She calls herself “Nikki S.” She’s a pretty, young t-girl who has been making a name for herself at Goodhandy’s Pansexual Playground (www.goodhandys.com) in Toronto, and Goodhandy’s she-male strip club The Lounge (www.ladyplus.com) in the city’s west end. But Nikki is more than a body to die for; she has a brain to match. The proof can be found in her new TransMission column at www.tgirlnews.com. It’s one of the featured sections in The Canadian cyber newspaper.“Many tolerate us, but do not accept us,” she writes. “They recognize our existence, but do not respect our choices. They popularize and sensationalize us, but do not value our contributions. For all who dared to reject the roles expected of them, and stepped outside the boundaries imposed on them, this column is written with all of us in mind. This is my Broadcast from Between the Lines; this is our TransMission.”

So who is Nikki S.? “I’m a 27-year-old transsexual woman with a B.A. in Political Science, currently working towards a second degree in Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto,”she replies. “I’m a member of the Trans Health Lobby Group and Trans Human Rights Campaign, as well as a member of the Board of Directors for the Lesbian Gay Bi Trans YouthLine, and I’m the new Transgender Columnist for Tgirlnews.com.”

“Tgirlnews.com is an opportunity to talk about trans issues without having to conform to the expectations of mainstream media,” she continues. “Often, we’re used in sensationalist pieces and treated as deviants, freaks, or sideshow spectacles The trans people you see on Jerry Springer or Oprah are dehumanized and objectified, and they’re reduced to the state of their physical bodies, rather than respected for their minds.”

In contrast to the media’s stereotypical and objectified portrayals of transsexuals, “Tgirlnews.com gives us a chance to bring our own perspectives to light, without having to meet the public’s expectations of what a ‘typical’ trans person should be,” Nikki says. “In fact, there really is no such thing; we’re an incredibly varied and diverse group of people. Our TransMission is all about receiving acceptance, value and respect from society, and my Broadcast from Between the Lines is a combination of my own life experiences as a trans woman, as well as input from trans admirers, trans allies, and other trans people as well.”

To put it mildly, Nikki S.’s news beat is a big one. “I want to examine issues that surround trans people’s lives, and ask questions about society as a whole,” she says. “Take the example of asking for one’s gender on an application form; the vast majority of people never think twice when ticking off one box or another, but it’s not so simple for some members of our community. When you think of it on a deeper level, what’s the point of asking someone’s gender for, say, a library card? Why do some pieces of identification display your gender, while others don’t? Why does gender even exist in the first place?”

“These are some of the issues I hope to examine in my articles, and I want readers to ask questions as well,” Nikki tells YNOT.com. “I also hope to use some of my academic knowledge to answer questions that others might have about trans-related issues. Men always ask me, ‘if I’m attracted to a t-girl, does that make me gay, or straight?’ Well, most of these men are totally heterosexual, and that’s another one of the issues I hope to examine down the road – not just the identities themselves, but also, why we assign them to ourselves so easily.”

With such a broad range of topics to cover, one has to wonder how Nikki S. intends to play her column. Will she take a journalistic approach? Just write for fun? Or provide content that is downright sexy? “It’s going to be a combination of all three,” she replies. “There’s definitely an editorial feel to it, as many of my articles are opinion pieces. I also hope to present the lighter side of life as a t-girl; so much of the media coverage is negative, talking about how difficult things are for the trans community, but it can be a lot of fun to mess with people’s assumptions about gender, sexuality, and heteronormativity. Toronto is a very tolerant city, and there are plenty of places for trans people to have fun, like Goodhandy’s on Church St on Thursdays, or Circa on Fridays. I’ll be putting in a few words about upcoming events that are trans-friendly, especially those at Goodhandy’s.”

Make no mistake as to where Nikki stands on t-girl sexuality: “I’m a big fan of sex, both as an activity and a discussion topic, and t-girls are definitely sexy,” she says. “We’ve carved out quite a niche for ourselves in the sexual sphere, and it seems to be growing every day. My pansexual orientation (meaning I’m attracted to people in general, rather than genders, body parts or sexualities) has allowed me to expand my understanding of sex in all sorts of different directions, and I firmly believe that any two people, stranded on a desert island together, would eventually find a way to get each other off. Sexual identities are mostly a social construct, and a recent one at that; people are very quick to assign identities to themselves (and each other) based on actions. This is something I think we’re starting to move away from, but very, very slowly.”

When she is not writing her columns or working at Goodhandy’s, Nikki S. has lots of other mountains to conquer. “Once I’ve finished my second undergrad degree next year, I’m planning to go to grad school to get my Master’s in Counseling Psychology,” she says. “I want to become a community counselor dealing with other members of the GLBT and Trans communities, particularly other trans people. I want people to feel comfortable talking about their lives with someone that really understands what being trans entails, and I want to be able to give them professional support as well as personal understanding. Otherwise, I’m going to continue being a volunteer in GLBT-focused organizations, and continue with trans activism, pushing for the expansion of trans rights and services. We’re one of the most disenfranchised and stigmatized groups in society, and that definitely needs to change.”

So where does Nikki – a relatively new t-girl – stand in her own trans journey? “Well, I’ve lived full-time in my identified gender for quite some time, and I’m taking female hormones as well, but haven’t undergone any surgical procedures.,” she replies. “I’ve changed some of my identification documents, but not all of them, because there are different requirements for different pieces of ID.”

“I want to think about my different surgical options for a while before I go under the knife, and I haven’t really set any benchmarks for myself, in terms of my transition,” Nikki notes. “Once I decided to live full-time as the woman I knew myself to be, the rest has been comparatively easy. Coming out, accessing medical care, getting to know the community, etc, was all part of the process, but I’m not in any rush to make any major changes to my body. The biggest, hardest change occurred in my own head, accepting myself for who I am; everything else has just fallen into place. I don’t think of my transition as having a beginning or an end; it’s just another aspect of my growth as a person, which is something I’ll continue to do for the rest of my life.”

Clearly, Nikki is a smart, thoughtful t-girl. So does she worry that her adult industry work will overshadow, leaving people to view her solely as a sex object? “Well, that’s not really within my control; people tend to perceive things according to their expectations,” she says. “Anybody who meets me, or reads a couple of lines in my column, will hopefully realize that I’m more than just a pretty face, and that there’s plenty of substance behind these beautiful baby-blue eyes. I certainly won’t be upset if someone finds me sexy, and tells me so; I enjoy flattery, and fully encourage it.”

“Let’s face it, most people’s initial experience with a t-girl often has some sort of sexual overtones, and sometimes it’s tough to move beyond that, especially if they happen to find t-girls attractive,” Nikki observes. “I encourage everyone to enjoy sex in all its wonderfully-varied forms, and I think that our vast sexual diversity is part of what makes people so interesting. I don’t think I’m the only one who finds intelligence incredibly sexy, but if someone can’t look past the sexual side, and see what else lies beneath, then it’s their loss more than anything else.”

“I have no problem with this kind of attention, as long as people recognize that I’m not a sexual object, I’m a sexual being; I deserve the same respect as everyone else. I certainly hope they recognize the difference, because sex with a person is usually a lot more fun than sex with an object.”