The Global TransGendeRing is designed to provide a web of information, support, activism and just plain fun .
Hi-Hi!! I'm Laura Potter. It's June 28, 1999. Three years ago today I founded this webring...for a reason. I guess I'm idealistic enough to believe that education can overcome ignorance and discrimination. When first I registered the webring on 28 June 1996, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. Through the magick of the Internet, I wanted a way to bring together the Transgender Community so that each individual could contribute to the whole. A way that would allow for the great variation in personality, lifestyle, spirituality, politics, sexuality and education.

But a way, also, to bring illumination to a highly controversial subject. One that has alternately exalted and praised us as demigods or hated and condemned us as daemons. We are simply human beings... Human beings whose perspectives cross the so-called GENDER line. I look forward to the day when gender and gender expression become non-issues, rather than dreadfully serious ones.

It seems many others have seen this vision... within 48 hours a baker's dozen of sites had chosen to link in. The Global TransGendeRing is a growing web of sites focusing on all aspects of the Transgender Experience, from crossdressing to drag performance to political activism to post-operative transsexuality...and those are just a few random points. It is truly a global WebRing, spanning countries as varied as Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, China, Saudi Arabia (yes..even there!), Mexico, Yugoslavia, and quite a few more. Surfers can follow the links of the webring and have the opportunity to see what transgenderism really is... And I hope the TGRing touches hearts and minds with enlightenment.

Originally named just the TransGenderRing, the Global TransGendeRing has woven more than 1000 individual sites into it's web. There are usually 30 to 40 sites in the queue, waiting to be linked. Sage Weil provided the original mechanics, in the form of his WebRing system, though now Yahoo has taken it all over. I provided the foundation in the form of a small set of guidelines covering transgender focus, webring membership, 'net citizenship and commercial limitations. It was the first transgender-oriented WebRing in the system, but since has been joined by sister, the TG & CD Support Ring and brother, Deutschen Transgender Ring webrings. There now appear to be a dozen different transgender-oriented webrings in the system.

The Global TransGendeRing grew too large for me to manage alone, so I asked Scarlet Pleasure, and later my lover - Marina Brown, to assist. The three of us still keep the TGRing going. I am afflicted with advanced Lyme Disease, a disease that has gotten into my Central Nervous System and has put me into a wheelchair. Top that with several damaged vertabrae, and you can see why I had to get help. I can walk only short distances, and must stay wheelchair bound the rest of the time. However, my spine isn't completely ruined yet. I am sometimes seen at footraces, participating in the wheelchair division. But I am no longer able to manage the TGRing solo.

So, if you are transgendered, or support us in our goals, consider adding your world wide website to our webring. To begin the registration, click the link below.

NOTE: Although the webring currently resides at Yahoo, I have plans to move it to a much more stable, and MUCH less image-conscious server in the near future. Yahoo is currently (April 27, 2001) deleting so-called "adult" sites and webrings from its database. AND they aren't even letting us know they are doing this!!!