TGGuide was a site launched in 1996 meant to act as a guidebook for trans people—trans-friendly venues, doctors and other professionals, support groups, etc. all organized by state. The site included the business guide, a library of research papers, articles, and personal essays, a chat section (known as the Kaffe Haus), blogs, a recipe library, an e-zine, personals, a humor section, and starting in January 1997, weekly chat meetings discussing various topics relevant to trans women, and more. The site administrator, Rosie, states her goal for the site:
"'I HAVE A DREAM.' and now my dream can be yours.. What I have fought for, I dream that you do not have to. What I have prayed for, I pray you do not have to. The questions I scoured the world to find answers for, I dream you do not have to.. The turmoil that was bestowed upon me, I dream you do not have to struggle through. The dream is a rather simple idea. Those of the gender community should have at their feet all of the answers. They should have all the resources. This information should be easy to find, this information should be FREE."
TGGuide.com still exists today, hosting a mostly inactive forum, tips and advice for those beginning their transitions, and an updated trans-friendly business and professionals guide.
| Page | Description | Archive Date | Capture Date | Archive.org Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memorial to the Unknown Transvestite | A forum thread about a clothing swap | 08/21/23 | 03/28/97 | x |
| Hawaii Fun | A brief forum thread about trans-friendly spots in Hawaii | 04/12/23 | 06/16/97 | x |
| How do I pull in the waist (cheaply) with out pulling in the butt? | A brief forum thread about techniques to slim the waist while dressed | 04/12/23 | 06/16/97 | x |
| Girdles and Stockings | A forum thread about girdles and stockings | 04/11/23 | 06/16/97 | x |
| Young TS Needs Advice... | A forum post request for advice by a 13-year-old trans fem person on how to disclose her gender to her parents. No replies recorded | 04/09/23 | 06/16/23 | x |
| Kimo's in San Francisco | A forum post with a recommendation for a bar hosting a drag show. No replies recorded | 04/09/23 | 06/16/97 | x |
| Herbal hormones (Evanesce, Feminol) | A forum thread about people's experiences with herbal hormones | 04/09/23 | 03/29/97 | x |
| Christian Crossdressing | A forum post with replies about crossdressing in a Christian marriage | 04/09/23 | 10/24/97 | x |
| Graphics 03/28/97 | Every graphic from the 03/28/97 captures from Wayback | 04/09/23 | 03/28/97 | x |
| Rosie's Vision | A bit about the site administrator and her goals for TGGuide | 03/30/23 | 03/29/97 | x |
| Relationships, Transitions, and Beyond Chat Log | An archived chat log | 03/29/23 | 03/29/97 | x |
| Telling Your Family Chat Log | An archived chat log discussing talking to family about gender issues | 03/29/23 | 06/16/97 | x |
| Body Shape and Padding Chat Log | An archived chat log discussing body shaping and padding | 03/29/23 | 06/16/97 | x |
| Transition Issues Chat Log | An archived chat log discussing transition | 03/28/23 | 06/16/97 | x |
| Wigs And Hair Problems Chat Log | An archived chat log discussing wigs and hair | 03/27/23 | 03/29/97 | x |
| Makeup Basics Chat Log | An archived chat log discussing the basics of makeup and skincare | 03/26/23 | 06/16/97 | x |
| Women Who Love Transvestites | An article about the romantic relationships between women and crossdressing males, including the shadowing of a support group for significant others | 03/25/23 | 06/20/97 | x |
| The Border Area Between Transvestism and Gender Dysphoria: Transvestitic Applicants for Sex Reassignment | A research paper attempting to catgorize different types of people pursuing SRS | 03/25/23 | 03/29/97 | x |
| A Letter from the Wife of a Transsexual | The story of a young couple's relationship through addiction, recovery, and gender change | 03/25/23 | 12/01/98 | x |
| Rosie's Plea | A request from the site operator for community participation in expanding the "guidebook" nature of the site | 03/25/23 | 08/11/97 | x |
Notes:
The forum link captures on WayBack are pretty broken, and each reply is stored on a separate page. For example, the "Herbal Hormones" has 22 replies, but presently, only a single reply is properly linked. I think I should be able to go through all the threads and replies by manually changing the post number in the link on WayBack but making sure everything is in the proper order will be a bit of a feat.
Update 04/12/23: I have every item from the 10/24/97 capture ordered by date and time. Even so, a lot of the corresponding pages just are not captured properly by WayBack. If you are interested in seeing every forum post title and/or want to be able to find a post's original URL to view the original page, click here.