In March, RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality competition show in search of “America’s Next Drag Superstar,” featured a mini-game called “Female or She-male.” Contestants looked at pictures of bodies and tried to guess whether the person in the picture was a drag queen or a cisgender (not transgender) woman. This prompted a backlash from many transgender activists, who were upset by the nature of the segment and its use of the word “shemale,” which GLAAD explains is a term that “dehumanizes transgender people and should not be used.”

After an initially weak response to the outcry, Logo TV, the LGBT-focused network that airs Drag Race, announced it was pulling the episode and also cutting the “You’ve got She-mail!” segment that has been part of every episode of the show over its six seasons. Despite the resolution, the incident has continued to be a flashpoint about how the visibility of drag …

I’m not into topping—but plenty of other trans women are. I asked some (and a few straight guys who bottom) what it’s like for them.

There are two reasons why I do not top: One, topping takes a lot of effort, and I prefer not to work up a sweat. Two, I’m a non-op trans woman, and the only position that I’m in when I penetrate a partner with my penis is one of existential vulnerability.

I’ve passed on most requests to top because I felt like my womanhood was at stake. If I were to leave the bottom, I would be moving away from the sexual expectation to which straight cis women are held: to be penetrated. When I do top, my partner’s desire feels more ambiguous: What am I to him?

This anxiety colored the first time I did it, an exception made for my former high school …

Thailand is widely considered a paradise of transgender acceptance. But the realities of life as a so-called “ladyboy” don’t always reflect that reputation. We spoke with three members of the transgender community there to get a clearer picture.

It is a hot, sunny midday in May and Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, 45, is standing on an overgrown lot in her hometown of Nakhon Ratchasima. The house where she grew up once stood here, and she begins crying quietly. They are tears of sentiment. And they are tears for her mother, who is in a hospital not far away and for whom Tanwarin is full of gratitude.

When she made the decision to transition, her mother immediately supported her, Tanwarin says. Later, her mother even recommended that she wear more stylish dresses.

Tanwarin is wearing a laced skirt and Chucks, a digital watch and lipstick. She has also — again, thanks to her …

We’re expected to lose virginity on a special night with someone we love, so we can remember it forever. Like many high schoolers, I couldn’t wait to lose my virginity. But unlike any high schooler I knew, I had extenuating circumstances that prevented it: I was born transgender.

Ever since I was six years old, I fantasized about what my life would be like as a woman. I had no interest in losing my virginity — or doing anything sexual — as a “boy.”
Having sex with the body I was born in didn’t feel right; I was uncomfortable with myself, and I knew I wasn’t “gay.”
So while I had opportunities to have sex prior to transitioning, I was disinterested, and I’m proud that I waited.

Our story started in middle school.
I was in 8th grade; he was in 6th. I was his homeroom mentor. The first day …