For its 51st Anniversary, Provincetown’s annual Fantasia Fair has really embraced the need for change in both its name and nature. This week-long event back then was mainly for cross-dressers, and a few gender questioning people and its goal was to create a safe space in which they were accepted without judgment and can interact with their peers, plus advocate for their rights. In those early years, Fantasia Fair was ten days long and considered an event for heterosexual cross-dressers with most of the programs focused on personal presentation, and the registration fee, which included housing, was expensive.
By the 1990s, however, the nature of the attendees was more diverse, including trans men and trans women, cross-dressers, and genderqueer people of every sexual orientation. Reflecting this move toward inclusivity, the event’s name has now been changed to TransWeek.
It is, however, not merely a change in name but a recognition of how this part of the queer community is evolving and the need to embrace solidarity, \especially in this political climate where there is a rapidly growing transphobic movement that wants to destroy and banish anyone who is remotely gender queer.
Every day PTown’s Trans Week is filled with some exciting activities and events to inspire, educate, and entertain. There are workshops mornings and afternoons, with topics ranging from gender theory and transgender history and politics to personal grooming and voice training. Keynote speakers following every lunch, and there are special events every evening, like the Fashion Show, Follies, and Transgender Pioneer and Fantasia Fair Awards Banquets. You’ll learn from community leaders, helpful professionals, and your peers in formal and informal setting. Not only can you be your authentic selves but maybe yiou will follow in the footestpe of past attneddess who were inspired to go to become leaders in the transgender community.
Provincetown is a safe and friendly location with a strong LGBT community, and where we are proud of our judgement-free daily lives here where EVERYONE is safe
The Official Schedule is packed for the whole week from the Meet and Greet Opening Party on Sunday 19th October to the Farewell Breakfast on Sunday 26th October …see HERE for the complete list …. and you have the option to participate as much/or little as you want ……. Spending down- time here in this wee gem of a town at the tip of Cape Cod with such a large majority of LGBTQ residents, is in itself is a sheer joy. Take that from someone who gets to experience it every single day
