Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Trans National Holiday!

No, the date is correct, it is October 31 and today is Halloween.   We also jokingly call today in the transgender community the Trans National Holiday.

It is the one day on the calendar besides Mardi Gras in New Orleans in which a cis male can put on feminine attire and not be looked at cross-eyed or have their manhood or sexuality questioned.   Outside of those days, different story.


This night back in the day used to be an eagerly anticipated one on the south side of Chicago.  Finnie's Ball happened on Halloween night and was a must attend event for several decades that drew thousands of people. 

It was so big that the 1952 one got covered in EBONY magazine.  JET magazine routinely devoted a page to it in one of its November weekly issues to discuss the ball and the drag king and queen prize winners of the affair until the 70's.  There were similar events in New York as well as other parts of the country with significant clusters of TBLG people.

October 31 was one of the days on the calendar we transpeople circled so that we could be our true selves, if just for that day and night.  It was when you did so on days besides October 31 is when you had a clue that there were other gender related issues going on. 

I have written a few Halloween themed TransGriot posts throughout the years on a few topics pertaining to this day that you can peruse for your reading pleasure here..

I hope you TransGriot readers had fun at whatever Halloween parties you attended this past weekend.

If you're escorting costumed younglings out and about tonight in their search for candy, please be safe while doing so.

And yeah, I'd love some candy corn. I'm out of it.

Mass quantities of chocolate will work as well.

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