Open Forum: Halloween and the Trans Community

Scores of transgender people who are beginning the coming out process have used Halloween as an opportunity to be cross-dressed in public for the first time. The idea is that everyone is dressing up, and many people who are cisgender dress as the opposite sex, making it a safe opportunity for a trans person to express their gender identity while also not fully disclosing it.

Have you or anyone you know used Halloween as an opportunity to explore your gender variance or identity? Do you think this is a good tactic for coming out or do you feel it only furthers the social stigma and fear that trans people are somehow "lying" and "masking" their identity?

Word of the Gay: "Bitch's Christmas"

The term a "Bitch's Christmas" refers to Halloween, October 31st which has become a gay holiday of sorts filled with drag and costume parties.