Driving through the South enfem

[Tracii G]

Pockets of prejudice right here on this forum as well.
The south is no more dangerous and in many was a lot safer than most people think.
I slept one night in Jonesboro Ga with my truck cab unlocked nothing happened. Spent one night in a truck stop south of Detroit Mich and had 4 wheels stolen off my trailer.

[tammy1]

When my wife and I were in the south-south (mississippi). Being in a mixed relationship with out of state plates were a big red flag for all the home boys. We were followed on numerous occassions by the KKK who kept their distance but would follow relentlesly for miles and miles. When we finally got to our friends private road, thy would finally just keep going. Oviously, we were concerned and I wasn't dressed. We discovered a whole different ideology with attitued down south. We haven't been back to visit our firends and woult be down there. Be careful if you choose to CD to Florida. You don't need to make the local news but Florida is far different from Mississippi. Also, there were many very friendly people were we were in southern mississippi, so life wan't all scarry. The keyes should be a blast and you'll find the people as laid back as many in the Atlanta area. Be safe. Have fun.

Tammy

[Berinthia]

When you're driving through North Carolina, make sure you know if you want your BBQ with...or without slaw......Although I did hear they had a thing about which restroom you use.
When I was 20 I was hitch-hiking through Miami on Rte One, when I think I met my first transsexual. Unforgettable. She was in a baby-blue T-Bird and was the closest thing I've ever seen to a real live Barbie Doll. My next ride was some drunk Cuban guy who grabbed my leg.........
Be Careful, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I hitched back from Key West to DC with 20 bucks in my pocket. All the other hitchers warned me about Texas.

[Marianne S]

I am less worried about the redneck bullies at gas stations than I am about the police.

Vicky, I think you should reverse these priorities. I admit I have no experience of being stopped while driving crossdressed, and very little of driving in the South, aside from Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida, where I was never stopped. Oh, and a brief business trip to Georgia, when my colleagues were grateful I was driving because driving keeps me awake and alert when they were ready to conk out after a long day and might have been a menace on the road.

But I digress. There may or may not be "redneck bullies" lurking around, though I doubt they're limited to the South. But crossdressed or not, I would not personally worry about the police. When police stop anybody on the highway their chief worry is whether it's some flaming nutjob who's going to shoot them. If it's just an ordinary driver acting like a human being, crossdressed or not, I'm sure they're relieved. What I can say from personal experience is that I think politeness and respect will get you everywhere. It may not always get you off without a ticket, but it helps. The people who get "harassed" by police have usually--not always, but uaually--done something to provoke it. So I wouldn't fear the police. Just be yourself and act natural.

Kelly there are a heck of a lot intolerant people up in New England. [...]

I really get offended when people from the north east consider the southerners to be backwards, ignorant and think the civil war is still going on.

Well, Tracii, I regret to say the Civil War is still going on! Except that it's largely (though not exclusively) people up in the Northeast who are still waging it.

I can't help contrasting the vindictiveness certain people are displaying toward the Old South just recently with the generosity of spirit shown by General Grant and other Northern officers a century and half ago when they took Lee's surrender at Appomattox in 1865. The Confederate officers were allowed to keep their swords, as a mark of respect for a battle fought with honor. More important for practical purposes, any Southerner who claimed to own a horse was allowed to keep it--because they knew he would need it for the spring plowing. In a land ravaged by war, many would be starving, and Southerners needed all the help they could get. As Churchill remarked about a later war: "In victory, magnanimity."

Contrary to the magnanimity shown toward the defeated South on that occasion long ago, I am shocked today to see a number of petty-minded and spiteful people for whom mere victory was still not good enough, who are so pumped up with manufactured grievances, obsessed with insane hatred of a land long "gone with the wind" that they must tear down the statues of Lee and other brave men who fought so well to defend their homeland. These aggressors have little understanding of human history, and no respect for it. Worse still, it wasn't good enough for them just to win the Civil War; like bullies, they have to kick their opponents when they're down and won't be satisfied until they've dishonored them by trampling them into the dirt. That's just plain sadism, an attitude I despise.

My father fought the Germans and was wounded with a leg full of shrapnel, but he never hated Germans after the war. I regret to say we're seeing very different attitudes today. There may be "tolerance" in some segments of society for certain things precious to us, especially our gender differences. Yet I'm sorry to say this "tolerance" has been counterbalanced in an unhealthy way by intolerance in other spheres of life.

Above all, I can't help remembering that Southerners, contrary to this "redneck" image, had always been renowned (rightly or wrongly) for "good manners." Some of the people we're hearing from today, with their attitudes toward the South, ought to learn some "manners," and most of all some respect.

[Vickie_CDTV]

As someone who lives in the northeast, I can tell you there is "intolerance" in areas in New England as well.

Just use common sense, and treat others as you would want to be treated, and most will be happy to leave you be.

As far as the restrooms go along your trip, there are plenty of resources online to find safe single user/unisex restrooms along your route.

[Tracii G]

Just don't ask for directions in the northeast I have done it several times because I was truly and lost guess what tolerance I got ?
WTH is wrong with you are you a moron go buy a map you jerk leave me the hell alone.
That lady was every bit of 80 years old that treated me like that.
There are nice people everywhere sure but 90% of the jerks are in East Baltimore and Boston.
There is a long story that goes with that old lady and her MFing shopping cart full of groceries. Film at 11:00.
Not sure why New England is like that but it is.

[lingerieLiz]

As for southern states vs anywhere else, I can say for a fact that pockets of prejudice are still very much a fact of life in the south, but political correctness has largely subdued the inclination to lash out. If you could hear them talk among themselves, however, it would make your blood run cold, and that definitely goes for gays and crossdressers. This is much more of a concern in rural areas than in more populous places; people in the latter are pretty much like people anywhere. So my advice is to avoid those little country stores etc and stick to mainstream.

Sherri, i've lived and traveled in the south for 60 years. I have friends in several states and have attended parties, weddings in city and rural areas. Worst experience i'v had relative of CDing was in the Detroit area. Second worst was SanFrancisco by a couple of gay guys. So bad things can happen anywhere. Most of the little country stores just want to sell merchandise. When I was doing some work in Alabama I went to one a couple times a day to get gas and a coke. The girls there liked several of my tops. None of the guys bothered me. But not every store is equal.

[Sometimes Steffi]

I'm a native Bostonian, married a native Floridian who I met in St. Louis.

I've lived in northern Virginia for 33 years, like half a lifetime. I'm member of a local trans group that can get close to 100 girls together for a GNO.

I assume that you will be primarily be driving on 95. I still have relatives in the Boston area and my wife has relatives in the Florida area. I guess at one time or another, I've driven 95 from Portland Maine to Miami Florida. I've also driven from Miami to Key West a few times. I don't think you'll have any problems on 95. I think your biggest might be which rest room at the rest stops. Either one could be pretty dangerous if you're not careful. I think any father would be willing to go to jail, if you catch my drift, to protect his daughters. I remember one rest stop where a mom and dad let their 3 girls go ahead of the restroom. My wife and I were returning to our car from the restrooms where we had noticed a guy suspiciously hanging around the restrooms. We all took care to stay together for safety, and we felt obligated to tell the mom and dad about the suspicious guy. They immediately left to catch up with their daughters.

Do you want to be the guy called out as as being suspicious because you're wearing a dress.

I'm not trying to be alarmist, but make sure you think about everything from cops to rest stops to restaurants to gas stations to checking into hotels.

And, sorry ladies, but Mississippi is an exception. When my wife and I drove from St. Louis to New Orleans, I made my wife drive through Mississippi. At that time, I still had a Boston accent that I couldn't turn off, and my wife had a southern accent that she could on or off at will. If we were stopped by a cop in Mississippi, she could talk southern and blink her eyes and get off with a warning whereas I would get to visit a small town judge. Or least that's what I thought.

[NicoleScott]

Steffi, you didn't say that you actually had an incident in Mississippi.. The precautions you took only reinforced your unfounded fears.
Of course it's always a good idea for everyone, crossdressed or not, to be cautious when traveling to/through unfamiliar territory. Common sense.
If you hold onto old stereotypes, listen to the fearmongers, and you are scared to dress when traveling through the South, don't. Wear guy clothes or stay up north.

[foxy bartender]

I think that some of y’all are still caught up in the way things used to be. Be respectful, act respectful, and of course, be careful, but driving through the south is no big deal. I’m sorry that some of y’all had been treated with intolerance in the south, but mostly, times have changed. In the south, they will most certainly talk about anyone and everyone different, but after you leave. In the north, they will just talk smack to your face, no matter how rude. That’s a big part of why I moved south. Just my opinion, ymmv

[Krisi]

Don't do it! Lots of us "rednecks" still running around in white sheets and pointy hats! You'll never make it. You'll end up swinging from a tree!

Seriously, I can't believe the question was even posted and worse, some of the responses. Gangs? Seriously?

Knowing that you don't pass, it's hard for me to imagine what joy you would get from 20 -30 hours of driving dressed as a woman, knowing you'll have to get out of the car to use the restroom, buy gas and meals and check into a couple of motels, but if you choose to do it, it won't be any different than anywhere else in the USA.

[Pat]

OK this has turned largely into regional intolerance, which means we're out of practical advice for the OP -- thread closed.