Interview with Jasmina von Leeds

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Jasmina von Leeds, a beauty stylist, you-tuber, singer and actress from Germany. Hello Jasmina!
Jasmina: Hello Monika! Thanks for having me I feel very honored.

Monika: What do you prefer more: acting or singing?
Jasmina: It depends but I would say at the moment singing. I'm working really hard at my voice at the moment, getting a lot singing lessons because this is what I want to do: singing in clubs. I really enjoy doing that and my other baby at the moment is my YouTube Channel: "Jasmina von Leeds". I love making videos about my life, giving beauty tips, talk about topics. This and my singing career are my biggest projects at the moment.

Monika: Could you elaborate on your acting career so far?
Jasmina: I played some roles in German soap operas and did realty stuff on TV. It was OK but I would love to play in a real movie. Maybe a dramatic part as a transwoman. What I did till now wasn't difficult or really creative in my opinion.

Interview with Jessica McGuinness

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Jessica McGuinness, an American transgender activist and community leader. Hello Jessica!

Jessica: Hello Monika! Thank you for having me. I’m really excited about this!

Monika: What are you doing these days?

Jessica: I worked in EMS for 12 years but had to resign due to worsening arthritis from hemophilia. After about a year of being on disability, I got hired at the University of Pittsburgh as a clinical specialist for the Pitt Men’s Study. The Pitt Men’s Study is a 30 year old study for HIV. It’s been really incredible and I couldn’t be happier.
I was born in 1975 with hemophilia and grew up in the 80’s during the HIV outbreak. Remember Ryan White? I’m one of the lucky few that made it out of that time HIV negative. Most of those kids I remember at the hemophilia center are all gone. It’s nice because I feel like I can give a little back to the community.

Interview with Christine Beatty

Monika: Hello Christine! Welcome to “The Heroines of My Life”.

Christine: Hi Monika, thanks for asking.

Monika: How would you describe yourself? Musician, writer, transgender activist or someone else?

Christine: First and foremost I’m a writer. So far it’s not paying the bills — yet — but it’s the one creative thing I do consistently. I do plan to get back into performing and recording rock music again. Also I started taking film school classes last autumn.

Monika: Are you a feminist?

Christine: Most definitely, long before I knew I was a girl trapped in a boy’s body.

Monika: Where did you grow up?

Christine: In my memoir I describe my terribly ordinary upbringing in a suburb twenty miles south of San Francisco. It was terribly middle class and ordinary; I hated it. I instinctively knew I wasn’t destined for ordinary or “normal.”

Interview with Veronique Renard

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Veronique Renard, a Dutch writer, Buddhist and pro-Tibet activist, the author of "The Tibetan Freedom Struggle trilogy and her autobiographical book titled "Pholomolo - No Man No Woman". Hello Veronique!

Veronique: Namaste Monika, thank you so much for contacting me. I hope my contribution to your website will be helpful to many people.

Monika: What are you doing these days?

Veronique: I am still working on my next novel, Comrades of the Cut Sleeve, a story about a closeted gay Chinese military general who is in the process of liberating himself. These days all my books are about how to find happiness, enlightenment, I suppose.

Monika: You are one of the few people that met Dalai Lama in person. What impact did the meeting have on you?

Veronique: Meeting him first time was very interesting. However, he didn’t mean that much to me at that time. I kind of accidentally met him.