Welcome to the September 2004 edition of The Tranny Tribune.

In this issue...

There's a chance for you to become a television star by joining our Trannyweb TV Pool, our Tranny Poetry Competition is still going with a Sterling Silver Trannyweb Pendant for the winner and there's also more space for mail, gallery and tranny website users.

It's also your last chance to go to The Trannyweb Baltimore Blast (this weekend) - a whole weekend of girly stuff (dressing, make-up, photos, shopping, entertainment and so on). There's more info below left.

This edition's Celebrity Interviewee is Dr Minako Sakura, authoress of the bestselling book, "The Weekend Woman" and there's an opportunity for you to become a tranny writer too.

Finally, don't forget to pick up your Trannyweb TG Silver Pendant (which is also now available in gold)!

That's it - your September 2004 Tranny Trib!

Hugs, Katie x

A message from Stephanie Anne Lloyd at Transformation...

Great news - I am bringing back our really popular "Any 3 products for the price of 2" offer.

There is no limit, either to the number of items you can order or how many orders you can place in September. For every 3 products you order we will charge you for only 2, whether it is 3 of the same or 3 completely different items, the cheapest will be yours completely free-of-charge.

Whether it's wigs, lingerie, breast forms, realistic vaginas, transsexual or feminising hormone products, Transvestite videos or magazines you can buy them all discreetly online at Transformation.

Kindest regards,
Stephanie Anne Lloyd
Transformation's Transsexual Founder

THE TRANNY TRIB CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

This month's celebrity interviewee is the creator of the best selling tranny guide 'The Weekend Woman'. she someone who has already been there and got the t-shirt - Dr Minako Sakura.

TT: Who is Dr Minako Sakura?

MS: I’m not so much a who as a what. **laughs**

Really, I’m just your basic Transsexual…with a bunch of education. I’m the Occidental with an Asian name. I’m the person that told her S.O. she’s Gender Dysphoric…on Mother’s Day. I really am a doctor—as a woman, I hold a Doctor of Practical Ministry AND a Doctor of Divinity. I’m ordained, several times over. I’m an Ultra-Flirt and Almost-Angel, with a big bad attitude and a big mouth. I also have a big heart to match, and will give you the blouse off my back.

You’ll have to buy your own bras, though. There are some things I won’t share.

How did you get into writing books on transgender issues?
I didn’t get into writing books on TG/TS issues so much as I saw what I thought were needs that needed addressing. See, when I was first looking for just basic information, I couldn’t find anything I thought was really useful all in one place. There are websites out there that have some much info it sets off the overload trigger. There are others that are downright pornographic, and those didn’t help me figure a realistic bra size at all! Then I find out that there are books and such out there, if you just know where to look. Obviously, I didn’t. So I started writing my own.

TT: What made you write "The Weekend Woman"?

MS: **laughs** Because I’m so forgetful! The original Weekend Woman grew out of a set of checklists I developed for using when my S.O. was gone and I wanted to go totally femme. There was a shopping list, the actual “Do This” list, and a room by room cleaning list so I wouldn’t leave anything out that would be, shall we say, difficult to explain. In fact, if you bought the original first edition, it even had checkboxes next to each item! I still use the shopping and cleaning lists, because there are things I need to buy, and when the S.O. is gone, I go totally femme. (Now that she knows I’m GD, it’s a little easier.) When another TS heard about this list, she recommended I add some to it and publish it. Thus was born the Weekend Woman.

TT: Have you written anything for those who are more advanced?
MS: Actually, yes I have. Since The Weekend Woman is really geared for “newbies”, I developed and wrote two other books in the series: “Steppin’ Out on Saturday Night”, which deals with getting out of the closet, bedroom or house and actually going places and doing things. There are some pretty practical things there—like what to do, what’s your name, and some things to really consider. The other book (which is due out soon!) is called “Beyond the Weekend: What to do When Monday Comes and You Don’t Want Out of Your Dress.” This will tackle some outright living issues—like PO boxes, money matters, name changes, traveling, hormones (a bit more in depth) some TG/TS psychology and the like. It really gets a bit more into living closer to full time.

TT: In your experience, what is the single most difficult issue that TG people face?
MS: We often are not taken seriously. Too many people think we are all a bunch of perverts and pedophiles, that all we want is sex, sex sex - and if we can do it with your kids, even better. Sadly, this stereotype gets promulgated every time an out of balance drag queen appears on Jerry Springer, or we read about a cross-dressing pedophile that kidnaps and murders a child they met in an internet chat room. The truth is that many of us simply want to lead productive lives in our chosen gender. Our way of life as TG’s/TS’s should not be considered criminal!

TT: What other projects are you working on at present?
MS: I am working on a new e-book that looks at the stories of TG people (all TrannyWebbers) at different stages. This includes cross-dressers, pre-op and non-op transsexuals, and those who are either just before surgery or just past. I‘m putting this together to show that we are reasonable, contented enough folks who simply want to live the life we have chosen. Many of us here are successful—it’s time we showed this to the rest of the world. If you think you might want to take part in this, please contact me here at TrannyWeb and let me know. I’m also working out some more TG/TS psychology for counseling purposes—I feel that there needs to be better materials than what we have. And of course, there’s always more prose articles, poems and new stuff going on over at Sakuramina.com.

TT: What does the future hold for you?

MS: In my more immediate future, I’m moving back to the West Coast; that means a lot of packing. A bit further out, I’d like to see some of my books picked up by a major publisher and printed—and/or getting some of the TG/TS psychology in the hands of people who will use it, and finally I’d like to reduce the amount of time I have to be male to earn a living to zero--and live as close to full time as a woman as is practical. 85% just isn’t enough for me anymore.

Minako's most famous publication, 'The Weekend Woman', is available from the TrannyStuff shop.

Please click here now to get your copy