Websites
The web needs no introduction. You’re actually using it right now, did you know? Since it attained widespread public usership in the mid 90s, it’s been the default way for people in various subcultures to connect and communicate, and we’re no different.
Above: Martian Successor Nadesico at her computer
A lot of the content of these sites is somewhat difficult to separate from my own opinions about trans stuff. The material in the magazines section were often compiled by large groups of people, with clear messaging and often at least some amount of thought for futureproofing. Websites are often very individual in their focus and creation, and that tends to carry with it some more volatility to that end. But on the other hand, they’re often also extremely earnest looks at how people thought at the time of writing and how they interfaced with all the cultural nonsense we’re constantly inundated with, and I find it hard to get that up in arms about any of that because I know I'm doing it too. If you want to know what trans people thought about themselves, each other, and the world in a more unfiltered way, personal sites are a fantastic place to start.
Transsexual.org and the Jenniverse – Updated between 1998 and 2009, Transsexual.org was a work of Jennifer Diane Reitz which aimed to be an educational resource for and about the trans community, which also features mailbag and biographical content.
Reitz also runs or has run about a billion other websites and projects that are worth thumbing through in their own right. Otakuworld.com is an anime fansite run by her and her partners, featuring a lot of reviews for things, but also a large library of downloadable “toys” such as screensavers and desktop pets. Seemingly last updated in 2014 and most active in the late 90s. Reitz’ main hub page is the Jenniverse, last updated in 2022.
Also I stole the background texture for this layout from Transsexual.org. Sorry Mrs. Reitz thank you Mrs. Reitz.
Genderpsychology.org – Updated between 1998 and 2008. Dr. Wyndzen transitioned while going to school for psychology and has a very interesting perspective on a lot of transition pseudoscience that was around at the time as someone who was deeply wrapped up in academic psychology herself. The site also features some more standard educational or biographical articles. The page has an extensive list of webring connections that seem to all be broken links. Very frustrating! When I'm online I wanna click links!
TGForum.com – Current site contains articles from 2006-present, though content dating back to 1996 can be accessed through web archive. TG Forum is an online magazine/blog discussing trans news, media and other sorts of topics, and occasionally hosts comic strips. There is a proper forum but it’s mainly about the blog posts. This site is somewhat hard to use due to limited navigational features, but as of writing, page 191 is 2006 and you can kind of guesstimate what page you want from that. Once you get past that barrier there’s a lot of fun and interesting stuff on there.
Susan’s place – Forum with posts dating 2005-present, run by Susan Larson. If you’re here you probably don’t need me to explain this one to you. It’s her place.
AquaP – Japanese language blog updated 2000-2013. I’m not sure how exactly the author Furi-nyan identifies, but they’ve done a lot of crossdressing and crossplay. A lot of the blog is about anime, games, and motorsports. Fairly well-preserved links section with some other similar blogs and oekaki pages.
