Admirer

An admirer (syn. fan) is a person who respects, follows and otherwise admires another person, place, or thing. In dating, an admirer is a person who has a strong interest in meeting with and developing a relationship with another person, either for the person as a whole or some attribute of the person.

In a TG context, an admirer is a person, who although not in transition or cross-dressing at the present, has a strongly supportive interest in transgendered persons. The term "admirer" in the transgendered community most frequently refers to a male who is honestly interested in dating a male to female transsexual woman or cross-dresser. As with any dating scene, there is a risk some admirers may be sexual predators. Admirers who seek out transgendered people only for sexual or fetish fulfillment reasons are often labeled as tranny chasers.

Admirers may also be women who are strongly supportive of those in transition. Many either have a close friend or relative who transitioned. Some have even married mtf transsexuals. Others are attracted by the idea of TG seeing both sides of the gender divide. There are women who find "men in makeup" to be strong and attractive men; and there is a fairly active forum maintained on iam.bmezine.com (a well known body modification community) covering this segment of society entitled "Real men wear makeup."

There are transgendered women who prefer male admirers to ordinary men for the acceptance of the person being transgendered. In light of the murders of transgendered persons, coming out to an ordinary man can be frustrating and life-threatening since some men react very violently when they discover that a woman is pre-op or post-op. For example, one of the more famous murder victims, Gwen Araujo, was violently beaten and left for dead after being outed at a party.

A common and unconfirmed rumor is that there are some famous and/or rich admirers who are willing to pay for the cost of transition for a transsexual in exchange for that person staying with them for a certain amount of time and possibly performing other favors. If it were true, it could be illegal as it could be seen as a form of prostitution.

The term ally has similar meanings to the term admirer without the dating connotations.

See also

TS Admirers - What makes 'em tick? in the forums.

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