When Alex’s girl Hannah asked Alex to be a bride for her marriage, Alex made one thing clear: they would not be wearing a gown. When Alex pointed out to Alex that every other bridesmaid would be wearing a$ 725 dusty rose a-line dress with a pleated chiffon v-neck collar, Alex explained that they would actually not be wearing a$ 725 dusty rose a-line dress with a pleated chiffon v-neck collar, but that they would go far to make sure to go the distance to purchase a$ 1, 595 dusty rose suit or to choose to opt out of bridal party Alex’s dad Gary intervened, telling him that their mom was completely distraught by this issue and that Alex was systematically tearing the family off with their “gender journey or anything.” Gary called Alex for the first time in his life on a generally pleasant day.
” After Gary called, my first thought was, hell Gary but also, heck these persons, I’m not dropping my life savings at the queer fit tailor all goes to in order to participate in this archaic custom”, Alex told Autostraddle. However, as I did, I came to the realization that I did n’t believe Gary would eject Joan of Arc from the wedding if she appeared in a gown other than the Bridesmaid Dress.
Ayden had the same thought when her terrible stepdad, who was apparently also known as Gary, declined to accept her request to attend her sister’s wedding, saying that doing so would send Ayden’s grandmother to an early grave. ” My grandmother’s health is actually pretty robust”, Ayden mused to Autostraddle.
It’s incredibly frustrating as queer, trans and/or gender non- conforming people to have to edit ourselves to make other people comfortable. Thankfully, we spoke to a number of people in that circumstance who managed to stay true to themselves by dressing in a way that subtly suggested they were not actually going through a gender journey but rather were traveling through space and time.
1. Joan of Arc
Nothing says” I am the obedient daughter,” more so than appearing as the patron saint of France and being referred to by wikipeida as” an obedient daughter of the Roman Catholic Church.” After a tense lead-up to the celebration, Olivia reported that this get-up went extremely well at her sister’s wedding. More importantly, the groom did pull Olivia aside to note, “listen I know my wife was being a bridezilla but just so you know, dude- to- dude, I was totally chill with you wearing a suit. You simply did n’t need to send us this chain mail. Be yourself, man”!
2. Astronaut
Peyton chose to lean into the” space” part of the journey for their sister Kylee’s wedding. Bonus: Their Aunt Clara yelled” Support women in STEM!” and their “fit was super comfy and received a lot of compliments from younger kids! when Peyton arrived. But to Peyton, the most important complement of all came from Kylee, who, completely hammered, pulled Peyton aside and confessed,” I wanted you to wear a suit!!! I even told Mom you know what, Peytons gonna wear a suit and that’s all there is toit!!! But she was so upset and worried that you would ruin the photos. I was like,” Ookeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Anyway, I’m so sorry for kicking you under the bus because you look fantastic in space and your persona was less important than mine.
3. Marlene Dietrich
Ayden arrived at her sister’s wedding wearing a top hat and suit, claiming to have just flown from Berlin to pursue stardom in the United States, with her grandparents in the forefront of her mind. ” What’s weird is that my grandma was like, I knew you’d be wearing a suit”! Ayden remembered. She actually made fun of me, about how beautiful I looked in suits, how proud I was of coming out, how comfortable and assured I was in my own skin, and how much she cherished my girlfriend. Anyhow so I guess I learned German for no reason, but I think i can re- use the top hat to be Mr. Peanut at Halloween”.
4. Newsie
” Never fear, Brooklyn is here”! Riley said on the phone to Autostraddle, having chosen to present as a Newsie full- time following their debut as a Newsie from 1899 at their sister’s wedding. ” Honestly, I wish I’d thought of this sooner”, Riley explained. Everyone was immediately aware of the necessity of a “flippin’ like me” wedding attire. You ca n’t be just delverin’ papes in a skirt! If I do n’t sell papes, then nobody sells papes!!”! Riley claimed that they” totally saw eye to eye” about the importance of labor unions after discussing the details of the newspaper delivery strike with their Dad in the evening.
5. Small Victorian Child
A Small Victorian Child who recently took heroin to treat a cold is one thing nobody wants to mess with these days. Alex, who is conveniently only five feet tall, remembered, “everyone wanted to show me things just to see my reaction. Also, my brother was like, before you die of smallpox, I want you to know that your sister is a bitch, nobody likes her, and everyone else in the family was fine with you wearing what you wanted. There was almost a transgender and homophobic member of my family who put her comfort before our shared happiness, I do n’t know. I suppose I should have wished someone else had intervened to help me out. Anyhow, so that meant a lot to me”.
