Crossdressing high in the sky – the (trans)gender pass

I am going to attend LFF, a cross-dressing and LGBTQ event taking place in July this year in Leeds, UK. To get there, I need to drive to Charleroi Airport, about an hour from my home, park the car, take a shuttle service from the car park to the airport entrance, go through security, board the Ryanair flight that will take me to Manchester, and finally board a coach to reach Leeds. The hotel where I’ll be staying isn’t all that far from the final bus stop. I just hope that Ryanair still has enough kerosene to get me through this five-hour journey without a hitch.

When booking my flight, I chose the option to bring a 20kg suitcase, in addition to the included hand luggage. After all, a girl needs to bring along her choice of clothes, shoes and make-up. I’m terrible at making decisions when I’m standing in front of my overflowing wardrobe or shoe cupboard, as their cluttered state doesn’t exactly help me choose what to wear or take with me. Somehow my stress levels rise when I stand undecided in front of all the clothes I want to wear, but wearing them all at once would make me look like the Michelin Man. A bad idea that just adds even more stress to the whole thing. I think I’ll sort it out though, by the time of departure on 16 July.

I found myself wondering: should I pack a pair of knickers, make-up, and other essentials in my hand luggage in case my suitcase decides to head off to another destination? It actually happened to me once while traveling to the States. They only located my suitcase a week later — by then, I was already back home.
Still, I wondered what some security officer scanning my hand luggage would think when spotting lipstick, foundation, a bra, and various other feminine backup items. Perhaps they wouldn’t react at all. Then again, I might end up having some explaining to do.

That got me thinking. Why not simply travel as a woman — fully dressed up, as can be seen in my albums? I wouldn’t be wearing anything extravagant or provocative: just jeans, a feminine blouse, low-heeled shoes — nothing flashy. My goal wouldn’t be to become the next pin-up girl, nor to look as though I were applying for a sales assistant’s job at one of the perfume shops in the terminal, but simply to pass through security unnoticed and travel as though I were just one of the ladies. The contents of my hand luggage or handbag would then naturally match the gender presentation of the person standing in front of them. I’ve added a photo to this blog showing an outfit I tried on today. I suspect I won’t stand out too much wearing this. I may, however, remove the jewellery before going through the security scanners.

I'm rather excited about it. It would be a completely new experience for me, as I had never travelled as a woman before. Isn’t life after all about creating experiences and learning from them? About becoming a richer person by placing yourself in unfamiliar situations?

So I started looking into the legislation and discovered that, here in Belgium, there is something called a “(trans)gender pass”, created by a transgender organization. It is not an official document, but rather an information card printed in Dutch, French, and English. It can help demonstrate that you are indeed the same person shown on the passport, while also presenting your feminine appearance. It is mainly intended for people who are transitioning, though cross-dressers can use it as well.

You have to attach two passport-style photographs yourself: one showing your male appearance, ideally closely matching your passport photo, and another showing how you look when presenting “en femme”.
I suspect this document could prove extremely helpful. To be perfectly honest, even I barely recognize myself when I am “en femme” and looking in the mirror. It becomes difficult to imagine the man behind it all. Some members have even told me they checked my profile twice because they simply could not believe I was not a woman. Those kind remarks do give me also more self-confidence about blending in.

At times it feels a bit like something out of a Mission Impossible movie except that, instead of elaborate masks, all I need is make-up, earrings, a wig, and a padded bra. So I can easily imagine some confusion arising if either the automated passport gates fail to recognize me when comparing the biometric data stored in my passport chip with my feminine appearance, or if a security officer is left wondering what on earth is going on while I try to explain it all.

I don’t know whether the gender pass will prove to be my wildcard — opening the gates either to cross-dresser’s heaven or simply to the aircraft — but I hope it will at least make things easier and help avoid unnecessary stress. One thing is certain: in Western Europe, we are legally free to travel “en femme”. The law does not prohibit it. Traveling to other parts of the world while presenting as female might be more complicated or even risky, but traveling from Belgium to the U.K. should not pose any legal issues.

As long as the future passenger sitting next to me — whether on a coach or an airplane — doesn’t object to this lady’s perfume or slightly deeper voice, I think I’ll be absolutely fine. So please keep your fingers crossed for me and hope that everything goes smoothly. As long as I don’t end up writing the continuation of my travel report from a closed institution, I suppose I’ll be just fine — LOL. x Maila. PS Any advice is welcome!