CROSSDRESSER RESPECT

With La Bella 2025 now behind me I can look forward to my next upcoming adventure. I can relax and do things at my pace with no demands on my time. All of my adventures involve public interactions. I am happy to say the level of crossdresser respect I experience is very high. Even though I personally reject the Transgender label I get lumped in there anyway. The places that I go either ignore me all together or read me and move on.

GIVING CROSSDRESSER RESPECT

I believe it is a give and take proposition when it comes to respect in general. Beyond crossdresser respect it pays to treat people well no matter how you are dressed. Regardless of if people see me as a crossdresser or transgender my actions reflect on both. Even in my daily role as a male I treat people respectfully and anticipate the the same in return. You can give respect but you cannot demand it because the world is full of A**holes not worthy your time.

The level of crossdresser respect I get from UBER and LYFT is a good example for this discussion. I use UBER for Micki and LYFT for Duke. Most of the drivers I encounter drive for both companies so the experiences are interchangeable for this discussion. None of the LYFT drivers get out of the car and open my door. Most either call me by my male name or call me sir which is expected. Some just pop the trunk and let me place my luggage inside. They are typically friendly although I have been annoyed at some not speaking English.

UBER I use exclusively for Micki and some drivers do not use female pronouns but do call me Micki. A tiny few have called me sir which I have no problem with. I always use my male voice so calling me sir is a natural response for someone not T.G. savvy. That one is on me but some do get it and refer to me with female pronouns. Fewer and fewer get out of the car and open my door as time goes on. I tip according to how I am treated so friendliness, female pronouns, and open doors pays off. The same goes for loading my own luggage with lazy LYFT drivers.

There are typically no problems with the hospitality industry as servers, bartenders, hostesses and others figured it out long ago. I also have never had a negative encounter with the general public other than 20 years ago in San Francisco.

I turned a corner and crossed paths with a guy in his 30’s as we were entering a hotel lobby. San Francisco was very accepting and so I was unprepared for his look of revulsion. His face contorted like there was puss coming out of my eyes and I was covered in moss. It was like a dagger in the heart for me and I started down the self loathing path again. I quickly recovered after thinking it was not an issue of lack of crossdresser respect. Rather he just had no experience with crossdressers so his reaction was one of shock not disrespect. I did take some joy that if I bothered him. His weekend in San Francisco had a whole lot more in store for him.

Happily like I have said previously the majority of my encounters with the outside world demonstrate crossdresser respect. I see online headlines about travel warnings being given for transgender people coming to the USA from other country’s. Based on my experiences I don’t think those warning are warranted other than using the ladies room. We all have to deal with that issue which can be planned for with a little advance thinking. I have considered traveling to Canada for one of my adventures but would never just go there without planning. While I have been there many times as Duke it has never been as Micki which is different. I would do my due diligence well in advance and not make dangerous assumptions. At a minimum, I would check out what areas to avoid. Every city has these areas. It’s better to know before finding out the hard way.

I think if we all show more respect for everyone we encounter. The crossdresser respect we desire will come to us. This is especially true for keyboard warriors on social media.