In August of 2023, a digital archivist known by the handle @VHS_Rip_King uploaded a corrupted .mov file to the Internet Archive. The description was simple: “Frank’s Tgirl World Exclusive #019 – ‘Jade Speaks.’ Found at a flea market in Sarasota. Audio is rough. Content is shocking.”

Jade laughs. “They ask how I look in lace. They never ask how I survived the Hilton.”

One thing is certain: There is no going back from the exclusive. The door Frank opened, for better or worse, is now unhinged. If you have information regarding the whereabouts of additional “Frank’s Tgirl World” tapes or the current location of Jade D’Luxe, please contact this journalist via encrypted signal.

The tape opens with Jade D’Luxe sitting on a floral-print couch in a motel room. She is not wearing makeup. She is in her late 40s, wearing a bathrobe. Frank’s voice, off-camera, asks: “What don’t they ask you in the magazines?”

For the last twenty minutes, the tape does shift to the adult content Frank was known for, but it is contextualized within a political act. Jade states explicitly: “I am doing this so you cannot look away. My body is not the crime. The crime is that they wanted me dead.” The rediscovery of the “Frank’s Tgirl World Exclusive” has split the trans archival community into two warring factions.

By: J. Harper, Senior Culture Correspondent Date: October 26, 2023