Describe Your Ideal Trans Club

[Westheangelino]

So, I've been lamenting the state of L.A.'s tgirl scene for some time. So, I'm curious (and this goes out to everyone across the world, not just Angelenos) as to what you want to see! Guys, what do you show up for? Is it for your favorite porn stars? Is it to John? To be a voyeur? Girls, do you like a place to work or to just be yourself? Do you crave attention or would you rather escape into a crowded dance floor? Do you enjoy drag show lip syncing, or do you think it's old hat?

[Willie Escalade]

For the building itself, it would be just like Peanuts/7969 was (and like Voyeur is now), only bigger and the rooms would be in a different order.

I'd have a large room for shows, dancing, mingling and such with the bar on the side. This would be the common area.

I'd have another room with a pool table (and plenty of room to roam around it without disrupting the game), also with a slightly smaller bar. Folks can enjoy watching the game while also having the opportunity to just chat a bit...just like the old days.

The final room would be just like the back room at Peanuts: smaller, a bit darker (for privacy and intimacy), and a lot quieter. I'd probably soundproof the room a bit so that the noise from the other two areas wouldn't seep in. A really small stage with a stripper pole could be an option as well.

The smoking area (this IS Los Angeles after all!) would be lavishly furnished; no more plastic chairs and shit. They'd also get their own bar.

It could be one story, but ideally it would be multi-storied...like Divas! However, if it was one story, the Tranny Awards could be held there every year lol.

Private parking so the guys who are "shy" won't have to worry about being outed would be cool as well.

The atmosphere itself would be just the way Peanuts used to be: porn stars, a show, and of course for hooking up.

In order for it to succeed it HAS to be where a lot of girls are. Hollywood would be cool of course, but I'd prefer it to be off the beaten path. The area the club is in has to create its own identity.

[GroobyKrissy]

I think Willie hit on most of my points but I think the most important thing is a comfortable, quiet place for people to mingle and hang out. I suppose that those who go clubbing go to have beats hammering their eardrums but when I go out, I look for the quietest corner to just chill and observe. I love those small, intimate settings for having a nice chat or make-out session ;)

[Willie Escalade]

I think Willie hit on most of my points but I think the most important thing is a comfortable, quiet place for people to mingle and hang out. I suppose that those who go clubbing go to have beats hammering their eardrums but when I go out, I look for the quietest corner to just chill and observe. I love those small, intimate settings for having a nice chat or make-out session ;)
Exactly. Every club should have that area where one can just hang out without the noise and the crowd. At Peanuts back in the day, even though I liked being around the folks, I really loved that back room. The music was more for a lounge, and you could actually carry on a conversation.

That current back room (aka the Champagne Room) at Voyeur is PERFECT.

[Westheangelino]

Thanks for the input!

Now....what do you NOT like about current tgirl clubs in L.A.? Or other cities for that matter?

[Wendy Summers]

Honestly I think it depends on what kind of vibe you're going for.

If you're going for a strip club sort of vibe, Goodhandy's is a great example. There were multiple areas in the club, but the stage was visible from all of them, including the quieter corners to chat. The only negative I had was the champagne room was way too small for when we did the live show. I've never seen so many guys packed into such a small space to watch us LOL.

If you're going for more of a social kind of bar/ club, I tend to gravitate towards places which have a few different spaces. My absolute favorite place to chill had a dance floor (with its own bar); A lounge area which let you actually hold a conversation and a pool hall. (I'm a total pool slut and its a great way to break the ice with people who are a little more shy).

[angelboi]

My ideal trans club would be situated at the bottom of my street!

[kj312]

What has changed since now and back in the day?? Is it the economy? What starts a good club?

[Westheangelino]

I have some theories. Hear me out and give me your input.


1. Craigslist and backpage. A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (the 70's through 2000), trans bars and clubs offered the only safe (and more importantly reliable) place to find tgirls. You knew what you were getting into, you knew that you would find what you were looking for, and you knew with relative certainty that you wouldn't find yourself being beaten by haters or harassed by the cops. With the ubiquity of the internet, cell phones, dating sites, escorting sites, etc. there are SO many more ways to meet the girl of your dreams or a girl for the night. Of course, the latter is what most people are looking for it seems, so the girls being the owner of the supply can now make the guys come to them individually. If your objective is to get clients and thus earn money, why would you hang out for a few hours of prime time in a bar with no guaranteed results when you can just put up an ad on BP or Eros and chill in your apartment. I am NOT saying that all tgirls are escorts. They aren't. However, the working girls supply a critical mass. As for girls who aren't looking for tricks, you can easily find a guy who wants to suck you off, fuck you, or even date you on craigslist, tgdate, etc.

2. I do not want to see a drag show. I mean this in no offense to the great performers out there. There are some damn good ones. However, does anyone else agree that this feels old hat? Obviously I wasn't even alive in the 70's, but it just feels like I'm watching something from the bath house circuit of 1978 NYC. It's as though whoever the promoter is is saying, "Let's make this niche even more niche. Let's keep it as inaccessible as possible and hope for the best even though our critical mass has been sucked out by the internet."

3. No one is appealing to the young kids! I'm a little biased by living in L.A. and by my own unique views, but I really do believe that this current generation is far more gender fluid and accepting and adventurous that any that have come before. This being said, if I was a cute, young gender queer dyke girl, why would I come to one of L.A.'s Tgirl clubs? What is for me there? I don't want to see drag queens lip syncing Donna Summer as creepy old men stick on the walls and leer at the few starlets or working girls in the room. NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT. However, how about playing some dub step? How about some fun games? How about....oh....I dunno.....some atmosphere? Reaching out to everyone. I envision a room filled with everyone: the porn starlet, the nerdy tgirl with a PHD, the lurkers, the Latin twinks, the queer girls, the "straight" boys, and the dudes wearing wigs and five o clock shadows that aren't fooling anyone (and aren't trying to).

All this being said, the tgirl club must evolve or die. Perhaps I need to take a trip to NYC and get some pointers from that scene. Or maybe I would find that disappointing as well? We'll see

[Wendy Summers]

I have some theories. Hear me out and give me your input.


1. Craigslist and backpage. A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (the 70's through 2000), trans bars and clubs offered the only safe (and more importantly reliable) place to find tgirls. You knew what you were getting into, you knew that you would find what you were looking for, and you knew with relative certainty that you wouldn't find yourself being beaten by haters or harassed by the cops. With the ubiquity of the internet, cell phones, dating sites, escorting sites, etc. there are SO many more ways to meet the girl of your dreams or a girl for the night. Of course, the latter is what most people are looking for it seems, so the girls being the owner of the supply can now make the guys come to them individually. If your objective is to get clients and thus earn money, why would you hang out for a few hours of prime time in a bar with no guaranteed results when you can just put up an ad on BP or Eros and chill in your apartment. I am NOT saying that all tgirls are escorts. They aren't. However, the working girls supply a critical mass. As for girls who aren't looking for tricks, you can easily find a guy who wants to suck you off, fuck you, or even date you on craigslist, tgdate, etc.

2. I do not want to see a drag show. I mean this in no offense to the great performers out there. There are some damn good ones. However, does anyone else agree that this feels old hat? Obviously I wasn't even alive in the 70's, but it just feels like I'm watching something from the bath house circuit of 1978 NYC. It's as though whoever the promoter is is saying, "Let's make this niche even more niche. Let's keep it as inaccessible as possible and hope for the best even though our critical mass has been sucked out by the internet."

3. No one is appealing to the young kids! I'm a little biased by living in L.A. and by my own unique views, but I really do believe that this current generation is far more gender fluid and accepting and adventurous that any that have come before. This being said, if I was a cute, young gender queer dyke girl, why would I come to one of L.A.'s Tgirl clubs? What is for me there? I don't want to see drag queens lip syncing Donna Summer as creepy old men stick on the walls and leer at the few starlets or working girls in the room. NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT. However, how about playing some dub step? How about some fun games? How about....oh....I dunno.....some atmosphere? Reaching out to everyone. I envision a room filled with everyone: the porn starlet, the nerdy tgirl with a PHD, the lurkers, the Latin twinks, the queer girls, the "straight" boys, and the dudes wearing wigs and five o clock shadows that aren't fooling anyone (and aren't trying to).

All this being said, the tgirl club must evolve or die. Perhaps I need to take a trip to NYC and get some pointers from that scene. Or maybe I would find that disappointing as well? We'll see

Honestly for what you are saying you want, I don't know a single non-pro who would go to it. A place like that seems great from the view point of admirers, but less so from the girls you probably want to find. The catch is most TSs don't want to be seen as trans. A trans club like you're describing basically means announcing "Hi I'm trans".

All my young, non-pro TSs don't chill at a TS club or bar nor would they ever. My favorite place to chill is a redneck dive bar. The club people I know tend to go to pansexual, everything goes kind of places. There's a huge young TS community out there at BDSM events.

[amberskyi]

the only time i go to trans clubs is to work...if im going to a club for purely social reasons that its a straight one.

[christianxxx]

the great TS club in the universe is located in Buenos Aires Argentina and its called Club Amerika. It has gay straight and TS on every night. It holds about 1000 people and has a huge dance floor, tons of bars, and a place for sex off to the left inside the club. It usually has roughly 100-150 TS girls in there every night...some working, some not. Its pretty much paradise. Oh and it stays open until 5am.

[TempestTS]

Can I get the club from the first BLADE movie where the sprinklers rain blood when things get going... or is it only me that finds that freaking COOL!!!