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Crossdressing Texas Style

TG LIFE's New Columnist, Gwen Garner Explores The Austin, Texas TG Nightlife!

Dateline: June 19, 2007
Location: Austin, TX

I woke up in a haze of sleepiness with a tinge of disappointment lurking from the night before. Here I was in a new place, a place I had heard great things about & being a fresh-faced newcomer, I was looking for the start of my adventure. The night before was my first night out "undercover," but not knowing the local wild life or hotspots, I put myself out in the world without a plan or ally; was paying for that decision by the slow throbbing in my head from the extra drinks used as confidence builders; social lubricants. Just then, the pager vibrates; starts its buzzy dance toward the edge of the nightstand...

...Incoming transmission from the Department of Transgender Affairs...

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to observe & document the local transgender community & their related sociological groups. Austin, Texas will be your home base & we expect monthly updates. Now go get 'em, kid & have fun!

...End...

I was ecstatic. Austin is such a cool & funky town that being able to document the life & lifestyles of the "kewl kids" here would be a privilege. But I was still a bit rough from the night before & was in desperate need of a refresh, so I picked up the phone & called the girls at Salon Muse for an appointment.

Salon Muse (map) specializes in helping girls get out in the world. The proprietress, Jon Davis aka Beth Boye’, is a nationally known makeup artist & has been part of the community in Austin for many years. Previously known as Transformations, the demand for Beth's talents have allowed her to graduate from a small central Austin studio to a fully stocked, totally hip salon on West Lynn street. Makeup artist & stylist MeChelle Salinas is also on staff & can masterfully sculpt gorgeous women from a lump of testosterone-riddled clay. The salon is a comfortable place modeled in a funky South Austin vibe & is very reasonable. They will absolutely get you looking your best which is important in my case as I can use all the help I can get after a long night's partying. So after the refresher, I felt like a million & was ready to hit the town.

Austin is a great city for girls like us. Since it's a college town where the population swells by 50,000 every fall semester, it has a lefty liberal lean & Travis county is usually the only blue Hawaii surrounded by a Pacific ocean of red. But the liberalness lends well to "being yourself" just about anywhere within the city boundaries as most adopt a "Live & Let Live" attitude towards others.

Personally, for me, I'm much more comfortable down south as that's the home of the "Keep Austin Weird" movement. It seems people who live in the southern zip codes are more open, friendly & "whatever floats your boat" types than the neighborhoods up north (but with any generalization, there are plenty of places up north that could fit that description as well). If you're a newly activated undercover agent, your best bets & places where you'll be more comfortable (with one *big* exception) will probably be somewhere down south or central.

So where are some of these places, you might ask? For those girls that are new to the field, here's the list of "safe" places around Austin I've found:'Bout Time (map) - This is an absolute icon of the transgender world here in Austin. The bar is right off Rundberg & 1-35 which from the outside, doesn't look like much, but come the weekend, it becomes Austin's transgender homebase. If you have never gone out in public before or you have a few times & just don't know where to go, 'Bout Time would be the best place as it's filled with all kinds of friendly & accepting people. Saturday nights is the best time to go & they usually have a drag show starting at 11:00pm.

Charlie's (map) is located on Lavaca street just past 12th downtown & is also the sister bar to 'Bout Time. Charlie's is much more of a gay club than the mixed patronage you get at 'Bout Time but it's still a friendly & accepting place. There is usually a small cover on the weekends but that is usually offset by the cheap drinks inside. Most Thursday nights starting around midnight there is a drag show with girls that come up from San Antonio & Houston as well as some of the locals. Rain on 4th (map) is located, surprisingly, at 4th & Lavaca. The place is full of all types of people but it's primarily a gay bar. Although a safe place for undercover girls, the clientele tends to be a little younger (mid 20's) & most of the girls who show up tend to be gorgeous so don't be intimidated. Inside, the music is so loud that there's not much of an opportunity to talk but there's a backyard (usually crowded) where you don't have to yell as much to others.

Don't miss Hedda Layne's appearances on the first Sunday of every month. She is amazing...

Right next to Rain is the new Oil Can Harry's. Not so long ago, the former owners of the place weren't very friendly to undercover girls requiring that the picture on your legal id must match your current "presentation." Now under new management, Oil Can's is now very friendly & undercover girls needn't worry about that old door trick (especially when Glenn is manning the door; you won't meet a nicer front man anywhere!). The bar itself underwent a makeover & now has ample space for dancing as well as a nice tiered backyard. On the weekends, most of the girls will go back & forth between Rain & Oil Can's throughout the night so you tend to run into the people you know multiple times. Like Rain, Oil Can's is loud inside for dancing but in the side bar as well as outside, the sonic level is low enough for conversation without blowing a vocal cord.

I've been to many other clubs in Austin & have never had much of a problem from the "establishment" but I have had a confused look or two from some of the patrons. If that doesn't bother you, Austin's your oyster. Otherwise you can stick to the above list & not worry about pesky things like that & enjoy yourself.

As far as restaurants are concerned, you can go just about anywhere in Austin. I've heard of very few places that have ever had any type of problem so you can pretty much go anywhere. Places I know where girls go frequently are:

El Mercado on south First street (map). They have cheap & good Mexican food as well as good drink prices on the weekend. It's a good place to start out by having a few drinks & some nachos before heading out to downtown for the night.

Kerbey Lane Cafe (map) is another local place that is known to cater to the girls. I've heard stories of some girls being hassled from some of the customers but never from the wait staff or management (that complaint came from the one located in north Austin & not from the locations located downtown or south Lamar). The food is good, nicely priced & is a great bet for breakfast after a night of partying.

Star Seeds Cafe (map) off I-35. Star Seeds was actually the first restaurant I ever went out in public (that night would make a good column in it's own right!). The food is diner-y which matches the decor & is another great stop for a night after breakfast.

Well, there's my opening report on the local lifestyle of Austin. In the coming weeks, I'll delve down into some of the one-time events that are seemingly always going on. Unfortunately, even though I'd like to, I can't get to every event so for any girls/guys out there that have something you would like mentioning in this column, email me & either I or another undercover girl will try to show up for a report. Special agent G.W.N.N out...