Cross-dressers in Blackpool

A cross-dresser wears clothes associated with another gender, for enjoyment, relaxation or self-expression, without wanting to transition. Most cross-dressers are men who dress in women's clothes, many of them straight and married, but people of every gender and sexuality cross-dress.

Cross-dresser has largely replaced transvestite, which many people now find outdated, though some older people still use it about themselves.

Renaissance: Blackpool's long-running group

Blackpool has been a destination for cross-dressers for decades, largely because of one group.

Renaissance was formed more than twenty years ago, with six people at its first meeting in a beauty salon north of Preston; the name comes from the French for re-birth. It has always welcomed cross-dressers alongside trans people, and now welcomes people from across the trans spectrum and their partners. It meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, around 6pm, at the Gynway guest house, 205 Dickson Road, at the quieter North Shore end of the Rainbow Quarter. There is a small charge on meeting nights for food and the room, and bed and breakfast is available, so you can arrive in one mode and go home in another. Call 01253 314747 before you travel.

Where to stay

• The Gynway, home of Renaissance, has hosted visiting cross-dressers for many years.
• The Dragonfly, 75 Lord Street, is listed by an international cross-dressing travel directory as cross-dresser and trans-friendly.
• The mixed LGBTQ+ guest houses of the quarter, such as Mardi Gras, which publishes an anti-discrimination policy, are generally relaxed. If you plan to dress, a quick message when you book is always appreciated.

Going out en femme

Blackpool is one of the easiest places in Britain for a first night out dressed. The drag and cabaret bars are used to every kind of look, and the crowd at Funny Girls is mixed.

• Men-only venues: Acqua Sauna says cross-dressers who identify as male are welcome. Other men-only places set their own rules.
• Safety: stick to the busy streets of the quarter at night, and see is Blackpool safe?.

National support

The Beaumont Society, founded in 1966, was for decades the main national network for cross-dressers and trans people.

The old clinical terms

See transvestite and dual-role transvestism for the full story.

• Transvestism and dual-role transvestism were diagnoses in the World Health Organization's ICD-10. Dual-role transvestism described wearing clothes of another gender for a while to enjoy the experience, without wanting a permanent change.
• Both were removed in ICD-11, which came into effect in 2022. Cross-dressing is no longer treated as a disorder.

A Blackpool history of dressing up

From Vesta Tilley's swells and soldiers to panto dames and Danny La Rue, Blackpool has paid performers to cross-dress for more than a century, and its crowds have loved it. See the Blackpool drag tradition.

More

• Gender-fluid (an identity, not about clothes)
• Drag performers (a performance)
• Trans support

Sources

• Renaissance group, the Gynway
• The Beaumont Society