Fiona Nowling and that’s the community calendar for the upcoming month.

August 2019 Trans Talk and Community Calendar for August-September 2019

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Hello everyone! On this month’s Trans Talk we are going to talk to Seto Herrera to talk with us about Project Pride, the Coteries program for LGBT teens. We will then be speaking with Hannah McBroom, a local artist whose work explores themes of transgender identity, materiality, and the body, and who has an upcoming show of her work, titled “What Was Left.” And we are hoping to have two other important guests on our show today as well, to be confirmed soon!

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, August 24 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

And here as promised is the monthly community calendar update!

Monthly Community Calendar – by Fiona

UMKC is back in session, but their Trans+ group hasn’t picked their regular meeting night yet for this academic year. They’ve promised to let me know when they do, so watch this space.

Every month, I lead the Kansas City SOFFA group for Significant Others, Friends, Family, and Allies of Transgender and nonbinary persons. We meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month. In September, we’re meeting on the 4th & the 18th in Study Room 116. That’s at Leawood Pioneer Library, 6.30 – 8pm. For driving directions and other SOFFA information, you can visit http://transascity.org/SOFFA or email soffakc@yahoo.com

Every third Thursday, the Equal Trans Support Group meets at 5:00 PM. They also have a friends plus allies meeting on the second Monday of the month, at 6pm, and both are at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, a couple of doors down from our studio at 3909 Main Street, Kansas City Missouri. They are also working at the KC Renaissance Festival again this year, starting August 31st, to raise money to support their group. If anyone wants to help them, you can reach out to them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Friends-and-Allies-of-the-EQUAL-Trans-Support-Group-2043657289193085/ The Center has lots of other events too, which can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/InclusiveKC/

JoCo Q-Space is a youth group for LGBTQ youth. They meet every Thursday from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at Saint Andrew Christian Church 13890 W 127th St, Olathe, KS 66062. For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/jocoqspace/.

They are the Kansas equivalent of Passages, Kansas City Missouri’s long-running LGBTQ youth group, which meets at the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project’s Q-mmunity Space, 4050 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 135, Kansas City, MO, 64111, every Wednesday at 5.30pm – 9pm.

There is an MTF support group at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6pm. There is an FTM support group elsewhere, both for adults and for youth, so if you are interested, please text or call Gus at 816-785-8686.

On the third Saturday of the month, Authentically Me meets from 1-3pm at The Kansas City Center for Inclusion. This is a social group for gender diverse children in KC and their families, aimed at children 12 and under.

The Kansas City PFLAG chapter, which is Parents, Families, Friends, and Allies of LGBT people will meet on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, and the 4th Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion.

July 2019 Trans Talk and Community Calendar for July-August 2019

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On this month’s Trans Talk we are going to talk to a few good folks from the Transgender Institute of Kansas City, who are going to discuss their move to their new location, their support groups that they are running, and what are some of their upcoming projects.

As usual we will have Una’s news rant, and the community calendar update (which is listed below).

We do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, July 27 at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

The Transgender Community Calendar

On August 2nd, there is a Day of Beauty event at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, running from 5 – 8pm. This is hosted by the Friends and Allies of the EQUAL Trans Support Group & there have been many donations of clothes and beauty products. You can also bring your own donations to the event but makeup products must be new or sterilized. For more information, you can check out the group’s Facebook page and go to events https://www.facebook.com/Friends-and-Allies-of-the-EQUAL-Trans-Support-Group-2043657289193085/ or directly at https://www.facebook.com/events/370948263617943/

On August 21st, from 2pm to 7pm, the Kansas City Center for Inclusion is hosting an LGBTQ Job Fair offsite at the University of Kansas Medical Center at 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, Kansas City, Kansas. Details can be found by going to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/InclusiveKC/ and then to their events page, or directly at https://www.facebook.com/events/441570989730438/ It’s worth visiting their events page anyway, they have all sorts of events going on every month.

Every month, there is the Kansas City SOFFA group for Significant Others, Friends, Family, and Allies of Transgender and nonbinary persons. We meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month. In August, we’re meeting on the 7th in Study Room 116 & the 21st in the Conference Room. That’s at Leawood Pioneer Library, 6.30 – 8pm. For driving directions and other SOFFA information, you can visit http://transascity.org/SOFFA or email soffakc@yahoo.com

Every third Thursday, the Equal Trans Support Group meets at 5:00 PM. They also have a friends plus allies meeting on the second Monday of the month, at 6pm, and both are at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, a couple of doors down from our studio at 3909 Main Street, Kansas City Missouri. The Center has lots of other events too, which can be found on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/InclusiveKC/

JoCo Q-Space is a youth group for LGBTQ youth. They meet every Thursday from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at Saint Andrew Christian Church 13890 W 127th St, Olathe, KS 66062. For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/jocoqspace/.

They are the Kansas equivalent of Passages, Kansas City Missouri’s long-running LGBTQ youth group, which meets at the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project’s Q-mmunity Space, 4050 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 135, Kansas City, MO, 64111, every Wednesday at 5.30pm – 9pm.

There is an MTF support group at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6pm. There is an FTM support group elsewhere, both for adults and for youth, so if you are interested, please text or call Gus at 816-785-8686.

On the third Saturday of the month, Authentically Me meets from 1-3pm at The Kansas City Center for Inclusion. This is a social group for gender diverse children in KC and their families, aimed at children 12 and under.

The Kansas City PFLAG chapter, which is Parents, Families, Friends, and Allies of LGBT people will meet on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, and the 4th Sunday of the month at 3pm, at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion.

If you have any events that you think should be added to the calendar, please message us on the Tenth Voice Facebook page, or email us through TransasCity!

October 2018 Trans Talk on KKFI

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This month on Trans Talk, we will first interview Parker Liu who will give us some breaking news on the The Kansas City Demonstration for Transgender Rights, which will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, October 27th, at the J.C. Nichols fountain at the east side of the Country Club Plaza. See this public link for more information. Una from this very Trans Talk program will be one of the speakers at the event, so make sure you plan on attending!

Then we will have live music in the studio from the group Evil Pillows, an all trans punk rock band formed right here in Kansas City! They are going to play some songs to help give us some courage and empowerment over the airwaves, and then talk about their band, their inspirations, and their music. Bonus points out there if you guess the origin of their name without looking it up! Find out more information about the band at their Bandcamp link right here!

We will have a take on the transgender news of the month, which is going to be some of the most important news we’ve ever reported upon on Trans Talk, and then finish up the show with the community calendar update. I do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, October 27th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

Film Review: The Triple Echo (1972)

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On its face, The Triple Echo could be seen as a straightforward WW2 drama involving a crossdressing soldier who is attempting to escape the horrors of service. However, after viewing it twice I have come to the conclusion that the film touches on more than mere situational crossdressing or forced feminization, but actually includes a portrayal of gender transition from two standpoints – that of the soldier, and of his lover. The film is reviewed in full at the link below, and part of a series of early transgender film reviews I’ve been working on.

Film Review: The Triple Echo (1972)

Exclusive to Transas City – The Ted Karras Christine Jorgensen Collection

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On January 5, 2018 I posted a scan of an autographed photograph of mine, showing Christine Jorgensen posing with an unknown gentleman named Frank. On August 3rd of 2018 I received mail from a gentleman named Richard Karras, who told me the following:

I found several photos of my father and a woman I believed to be Christine Jorgensen on a fishing boat in March 1954 in Florida. To see if it was really her I did a search and found the Transas City article on her and was surprised to see a photo from that same trip. It was the autographed photo with “Frank”. I thought you might be interested so I am attaching a quick snapshot of the photos.

And indeed he not only sent me snapshots, he worked hard to scan the box of photographs. As far as I know, these incredibly rare photographs of Christine Jorgensen have not been presented anywhere else online, and might never be found outside of Mr. Karras’ collection inherited from his father Ted.

Mr. Karras has sent me the scans to share freely and unaltered with the public for preserving an important piece of history, and thus you can find the entire collection of 13 unique photographs at this link, complete with high-resolution scans. And our many thanks to Mr. Karras and his father Ted!

September 2018 Trans Talk on KKFI

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This month on Trans Talk, we will feature an interview with LGBT scholar and activist Brynn Tannehill. In addition to being a retired Lt. Commander in the US Navy and a researcher at a Washington think-tank, Brynn is a frequent author for many journals and news organizations, including the Huffington Post, the Advocate, USA Today, Salon, Slate, and The New Civil Rights Movement.

Recently Brynn has been analyzing the policies and politics of the Trump Administration, the Republican and Democratic Parties, and the political and social zeitgeist we inhabit in this very strange and somewhat terrifying landscape, and she will be joining us on Trans Talk to give her analysis and perspective on where we may be headed, and how bad things could be not just for my transgender siblings out there, but the LGBT community, women, and pretty much the whole doggone planet.

We will have a new take on the transgender news of the month, and finish up the show with the community calendar update. I do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, September 22nd at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

August 2018 Trans Talk on KKFI

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This month on Trans Talk, we will feature an interview with Julia Rose Owens, a Kansas City transgender woman who is the sole proprietor of a business in a traditionally male-dominated industry. On our program Julia will talk about her life, her struggle, her hopes, and her fight. After speaking with Julia, we will feature an interview with K.J. Rawson, the Director of the Digital Transgender Archive, to talk about the project, it’s goals, their featured collections, and where it’s heading. Many listeners may not know it, but our very own local transgender history site, Transas City, is part of the Digital Transgender Archive.

We will have a new take on the transgender news of the month, and finish up the show with the community calendar update. I do hope you will be able to join us this Saturday, August 25th at 1:00 pm on 90.1 KKFI, Kansas City Community Radio! You can also stream the program live on kkfi.org, or via various apps on your phone.

Book Reviews – Myra Breckinridge and Myron

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I’ve posted a detailed summary and review of two works by Gore Vidal from more than 40 years ago: Myra Breckinridge (1968) and its sequel, Myron (1974). Transgender historians may be interested in reading my reviews, but to summarize for anyone who is not that interested, both books are transphobic, exploitive, ignorant, and sometimes disgusting pieces of crap that should be gathered together in one place and sunk to the bottom of the Challenger Deep. The only purpose served by the books is as a warning of how even highly educated progressives can be giant tools when it comes to trying to give us the basic human right of dignity, let alone trying to understand us.

Sir Lady Java, Transgender Woman of Color

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I’ve added a little bit of new history to Transas City this last week. A new page featuring transgender pioneer Sir Lady Java has been posted, and the first four scans on the page are from my private collection of transgender history (as always, please copy/steal the scans I make of my historical items, so everyone can keep our history safe).

Sir Lady Java has had many roles in our transgender history, and she is remembered as being an openly transgender exotic dancer, comedian, singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She is likely most famous for fighting Los Angeles’ anti-crossdressing law, known as “Rule No. 9,” which for decades was used by the police to harass, intimidate, and imprison transgender and crossdressing persons.

Please take a minute to view a few of the images I have collected, and read a little about her history.

Sir Lady Java