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The current social climate is filled with backlash, discrimination, and polarization towards the LGBQTI community. Trans Stars, specifically, can be highly revered, subtly jeered or outright reviled. Well, guess what folks? Trans people have been around for a LONG time, they aren’t leaving, and they have provided a treasure trove of entertainment, launched several political movements and they continue to generate mass media coverage.
MICHAELA (MJ) RODRIGUEZ
Karla Sofia Gascon and the new pope in “The Conclave” were trending (mid-2025) trans figures and every day we see more trans people in the public eye. M.J. (Michaela Jae) Rodriguez was already on everybody’s radar from her Golden Globe winning role in “Pose” but she quickly caught MY attention as Nicolette in “American Horror Story: Delicate”.
“Who is this COMPELLING person and intricate characterization?” I thought as I watched her character unfurl, and loved hers more than any other, in “Delicate”. She’s going places and I think she’s barely scratched the surface! I’ve got a nice handwritten note from M.J. in my collection. I love autographs from earlier in a celebrity’s career, when they still write beautifully and legibly, especially to friends and people they know. Once they see their signature on eBay, scrawling their name becomes the norm. Can’t blame ‘em.
KIM PETRAS
Being a pop-music freak and always (up to a point) willing to go to a concert, I decided to see Troye Sivan in November 2018 at The Masonic in San Francisco. I really didn’t know much about him except for his only Top 40 American hit “Youth”. He’s a bit too precious for me, but his set was cute. However…the opening acts were Carlie Hanson (don’t remember a damn thing) and Kim Petras. Blow me over with a feather!
As soon as I heard “Hillside Boys” and “I Don’t Want It At All”, I was ALL OVER it. She was just getting her stage legs and establishing herself as performer – I think she may have been singing over (or with) tracks, but it didn’t matter. THIS is the kind of bubblegum and song content that I love!
“I want all my clothes designer – I want someone else to buy them” – Sugar daddy search is on …
Keep in mind that I had no idea who Kim was, so I thought I was just watching a cute blonde girl. I immediately bought all of her music and THEN I learned she was trans – which impressed me even more because of the way she looked and carried herself. I was hooked.
July 30th, 2019 – I bought table service and VIP seats to see Kim at the intimate Mezzanine Venue in San Franciso. My new friend Jean Clifford from Canada was going to be visiting and I excitedly told him about our tickets to see Kim. “That’s not my kind of music” he said. WHAT?!? “Can’t you just join for me the experience? It’s VIP, she’s so much fun and we’ll be having a good time together!” – “Nope. Sorry, it’s just not my thing.” (I found out later it was because Jean was just shy of 21, knew it was a venue that would ID him and didn’t want to tell me his actual age. Y’all keep your judgements in check, now.)
Anyway, I’ve always got a backup plan – and this time it was one of my favorite and most fun friends, Bernard A. He didn’t know much about Kim, but he’s always up for an adventure and a good time. We had a blast and (got blasted) watching Kim from the upper railing right over the stage at the Mezzanine. She was now riding a crest of success that would ultimately ascend to being the first trans person with a #1 hit song “Unholy” with (non-binary) Sam Smith. Madonna introduced them at the Grammy’s and they WON for Best Pop Duo. This acceptance speech has MANY layers for the keen eye: from the Smokey Robinson announcement to the audience reactions including J.Lo & Ben, Taylor Swift, Camilla Cabello and others. Do you see what I see?
P.S. I love how the internet qualifies Kim as “the first OPENLY transgender artist to have a #1” Hmmm... who was NOT “openly” trans with a #1. Get back to me on that.
P.P.S. October 19th, 2019 – I saw Kim for a third time at the Fox Theater in Oakland. Zero recall, and my calendar for the 20th says, “Oops hungover again”. Thankfully, me and Titos broke-up a long time ago and have super rarely seen each other since.
I’ve never had the chance to get Kim’s autograph in person and there’s a ton of Kim Petras forgeries for sale. I carefully bought the one you see here because of specific photographic proof of her signing this EXACT photo, as sold by a reputable seller. A lesson for serious autograph collectors who want authenticity.
CAITLYN PLUS …
Obviously, Caitlyn Jenner was a world-wide eye-catching transition in 2015, and you can read about my interaction with Bruce
https://www.bobbyatgloss.com/celebrity-list/jenner%2C-bruce?ref=Jenner%2C+Caitlyn
Even before Caitlyn, the media klieg light on trans, has shone on others like Laverne Cox and Candis Cayne. (Are there any famous FTM though? I’m only aware of Billy Tipton LIVING as a man, but an actual transition was never confirmed.) My first personal recognizance of trans even being an option or a “thing” was tennis player Renee Richards in the 70’s. But I was a tween and I really didn’t care or process.
CHASTITY/CHAZ BONO
But I did care about and process the transition of Chaz Bono. Now THAT was a “Whoah! Wait! What?” moment. I grew up loving cute Chastity Bono on “Sonny & Cher”. Now Cher’s daughter is going to be a man?!?! OMG – how will Cher handle this? Gay-icon Cher will probably be the most accepting and perfect mom for this circumstance. All these things were going through my head as the Chaz Bono transition was being covered in the media. Of course, reality turned out to be a little different that my candy-coated version of a happy change, and Cher’s initial reaction was not what I expected. Cher and Chaz are both strong, independent individuals who may butt heads, but a mother-child bond is resilient. Their post-transition embrace now seems to be complete with each accepting and respecting the other. As all parents and children should; in a perfect world.
I ran into Chaz once and it was pre-transition. Here’s the mental flashbacks of seeing Chaz. I was walking down Castro Street towards 18th Street on a warm day. I saw an outdoor table with some butch lesbians (Is that an inappropriate term now? If so, I’m sorry). But they caught my eye. (Was it in front of The Sausage Factory? It may have been and that would be ironic!) The reason they caught my eye is because one person who was slouched low in a chair with that wide-legged dude-sprawl looked directly at me and then quickly looked away. I know that look. That’s when a celebrity doesn’t want you to catch THEIR eye and recognize/bother them. Then it hit me that it was Chaz Bono. I didn’t do a double-take, I didn’t look back, I didn’t even think about getting an autograph. Sometimes, the vibe is clearly “Give me my space” – and I respect that. I also respect Chaz for BEING who he is and for turning in some fun acting performances, most notably in “American Horror Story: Cult”. (Ryan Murphy and his casting genius!) Luckily, I was able to add Chaz (when still signing as Chastity) to my collection later and now I have ALL the Bono’s (we’ll talk later about S&C)
Here's a beautiful, true and touching 2-minute trailer clip of Chastity/Chaz and Cher from “Becoming Chaz”
CHRISTINE JORGENSEN
The distinction of being the FIRST world-renowned trans belongs to Christine Jorgensen. I love that I found her LP for $3 at Community Thrift and was given this original glamour shot done by Maurice Seymour given to me by a friend. As is the case with so many “old-time” celebrities, I was first made aware of Christine Jorgensen from the Richard Lamparski “Whatever Became of …?” series of books. As a teenager, I just remember it being an interesting, quick 2 page read and a nice picture of Christine.
I didn’t go down the CJ rabbit hole until I added her signed autobiography to my collection. When I read the reviews of the autobiography and how vague, veiled and nicety-nice it was (hello, “Secrets of a Sparrow”) – I was compelled to dig deeper for the true story. Two books, a documentary, and several YouTube videos later, I find that Christine Jorgensen is simply fascinating! I 100% recommend “Becoming a Woman”. It’s very detailed, covers ALL of Christine’s life, birth through death, and much to my delight (and to the chagrin of a disgruntled Amazon reviewer) it is also very thorough regarding Christine’s financial dealings (to the DOLLAR).
(Trans)formation: The Story of Christine Jorgensen – 15 minutes with vintage footage through the years gives you a great overview:
There’s other footage on YouTube of Christine in various latter-day interviews, vintage footage clips and as the subject of various shorts. I think one worth watching is her actual Night Club Show from 1962. Just think of it as the classy old-school genesis of RuPaul’s Drag Race winners with their current “one-woman” shows. Christine was the first … she TRULY set the stage. Makin’ Whoopee, indeed!
ELLIOT PAGE
My most notable in-person experience with a Trans Star was Elliot Page during the release of his book. I really wanted to see what Elliot Page had to say about his transition. I wanted to hear what it’s like living in this world as the female star of “Juno”, “X-Men” and other vehicles, who has now transitioned into the male actor, Elliot Page. Elliot was promoting “Pageboy” at the Sydney Goldstein Theater on June 10th, 2023, and my niece Marina and I had 4th row seats. It was an eye-opening experience.
Elliot was interviewed by trans-comedian Jes Tom, who is also a close friend of Elliot’s. Since Jes is a comedian, there was a gentle, humorous vibe to the on-stage chat. Elliot seems very shy and reserved and many of the questions went unanswered with statements like “I’m not sure”, “I don’t really know”, “Let me get back to you on that one”, etc. I chalked this up to nerves, live stage and just watching a person who is still getting to know their true self and literally does NOT have the answers to some of the questions he was being asked.
Even though I live in San Francisco, which is mostly all-gender embracing, the security at the venue was heightened and super-cautious. Having to walk through metal detectors and scanned with a security wand upon entry, (which is the first time I’ve ever seen this at the theater), I could see immediately how this celebrity appearance would be different. The discussion and Q&A often focused not just on discrimination and online hate, but the physical threats and harm that could come to a person who is different – especially trans. Marina and I looked at each other like "huh?" when the term “trans-masc” was used. I then realized that the gender fluidity I see all around me (especially in San Francisco) is so much deeper than the outer appearance and we never TRULY know a person, until we do KNOW them. The instinctive, immediate labels that we might attach to many people – such as “straight man”, “butch lesbian”, “pretty girl”, etc. were completely blown out of the water as I watched people stand, identify themselves and ask questions. I was there to learn, understand the community more deeply and break down some of my own internal suppositions and prejudices.
And I can tell you that the “Pageboy” promotion with an on-stage interview of Elliot Page and the Q&A session with a largely LGBQTI (heavy on trans), audience was both edifying, mind-boggling and confusing. There is still so much to learn and understand about the diversity of our community.
Elliot’s gentle, accessible and light demeanor needed to be prodded along and it was clear to see that this is a person who is going through many life changes, still discovering himself and does not appear to be a natural extrovert. This really highlighted for me the difference between an actor who can be so powerful reading the script and following direction within an artful production, versus the real person inside who is projecting a persona for all of us to assume that the being we see on the screen is WHO that person is. So not true. Elliot is the opposite of “the star who maintains their image”. He is a real person, without the celebrity hoopla and bravado, who happens to be a very talented actor. (I saw “Hard Candy” AFTER seeing Elliot in person – and the bravura performance of Ellen/Elliot was intense and brilliant. It’s a must see.)
As is often the case with book promotional tours, we were given a pre-signed copy of “Pageboy” with our orchestra seats. But alas, as is also the case with mass signings, the quickly jotted signature is less than desirable and more of a hieroglyphic. But the knowledge I gained by being there was priceless.
Lastly, let’s touch on Nipsey Russell. You didn’t know he was trans?!?! Nawww – I’m joshin’ ya. He’s on this page because he has the distinction of being the interviewer on the “Christine Jorgensen Reveals” LP. I was thrown a bit when I found that out because the credit on the LP is “R. Russell” and I only knew Nipsey from being the Tin Man in the “The Wiz” and on lots of game shows when I was a kid. Who knew that he was an interviewer for the most famous trans in 1957?!?!
The audio of the whole LP is here with comments like “Do you take hormones?” “Is your audience primarily homosexual?” ”In the entertainment field there is a great predominance of homosexuality … that’s the reason why they ARE such good performers” “How do you feel about the PROBLEM of homosexuality?” etc. Christine handles the questions with great aplomb and much of what is asked (and answered) still applies to many people’s way of thinking (on both sides) to this day! I took particular note at the 17-minute mark where Nipsey asks about the public throwing “snide and nasty remarks” to her, his emphasis on certain words and what he was trying to elicit (THE SHADE!). Christine’s exquisite self-control and grace shines through.
Shout out to my nephew, who was very animatedly talking about the murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle at a Sunday dinner. I said to him “Do you know that Nipsey Hussle’s name is based on a comedian from the 60’s and 70’s named Nipsey Russell?”
Whatever, Xoomer
