[2] This annual event is the longest-running transgender conference in the United States and it provides a week for attendees to experiment with gender-role identities and presentations in a safe and affirming community.
In November, 1980 the event was featured in an article by D. Keith Mano in Playboy magazine[3] and has in ensuing years has continued to generate publicity.
Since 2000 the parent organization has been Real Life Experiences, a nonprofit corporation which makes annual awards to transgender pioneers at a banquet held during the Fair.
Fantasia Fair has always emphasized and supported the spouses, family members, and allies of transgender and other gender nonconforming people and considered them full partners in the event.
Professionals include speech and voice therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, surgeons, academics in a variety of disciplines, and gender theorists.
The Unitarian Universalist Meeting House of Provincetown holds a special trans-inclusive service on the last day of Fantasia Fair.
Many of the events take place in the Crown and Anchor restaurant, bar, and nightclub, but Fantasia Fair encompasses the entire town.
In its early years, promotion of Fantasia Fair was, at times, difficult, due to the discriminatory attitude and laws surrounding transsexualism, transvestism, and transgenderism.
Lastly, one of the most important tools for communication and promotion was word of mouth, including conversations involving facts, rumors, and opinions about the Fair between participants.
A colorful program book is issued to participants upon arrival, and a daily newsletter tracks last-minute changes to the complex schedule.
[14] In its earliest years, Fantasia Fair offered a choice of accommodation from three options: a motel close to the beach, a larger hotel, or small apartments.
The Crown and Anchor offered single, double rooms, and suites, all with private bath, as well as several facilities on-site such as a restaurant, a lounge, a dance club, and several small shops.
Fantasia Fair was founded by individuals such as Betsy Shaw, Ari Kane, Betty Ann Lind, and Linda Franklin, as well as other members of The Cherrystones, a transgender support group based out of Boston.
The notion of a transgender conference stemmed from the founders' firm belief that there was a need for trans people of all sorts to learn about themselves, in order to feel less isolated in society because of their gender identity.
In addition to these events, the 1976 conference was the first to offer a course specifically for the wives and girlfriends of transgender and transsexual participants in the Fair.
The body movement courses included assistance on the improvement of "femme comportment" in walking, talking, sitting, dining, and dancing.
Pioneer awards were given to Virginia Prince and Merissa Sherrill Lynn for their decades of work on behalf of the transgender community.
Symposium speakers were Susan Stryker, Dallas Denny, Miqqi Alicia Gilbert, Jamison Green, and Miilton Diamond.
[18] Many traditional-style workshops still were offered as well, such as seminars addressing wig styling, feminizing the voice, and makeup and image consultations.
The Human Outreach and Achievement Institute was established in 1975 [16] in Boston as a way to increase awareness and participation in the Fantasia Fair conference, as well as to function as a support and information centre for members of the Trans Community.
The main goal of the nonprofit institute is to develop and foster understanding of human sexuality, in order to combat ignorance and misinformation.
[19] In addition to these programs, the Human Outreach and Achievement Institute published books and pamphlets with information regarding masculinity, transvestism, socio-cultural contexts of crossdressing, and abstracts of symposiums on gender studies and other issues.
[20] In 1980, the organization received significant media coverage on a Phil Donahue episode, which was viewed by more than 8 million people, where Ariadne Kane spoke about gender fluidity and took questions from the audience.