Back in the 80's, It Was Easier Being A Transsexual

TransGriot Note: Another insightful post from author Pamela Hayes

Back In The 80's, It was Easier Being A Transsexual
by Pamela Hayes

I have been living as a female for over three decades. I was a teen when I started this transsexual journey. In the beginning, the late 70’s and much of the 80’s, life was sweet. I lived as a woman, took my hormones. Eventually had surgery.... I dated. The men knew I was trans. Some of them introduced me to their family members. And friends. I was escorted to company picnics and Christmas parties. I played horse shoes and danced with their colleagues.

Here and there, people would whisper comments about me. I’m tall, and some people accused me of being a female impersonator. Not in those words, mind you. But for the most part, I was not disrespected or treated differently.

Back then, people dismissed the “That‘s a man” accusations. Think about it. We’re talking about the 70’s and 80’s. Facially, I looked female. I had/have breasts and curves. My voice was/is light and feminine. So to accuse the tall striking lady of being a man was considered a ridiculous statement.

I recall one night, in the early days of my journey, a guy and I went partying on a Tuesday night. After leaving the club, we stopped at 7-11 because I was out of soft drinks and I had to put some in the house.

I bought this big bottle of Pepsi, which they called The Boss back then.

Anyway, I went inside. This man looked me up and down. I could tell he appreciated my appearance. We spoke. He told me, I looked and smelled good. He flirted. Tried to get my phone number. He had been conversing with the clerk. It couldn’t have been anything serious if he was coming on to another woman in her presence.

When I was getting The Boss out of the cooler, I heard the clerk whisper that I was a man. “Girl, you crazy,” he said, supposedly sotto voce. “That woman just tall. Ain’t no damn way that’s a man. Your ass is crazy.”

He said goodnight to me and when he wasn’t looking, I winked at her.

The point of that story is to illustrate that back in the day, when a transsexual’s gender was impugned, people didn’t take it seriously. It was dismissed as a silly statement.

But along came the 90’s. And in the 90’s, when Miss Pamela was pelted with the ”That’s a man” accusation, people listened. Stared at me. Put me under a microscope. They wondered if the statement was true.

However, I can honestly say that most people DO NOT treat me differently. I can tell when people have been told things about me or have suspicions. I can see the confusion or skepticism in their eyes. But for the most part, they're cool. A friend, a cis woman. I know she has qualms about me. I can see it in her face. But once a week, I baby-sit her children.

But in the 90’s, trans women like Tula, and the late Jahna Steele hit the talk show circuit and a plethora of lovely t-women followed, confessing to Maury, Sally Jessy, Phil Donahue and the studio and at home audiences, making people realize that just because a woman was pretty didn’t necessarily mean she was born female.

I don’t know if this makes a lick of sense. But I’d bet some veteran trans girls can relate to what I’ve written.

Happy 45th Birthday Karyn White!

During the late 80's and early 90's Karyn Layvonne White was not only on a Grammy nominated roll musically, more than a few brothers in that time period thought she was one sexy lady as well. .


I'd heard about her thanks to me being a jazz music fan and loving Jeff Lorber's music. In 1986 he produced his Sand Castles CD that featured the then little known Los Angeles born backup singer.

A cut on the CD White sang lead on called 'Facts of Love' took off, and the rest was history.

She was appearing on the Arsenio Hall Show and two years later was releasing her own self titled LA Reid and Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds produced album.   The Karyn White CD went platinum with songs such as 'The Way You Love Me', 'Superwoman', 'Secret Rendezvous' and a duet with Babyface called 'Love Saw It'. 

She's a mother running a successful interior design and real estate business in northern California these days.   She did record an album called Sista Sista in 2006 which hasn't been released yet.   If it does, I'll definitely be adding it to my music collection.

Happy birthday Karyn White!    May you have many more, and hopefully we'll get to see you on stage performing again soon.

Happy Birthday Caroline Cossey!

One of our pioneering trans women of the 70's and 80's was born on this August 31 date in Britain.

She was a model and a Bond Girl until a British tabloid outed her. She also fought for trans marriage rights in her home country.



Today she's on our side of The Pond happily married to her hubby in an undisclosed location in the great state of Georgia at last report.

Happy birthday, Caroline! My this day be filled with abundant blessings for you and may you have many more.

Feeling Cleveland's Sports Pain

The Decision has been made, and once again Cleveland is on the short end of it as another high profile athlete leaves for a bigger market and greener pastures.

This one hurts deeply for Cavaliers fans since LeBron is from Akron, Ohio and was a lottery pick for the team. They'd pinned their civic hopes on him breaking their sports championship title drought that dates back to 1964, when the Cleveland Browns won the 1964 NFL title with Jim Brown in their backfield.

But LeBron is taking his game and talents to Miami.

I definitely feel their sports pain. In fact, Houston has been kindred spirits with the city of Cleveland in terms of professional sports frustrations.

The Oilers were AFL powerhouses who struggled after the AFL-NFL merger. They had seasons in which they were pathetic, and others like in the Luv Ya Blue era where they challenged for NFL supremacy.

And to make it worse, the Cowboy fifth column inside Harris County never failed to remind us long suffering Oilers fans that the NFL team 262 miles up Interstate 45 was winning titles.

It was just Houston's luck they were competing in the same rugged AFC Central Division with the Pittsburgh 'Steel Curtain' squads and the Ohio NFL teams. We had a 1975 NFL season in which we went 10-4 and STILL didn't make the playoffs because the Oilers lost to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati twice.

But we did beat the Browns twice that year along with every other NFL team we played, including the future NFL champion Oakland Raiders.

I angrily watched my Oilers get screwed out of the 1980 AFC title game versus Pittsburgh on a hideous blown call during the Luv Ya Blue era, catastrophically blow playoff games to Denver and Buffalo, then painfully watched Bud Adams move the team in 1997 to Nashville and play in a Super Bowl in 2000.

The Texans, the team that replaced the Tennessee Traitors in 2002, only had their first winning season last year after back to back 8-8 campaigns in 2007-2008.

The Astros have been around since 1962 and have worked our collective sporting nerves as well.

In addition to horrid trades and lousy seasons, the 'Stros have had
their share of frustrating and heartbreaking NLCS losses in 1980, 1981, 1986 and 2004.

They made the playoffs in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001 and lost in the NLDS, with the 1998 season being particularly galling. We won our second of three straight division titles, had Randy Johnson on our pitching staff and won a team record 102 games only to lose in the NLDS to the San Diego Padres.

They finally won their first National League title in 2005, then got swept by the White Sox after interference from commissioner Bud Selig over the Minute Maid Park retractible roof.

My frustrations even extend to the collegiate level. The Cougars lost in the 1967 College World Series to Arizona State. The Cougar B-ballers have made it to five NCAA Final Fours, and played in three straight during the Phi Slama Jama years from 1982-1984.

They played in the 1983 and 1984 title games, and I have to painfully watch the end of the 1983 NCAA one every time March Madness fires up. In addition to that I'm still pissed along with other UH alums about the Cougars being screwed out of Big 12 membership by the Wronghorns and their arrogant burnt orange wearing fans reminding us of our C-USA membership every chance they get.

The Rockets lost in the 1981 and 1986 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics and have had some frustrating playoff losses as well.

But the difference between me and a Cleveland sports fan is that I have witnessed my hometown teams win championships. The Rockets finally broke our civic title jinx in 1994 and repeated in 1995 with Houston homeboy Clyde Drexler in the lineup.

I got to watch the Comets win the first four WNBA titles from 1997-2000. The Dynamo moved here from San Jose, CA and won back to back MLS ones in 2006 and 2007. Rice University won an NCAA College World Series title in 2003.

So yes Cleveland, definitely feel your pain and frustration on that one.

Y'all haven't felt this backstabbed since Art Modell moved your beloved Browns to Baltimore in 1995 to become the Ravens, then watched them win a Super Bowl in 2001.

I have a pretty good understanding of why you're burning his jerseys and I take it the Cavalier-Heat games next season are going to be very interesting affairs.

When I lived in Da Ville, every time I went to or through Nashville and passed anywhere near the Tennessee Traitors stadium I flipped it the finger.

But take it from the TransGriot. When y'all finally do break through and win that elusive title, it's going to lead to the biggest cathartic release and civic celebration in your town's history.

Just hope you aren't opposing a Houston team when it happens.

'Soul Train' Gets New Ownership-Where The New Shows At?

Must See TV when I was growing up was getting up at 7 AM on Saturday morning to watch my favorite cartoons, then flipping the channel at noon to watch Soul Train.

The hippest trip in America was my peeps version of American Bandstand. It was where me and my friends tuned in to catch up on the latest dances and see my favorite R&B and soul artists.

From 1970 until the 2005-2006 television season we were treated to new episodes and the iconic Soul Train Dancers.

They are so ingrained in African-American culture that In Living Color parodied them during its run.

And what party or African-American wedding did you attend over the last few decades that at one point or another didn't break out at the reception into an impromptu Soul Train line?

There was an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air that showed Vivian and Phil's engagement on an episode of Soul Train and reappearance during their wedding anniversary along with the kids on a Soul Train episode.

Well, that iconic slice of my youth has new owners. Show creator and long time host Don Cornelius sold the show in June 2008 to a Los Angeles based production company called MadVision Entertainment.

MadVision's plan at the time was to open up the show’s archives for older consumers as well as to create a new version of the program for younger ones.

“The series has never been shown on DVD, and it’s not been utilized on video-on-demand or mobile or Internet platforms,” Peter Griffith, a co-founder of MadVision, said. “There are many opportunities that we are exploring.

While the new Soul Train shows haven't materialized yet in the two years since the deal, it does have a website.

Could there be new episodes of Soul Train on the horizon? I certainly hope so.

Still Miss You 'Lufer'

Today would have been the 59th birthday of one of my fave singers back in the day, Luther Ronzoni Vandross. He was born on this date in New York City in 1951.

Wow. Has it been five years since he heft us on July 1, 2005? Doesn't seem like it's been that long, but yep, it has.

The man left behind a musical legacy that will be hard to match. There are also probably a lot of people born in the 80's and 90's who probably owe their existence to being conceived while their parents were getting busy while listening to his music.

Anyway, happy birthday 'Lufer'. You are still missed by your fans, and no one as of yet has stepped up to fill your considerable shoes.

Sally Trans Pageant Show

One of the talk shows that had respectful presentations of trans issues and trans people throughout its 18 year run was Sally Jessy Raphael

Here's one from the 90's that has some trans sisters participating in it who are no longer with us such as Tandi Andrews and Catiria Reyes.

This Is A Late Night Show

With all the fuss over the Leno vs Conan controversy, and I'm not a big fan of either one, it reminded me that January 3, 1989 was the first broadcast of my standard for late night shows, The Arsenio Hall Show.

Late night shows haven't been the same to me since his went off the air.

Sarah Luiz Interview Video

The 50's had Christine Jorgenson as a transgender newsmaking icon. In the 60's it was April Ashley and Coccinelle. In the 70's it was Renee Richards and Caroline 'Tula' Cossey.

In the 80's Sarah Luiz was one of the newsmaking transwomen of that decade. Sarah first burst onto the scene with her very public fight to have her SRS covered by her Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance, a battle she eventually won.

Sarah was also hitting the talk show and interview circuit during the 80's and early 90's. In addition to being an inspiration for the transkids and others like myself grappling with the issue at that time, she spread the word that all we transwomen wanted was to live our lives out like everyone else with a minimum of drama.

Here's one of those talk show interviews from the Jane Whitney Show.



Thanks Sarah for standing up and fighting for us then so we could stand tall now.

Sally Jessy Pageant Show

Transsexuality was and still is a popular talk show topic, especially during sweeps months. While Jerry Springer went to the Dark Side of the ratings force on these issues, other talk shows such as Jenny Jones, Cristina and Sally Jessy Raphael tried to keep the stories they did on the subject respectful and informative.

Here's an early 90's one in which they held a pageant on the Sally Jessy Raphael show. Brought back some memories because my late Texas homegirl Tandi Andrews is part of it.

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

They say deaths come in threes, and that is especially true of celebrity ones. Farrah Fawcett died this morning, Ed McMahon a day ago, and it was in the back of my mind who would be the third.

As of the time I'm writing this, the LA Times is confirming that Michael Jackson has died.

This is a sad on for me because I have a personal connection to it.

Michael Jackson's death is striking me a little harder than the average celeb death on many levels.

I and my brother got to tag along with my Dad when the station had a 'Meet The Jackson Five contest back in the day. We picked up the winner, and zipped off to the Sam Houston Coliseum for the concert. The show was the bomb until the crowd bumrushed the stage and put a quick end to it. I was backstage and barely avoided being trampled as the frenzied crowd chased the J5 to their waiting limos to the street.

At the rendezvous at the Galleria Oaks Hotel, I got to meet him along with the contest winner and my friend Ernest Carswell. Ernest and I used to win a lot of money off those photos in junior high school from peeps who assumed we were lying about doing so.

I still have the autographed pics at my parents house.

I like a lot of peeps of my generation and those like my sisters who grew up in the 80's was a big fan, and it was amplified by the fact I had met him.

It was also a sense of immense pride to many African-Americans that an R&B artist blew up to become a household name around the world, thanks to Quincy Jones' composing genius and his immense talent.

You were a once in a generation performer, and you will be missed.

RIP Michael.