T-girl employment...

I am a T*girl of 20 and I've been going to Manchester for a while now (about 3 years!) once a month on weekends and I've come to the decision of making this a permanent move.

Trains are getting me down and I miss my friends up there and of course I miss being able to be girly which I can't do at home for obvious reasons (because I still live with my parents mainly!!!) plus I'd like a bit of independence.

I am currently out of work where I live in Worcester so moving now would probably be the best move. I have some savings to start me out on the road to freedom. I contacted you really to ask you about advice about finding accommodation and maybe a job for a T*girl in The Manchester where do I start?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help you can give.

Love Natalie xxxxxxx :o)

~ ~ ~

Hello Natalie,

Well poppet, I think you are in an all-too-common dilemma. It is clear that the stigma attached to what I have described as the "last taboo" is diminishing rapidly and more and more would-be t-girls are hatching out, many at a comparatively young age.

With increasing numbers of youngsters being economically obliged to live at home beyond teenage, the parental disapproval factor can be seen to be putting the dampers on this welcome phenomenon. Modern parents seem to have become quite ready to embrace a son's gayness, but the acceptance of 'little Johnny' wanting to become 'little Jenny', still seems a long way off. There is an irony here, in that little Jenny is much more likely to begat a demolition crew of panty poopers than his gay counterpart. The TV-accepting wife is no longer a rare bird either and many of them actually enjoy and even encourage the femme side of their fellas.

Anyway, I'm rabbiting again.

You are making the most sensible decision Natalie, to simply remove the problem by geographical means, so let me turn to the practical matters at the heart of your request - jobs and accommodation.

Without a job, you are unlikely to find anyone willing to take you under their roof, be they a stranger, friend of a friend or even a friend of long standing. I know few people in Manchester who do not bump along from one financial crisis to the next, so finding someone to take on the added burden of a potentially insolvent house-sharer just ain't going to happen.

The cost of sharing a house or flat should not be enormous, so even a relatively low-paid job might suffice, at least until you are established and able to look around properly.

If you are going to apply for any job in the conventional manner, you will need a CV. With limited job-experience, this will be little more than a summary of your schooling, any skills you think might be useful to mention (CVs should be targeted to the job being applied for), a description of your character and ability to work with others etc.

Personally, I would not go down that route at all - the competition will be too stiff and have the home-turf edge on an out-of-townie. You have at your fingertips the most power tool of all - the Internet (yes, I gave it a capital 'I' intentionally, if incorrectly). With the sheer weight of numbers of t-girls and t-girl sympathisers in Manchester - and our co-defendents in the gay community - selling yourself as an enthusiastic employee should be relatively easy.

How?
Knock up one or more 150-word text files with a folksy flavour, asking if anyone has or knows of someone willing to offer a job to a t-girl wishing to start a new life in Manchester. Make it clear that you will turn your hand to anything and that you are willing to accept a low-starting salary until you have proved yourself. Keep the boring personal stuff to a minimum and bare your soul a little - as you did in writing to me.

Where?
You then need to place these texts. This can be done in the form of an advertisement on t-girl sites, on gay sites and on 'straight' employment seeking sites. Use google searches to seek out the latter two of these. There have been some high-profile cases of long-term unemployed people using the Internet to promote themselves. This can be done by creating your own Yahoo, Msn or Google user group. In the case of the last named, the title of your group will appear prominently in Google/Explorer searches, drawing people to it, albeit with you as the only member. An imaginative title, such as 'Transvestite Employment, Employers and Job-Seekers in Manchester', should certainly spark some interest, some of whom may be fellow job-seekers who may well be willing to become flat-sharers...

When you have your text displayed on the Internet where it can be freely accessed by others, put together a single sentence note, quoting the link to your text. You can then periodically cut and paste it in your favoured chat-rooms.

A very similar strategy can be employed to find a flat or house share.

I hope this helps sweetie.

Don't hesitate to get back to me if you need any further help, verbal or otherwise.

Kisses
Aunty Kate