Just out., March 02, 2001, Page 41, Image 41

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f you wanted to change your gender, where
would you start? Well, you might visit the
three little shops in one building at
10140 S.E. Pine St.
In Suite A you’d find Sandi Knudson, 47, a
transgendered woman. She can help you as she
has helped so many others because she has
been down this road herself.
About a year ago, she bought her first wig.
“I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t know how
to progress,” she says.
Knudson had cross-dressed secretly in the
past but wanted more. She stopped into a wig
shop and met Sandra Grohs, who helped her
choose and style her first wig.
4
“1 was dressed as a man,” she recalls.
“People came in the shop and saw me. I
was very nervous.”
Knudson was bom and raised as a
male but always had wanted to explore her
feminine side. She was married and had a
career in the Navy.
Buying the wig felt so good, she got
acrylic nails applied. She returned to that
shop every couple of weeks to redo the nails
Sandi Knudson and
and care for her new wig. Soon, she was
her ladies in waiting
styling her own wig and liking it.
By last August, Knudson was living full-
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time as a woman and had become quite
adept at women’s hairstyles. She then
1
changed her name from Doug to Sandi.
She had no trouble with the change at work
and not much trouble at home. She still is mar­
ried, and the couple plan to remain together.
by H eron
This led to a surprise for Knudson as she
walked down the sidewalk holding
hands with her wife. “I was
n Suite D next to Sandi’s
that is still slightly sad. “My journey began
shocked to realize that people
Two is Wendy Dillon’s
when my husband came out.”
would think we were les­
shop, Delicate Touch
Fletcher, 59, was bom into show business.
bians.” After her surgery,
Esthetics and Electrolysis.
After immigrating to the United States from
she says, “We will be mar­
Although she has many
Munich, Germany, she studied makeup at the
ried lesbians!"
straight clients, she offers
Metropolitan Opera in New York. She has a
In December, she
special services to trans­
long and colorful history in wig making and
opened her little wig
gendered people.
makeup as head designer for the Orlando
shop, Sandi’s Two. “1
A licensed esthetician, Opera Company and as wig master at Disney
am trying to help the
she provides skin care,
World for seven years.
transgendered com­
waxing, tweezing, Euro­
After moving to Portland 10 years ago,
munity,” she says,
stone facials, glycopeels
she worked on feature films for the Lifetime
although she happily
and ear candles. She also
Channel. She also styled hair for Mr. Hol­
will style wigs for
offers complete makeovers
land’s Opus and Men of Honor, which were
anybody.
to her trans clients.
shot in Portland. She has done hair and
The purpose of her
“Mom didn’t teach
makeup for Lynn Redgrave, Deirdre Hall,
shop is to offer the special
these girls about makeup,”
Raymond Burr, Vincent Price and legendary
services transgendered peo­
Dillon deadpans. She
wig aficionado Phyllis Diller.
ple need. She dreams of
explains that skin care is
But the big story of Fletcher’s life began when
offering a total package of
important to trans people
her husband of 40 years, an Air Force veteran,
services to help men transi­
because “men have larger pores
came out to her as a gay man. In shock, she
tion to women, occasionally
than women.”
thought it was a phase, a midlife crisis. “At first I
or permanently.
She steams, plucks, massages, exfoliates and
thought, ‘He’ll get over it.’ ”
creams their faces until they are smooth and
Although Knudson’s hair looked lovely and
She and her husband had been quite
perfectly natural, she surprised me when she
soft. Then, she applies makeup. “I paint a pic­
close. She thought she had a happy
asked whether I could tell which part of her
ture on canvas, but first I develop the canvas.”
marriage. He had been her date to the
hair was a wig. I couldn’t. She parted her hair
The Portland surgeon who performs sex­
senior prom, for Pete’s sake.
and showed me that the front section was a
change operations, Dr. Toby Metzger, refers
The shock left her in tremendous
clients to Dillon for permanent reshaping of
partial wig designed to hide the receding hair­
pain and terribly confused. "I was at the
their pubic hair. Ouch. She assures me that she
line most men get.
point of suicide,” she says.
It is quite convincing when she combs it in
numbs the area first but that it does hurt a little.
At that point in her life, Fletcher,
She also can remove any trace of a beard.
with her real blond hair. She offers many such
like the overwhelming majority of het­
insights to her transgendered clients.
Once you have your wig and face perfected,
erosexuals, knew nothing about the
"Passing is these girls’ biggest worry,” she
you may want to go to Beautiful Faces in
queer community. But 15 years later,
says. “We are always afraid that someone will
Suite B. Tattoo artist Shauna Holder, 30, can
she now has a whole new outlook. “I
know.”
apply any kind of body tattoo or piercing.
have not lost a husband, I have gained
Knudson has spent many hours working
She reshapes male mouths into feminine
two brothers."
with friends and clients to help them master
lips and redesigns eyebrows permanently. She
It says something wonderful about her
character,
1 think, that she and her hus­
the gestures and voice inflections they want.
sometimes is called upon to tattoo areolas for
She recalls when womanly gestures were an
transgendered breasts. Holder is straight but
band have remained close, even though
effort for her.
queer- and trans-friendly.
they are separated and he has a partner. Her
She shared with me an incident she had at
struggle to understand her husband’s coming
Meier and Frank. She was fighting over sale
out led her to explore the realms of gender.
ut wait, there’s more! Behind the doors at
clothing with other women when a man want­
Now, she is a treasure to the cross-dressing and
Authentic Creations in a discreet North
ed to push his shopping cart past, but she was
transgender communities. She uses her theatrical
Portland home, magic happens. Gender
in the way.
magic. In the artful hands of Christina Fletch­
and artistic skills to transform her clients from one
Furious, he shouted, “You bitch!” Knudson
er, gender is transformed.
gender to another. Although one-third of her
laughed in delight because she had passed.
She tells her story with a faraway look
clients are actors and one-third are straight,
Community resources for gender reshaping
I
another third are people who spend at least some
of their time as members of another gender.
ommie Henderson is one of Fletcher’s suc­
cess stories. She defines “transgendered” as
“an overall umbrella classification for per­
sons such as cross-dressers, transsexuals, inter­
sexed individuals or anyone concerned with
the issues of gender identity.”
The 66-year-old transsexual is a member of
the Northwest Gender Alliance, which wel­
comes all of the above to attend meetings
and become members. “In fact, Lon Mabon
could be a member since he seems to have
an intense interest in gender identity and
expression,” she quips.
Henderson has used Fletcher’s services
for a male-to-female makeover and
admires her for more than her artistic tal­
ent. “I would feel very secure in saying
that anyone who has met Christina would
have nothing but the highest regard for
her. At times, the variations within the
I sexual minority community are at odds
with each other, and at those times I
I would
point out Christina as a role model,
I
I since she is not a member of this commu­
I nity but accepts them all as nonjudgmen-
tally as first and foremost human beings.”
Fletcher says she has worked on
about 100 transgendered people, mostly
men who want to look like women. She starts
by studying the features of each client. Are
the Nines heavy? The nose large? The jaw
masculine? Then, she goes to work with spe­
cial creams and makeup to soften a little here,
reshape there, disguise elsewhere.
Next, she studies the client’s coloring. “I use
natural coloring to enhance the person’s fea­
tures,” she says.
Fletcher interprets each individual’s person­
ality style. Vibrant? Shy? She applies the make­
up that will complement whatever femininity
is there.
“1 redesign each face,” she says. “Every face
is different."
She then teaches each client to apply her
own makeup. She is not in business to sell
makeup but does supply Hollywood Magic
theatrical creams, which are not available in
Portland.
Fletcher is also a wigmaker. She fits and
styles each wig for each client. She also teaches
them how to care for their new hair.
Of course, she can cut hair, too. She told
me about a haircut that can be combed to
look feminine or masculine.
But she does not stop
there. Fletcher also
ladles out the loving
support transgen­
dered people need.
She knows some of
her clients put
their lives on the
line to be who
they are.
“They risk loss of
family, jobs, every­
thing,” she says. “I
have seen men trem­
bling in my salon chair
with tears in their eyes.
These men are so unhap­
py with what they see
each day in the mirror."
Fletcher understands their needs. “I tell
each client, ‘You will see the person that is
inside you.’ ”
People who sit in her salon chair can be
assured of total respect and anonymity. "I am
one of the few people that they can confide
their deepest fears to." JFI
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