Rose’s House

By the late 70s, I had come to terms with my own transvestism and had developed self acceptance to such an extent that I wanted to help others like me. I knew that there were many cross-dressers in the ‘closet’ whom I felt might benefit from the sort of help and support that I could provide.

I had the idea of getting a house and setting it up to provide the sorts of facilities that I would have welcomed whilst I was coming to terms with my own transvestism. Besides monthly social evenings, I wanted to cater for those ‘closet’ cross-dressers who would be far too nervous to go to a group meeting and would have difficulties ‘dressing’ at home. I would allow private visits at any time by appointment, providing visitors the opportunity to dress in complete privacy, somewhere to store their femme stuff, a pool of clothes and wigs for those who did not have their own, and even offer accommodation. For the more self-assured T-girls who wanted something more fun, I would also have regular parties. This was all very pioneering as I was not aware of anyone else offering such comprehensive facility. This was long before makeover and dressing services became prevalent in later years.

I had joined the Beaumont Society (a UK organisation for the trans community) but it had taken me many years to even become aware that it existed. It was all a bit ‘cloak and dagger’ in those days, and you needed to become sponsored by a society official before you could meet any other members. They did have monthly meetings in various parts of the country, but I wanted to make my house much more open and try to reach out, particularly to the ‘closet’ TVs who might not have even heard of the BS. [Note: TV is a term for transvestites commonly used in those days but depreciated now!]

So in 1979 I bought a house in Sheffield. I chose Sheffield because I particularly wanted a town with a large catchment area for potential customers, and house prices there were relatively low. Also, I wanted somewhere far enough away from close family so they would not be likely to drop in unannounced and catch me or any of my visitors indulging in cross-dressing. I had not told any family members about my cross-dressing at that time, but I needn’t have worried on that score, as when I did tell my mother and sister only a year later, they took it extremely well.

I bought a cheap run-down town house in need of renovation (because that was all I could afford – I think it cost me £3000). When I say run-down I mean semi-derelict. It had defective lead plumbing, condemned electrics and a non-working loo at the bottom of the garden! At first, I had to fetch water in a jerrican from the local garage, cook on a camping stove and use a chemical toilet! Besides these basics, the building work required included replacing sagging rotten floors, waterproofing an external wall, and a new staircase. I did this all myself over several years with help from Janet from Derby whom I met at a BS meeting in Leeds. We became very good friends and she would spend several days at a time helping me with the building work. We’d also have frequent ‘dress-up’ and photo sessions.

By mid 1980, work had progressing sufficiently to start holding monthly social evenings, but though conditions were still far from perfect, we had good attendance from the start. I called my enterprise ‘Rose’s’ and I publicised ‘Rose’s House’ wherever I could: the contact and TV magazines that were around at the time, adverts in Exchange & Mart, talks I gave to the Samaritans and Sheffield University, etc. I set up my phone as a helpline early on and found I would be getting about two or three calls a day (the BS did not have a helpline at that time). Although not a trained counsellor, I know I helped a lot of troubled trans persons through talking with them. I was frequently the first person they had ever spoken to about their cross-dressing and many told me afterwards that they were on the point of suicide before talking to me.

After I’d moved to Sheffield, I regularly attended the Beaumont meetings in Leeds. When the then Regional Officer heard about my plans I think she felt I was a bit of an upstart trying to compete with the Beaumont Society but this was not my intention at all as I saw what I was proposing to do would be part of the service provided by the BS.

In 1982, I finally completed the refurbishment of a large attic room where all future Rose’s parties and monthly social evenings were held. We held about six or seven parties each season for several years. They were extremely popular with guests coming from all over the country, as I was not aware of any other parties like them in the UK. All the parties had a theme and I really enjoyed making outfits for them, many of them somewhat ‘over-the-top’ (I was told that my outfits were a bit of a draw for some of those coming to the parties).

It was at one of these parties that I found a new love in my life, or rather she found me! Cathy had been coming to my parties with her TV boyfriend for a few years, but I never had much contact with her apart from a few polite words. But she loved the tranny scene so much that when she split with her boyfriend, she still came to my parties on her own. She always said that she was not interested in ‘normal’ men, as trannies are much more fun! At one of the parties, she decided to seduce me! I was a very willing victim and we soon got together, with her moving in with me in the summer of 1989.

By the end of the 80s, with Rose’s House being such a success and proving that I had been right in believing that it was something that T-girls needed at that time, I was ready to embark on something else that I felt the trans community would welcome. It would be a magazine I would call Repartee.

Martine Rose