In 1960, Virginia Prince founded Transvestia magazine. Published six times a year in Los Angeles by Chevalier Publications, 1960-1986, it was edited by Prince until 1980, and then sold to Carol Beecroft, who acted as editor until 1986. Transvestia was the first widely-distributed magazine focused on the crossdressing community. In time, it expanded to include content about the larger trans community. In an era before the internet, the publication became a major life-line for its readers. In Transvestia, trans people could openly write about their experiences, challenges, and successes. Subscribers to the publication were able to network and connect with each other by way of articles, ads, and by personally writing to the editors.
Transvestia was a part of the library holdings of the Rikki Swin Institute: Gender Education, Research, Library and Archives (RSI), located in Chicago, Illinois. The RSI collection was donated by Rikki Swin to the University of Victoria Libraries in 2008, and is a foundational resource of UVic’s Transgender Archives.
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