Travelling While Transgender

When I last wrote about my trip back east, Jules and I had gotten off the plane in Chicago, got our rental car, and were off heading for Kenosha Wisconsin with an ominous warning.  The car rental guy made sure to warn us that the folks in upstate WI were not quite as understanding as they were in Chicago.  It gave me a small pause of doubt, but I reminded myself that I am secure in what I do and who I am.  So I took a deep breath and kept driving.

Besides, Kenosha is not anywhere near upstate WI, it is much more like a beach town, as I found out a few short hours later.  I was a little hesitant as we pulled up to the hotel and was not quite sure what to think about the folks.  Some people’s opinions of life have often left me confused and unsure if what I see is accurate or not.  Many folks have told me that I appear to have such an easy time going out in public dressed as a woman because I live in California.  Thus the implication is that if I were to venture outside of California, or at least the west coast of the United States, then for sure I will encounter problems.

What I was wearing when I arrived in Kenosha.

So it was with more than a bit of hesitation that I got out of the car and walked into the hotel to register Jules and I.  She and I walked into the hotel like everything was totally normal.  I let the clerk know that we were checking in and I handed her my male ID and credit card.  She, surprise surprise, acted like everyone else has ever acted.  She looked at my ID and my credit card, thanked me and ran my card through the machine.  Wow!  How crazy and scary!  Holy Crap batman, she treated me like I was a totally normal person!  And where was I, that’s right Wisconsin of all places!

Jules and I got checked in, got our items, and loaded everything into our room.  At that point we had been awake for about 36 hours or so at least, but we were starving and needed to get some dinner.  Being as it was super cold outside with the wind whipping in off of Lake Michigan, I decided that I needed to change my clothes to something a bit warmer.  That was when I discovered that I forgot to pack any of my female jeans!  Ahh!!  What ever will I do??

Well I ended up wearing this:

Thus it is that I ended up walking out of my hotel room, in Kenosha WI, with my male jeans on and the rest female attire.  I was super nervous as Jules and I decided that the place that sounded the best to eat at was a bar, and we generally steer clear of bars.  Gender variance and guys with alcohol have been said to not play well together!

But the place that we chose was awesome!  Everyone there treated me quite well.  No one pitchforked me because I was a guy dressing as a woman who was wearing male jeans!  Crazy, I know, right!  By the way, the place we ate, pictured above, is a great bar/restaurant.  They had lots of good things to drink, though Jules and I did enjoy the massive selection of beer as we are tequila drinkers.  But we got a bit of that, and some awesome burgers!  If you ever find yourselves in Kenosha Wisconsin, we can both highly recommend this place.

After we ate our yummy dinner, I had to go visit Target as I was feeling super self conscious in my male jeans and needed a female replacement pair!  Thus off to Target.  We also stopped and got a bit more alcohol, and some sodas.  So out and about in Kenosha Wisconsin and absolutely nothing happened, except for us having a fabulous time!

Up next?  Travelling to central Wisconsin, where apparently the folks can be a bit different.  Though, it would not quite be the same as I would be driving there presenting as a male.  But I would be dressing while we were there, so I had that to look forward to!  Maybe!  Who knows what those Wisconsin folks were going to be like up there in the middle of the state!

Ahhh!!!!!

Love you!

Love yourself!

Love Wisconsin!

Well, at least Kenosha!