thanks to archivists at the GLBT Historical Archives in California, we now have open access to the first four years of TGForum.com, as compiled on an official CD-ROM back in 1999. it is an absolutely bonkers treasure trove of early-internet trans culture and politics, warts and all, and I wrote about it for Them!
this was a really fun piece to research but took a LONG time, so I hope you enjoy reading it! I have a few stories that I had to cut for room (I already doubled my planned word count as it is) so I will thread them here soon. If you find something cool in this archive I didn't mention, let me know in the comments!!
EDIT: I totally forgot that the archivist is on cohost! Give @caraesten some appreciation (and thanks @atomicthumbs for the reminder)
That was a ride to read about, and when I get out of work I must dive in and get all the retro memes!
not just for the memes but for the useful resources. advice columns in here are still relevant today, including one particular edition of an advice column that describes issues with declining support group memberships and what to do about it. there is a genuinely incredibly amount of information to learn here because our community has had to advocate for themselves for over a century at this point, and all of that knowledge has been isolated if not lost by the AIDS crisis in the 70's and 80's.
this is old school knowledge that still works. this is an incredibly important resource for transgender people right now.
edit: there's also a review by a transgender person of Ranma 1/2 and other anime and manga. truly, time is a flat circle
reading the TGForum archive in 2023 is useful for trans community in the same way reading Steal This Book in 2023 is useful for leftist organizing. the stuff that's still relevant is super relevant and everything that isn't is still really fuckin neat!
