Descriptions of Events

2022 Keynotes

(Listed by Day)

2022 Workshops & Events

(Listed Alphabetically by Event Title)

2nd Annual Comic Bingo Festival
Austin Tyler and Carrie Lopes
Last year’s hit sensation is back: The Comic Bingo Festival, as the name implies! Prepare yourself for a night of laughs, fun, and community with your fellow Fairgoers. When you enter, you’ll be given a book of bingo cards and you can pick your favorite colored dauber. Winners of each game will be entered into a drawing for the prizes. Bingo, you say? And a comedy show? is that true? It’s both! This spectacular event will also be the annual scholarship fundraiser. Baskets will be passed, with every dollar donated going towards bringing people to the Fair who otherwise would not have the means to attend. Your support is greatly appreciated! There will be a cash bar available.

For more information, please see the Comic Bingo page page.

Workshop:
A Brief History of Gender Variance on the Stage and in Motion Pictures
Dallas Denny
Even before the accession of that bearded bard from Stratford-on-Avon, the Elizabethan stage was known for raucous gender-bending themes and crossdressed actors. This continued in vaudeville and pantomime traditions and eventually in early cinema, where it has remained a staple to this day.

Come learn about and experience this richness of entertainment, which has recently evolved into serious portrays of transgender characters, and, only of late, transgender actors portraying both cis and trans characters in films and on television. Profusely illustrated.

AFTER HOURS at Tin Pan Alley
Fairgoers meet after the conclusion of scheduled activities to socialize, talk, and share some laughs. It has been said that the late-night activities are the heart and soul of the Fair! Our late-night gathering spot is Tin Pan Alley, which is centrally located at 269 Commercial Street and has a wonderful quaint piano bar in the front. The entire back dining room will be available exclusively for registered Fair attendees. Don’t forget your badge for entry. There will be a variety of drink specials and free nightly hot hors d’oeuvres exclusively for Fairgoers every night, beginning at 10 pm. Expect to see Fair organizers and staff, first-timers, seasoned Fairgoers, and the person with whom you just had lunch!

Workshop:
Being True to Yourself and Your Partner
Elise
This is a conversational workshop about the dynamics that might exist between a crossdresser and their partner. This is an open forum to exchange views and ideas without prejudice and perhaps offer insight into the who, what, when, where, why, and how crossdressing fits into an atypical lifestyle. Bring your questions to this relaxed and non-confrontational conversation.

Workshop:
Catholics in the Closet: How we can celebrate original grace by being transgender and catholic
Sr. Alice
“To submit to the guidance of traditional religion is to submit to a terrible kind of spiritual rape but to reject it is to face a terrible spiritual loneliness.” This challenge is acute for many recovering Catholics and other Christians, and a “stubborn itch” for others.
Religion is a powerful purveyor of history, identity, and tradition—power in a very deep sense. This workshop proposes it is possible, indeed, needed for the transgender community to claim that power as its own. This workshop invites the transgender perspective into the closet of religious recovery and discovery.

For some, it’s fun to Catholic bash, but with enough (hard) work the Christian message can show that the universe is a very hospitable place.

Celebration Banquet & Dance Party
DJ Andrew Lenox
Celebrate the first full day of Transgender Week with the organizing committee and your new friends. We collectively have so much to be thankful for, and what better way to celebrate than with an old-fashioned Thanksgiving family feast followed by dancing.

For more information, please see the Celebration Banquet page page.

Dress casually and comfortably, or don your best pilgrim costume. Since Provincetown is the original landing spot of the Pilgrims, you will be right at home. As dinner winds down, the dance floor heats up with contemporary and timeless tunes.

COMMON THREADS Fashion SHOW!
Cody Suzuki & Nick Greiner
Welcome all once again to our Common Threads Fashion Show! Land Ahoy! Our Ship Has Come In!

As we all know, the Mayflower first landed here in Provincetown, bringing ashore our Founding Forefolks with their dreams to begin a new life, living freely as they wished. Let’s continue their legacy right here at Transgender Week. Common Threads brings together a show of fashion to the story the outfit speaks, taking the threads of our dreams as we weave them into reality.

Be assured our Common Threads Fashion Show is open to all Fair attendees, partners, and presenters.

For more information, please see the Common Threads Fashion Show page page.

Fantasia Fair Follies
Rhonda Williams & Nick Greiner
Come see some of the community’s brightest new talents, both professional and amateur, in this charity fund-raising cabaret and talent show.

For more information, please see the Follies page.

Farewell Breakfast
Come as you are to the Farewell Breakfast, where you can partake in a good hearty breakfast before you head home. The restaurant will open up early for those who want to get an early start on their journey home. The breakfast is long enough so attendees can pop in and out as they prepare to leave Provincetown. If you need to leave very early and can’t make it, so long until next year!

Workshop:
Finding Your Voice: Songwriting and Performance Workshop at the Brasswood Inn
Jessye DeSilva, singer/songwriter
Join Jessye (they/them) for a discussion about songwriting and a live performance at the Brasswood Inn. If you are a performer, bring your music and instrument and feel free to share. If you’re a lover of music, come listen to how the creative process works and hear some original music. All are welcome! Check out Jessye’s music at www.jessyedmusic.com

Gala Awards Banquet
Dee LaValle
The annual Gala Awards Banquet is the highlight of the week! Show off your finest threads in this black-tie affair and congratulate this year’s award recipients. For a complete list of previous awardees, please visit our website www.fanfair.info/awards.

For more information, please see the Banquet page.

Activity:
Gallery Walkabouts
Denise Victoria
Monday
• Stewart Clifford Gallery, 338 Commercial Street
• Woodman Shimko Gallery, 346 Commercial Street
• On Center Gallery, 352 Commercial Street

Wednesday
• Bakker Gallery, 359 Commercial Street
• Greg Salvatori Gallery, 366 Commercial Street
• Bowersock Fine Art Gallery, 373 Commercial Street

Friday
• Frederick Studio, 237 Commercial Street
• Thanassi Galleries, 234 Commercial Street
• Julie Tremblay, 277 Commercial Street

Workshop:
Gel Polish for Nails!!!
Jossy Lopez
Gel or regular nail polish manicure for whoever wants one! If you wish to reach :Jossey outside the workshop, send an email to: info@fantasiafair.org.

Group Photo
Dan McKeon
Please join us for a group photo! There are two dates scheduled for this, with the second being the rain date.

Workshop:
Hacking the toy chest: sex toys, dysphoria, and pleasure
Nick Greiner
As our understanding of ourselves and our needs has changed and evolved, so have our connections with our bodies. And over time, the adult toy industry has evolved as well. While there are few toys created specifically with us in mind, the combination of new designs, technology, and types of sensations provided opens the door for us to find less dysphoric ways to understand and interact with our bodies. I will have some examples of new types of products available and will talk about how to look past the label to find what can work for you. By reframing our needs and expectations and being aware of what is available, hopefully we can bridge our minds and our bodies in a way that minimizes dysphoria and maximizes our pleasure.

Ides Of Gender Photo Exhibit
Ides of Gender is an ongoing photo series celebrating the trans community in all 49 continental US states plus Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Washington DC. The series started in 2017. With 104 portraits being exhibited at The Crown & Anchor during Transgender Week, the focus of the series is on the diversity and richness of the trans experience.

Open daily during off-hours throughout TransWeek, in the Library Room

Join the creator, Zach Oren, for an exclusive tour on Friday, Oct. 21st at 4:30 pm.

Workshop:
Image Consulting
Hera Navassardian
A teaching showcase on how to put together a NEW YOU thru image consulting.

Workshop:
It Ain’t Me, Babe–But maybe It Is (Cis partners only)
Maureen Osborne, PhD, & Carole MacKenzie, LCSW
This workshop will focus on the journey of the non-transgender member of the relationship. It will shift the conversation to their needs and challenges.
Focus Questions:
What does being the partner of a transgender person mean about you? How has it changed you? What have you learned? What are the losses and what are the gains? How does this fact fit into the larger frame of your individual life story? How do you feel as a cis partner in cis and trans spaces? How do you see the future?

Kick-Off Brunch
Dee LaValle
Monday morning is the annual kick-off brunch; you’ll have a chance to mingle with your new friends and find out what to expect during the week. We’ll point out who is responsible for what, where to get the latest information, and talk about the various happenings of the week. We’ll explain this year’s programs and features in detail. At the end of the presentation, stick around to help us fill volunteer needs for the week.
Workshop:
Lost in the Pink Fog
Liz Winter
You finally made it to Provincetown, and Transgender Week was the most fabulous experience of your life. You’re pumped up, full of new self-confidence, and unable to think about anything but expressing yourself in your preferred gender role. Back at home, the world seems drab and you chafe at having to hide part of yourself from your family, friends, and co-workers. You want to burst forth, heedless of consequences, and proclaim yourself to the world, and you think you just might.

Congratulations. You’re in the Pink Fog. The Pink Fog (Blue Fog for FTMs, and we suppose Lavender Fog for nonbinary folks) is the state of euphoria we experience when we take our gender expression to a new level. It’s a dangerous time to make decisions, and yet a time when we most want to. Come talk about the Pink Fog with your peers and get suggestions on how to find your way out of it. Highly recommended for first timers.

Lunch
Five lunches and a brunch are included with your full-week registration. These meals are in various restaurants, all within easy walking distance from the center of town. When you check in at the office to get your registration packet, you’ll receive a sheet of tickets for the restaurants you pre-selected at registration. You’ll need these tickets when you arrive for lunch. Tickets are good only for the date and location printed on them.

Workshop:
Macrame! Anyone
Rhonda Williams
You learned how at age 9 or 10 at summer camp. In the 70s you had avocado green and goldenrod colored plant hangers all around your house. You probably even had some wall hangings of owls or intricate weaving with random sticks. What is it? Macrame! Come join us at this off-the-beaten-path workshop to remember your skills at making friendship bracelets, key chains, or whatever you want. All materials are provided, and you take what you make!

Workshop:
Meet and Chat with Trans Legend Jude Patton
Jude Patton with Dallas Denny
Come meet long-time pioneering trans activist Jude Patton. Learn his story, learn how he (and others) made things better for us, and just get to know him. Jude is a personable man, a fine human being, and a hero because of his decades of service.

Workshop:
Meet Your Fellow Couples: Telling (or Updating) Our Unique Love Stories (Couples in Attendance Only)
Maureen Osborne, PhD, & Carole MacKenzie, LCSW
In this workshop for couples only, we will give ourselves the time and space to meet fellow travelers and tell our stories in a safe and supportive environment. Intended for first-timers as well as couples who have been coming to FanFair for years.
Focus Questions:
How long have you been together? How did you meet? When and how did you hear about your partner’s transgender nature? How are you both handling that now? Do you have children? If so, tell us about them. Who among your family and friends know about the transgender part of your relationship? How has that been? What is the best thing about your relationship? The most difficult?

Night Out on the Town!
Part of what makes Transgender Week special is it takes place in Provincetown. Few places are as accepting and affirming as our host city, and here you will be safe, respected, and honored, whatever your gender presentation. Fairgoers are encouraged to explore the restaurants, bars, and dance clubs of Provincetown. As you plan your dinner reservations for your nights out at the Fair, please try to support our advertisers, who have supported the Fair in this Participant’s Guide and on our website. When making your choices, please be sure to tell the wait staff and manager you saw their ad in this guide. There are a variety of fine restaurants to choose from in all cuisines and price ranges, all within walking distance or, for those wearing sky-high stilettos, a short cab ride from the center of town. See page 42 earlier in this guide for more information.

Workshop:(Couples in Attendance only-split sessions)
Not What I Bargained For – Reimagining Emotional and Physical Intimacy.
Maureen Osborne, PhD. (Cis partner in attendance only in this session)
Carole MacKenzie, LCSW (Trans partner in attendance only in this session)
A loss of intimacy is the most often reported casualty of a relationship in which one partner comes out as trans. We will explore the many reasons for this and will dig into practical strategies for reclaiming emotional closeness and sexual expression against the daunting headwinds of trust damage and perceived changes in sexual orientation.
Focus Questions:
What changes in sexual and/or emotional intimacy have you experienced in relation to one partner coming out as trans? How have they affected you individually and as a couple? What do you need in order to rework the underpinnings of intimacy in your relationship? What about you and/or your partner gets in the way? What are you willing to try to change these patterns? Can you have satisfactory emotional intimacy even if sexual intimacy is not part of your relationship?

Office Hours and Check-In
Even if you registered in advance, you still need to check in! This is just like having to check in at a hotel, even though you booked a room in advance. During check-in, you’ll get an Identification badge and a sheet of tickets you’ll need to gain entrance to the many events that take place throughout the week. You’ll also receive a packet of goodies, which will include a welcome letter, a map of Provincetown, a printed copy of the schedule for the week, a printed copy of the Participant’s Guide, a TransWeek 2022 charm and pin in a commemorative insulated lunch bag to hold it all! You can also visit the office if you want to switch the next days lunch location.

Open Mic Night
Cody Suzuki & Abby Saypen
Let’s together delve into the gender spectrum with our words, stories, songs, and music as only we can! Welcoming all genders, we open with verbal expression followed by musical expressions as we are promoting and encouraging a better understanding of ourselves and our community with our expressions. Bring along your words, stories, and instruments for all to enjoy!

Get this show rollin’! Sign-up sheet available at the door. Come early to reserve your spot!

For more information, please see the Common Open Mic Night page.

Opening Night Welcome Reception
Planning Committee / Welcome Team
After a long day of travel, relax with your old friends and meet your new friends downstairs at the Boatslip, 161 Commercial Street. Come dressed formally, come dressed casually, come dressed as a guy, or come dressed as a girl, or your gender-nonconforming self—just come by and enjoy yourself!

Workshop:
Passabilities: A Group Discussion
Dallas Denny
Much has been written about passing as our target gender. What IS passing? What does it mean? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it both? Should we endeavor to pass, or should we be proudly trans—and is doing both even possible? How do the bodies nature gives us and the changes medical science can bring affect our ability to pass? Does anyone pass ALL the time? Does anyone NEVER pass? What about those with nonbinary gender identities? How does passing affect us in our daily lives and (for some of us) our transitions? What are your personal experiences? Come join this group discussion. Share your stories, listen, and learn. Don’t expect magical solutions to this perpetual issue, but we guarantee you’ll walk away with lots of think about.

Workshop:
Photo Tweaking
Rhonda Williams
Approximately a zillion photos are taken at each Fair. Some are good, some are…not so good. Some need a little, shall we say, enhancing, to make them just perfect. Well, let’s have a photo tweaking workshop with Photoshop! Whether or not you have this software doesn’t matter; it’s fun just the same. You will see demonstrations on correcting things like red-eye, blemishes, hair blown across the face, and other tools to enhance your photos. Help yourself take the perfect photos—in post-production, that is. Though this is not a hands-on class, you are certain to be entertained and amazed by what you see.

Workshop:
Policing in Provincetown & Beyond
Officer Jennifer Nolette
This workshop will provide a history of policing in Provincetown in regards to the LGBT community. This workshop will describe how we, as the Provincetown Police Department, strive to make sure the trans community feels protected and safe while in our town. We will discuss the anatomy of a hate crime, including the dynamics of hate incidents and bias indicators. Even if an incident does not rise to the level of a hate crime, we will explain why it is important for people to report the incident to the police. Additionally, we will discuss how to be a good witness and what to expect after you report an incident to the police.

Significant Others—Daily Meet and Greet Gathering (For cisgender partners only)
Jossy Lopez
This is a relaxed, safe space to connect with other SOs who are attending the Fair. Come share a coffee, ask questions, and figure out how to get the most out of your time at the Fair. These daily gatherings are recommended for all SOs.

Significant Others—Daily Meet and Greet Gathering
Jossy Lopez (For cisgender partners only)
This is a relaxed, safe space to connect with other SOs who are attending the Fair. Come share a coffee, ask questions, and figure out how to get the most out of your time at Fantasia Fair. These daily gatherings are recommended for all SOs.

Significant Others—Get Acquainted Lunch (Dutch Treat)
Jossy Lopez
If you are the cisgender significant other of a transgender or nonbinary person attending the Fair, you are cordially invited to join the other SOs for a dutch-treat lunch. Get to know each other, share experiences, swap advice, and hear how to get the most out of the Fair. You’ll discover that we share a lot in common! You can meet us at the Lobster Pot or walk down as a group after the kick off presentation concludes. (For cisgender partners only).

Significant Others—Goodbye Circle (For cisgender partners only)
Jossy Lopez
A look back at the week and a chance to trade contact information, plus get a lot of hugs!

Workshop:
Stand By Me: Being Trans in a Committed Relationship with a Cisgender Partner (All trans people in a relationship are invited)
Maureen Osborne, PhD.
This workshop will focus on the trans member of a relationship and the challenges they have faced in trying to balance their needs for gender expression/transition with the needs of their cisgender partner to catch up with the new context this presents for them.
Focus Questions:
How and when did you come out to your spouse as trans? Was it a long-anticipated relational ripple or an unexpected tsunami? If you are still together, how are you dealing with the day-to-day dilemmas of balancing your needs against your partner’s? How do you manage the problem of your changing needs, i.e., the moving target issue? If your relationship did not survive, what were the reasons, as you see them? How does this reality fit into the larger frame of your individual life history? How do you see the future?

Sunday Worship Service
Transgender Week attendees have been worshiping at Provincetown’s UU Meeting House for more than 40 years. Join together in fellowship with your friends and P’Town natives for contemplation and worship.

The Grand Finale TransWeek 2022 Closing Party
We can’t let the Fair end without one final late-night gathering. Tonight, right after the Gala Awards Banquet’s final remarks have concluded, join us for a private closing party just for Fair attendees. There will be food, music, libations, and plenty of your friends gathering one last time as we bid farewell and sing Auld Lang Syne to TransWeek 2022 in style. For more information, please see the event earlier in this guide on page 54.

Workshop:
Town Hall Meeting: Community Responses to Anti-Trans Legislation and Policies
Dallas Denny & Jamison Green, Moderators
The rights of transgender and nonbinary people are under attack on a broad front. In 2021, 34 states introduced anti-trans bills. The primary areas of attack are trans-affirming care for teens and children and sports and public access, but the ultimate agenda of anti-trans right-wing politicians and religious fundamentalists is to strip us of all rights—to paraphrase trans-exclusionary radical feminist Janice Raymond, “morally mandate us out of existence.” Laws and governmental directives are already in place in some states, and punishments are draconian. For instance, a proposed bill in Idaho would make providing treatment to children a felony punishable by lifelong imprisonment. The danger is immediate and real, and requires a coordinated response from our community.

Long-time activist Jamison Green will introduce the issue via Zoom, and then audience members will be asked to give voice to their feelings and suggest ways to counteract these attacks. We ask for your ears and your reactions to this dire situation. Come prepared to ask questions and give your opinions.

Trans Attendees—Daily Meet and Greet Gathering
Welcome Team
This is a relaxed, safe space to come to connect with others who are attending the Fair. Come share a coffee and talk about how to get the most out of your time at Transgender Week. It’s a great way to start your day. If you have questions, our facilitators will be able to point you in the right direction. All are welcomed and encouraged to attend, especially first-timers.

Workshop:
Transcribe and Transform: A Writing Workshop
Carolyn Wolf-Gould
The process of writing in a group can have deep and lasting value, both as a way to find voice for one’s experience and to create a caring community. This one-time workshop uses brief writing exercises as a means to build community and to explore our experiences from the unique perspective that each individual brings. Participants will be asked to respond in writing to diverse prompts and then further asked (but not required!) to share their writing with others in the group. You don’t need to be a professional writer—we ignore grammar, spelling and punctuation. We ask only that you come with a willingness to put words on a page, and possibly share them. Through the writing, we hope to get to know one another more fully and also ponder the impact of identifying as TG, or of knowing someone who is TG, in a safe, nurturing environment. All members of the trans community and their allies (SOs, extended family, friends, advocates, providers, etc.) are welcome.

Volunteer Planning
Sibil Greiner
If you want to get the most out of your Transgender Week experience, then get involved! Find out about opportunities to volunteer throughout the week in this brief get-together.

Workshop:
Vulvas 101: Anatomy, Physiology, and Mythology of Sex for Humans Identified Female at Birth
Carole MacKenzie, LCSW
Carole MacKenzie, LCSW, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Supervisor (Emeritus) and Certified Friend of the Fair, taught Human Sexual Behavior at the University of Hartford for 21 years. Astonishingly, she learned she didn’t know what she thought she knew, for instance that the vulva is not the vagina. Really. It’s like calling your entire face your mouth. So come join her to talk about some stuff you already knew or didn’t know and wish you did, or wish you didn’t. Bring a mirror and we’ll all take a look at ourselves-or not. KIDDING! This is open to cis and transfolks alike; gender is not the main event but it certainly matters in the course of human sexual development.

Activity:
Walking Tour (Tour time will be about 1.75 hours)
Carrie Lopes
Experience the sites of Provincetown in this fun and informative tour that focuses on the history and architecture of this seaside community. Your guide, Carrie, is retired from the Provincetown Police Department, where she was responsible for touring the new police recruits around town as part of their orientation. Today you will be the new recruits as Carrie leads you through the fabulous streets and quaint hidden ways to discover stories about the town. Please wear your comfortable walking shoes.

Workshop:
Working to Define and to Communicate Your Needs, and to Negotiate with Your Partner Fairly. (Couples in Attendance Only)
Maureen Osborne, PhD & Carole MacKenzie, LCSW
Whatever the state or stage of your relationship, there are special challenges in a cis/trans relationship, among them a loss of trust, a need for re-definition of self, potential disruptions in family ties, and a crisis of intimacy. Such challenges require self-examination, fearless and mutually respectful dialogue, and negotiation. We will look at some principles and strategies that should ease the way.
Focus Questions:
How do you handle conflict in your relationship? Does one person give in more often? Do you speak your mind or are you easily silenced? How do you ask for what you need? Do you know what you need? When your feelings change, can you slow things down or ask for more without risking hurt or alienation? Is one partner better with words than the other? Do you feel that one person has more power, and if so, why? What agreements have you made that feel as if they’ve been violated? Are there mitigating factors? Is intentionality important? Can you discern and communicate what you need from your partner in order to feel safe again in your relationship? Is there any part of your reaction to perceived trust violations that has its roots in your own family and relationship history? Is there anything that you do that makes it less likely for your partner to treat you in a trustworthy way.

Wrap-up session (Couples in Attendance Only)
Maureen Osborne, PhD & Carole MacKenzie, LCSW
In the first half of this final session, Carole and Maureen will do their best to respond to unaddressed questions and topics not covered during the week. There are no dumb questions! Then, each couple will have an opportunity to share what they have learned in these sessions and to commit to one thing they want to do differently going forward, based on what they’ve learned. If you attended in previous years and made the “do one thing differently” commitment, please let us know how that worked out.

Workshop:
Your Ideas for the Future of Transgender Week
Dee LaValle
To continue to prosper, the Fair must grow and evolve, along with its participants. This session is dedicated to hearing your thoughts concerning the Fair, what works, and what might be improved. We also will be discussing specific roles that may be of interest if you wish to help or get involved. There is no need to volunteer for anything at this session, but please do come and share your thoughts. The Fair needs you, please consider getting involved!