Interview with Elin McCready

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Elin McCready, an American linguistics professor at Tokyo's Aoyama Gakuin University. Married for 20 years, she has three children with her Japanese wife Midori, but registering her female identity has endangered her marriage because Japan doesn't recognise gay marriage. Hello Elin!

Elin: Hi! Thank you so much for asking me to do this interview. It’s great to get the opportunity to raise awareness about our situation and about the general situation for LGBTQ+ people in Japan.

Monika: Your story hit the international headlines more than a year ago. Has anything changed since then?

Elin: We first started getting media attention when it became clear that the Japanese government was going to take a weird line on recognizing my transition. The situation in Japan is that, if you want to change the gender marker on your official documents, you must not be married or have minor children, and you must be sterilized, in addition to having a diagnosis saying that gender marker change is appropriate from a medical professional. Since I only satisfy the last condition, I would not have been able to change gender marker if I were Japanese; but since I’m not, I changed my marker in the US, which of course changes my Japanese paperwork. But since I’m married, allowing me to change gender marker on all my documents would mean the de facto recognition of same-sex marriage, so the government didn’t want to do it.

Interview with Maryanne Marttini - Part 2

The interview is the continuation of the previous conversation with Maryanne Marttini, an American comedienne, writer, producer, and designer from Arizona. She is known for her stand-up comedy performances across the country, and brief appearances in Transparent and Glee. She is also part of a writing team that has developed an animated television series and a three act play based on that series. Since starting her transition 12 years ago she has volunteered with The Maricopa Community College System for LGBTQ awareness, fund raising for scholarships and Human Resourced for LGBT education.

 

Monika: You co-operate with the Maricopa Community College System to raise awareness about LGBT rights. Could you say a few words about it?
Maryanne: When I joined The Desperado LGBT Film Festival, which is sponsored by The Maricopa Community College System (MCCS) with corporate and community sponsors, I met the Director of The MCCS Diversity Program for students and staff. MCCS has almost 280,000 full and part time students and is the center of diversity for Maricopa County. The MCCS is dedicated to promoting diversity despite the reputation of Arizona being a red state.

Interview with Tanja von Knorring

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Tanja von Knorring, a Finnish businesswoman and human rights and transgender activist, co-chair of the 2019-2020 Board of Transgender Europe (TGEU), the roof-top organisation of transgender organisations of Euope and Central Asia, fighting against discrimination and supporting trans people rights. She is also the Chairperson of the NGO Transfeminines of Finland, ex-chair of Transgender political committee of SETA – LGBTI Finland, board member in Trasek and array of other LGBTI associations. 

Hello Tanja!

Tanja: Hello, and nice to meet you, Monika, in these very special times we are living currently. I'm happy to have an interview with you.

Interview with Veso Golden Oke

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Veso Golden Oke, a Nigerian-born beauty queen and model, professional make-up artist, Miss Ghana at Trans Star International 2019. In 2019 Veso became the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Europe Continental Ghana, a beauty pageant for cisgender women. Hello Veso!

Veso: Hello Monika, thank you for this opportunity.

Monika: You were born in Nigeria. Could you say a words about your teenage years there?

Veso: Yes, I was born in Nigeria and lived in Nigeria for 20 years of my life. It was hell everyday because as a young Christian child I was made to believe that my life style was demonic and I needed deliverance. The society had not pity on me, I felt hate and isolation every single day. I was once arrested and put in jail with criminals just because I identified as a woman. I was lucky once when I almost got stoned in the streets after protesting against the 24 years imprisonment for LGBT people. I would have died if I had not found a way to escape.

Interview with Maryanne Marttini - Part 1

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Maryanne Marttini, an American comedienne, writer, producer, and designer from Arizona. She is known for her stand-up comedy performances across the country, and brief appearances in Transparent and Glee. She is also part of a writing team that has developed an animated television series and a three act play based on that series. Since starting her transition 12 years ago she has volunteered with The Maricopa Community College System for LGBTQ awareness, fund raising for scholarships and Human Resourced for LGBT education.

Hello Maryanne! 

Maryanne: Thank you Monika it is an honor and pleasure to meet you. I am a fan of your work bringing awareness and reality of the Transgender Community to your readers. One of my favorite expressions in life is, “the more you know…!”

Interview with Madi (ChutDillio)

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Madi, an American transgender woman that documents her transition on Reddit.com as ChutDillio. Hello Madi!

Madi: Hi Monika! Thank you so much for interviewing me. I've never been interviewed by anyone!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Madi: I'm a sarcastic, extroverted, super proud trans woman born and raised in New York City. I love to sing, skate, and be my crazy Aries self (unabashedly). I also never stop talking. It's a problem.

Monika: Why did you decide to share your transition details on Reddit?

Madi: Honestly, as a way to give back. I followed every trans subreddit for YEARS before I could even admit to myself I was trans. The trans community on Reddit are some of the most amazing, strong-willed people I know of. Once I started HRT, I started counting down the days until I could post about my progress, simply just so I could finally be part of the community. I've made a bunch of really great friends on there.