Esprit 2026 Event Calendar

Jennifer Thomas

Jennifer Thomas is a transfeminine individual who presents on a part time (typically 3 days per week) but very public basis. Over the last 6+ years she has been quite active in the gender community as one of the moderators of the Rose City T-Girls, a Portland, Ore-based transfeminine social club, and as a frequent participant at transfeminine conferences and gatherings. 2026 will mark her 4th trip to Esprit. During the Covid years, she moderated weekly discussions as part of the Rose City group’s regular Zoom calls. These discussions became popular enough to attract numerous attendees from far outside the Portland metro area. Jennifer is out to all of her immediate and extended family, her worship community, and to most of her close friends and associates. She serves on the City of Forest Grove Planning Commission and chairs the Budget Committee. When performing these duties, she sometimes appears as Jennifer and sometimes as her male self, Dave.

Jennifer presents:

Saturday May 16 10:00AM: Your Transfeminine Journey

Discussion Topics: As time allows, we will focus on several areas which may include:

Self Identification and Labels - How do you feel about, and do you identify with any of the common labels such as crossdresser, transvestite, transgender, transsexual, bigender, gender fluid, gender nonconforming, two spirit, etc. Have your feelings about labels and whether/where you fit in the label taxonomy evolved over time?
Presentation Modalities - When it comes to presenting yourself as feminine, are you full time, part time and frequently out in public, part time and rarely out in public, intentionally androgynous, dressing strictly in private spaces, or something else? What would you like this to be?
Navigating Guilt and Shame - Do you, or have you experienced feelings of guilt and/or shame? Why do you think this is/was the case? If you no longer feel guilty our ashamed, how have you overcome these feelings?
The Disclosure Dilemma - How many people in your life know about your gender journey? What criteria do you use to decide who to share with? What are some of the pros and cons to sharing your authentic self?
Interpersonal Relationships - Do you have a spouse or significant other? Do they know about your feminine persona? Do you wish they knew? Did they know about this going in to the relationship or find out later? If later, why was that and how did they react when learning of it? How do you think they are impacted by being in a relationship with a transfeminine individual?
Cisgender Perceptions - What things do you most wish cisgender people understood about those of us in the gender diverse community? How do you imagine life would be different for you if these things were widely understood?

Note: In this workshop, one’s personal religious heritage and political affiliations may surface. However, in order to keep this a safe space where honest and authentic dialog can flourish, neither promoting nor disparaging religious or political views will be deemed acceptable, and all comments offered must be considered strictly confidential.

Workshop Attendance Considerations: To keep things both intimate and manageable, attendance should be limited to around 12 participants. If demand is sufficient, multiple sessions can be scheduled. However, I only plan to be at Esprit Friday through Sunday this year. If possible, it is desirable to include a mixture of part time and full time transfeminine folks in a given session.