I am a victim of discrimination. Sure, sure, you've heard it before. What crossdresser hasn't experienced discrimination. Just put on a dress to mow the grass and you can absolutely rely on being discriminated against by your family, the neighbors, and the lawn care service. Go shopping for a new girdle and the prejudiced salespeople won't even consider letting you try it on in the changing room. Wear a frilly skirt to work and no one will compliment you on how the colors match your beard. A crossdresser's life is a hard one, but you already know that.

That kind of discrimination is just plain normal, you get used to it. Lately I have been finding my male self is being discriminated against when I go shopping for clothes at my local X-Mart. You know, one of those mega chain stores, probably attached to some mall, that sells everything in the universe except the item you came in to buy. I can remember a time when chain stores maintained the polite fiction that women did not exist in any size over 12, and your only recourse as a large woman or crossdressing man was to find an expensive specialty shop or order by mail. Somewhere along the line the marketing executives discovered a substantial portion of American womanhood was, um, substantial, and began to stock clothes for the "Plus Size" woman. They still haven't realized there are colors other than black and silver when the size tag has an X on it , but they're learning.

I recently went shopping for my wife's birthday. As several of her old nightgowns had recently been recycled as rags I bought her a couple of nightgowns to replace them. I got one summer and one winter weight, and had no trouble finding clothes for her; I even found matching nightgowns in 3X for me. I know, it's insufferably cute, but I couldn't resist. I went over a few isles and picked up some size 12 pink lace bikinis and dithered over a summer frock on sale but didn't spend the money. So far, so good. The problem began when I went to buy a couple of men's shirts. Shades of the sixties, it seems men don't come in any size larger than 1X. Arms longer than 25 inches? Don't be absurd.

Then I tried to find some male tailored bikinis that I could wear without fear of lace peeking over the edge of my pants. Not an X in sight, bikini wearing men apparently are all small, medium or large. (Shame on you if you read something into that last line I didn't write.) Plenty of white traditional briefs, lots of boxers, but I like wearing bikinis even if I will never be invited to pose with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

So that's it, the fashion mavens of America are discriminating against big men. Or is there another explanation? You tell me - if the only clothing that fits a large man is to be found on the plus size woman's racks, is there a joyous conspiracy developing? Could it be in the coming years every large male who doesn't wear custom tailored suits will be attired in blouse and skirt?

I know Martin Luther King's reaction to discrimination was to say "I have a dream!" I can dream too, can't I?