TGNet BBS Network Maps

ABOUT

These maps plot out the various bulletin board systems, or BBSes, that comprised TGNet, one of the first independent international transgender digital communication networks. Unlike forums on commercial platforms of the time, TGNet was maintained by a transgender-identified sysop who also ran TGNet's host BBS, Feminet. (While TGNet did use Fidonet technology, it wasn't carried on the Fidonet backbone, the colloquial term for Fidonet's main network.)

Following Feminet's closure in 1996, the network was co-administered by Kymberleigh Richards, sysop of Cross Connections, and Russ Goodale, sysop of the Seattle-based BBS The Room Next Door. Though its final closure date is unknown, the network remained active through 1997 (mentioned in a January 1997 column of Renaissance News & Views), when Richards closed Cross Connections (due to declining membership and lack of funds).

MAPPING THE NETWORK

In mapping this network, I've included name, area code, and a link to the Community Catalog page (if cataloged) in the relevant geographic map marker; when multiple BBSes were based in one city, I've listed all relevant BBS names. While boards could be built on Fidonet technology, not all of them participated in the Fidonet network. Given its relevance, however, I've chosen to include information on the Fidonet Zones and Regions: States/provinces are colored by Zone, and clicking on a state/province will offer more information about its Region. Though a board's Region number doesn't appear in an individual BBS's address, regions did offer a loose structure for social and administrative organization of the wider network.

And finally, it should be noted that the lists on which these maps are based are, like all BBS lists, only accurate to the moment they were published. Since BBSes were prone to disappear with warning, lists were often unreliable resources. Thus, these maps should best be understood as single snapshot of a fluctuating and shifting network.

Click on the screenshots below to proceed to the different map pages.