Vandy Beth Glenn’s story is one of those rare stories in which a deeply personal decision changed not only one woman’s life, but also helped shape the rights of countless others. After growing up in Atlanta and beginning her transition in her thirties, Vandy found acceptance and love from her friends, only to face devastating discrimination when she was fired from her job at the Georgia General Assembly because of her transition. What followed was a long and difficult legal battle that ultimately became a landmark victory for transgender people facing discrimination in the workplace. Remarkably, Vandy eventually returned to the very job from which she had been dismissed. In this interview, Vandy talks openly about her childhood, transition, friendship, love, femininity, passing, fashion, activism, and the price of fighting back. She also reflects on the loneliness she felt before discovering that she was not the only person in the world like her, the importance of transgender role models, and her belief that visibility and courage remain among the most powerful tools in the struggle for equality. Her story reminds us that sometimes simply refusing to accept injustice can create consequences far beyond our own lives. Vandy Beth Glenn fought for herself, but her courage helped open doors for many others.
Monika: For today's interview I have invited Vandy Beth Glenn, an American writer, public speaker, and
transactivist from Georgia. In 2007, she was dismissed from her job as a legislative editor at the Georgia
General Assembly when she informed her supervisor, Sewell Brumby, of her transgender status. Following a
lawsuit, her Glenn v. Brumby case became instrumental for the rights of transgender people that were
discriminated against at work because of their transgender status. Hello Vandy! It is very kind of you to
agree to be interviewed for “
The Heroines of My Life
”!
Vandy: Thank you! I’m happy to participate.
Monika: Let's start in the present. What are you doing for a living these days?
Vandy: I’m back at my job at the Georgia General Assembly, the job I was fired from for transitioning.
Monika: And going further back, where did you grow up?
Vandy: Here in Atlanta, Georgia.
Monika: When did you first sense that being a boy, and later a man, didn't fit who you were?
Vandy: My childhood was completely ordinary until I reached puberty. That was when I began to realize I was not
like the other kids.
Monika: For many transgender girls, school, college, or university is remembered as the most traumatic stretch, full of discrimination. Does that match your own experience?
Vandy: No, I transitioned later in life, so as far as anyone in school knew I was a straight male. My struggles
were all internal until I began my transition.
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| Courtesy of Vandy Beth Glenn. |
Monika: So when did the transition itself begin? Was it difficult? Did your family and friends stand behind you?
Vandy: I was over 30 when I began transitioning, but I think it was relatively easy as far as the support I
received. I have a wonderful group of close friends. I hear other trans people talk about losing friends when they
transition. That seems alien and unreal to me. Every one of my friends has stood by me and given me whatever help
and love they could.
Monika: Passing is something a lot of readers wonder about. Was it a struggle for you, and did you turn to any cosmetic surgery along the way?
Vandy: I had electrolysis to remove my facial hair, of course, and I also had facial feminization surgery.
I’m also not especially tall, even for a woman, so I haven’t had much trouble passing. Of course, that shouldn’t
matter, but in the real, practical world we have to live in, it matters quite a bit.
It can be a cruel world if you don’t match society’s expectations of what a woman “should” look like.
Monika: Modern cosmetic surgery has opened the door to transitioning even in one's late 50s or 60s. Is that realistic in your view, and what would you say to transgender women considering it at that age?
Vandy: I would tell them that my only regret about transition is that I didn’t do it ten years earlier. It makes
everything better, no matter your age. And I think the older you are, the less you should be concerned about what
people think. Follow your bliss. It’s worth it. Almost no one ever regrets transitioning, whatever problems it
causes.
Monika: Back when you were transitioning, were there any transgender role models you looked to? And how much did you actually know about transgenderism at that point?
Vandy: By the time I transitioned the Internet was already well-established, and it’s been a wonderful tool for
learning about our condition and what we can do about it, and for meeting other people. When I was a kid I thought
I was the only person on Earth who felt the way I did. Thanks to the Internet, no one has to feel that way now.
My role model in many ways is my therapist, Dr. Erin Swenson, who is herself a transwoman. She has the wisdom and
serenity I’ve always envied, and she approaches the many hurdles we all have to jump over with gentle good humor.
She’s the best.
Monika: If you had to name one thing, what was hardest about coming out?
Vandy: Getting fired for it.
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| Courtesy of Vandy Beth Glenn. |
Vandy: I don’t understand the question. I think transitioning is like Zeno’s Paradox; I’m always moving in that
direction, but it’s a goal I can never finally, completely, reach.
And in many ways, gender is a performance. Before and after transition, when I’m alone at home with my cats, I’m
the same person I’ve always been. I doubt my cats know the difference. Gender is just part of how we relate to the
rest of humanity.
Monika: On a lighter note, what's your favorite part of being a woman?
Vandy: It’s much more fun to wear clothes as a woman, you know? Look at any awards show on television. The women
wear a dizzying array of different gowns; the men are all in the same tuxedo. Boring!
Monika: Tell me about your partner. Are the two of you married, and was it a difficult thing for her to accept you as a transgender woman?
Vandy: She met me after transition, so she doesn’t know me any other way. She loves who I am now. But no, we are
not married yet. We couldn’t be legally married in many parts of the United States, but regardless, that’s not a
step we’re ready for yet.
Monika: Your own story took a public turn: transphobic treatment at work, then being fired, then fighting back and winning in court. Walk me through how it started, and how hard that fight actually was.
Vandy: The day I was fired I called Lambda Legal and told them what happened. They talked with me, then researched
me, then researched the legal issues. It was nearly a year later before we were ready to bring suit, and it took
over four years total for the process to play itself out.
As Tom Petty teaches, waiting was the hardest part. And all my savings were used up by the time it was over. It
was a hard, hard time.
Monika: For any transgender woman facing similar discrimination at work right now, what would you tell her to do?
Vandy: Fight back. Speak truth to power. It’s the only way we’re going to win.
Monika: Stepping back to look at the bigger picture, how would you describe the present situation of transgender women in American society?
Vandy: It’s getting better slowly, but it’s getting better faster than it used to be. I think this decade is going
to belong to everyone under the LGBT umbrella. We’re unstoppable!
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| Courtesy of Vandy Beth Glenn. |
Vandy: I don’t know. There aren’t many of us, to begin with, but the more we assert our rights and show how
capable and talented we are, the more respect and acceptance we’ll gain, and the more you’ll see us in the public
sphere.
Monika: And yet alongside that progress, we keep hearing horrifying stories, like Chrissy Polis, beaten by two teenagers in a McDonald's simply for using the ladies' room. What do you think it would take to stop that kind of violence?
Vandy: Better education and public outreach, and better civil rights protections overall. “Bathroom panic”
beatings and transphobic killings happen because too many ignorant people view us as freaks; we don’t have the
status of human beings in their eyes. The more out we are and the more we’re allowed to participate fully in
society, the fewer things like that will happen.
Monika: Here's a bold one: could you imagine living to see a transgender woman become President of the United States?
Vandy: In my lifetime, certainly. But I’m going to live a very long time.
Monika: A lot of transgender women eventually put their story into a memoir. Has that crossed your mind?
Vandy: I’m working on it now.
Monika: Let's talk fashion for a moment. Do you follow it closely, and is there a particular style, color, or designer you gravitate toward?
Vandy: I like well-made clothes, but I also don’t have a large budget. My best clothes are from large brands like
Banana Republic or Ann Taylor.
My biggest clothes-related indulgence is shoes. I love buying new heels. But truthfully, I’m happiest in blue
jeans, and that was true before my transition as well.
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| Courtesy of Vandy Beth Glenn. |
Vandy: As involved as I can be! I can’t participate too much in local politics because I work for the state
government, so I have to remain officially neutral about most proposed state legislation.
But I’m a member of an LGBT nerd social group called Atlanta Outworlders. We play games and go to science fiction
movies together. That’s great fun and is probably the main focus of my social life.
Monika: In 2011, GA Voice named you Person of the Year, honoring the LGBT person with the greatest impact on LGBT rights in Georgia. How did that recognition feel?
Vandy: I was very pleased because I knew it was not about me but about the great leap forward that was our win in
two federal courts. It’s a huge victory, and I think many people still don’t know about it like they should.
Monika: A year later, in 2012, you served as a grand marshal of the Atlanta Pride Parade. What was that day like for you?
Vandy: That was very exciting; a wonderful day, and very humbling. I rode several miles in the back of a
convertible while tens of thousands of people shouted and cheered for me! It was much more attention than anyone
had ever paid me before. But if it helped more people learn about my case, that’s great.
Monika: Would you call yourself a feminist?
Vandy: Absolutely! I’d be a card-carrying feminist if they printed such cards. Maybe I’ll print one for myself.
Monika: To close, would you say you're a happy woman today?
Vandy: Yes, I am happy in my personal life and optimistic for the future of our community.
Monika: Vandy, Thank you very much for your answers!
All the photos: courtesy of Vandy Beth Glenn.
© 2013 - Monika Kowalska
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