Crossdressing and small countries

[Stacyy]

I live in a small neighbour country of Russia (We were in the Soviet Union until 1991, now we're an independent country). I've never seen a crossdresser on the street before, there is also no word for crossdressing in our language. So probably if I went out dressed, the only chance of succeeding would be if i looked 100% "passable". So what would you girls do if you lived in a country where you cant count on any acceptance?

[Blaire]

Where I live, going out in public dressed can result in some pretty harsh penalties. You have to evaluate the risks for yourself. I just don't go out.

[BeckiB]

Maybe it is time to start your own CD or trans gender group and so who comes out of the wood work. I am sure you are not alone in how you feel even in a small country.

It is interesting that your language does not have a word for crossdressing.

[TSchapes]

You may want to post the name of your country here. I take it, it is one of the Balkan states? There may be others on this board or on the Internet looking for you from your own country. We would never know unless you post.

And as far as having a word in your own language, maybe you could be the one that creates it! I'm sure you have a word for cross or across, and one for dressing? Put those two words together. That's all that happened in English. Even the word transvestite is derived from the prefix trans = across and vestite = vestiges or clothes.

Those are the easy things, the harder thing is knowing what to do in your own country. I know there are others on the board that live in small and far away places. They may be a better source of information as to what other steps you may take.

If nothing else, you have this board. And you have a lot of sisters here that want to listen and talk to you.

Love, Tracy :love:

[Stacyy]

You may want to post the name of your country here. I take it, it is one of the Balkan states?


Haha, almost. It's one of the Baltic states :D The northest one - Estonia.



And as far as having a word in your own language, maybe you could be the one that creates it! I'm sure you have a word for cross or across, and one for dressing? Put those two words together.


"Ristiriietumine" ... no, that wouldn't sound good at all, the most common meaning for the estonian word cross is used differently - like crossing roads etc.



Those are the easy things, the harder thing is knowing what to do in your own country. I know there are others on the board that live in small and far away places. They may be a better source of information as to what other steps you may take.

If nothing else, you have this board. And you have a lot of sisters here that want to listen and talk to you.

Love, Tracy :love:

Well, if I learn how to "pass" without people recognizing my actual gender, there will be no problems :) . Thanx for your post!

[Joanne f]

I would think of my safety first , yes it is very nice if you can go out dressed as you like but if it meant that you could end up in prison or dead then it is just not worth it .
I would try to do some research on the Internet as to what the religious group and government thought about it but do it with a hidden name and location if possible .
I know this sounds like a bit cloak and dagger type of thing but it can be hard for us in the western countries to understand the risks that others take in trying to be who they are .
In others words just go carefully.

[Kelly DeWinter]

Whatever you do BE SAFE ! You might want to make some local friends first, meet in an apartment or hotel, prepare a meal togeather. It sounds like it's a huge risk, you also might want to find a GLTB bar or club and go drab a few times and ask questions, above all be safe

[Barbara918]

"I've never seen a crossdresser on the street before,..."

So, either there are no crossdressers in your area, or they're all very good at it. :)

[Stacyy]

I would think of my safety first , yes it is very nice if you can go out dressed as you like but if it meant that you could end up in prison or dead then it is just not worth it .
I would try to do some research on the Internet as to what the religious group and government thought about it but do it with a hidden name and location if possible .
I know this sounds like a bit cloak and dagger type of thing but it can be hard for us in the western countries to understand the risks that others take in trying to be who they are .
In others words just go carefully.

Ending up in prison - no its not possible, we dont have any laws regarding about how people dress (unless you propagate faschism or something). But yes, being found out as a tgirl by some crew might end badly. Btw my country isnt strictly religious or anything, most of the "new generation" dont believe in god at all.

[Sarah_new]

Hi Stacyy, firstly I would echo the comments from others here as regard to your own personal safety. This has to come first.

The other advice I would agree with is regarding research and the Gay community is a very good starting point. Now I'm not saying the all that cross dress are gay, but the gay community has faced and in many countries dealt with (with varying degrees of success) similar problems to our community so they can be/are a valuable source of information and advice.

Another solution could be to go over to Helsinki on the Ferry and spend a few days there. There are one or two Finnish girls on this forum, who could give you advice upon how safe it is there, but my impression is that it is a tolerant country.

[suit]

sort of high jacked thought ...

Btw my country isnt strictly religious or anything, most of the "new generation" dont believe in god at all.[/QUOTE]

if that is tolarated by the elders/money that crossdressing may be too?

an added thought :
most of the "new generation" dont believe in god at all

that seems to reflect a generation that has not been stressed badly,and
that seems to allow people to look around and think and judge not judge and rule.

I wounder if god will creap into that generations mind as they get older and see things that just do not play by the text book rules , like so much of life.
I belive their is somthing ,for example somthing that skiewes the math in car accadents , I walked away from at least one that I dont see why i could .
(and then there are all the atrossitys people do to others, I know bad math or is that the animal ruling??)

Soooo, when not told what to think its fun to see how people still seem to think about the same way .

[kristinacd55]

I live in a small neighbour country of Russia (We were in the Soviet Union until 1991, now we're an independent country). I've never seen a crossdresser on the street before, there is also no word for crossdressing in our language. So probably if I went out dressed, the only chance of succeeding would be if i looked 100% "passable". So what would you girls do if you lived in a country where you cant count on any acceptance?

I was going to guess Latvia, but if I lived in a country where you can't count on acceptance I'd join crossdressers.com! Wait, I'm already a member :eek:

[Rachel Morley]

What would I do if I lived in a country where there isn't even a word for crossdressing and I can't count on any acceptance? Wow! ... that's a tough one. I guess I would use the internet to try to find organizations and friends. One thing you can be sure of is that you are not alone. I bet you (just like every other country in the world) there are literally hundreds if not thousands of closet CDers in Estonia. However, when I saw this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Estonia) I realized things might be more difficult for you as even the LGB part of LGBT support groups seems to be is in it's infancy never mind about the T part. I guess the first step has already been suggested by Tracy. She said: "There may be others on this board or on the Internet looking for you from your own country. We would never know unless you post." Just keep making online friends and hopefully you'll meet someone from your country.

[Lidia_tv]

You may want to post the name of your country here. I take it, it is one of the Balkan states?



Tracy, Balkans was NEVER a part of Soviet Union.
Now for the answer: While in my country we have a name for crossdressing, and while it is not punishable by law, the level of acceptance in the society is PRETTY LOW. So the best thing you can do is find likeminded people, best via internet but BE CAREFUL, and meet privately. Anything else could bring you into harm's way. Be careful, thiink of your safety first, no matter how passable you are.

[PetiteDuality]

I live in South America. Crossdressers are just a funny reference in cheap comedy shows, always portraying gay people with exaggerated mannerisms.

It is not punishable by law, we have a LGTB movement here, but no way to say that there is acceptance.

There is a chance of being beaten up or even raped in the dangerous zones in the city. It's almost 100% sure that if clocked, people will make fun at you and verbally harass you.

Homosexuals are becoming more accepted. But if I go out of the closet as a CD, people will think that I'm an annoying gay person. Like an exaggeration, little measured gay, who want's to annoy society.

[Leslie Langford]

I live in a small neighbour country of Russia (We were in the Soviet Union until 1991, now we're an independent country). I've never seen a crossdresser on the street before, there is also no word for crossdressing in our language. So probably if I went out dressed, the only chance of succeeding would be if i looked 100% "passable". So what would you girls do if you lived in a country where you cant count on any acceptance?

...come close to the word for "crossdresser" that you are looking for?

- Voodirõõmud

I found it on one of the Internet translation sites.

[Leslie Langford]

Tracy, Balkans was NEVER a part of Soviet Union.
Now for the answer: While in my country we have a name for crossdressing, and while it is not punishable by law, the level of acceptance in the society is PRETTY LOW. So the best thing you can do is find likeminded people, best via internet but BE CAREFUL, and meet privately. Anything else could bring you into harm's way. Be careful, thiink of your safety first, no matter how passable you are.

Given the amount of "ethnic cleansing" that has taken place in that part of the world following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, it seems that tolerance for any type of community that is different from the majority residing in a specific area is in pretty short supply there.

[Stacyy]

...come close to the word for "crossdresser" that you are looking for?

- Voodirõõmud

I found it on one of the Internet translation sites.

:heehee: In direct translation, that means bed-joys.


Given the amount of "ethnic cleansing" that has taken place in that part of the world following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, it seems that tolerance for any type of community that is different from the majority residing in a specific area is in pretty short supply there.

I dont think Estonia has anything to do with Yugoslavia. You see areas of former Yugoslavia are called "Balkan", but Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are called "Baltic states", we have nothing in common with Balkan. :)

[Lidia_tv]

Given the amount of "ethnic cleansing" that has taken place in that part of the world following the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, it seems that tolerance for any type of community that is different from the majority residing in a specific area is in pretty short supply there.

And what makes you think this has ANYTHING to do with the breakup of former Yugoslavia or ethnic cleansing? Trust me, before the war and breakup of fmr. Yugoslavia anyone caught crossdressing would probably end up in an institution.

[deja true]

It's not really the size of the country that's gonna be the problem anywhere in the world. It's the population and their relative sophitication compared to the more liberal countries we can think of. Bet you could walk around in Monaco all you wanted and nobody'd say "boo!" You could set one foot outside your door in Saudi Arabia and be taken into custody.

Is your population relatively well educated? In touch with the world? Not ruled politically or socially by any religion or moralistic or ethnic fundamentalists? Is your government corrupt in a major way?

Do your people think of themselves as sophisticated urbanites or as "down home" sons of the soil?

Are there any publicly known and working civil rights, human rights or LGB groups?

Are gender matters spoken of freely in your media?

Are your men generally thought of as "macho"?

These are some of the things you have to consider in your case, Stace!

Good luck, small country person! Believe me, I know your frustration! (That's why I travel a lot!)

;)

[Lidia_tv]

Don't forget one thing: what is the legacy of the past? Totalitarianism replaced by a rediscovered religion? Patriarchal society or a liberal one? Between the system change and truly liberal society there is a long way to go.

[dutch-anita]

[QUOTE=Stacyy;1822138]Haha, almost. It's one of the Baltic states :D The northest one - Estonia.



hi stacy I came home from Estonia today (tallinn and paide) met some very friendly people there. I think you are safe to grossdress, (even the "bald" guy I met was nice

btw nice country

[Sarah-RT]

I live in Ireland, not the smallest of countries, but with only just under 6 mill population, I cant say i have ever met another crossdresser, nor seen one.

Then again, I keep to myself, and struggle through the paranoia of the shopping experience and come out fine at the other end.

[Sarah-RT]

im sure there are, the famous ''the george'' the gay bar district of dublin city is probably full of them.

[Stacyy]

hi stacy I came home from Estonia today (tallinn and paide) met some very friendly people there.

Really? By plane I assume... because there's ~2000 km from Tallinn to the border of Holland.

[dutch-anita]

yes by plane, for me it is 2200km just a bit to much voor a 2 night visit but I love to go back, maybe in a couple of weeks so if you can find a nice crossdressers friendly place in estonia I don't have to find one (lol)

[alexandracross]

I understand that some countries are very harsh on people like us however we need to keep trying and perhaps looking more passable is the only way to fight back against the injustice

[Gerard]

1) The Baltic states are nowhere near the Balkan/former Yugosavia.
2) I don't really know anyone from there. (I know a few russians and polish, but that's about it).

One question is, how gay people are treated in your country?
The second would be if you want to go out dressed?
Also, do you live in a city or the countryside, and how big is it? Usually in a city there are more options.

You can always take a ferry to Sweden for example if you have the money, and have a go there.

The only people I've ever met from the Baltics where from near Riga, and they were very much into "being more European" and getting away from Russia.

[Stacyy]

One question is, how gay people are treated in your country?
The second would be if you want to go out dressed?
Also, do you live in a city or the countryside, and how big is it? Usually in a city there are more options.


I think most people here think about gay people with disrespect. And ofcourse i want to go out dressed :) . I live in the capital, there is around 400,000 people here.

[Lidia_tv]

Gerard, things are slightly better than before, but far from good. In bigger cities, gay people are more or less tolerated, iif not accepted. Of course, due to "newly found" religious freedom, there is a considerable conservative segment of society which makes it not so easy, to make an understatement. Crossdressers are still in a worse position than gay people. If I wanted to go out dressed, I better be ABSOLUTELY passable. Otherwise I'd be ridiculed in the best case. The worst case, I could even be attacked by skinheads or alike.