ARTICLE

FPE CONFERENCE in swedEN

(no author)

(Ed Note: This is a translation of a newspaper report in one of Sweden's principle papers about a meeting of the Skandinavian branch of FPE.)

In a small hotel in Skane (Sweden) 40 transvestites are holding a weekend conference. They are all men. Most of them are married and on ordinary days they dress and act as men, go to work and go to bed with women. But at the conference they are all dressed as women, although several of them bring their wives along. They are coquettish, painted, wear artifical breasts and artificial hips. Many of them are quite pretty. But they only dare behave this way on occasions like this one. For the most of them an exposure would be a personal catastrophy. Because we all “normal” people, are not tolerant and not well enough informed to let them be as they are.

In waves and rustles and drifts of flounging silk, brocades, laces and fox fur, the light shining on golden shoes, chains, pearls, diadems and rosettes the "ladies" rise and go to the table. 50 women's heads with well dressed hair bend to each other in confidential conversation and small giggles. During the coffee and the cocoa there is community sing- ing. Even if you are prepared it comes as a surprise. Suddenly the room is full of rumbling basses and the cut-glass chandeliers are vibrating since most of the women in the room are men. In one corner the restauranteur is sitting at a round table looking at the guests without wincing. He owns the hotel. It is the third time this year that the friendly restauranteur with the deadpan face has opened his hotel for the weekend conference of FPE the organization for.heterosexual transvestites.

A transvestite is usually a man who now and then is seized with an urge to dress as a woman. The very slight research done on this subject has revealed very few reverse cases, i.e. women who want to impersonate

men.

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