Sparkle 2013 - Excuse me, can I ask a personal question

• Posted by Josephine Green July 15, 2013 #sparkle  #talking to LGB  5,460 views
  click to rate

  Sparkle 2013 - Excuse me, can I ask a personal question? Last weekend I attended my second Sparkle and know that it will be a permanent fixture on my diary. The atmosphere was fantastic as were the people. However, it will not be the friendliness of all concerned but the phrase "Excuse me, can I ask a personal question". I was asked this twice on Friday night and once on Thursday afternoon. On Friday night I was late meeting up with four of my girlfriends outside Velvet. As they had been there for some time they had seats with backs to the canal, allowing them to see and be seen. As the late-comer I had to sit with my back to the street. We ordered food and the waiter said we should wait as the table next to us would be free soon and that would give us enough space. With the extra space I now had chance to move to the end of the table and finally view the comings and goings on the street. I had notice a group of three smart men just behind me but had not paid them much attention as I wanted to catch up with Lisa. Girl talk can be so nice. With a break in our conversation the man closest to me lead in and asked "Excuse me Miss, can I ask a personal question?"   I responded that he could ask but I didn't guarantee to answer. The question was why so many women like us didn't look happy but that we did. Now that was a hard question to answer but i thought it stemmed from the fact that going out was not an unusual thing for the group I was with and that we were expecting a fun weekend. Well that question lead to many others which was only stopped when our food arrived and the guys said I should eat while it was still hot. Having even eaten and drunk my fill, I moved my chair back and heard, "Excuse me again, can we ask a perhaps more personal question?" It was the same three guys so it would have been churlish not to reply. This time it was more personal, "Did I fancy men when I dressed?" Again I answered this from a very personal perspective saying there had always been men I fancied even when I didn't dress but I had never taken that any further. Well that question and I think the honesty of my answer lead to many more along the lines of was I married, did my wife know, did my family know, how often, etc. All of which I answered as truthfully as I could. During this time I really looked at the three guys. They were middle aged, all with short stubble beard and generally well dressed. One would say basically good looking. Not the type I would fancy (a young Bowie is my style). We chatted for some time and were enjoying each others company. At this point I felt secure enough to tease all three and mentioned that a lot of Trannies who choose to dress later in life often grow beards when younger, which got a big grin from all three who I had found out were gay. I then added that they also often had jobs in the army, police or fire service (knowing that one had had that job). They all agreed that they would have to watch how things developed. At this time my girl friends decided it was time to try another bar. So I said my good byes. Fast forward to The Molly House a couple of hours later. Well Rikki wanted to know how the cricket had gone and we remembered it was cool in there and they'd have the news on in there. So drinks ordered and seating found so we could watch. A short while later a couple of young lads came in and asked if the seat at the end of the table was free. It was. So one sat down and the other on his knee, they commented that they'd been on their free for the last two hours at a concert, so I asked which. The ice was broken and we chatted about nothing in particular for a bit. Then the quieter one leaned over and asked, "Excuse me, can I ask a personal question?" Well that brought a smile to my face. I can't remember the exact question but it was along the lines of why did I dress, did I want to be a woman. Again I answered their questions as honestly as I could. We touched on same sex marriage and how the trans community was where the gay community had been 10 years ago. They were a couple of very nice lads and obviously in love. Again the conversation was ended by my girl friends deciding that we should move on again. I now move back in time a bit to Thursday afternoon. I had arrived from London and scratched my nail varnish and also realised I hadn't packed that colour (why wear it if you don't pack it silly). So decided I'd go into town to get some more. After some time and asking a couple of very helpful people found Boots. Of course as always I was on the top floor and the beauty products was downstairs, so headed for the escalator. As I approached I saw ahead of me the Trannies nightmare, three teenage girls! Oh well, no point in walking the other way. By the time I reached the top of the escalators they were almost half way down. The two in front turned and said in that clear and piercing voice that teenage girls have, "Your a Tranny". Well no where to run, so grin and bear it. It was then I realised that only one of the leading girls was looking at me, so perhaps it wasn't too bad. I grinned and kept on going. Found the varnish I wanted and another very nice colour and made my way to the exit. Just outside we're the three girls. Again why turn and run, I didn't know my way round Manchester anyway. So again grin and bear it. Again it was the same girl who had looked at me who saw me. She called over apologising for calling that out. It would have been bad manners not to accept. So went up to them and said it was ok. The other two girls now saw me properly for the first time. The one who had had her back to me all the time just appeared to take me for what I appeared to be a woman but the third girls mouth slowly dropped open until she finally asked, "Excuse me, can I ask a personal question?" What she wanted to know was whether I was a full male under my clothes, to which I could reply to the positive. The follow up was did I have make up on (I was wearing dark glasses). When I removed them all the girls complemented me and asked who did it. When I answered that I did they were impressed. At some time during this conversation a middle aged woman came up to join the girls (a family friend of one of the girls I think). We continued chatting for a bit with the occasional personal question. At some point the woman left us, happy in the belief that I was no two headed monster or more importantly a pervert. It was lovely chatting to them and they didn't appeared concerned but more interested in me. (To explain about calling out "Your a Tranny", it was directed at the third girl who had had her back to me on the escalator. The other two had been teasing her as she didn't like wearing skirts, dresses or anything 'feminine'. She said she was gay but I wasn't convinced but kept that to myself.) So for me Sparkle 2013 will be remembered for that lovely question, "Excuse me, can I ask a personal question?" It gave me the opportunity to talk to 8 lovely people of Manchester who make Sparkle what it is, SAFE and interesting. And long may it continue to do so.