Interview with Casey Plett

 

Casey Plett’s writing emerged from a place where transition, humor, uncertainty, desire, family, and ordinary life could exist on the same page. Born in Winnipeg and living in Canada after years in the United States, Plett has made a distinctive mark through her candid writing about transition, particularly in her Balls Out: A Column On Being Transgendered series for McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. Beginning in 2010, those essays followed the intimate, sometimes awkward, sometimes hilarious realities of her early transition, from starting hormones and navigating changing relationships to hair, clothes, family, sex, and the strange process of discovering how differently the world can respond to you. But Plett was already moving beyond memoir. Her short story “Other Women,” published in Topside Press’s 2012 anthology The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard, marked an important step into fiction, allowing her to explore trans women not as symbols or lessons, but as complicated people with friendships, lovers, histories, conflicts, flaws, and desires. The anthology brought together 28 transgender writers, placing Plett among a growing literary community determined to create space for stories that had too often been missing from mainstream fiction.

 

In this interview Casey describes the beginning of her writing life almost mischievously, remembering that she had imagined being a writer since childhood, then suddenly, at nineteen, sat down in Seattle and began writing about everything that had happened to her in the preceding months. She recalls periods when writing gave way to drinking and smoking, but that weekend remained, in her mind, the moment when she decided to take writing seriously. By then, she was also developing a larger body of short fiction and wrestling with a memoir-like nonfiction project she had not yet figured out how to finish. For her, fiction should make room for people in all their messiness, humor, contradictions, relationships, and specificity. She has also spoken of being excited by the emergence of a genuine trans literary community, with writers and editors creating work on their own terms. There is an unmistakable intimacy to Plett’s voice, but also a sharp comic instinct. Her transition writing could move from vulnerability to absurdity within a few sentences, finding humor without making the underlying experience feel trivial. Her fiction similarly grew from questions about how trans women relate to cis women, to lovers and friends, to family, and to one another, while drawing on the emotional territory of her own life without reducing fiction to autobiography. By this point, Casey Plett is still at the beginning of her literary journey, but the voice has already been unmistakably her own.

Interview with Britany Somers

A longtime radio professional in South Florida, Britany Somers spent two decades as part of the Neil Rogers Show before creating her own online program, the Boca Show, a general-interest program reflecting her broad range of interests and her frustration with the growing corporate consolidation of American media. For Britany, radio is not simply a profession, but a way of communicating, questioning conventions, and saying what she thinks, often with a sharp sense of humor. Her transgender advocacy has been an equally important part of her journey. Britany has worked with medical and public-health programs, served as a transgender liaison, participated in transgender awareness initiatives, and spoken to university students about transgender lives and experiences. She found these encounters particularly rewarding because they allowed her to challenge the stereotypes created by mainstream media and show students that transgender people are, above all, ordinary human beings with complex lives, personalities, ambitions, and dreams. Her experiences also exposed her to the institutional barriers that transgender advocates could encounter even when attempting to improve education and healthcare.

 

Britany’s approach to transgender issues is anything but conventional. She is fiercely critical of media stereotypes, skeptical of some aspects of LGBT community politics, and deeply frustrated by what she sees as divisions and a lack of collective action within the transgender community. Her answers are frequently provocative, irreverent, and deliberately humorous, but beneath the sarcasm lies a serious concern about representation, dignity, political visibility, and the need for transgender people to be understood beyond the stereotypes imposed upon them. Her own transition was surprisingly straightforward in practical terms, although it required considerable research and preparation. Britany approached her new life with characteristic determination, refusing to allow other people’s opinions to dictate how she lived. She also developed a strong belief in the importance of presentation and comportment, seeing every transgender woman as, in her words, a kind of ambassador for the wider community. In this interview, Britany talks about her radio career, her transition, transgender advocacy, the media’s portrayal of transgender people, politics, LGBT activism, fashion, relationships, and her plans to complete her book Living Abroad. Expect an interview filled with strong opinions, unconventional observations, plenty of humor, and a woman who clearly has no intention of making herself smaller simply to make other people comfortable.

Interview with Ivory Oasis

Ivory Oasis, also known as Dani Landers, is a game developer, artist, and YouTube vlogger based in Los Angeles. As the founder of Studio Fawn, she pours her heart into art, writing, and design, while also documenting her transition to help others navigate similar journeys. Having been on hormones for over 29 months, Ivory shares her experiences to provide guidance to those beginning their own transitions. Rather than fitting herself into traditional gender roles, she’s embraced the freedom of simply being herself, rejecting societal labels in favor of living authentically. Despite the challenges, including rejection from her father after coming out, she remains hopeful and committed to breaking stereotypes about transgender people.

 

Ivory’s creativity is inspired by androgynous fashion and transgender characters in anime, who live confidently and express themselves freely. She believes true beauty comes from embracing diversity, rather than conforming to narrow standards. Although she prefers to stay out of the spotlight in local LGBT communities, Ivory is passionate about using her work to create more visibility for transgender people and to inspire others to live their truth. Looking ahead, Ivory remains focused on her career, prioritizing stability and growth as she continues her transition at her own pace. While her journey is ongoing, she feels grateful for the progress she’s made and is excited for what the future holds.

Interview with Lynda Oudenhoven

A Denver Police Department fleet mechanic with 27 years of service, Lynda Oudenhoven came to terms with an identity she had sensed since childhood only later in life, beginning her transition at the age of 49. Rather than stepping away from the working world, she transitioned on the job, where she was already known as a dedicated and experienced professional, navigating the fears surrounding her coming out while benefiting from the legal protections available in Colorado. Her daughter encouraged her to explore Lynda more fully, while Buddhism helped her confront the fear and anxiety that had kept her from taking that step for decades. She also found unexpected love and support in a childhood friend who re-entered her life after 30 years and became one of the people who helped guide her through transition. By the time of this interview, Lynda had completed her legal transition and was recovering from gender-affirming surgery, looking forward to returning to work, retirement, and eventually a warmer life in the South.

 

Lynda also approached her transition as an opportunity to help others. Through YouTube, she documented her experiences not only as a personal record for her daughter, but also as a source of reassurance for other transgender women facing the fears she herself had overcome. Her message is ultimately simple but powerful: transition requires preparation, compassion, dignity, and courage, but the life waiting on the other side can be far richer than fear allows us to imagine. In this interview, Lynda talks candidly about discovering her identity in childhood, transitioning in her fifties, coming out to colleagues and police officers she had worked with for decades, hormone therapy, surgery, fashion, love, and her hopes for the future. Most importantly, she reflects on what it means to finally feel that her mind, body, heart, and soul are at peace.

Interview with Susan Jane Bigelow

 

Susan Jane Bigelow writes from a place where speculative fiction, political conviction, and personal experience meet. She has built an unusually varied creative life in Connecticut, working as a librarian and political columnist while establishing herself as a science-fiction and fantasy novelist. Her political writing had begun years earlier with CT Local Politics, which she wrote and operated from 2005 to 2010, before she became a weekly columnist for CT News Junkie, where she wrote about Connecticut politics and issues affecting the state. Her fiction, meanwhile, has developed into something much larger than the single novel she once imagined herself writing. Broken, published in 2011, took six years of drafting, revision, and anxiety to bring into the world. What she expected to be a one-time achievement instead became the beginning of the Extrahumans series, followed by Sky Ranger and The Spark. In May 2013, she was preparing readers for an entirely new universe with The Daughter Star, the first book in a planned trilogy about three sisters. The change was creatively demanding, she explained, because the earlier universe had been growing in her imagination since childhood.

 

There is a particular generosity to the worlds Bigelow creates. Her science fiction does not simply use extraordinary abilities, dystopias, aliens, or fantastical adventures as spectacle; it uses them to explore character, relationships, politics, gender, and the complicated ways people become themselves. A 2013 review of Broken praised the novel for transforming familiar superhero conventions into something emotionally powerful, with a richly constructed dystopian world and deeply human characters. Her transgender experience also found a place within that imaginative landscape. In the 2012 anthology The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard, Bigelow contributed “Ramona’s Demons,” a story about Mona, a former demon hunter whose magical abilities have changed following her transition. The anthology, written entirely by transgender, transsexual, and gender-variant authors, went on to receive the 2013 Lambda Literary Award for its category, placing Bigelow within an important emerging generation of trans writers creating their own speculative and literary narratives.

Interview with Carol Mapley

 

A Scottish transgender woman, Carol Mapley has lived a remarkable life shaped by service, resilience and an unwavering determination to make a difference. Before becoming an advocate for transgender people, she spent 18 years serving in the RAF Observer Corps and joined Grampian Police in 1977, later also working with the British Transport Police. Yet the institutions to which she had devoted so much of her life could not always offer her the same acceptance she offered others. When her desire to live as a woman became known, she experienced hostility that ultimately drove her away from policing. But Carol did not allow rejection to become the final chapter of her story. Instead, she turned painful experiences into a reason to fight for change. By 2013, she was working with the Police Service of Scotland on national policy and service delivery concerning transgender officers, staff and members of the public, while also helping deliver transgender-awareness and mental-health training at the Scottish Police College in Fife. Alongside this work, she was a director of VOX, Voices of Experience, advocating for people with experience of mental-health services.

 

In 2011, Carol stepped into another historic role when she became Scottish Labour’s transgender candidate for the Castle Douglas and Glenkens ward, making headlines as Scotland’s first transgender election candidate. For Carol, visibility was not simply about making history. It was about showing others, particularly young transgender people, that they should not have to hide who they are or live their lives in fear. Her journey from police officer to transgender advocate, from being pushed out of an institution to helping change that very institution from within, is a powerful testament to resilience. Carol Mapley’s story reminds us that sometimes the most meaningful change begins with the wounds we refuse to let define us.

Interview with Mikki Whitworth

For Mikki Whitworth, writing became both a refuge and a way of discovering a new future. An American writer and veteran, Mikki began writing through a group for veterans at her local VA hospital, where her first major works received silver and bronze medals at the VA National Creative Arts Festival. Years later, she returned to college at nearly forty, and in May 2011, at the age of 40, she began her transition. Surrounded by the support of her husband, friends, university and mental-health providers, she gradually began building a life in which she no longer had to hide who she was. But perhaps the most fascinating part of Mikki’s story is the way she transformed her own hopes into fiction. In her acclaimed short story Masks of a Superhero, published in The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard, she created Annie, a transgender superhero who is never reduced to being a victim. Mikki wanted to imagine something she felt was still too rare in literature: a transgender character who could simply be strong and transgender at the same time.

 

According to Mikki, transgender literature was not yet a genre so much as a literary topic, an enormous space filled with stories still waiting to be told. She dreamed of narratives in which being transgender could be one part of a character’s identity rather than the entirety of it, and she believed that the future should contain more stories of successful transitions, courage, imagination and possibility. Her own characters became a way of exploring the hopes and dreams that life sometimes makes difficult to express directly. Mikki has expanded Masks of a Superhero into a novella, with hopes that the story might one day grow into a novel or graphic novel. Today, I am delighted to share her remarkable story and speak with Mikki about the woman behind the writer, the experiences behind her characters, and the dreams that inspired a transgender superhero to step into the light.

Interview with Azora Alexander

Azora Alexander is a young American transgender woman from a small town in North Carolina who began documenting her transition on YouTube at a time when she was still taking her first steps toward living openly as herself. What began as makeup videos gradually evolved into something far more personal, as Azora started sharing her hopes, uncertainties, struggles, and small victories with an audience of viewers who often saw their own experiences reflected in hers. For her, vlogging became both a form of self-expression and a way to build a community where transgender people could feel less alone. Her story is also one of discovering identity through a lifetime of quiet signals, from relating more strongly to female role models as a child to experimenting with her sister's clothes and eventually questioning why she felt so out of place in the role assigned to her. Although she avoided much of the overt bullying that many transgender people experience, she remembers missing out on school parties, prom, plays, and other formative experiences because she was not yet ready to reveal her true self. Coming out to her family brought another kind of uncertainty, as apparent acceptance was accompanied by an underlying tension she could still sense.

 

At the beginning of her medical transition, Azora was preparing to start hormone therapy while working with a therapist and educating herself about the changes ahead. She drew inspiration not from famous celebrities alone, but from ordinary transgender women further along in their journeys, whose honesty and resilience gave her hope. Alongside her transition, she dreamed of building a future in social work, finding love when the right person came along, and eventually creating a life in which she could feel completely at home in herself. Her reflections reveal a woman standing at the threshold of a new chapter, hopeful but realistic, vulnerable yet increasingly confident. In this interview, Azora takes us back to the experiences that shaped her, the fears and discoveries of beginning her transition, and the dreams she carries with her into the future.

Interview with Birdy Reene

 

Birdy Reene is an American video blogger who documented her gender transition on YouTube. She works as a home health aide and has interests in video games, anime art and manga. Reene began questioning her gender around age nine or ten and came out to her family at 14, but her father strongly rejected her identity, leading her to suppress her feelings for several years. As an adult, Reene began her transition and, inspired by her friend and roommate Sour Skiddlez, started documenting the experience online. Reene uses her online presence to promote transgender visibility and challenge negative perceptions of transition. She describes her fashion style as urban, punk and pop, and cites Serena Lynn, Jordan (Minorqback) and Sour Skiddlez as transgender role models. Her long-term goals included undergoing gender-affirming surgery and completing her own manga.

Interview with Christina Warburton

 

Christina Warburton is an American transgender woman, video blogger, musician and transgender advocate. Born in Liverpool, England, she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the age of 10. She worked for a landscaping company and was the mother of three children. Christina began questioning her gender identity in childhood and more consciously during puberty. She experienced severe bullying and physical violence at school, including an assault that resulted in a concussion, as well as mistreatment by teachers at her Catholic school. She documented her gender transition on YouTube, both as a personal journal and to encourage other transgender people, particularly those transitioning later in life or with limited financial resources. She underwent hormone replacement therapy and had legally changed her name and gender marker, with plans to transition full-time.

 

Christina was involved in transgender advocacy and volunteer work in Pennsylvania, including supporting transgender youth. She cited Kristin Beck, Brooke Addison and musician Mina Caputo as transgender role models. A bassist since high school, Warburton was also associated with the band Disillusioned Purity and described herself as an avid video gamer and technology enthusiast. She advocated greater visibility and equality for transgender people and spoke openly about discrimination and the challenges of being transgender in American society.

Interview with Fiona Corwin

Fiona Corwin is a vibrant, multifaceted woman who has been sharing her transition journey online with honesty, wit, and grace. At 41, Fiona balances an impressive array of roles: she’s a web developer, IT consultant, manager, business owner, carpenter, machinist, musician, writer, martial artist, and poet. She's also a dedicated spouse and a loving parent to six children. Fiona began her transition in October 2012, started hormone therapy in January 2013, and began living full-time as a woman in May of that same year. She decided to document her journey on YouTube, especially to support other women transitioning later in life who, like her, were looking for relatable examples of what was possible. Her openness, particularly about the emotional and physical aspects of her transition, has offered invaluable reassurance to many.

 

With her characteristic blend of courage and candor, Fiona speaks out about the challenges of being transgender in today's society and the importance of visibility and self-love. She’s a passionate advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, having recently attended her first PRIDE event, and is committed to living openly and authentically. Her philosophy is both uplifting and clear: transition doesn’t make you brave, it reveals the strength that was already there. Fiona is happily married, deeply values family, and finds joy in fashion, artistry, and the subtle magic of everyday womanhood. She dreams of writing novels and possibly making films in the years ahead. For now, she continues to inspire others by simply being herself. It’s my great pleasure to introduce you to Fiona Corwin. Our conversation below explores her life, her transition, and the heartfelt wisdom she’s gained along the way.

Interview with Calpernia Addams

Calpernia Addams is an American actress, musician, author, spokesperson, and activist for transgender rights and visibility. Her journey is one of resilience, artistry, and advocacy. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Calpernia served as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. It was during her final year of military service that she embraced her identity as a transgender woman. The name "Calpernia" was inspired by both Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and a tombstone in The Addams Family movie, a perfect blend of classic literature and gothic charm! Her career has been multifaceted, spanning entertainment, activism, and education. In 2002, she co-founded Deep Stealth Productions with Andrea James, creating educational and entertainment content about gender identity. She even coached Felicity Huffman for her Academy Award-nominated role in Transamerica.