peter blok photography

It is midnight in Paris and rush hour. There are no 'traffic jams' on the ring route. But there are in the 'Bois de Boulogne'. The transsexuals of this world know that and they gather from all around the world to satisfy the needs of sex seekers. They dance with opened coats like bullfighters around the cars and show their nearly naked, more or less into woman transformed bodies. Or stand in the shadow of trees and try to lure passers-by into the woods.

These 'migrant transgender sex workers', as the transsexual prostitutes are named by PASTT (Prevention Action Sante Travail Transgenders, are outcast of this society. PASTT, an organization of and for transsexuals is the social lifebelt for all these rejects, who are not only in the twilight zone between man and woman but are also unaccepted in the French community. In their van for 'prevention' from 22pm till 2am, they provide a cup of instant coffee or hot chocolate (it is winter) and many packs of biscuits. The condom packets, cleaning tissues and lubricant, distributed to everyone show that it is not a normal tea-visit. Furthermore everyone who wants to, can obtain a coin for dispenser in town for clean needles. Drug-addiction is a worry but not the biggest. That is AIDS, witnessed by information leaflets available in many languages.