Interview with Paula Nielsen

 

Paula Nielsen (born 1938) is an American transgender evangelist, Pentecostal preacher, television personality, writer and cabaret performer from Portland, Oregon, known professionally as Sister Paula. Born in Portland and raised in nearby Gresham, Nielsen became a born-again Christian at age 12 in 1950 and believed she was called to preach. In 1952, she read about Christine Jorgensen and recognized aspects of her own experience in Jorgensen's story. Nielsen transitioned in 1963, at age 25, and began living permanently as a woman. During the 1960s, she was a patient of physician Harry Benjamin, whom she remembered as caring and compassionate.

 

In 1976, Paula became publicly open about being transgender after becoming involved with the Metropolitan Community Church in Portland, where she served as secretary, assisted the pastor and edited the church newsletter. She also worked as a religion editor and columnist for LGBTQ publications. In 1980, she began performing at Darcelle XV in Portland, where she impersonated Sophie Tucker. In December 1987, she launched The Sister Paula Show, a public-access television gospel program. She subsequently appeared on programs including The Joan Rivers Show, The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn, the BBC's Saturday Night Clive, PM Magazine, Jenny Jones and Canada's The Shirley Show. She maintains that her Christian faith and transgender identity are compatible. In 2012, she published her autobiography, The Trans-Evangelist: The Life and Times of a Transgender Pentecostal Preacher, which recounts her experiences as a transgender woman and Pentecostal preacher.

 

Monika: Paula, it's wonderful to have you here to talk about the role of religion in the transgender community. Hello, and welcome!

Paula: Hello Monika!

Monika: You've just published your autobiography, The Trans-Evangelist. What would you like readers of this interview to know about it?

Paula: It is a chronicle of seven decades, from the 1940s through the twenty-first century. It tells what it was like to grow up trans in the 1940s and 1950s, when the word "trans" was unheard of, and it traces the history of religious movements and the fast-changing times throughout those decades.

Transitioning my identity to Paula in 1963 was much different than it is today. I hope future generations of trans youth will appreciate what trans pioneers went through to pave the path for them.

 

A dinner in Portland (YouTube)

 

Monika: Your life certainly hasn't been short on color.

Paula: You've got that right. In my book, I tell of my sins and mistakes right alongside the spiritual victories and accomplishments. I prove that one can be an entertainer and a preacher as well. 

Monika: You became a born-again Christian at just twelve years old. How has your faith evolved since then?

Paula: My entire life experience hearkens back to that day in 1950, when I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour and Jesus became my best friend. Along with that born-again experience came the call to do the work of an evangelist. God, who knew that an innately effeminate boy would transition to living as a woman thirteen years later, accepted me exactly as I am.

Monika: Some might ask why God would be so merciless as to place a transgender person's mind in a body of the opposite gender. How do you respond to that?

Paula: My knee-jerk reaction to this question is, I don't know. I don't have all the answers, and I'm wary of anyone who claims they do. In this finite state, we "know in part" and "see through a glass darkly."

I don't believe that God is merciless. When I cross over into the realm of the Infinite, I will ask God why I was born a transsexual. Until then, I have complete faith in a loving and merciful God who makes no mistakes.

 

The book is available on Amazon.

 

Monika: Lisa Salazar, in one of my earlier interviews, suggested that transgender people are among the least likely to get involved in religious institutions like the church, since so many have been rejected and judged by their Christian families, friends, and faith communities. Would you push back on that?

Paula: I understand where Lisa is coming from, but I respectfully disagree. I'm part of several transgender Christian groups on Facebook, and there always have been, and always will be, trans people involved in every church, both clergy and laity, whether or not they're open about it.

Speaking for myself, even though I've been rejected in some religious circles, my friendship with Jesus, who does accept me, only grows stronger.

Monika: How would you describe the Christian world's general attitude toward transgender people?

Paula: The Christian religion, as we know it today, is split between liberal and conservative theological viewpoints. Many don't understand transsexuality, while others in Christian circles either accept it or are exploring the issue.

Monika: Does the Bible make any reference to transgenderism?

Paula: Of course not. Transgenderism wasn't a known concept 2,000 to 4,000 years ago, in the cultures where the scriptures were written. The Old Testament prophet Daniel predicted an explosion of knowledge in our dispensation, and that increase would apply to human sexuality as well. Both the Old and New Testaments hint at it through the acceptance of eunuchs into the Church. Jesus himself mentions those who are born eunuchs.

Monika: How would you characterize the Obama administration's attitude toward transgender Americans?

Paula: The Obama administration's attitude is definitely a step in the right direction.

Monika: American politics runs on interest groups pursuing their own goals. How successful has the transgender community been at that?

Paula: Slowly, progress is being made. Political activism is moving forward on unisex bathrooms and, most importantly, personal ID issues for trans people. The paradigm of male and female needs to be done away with. Trans people should be able to have the gender they identify with listed on birth certificates, driver's licenses, and everywhere else.

 

Transgender Evangelist (YouTube)

 

Monika: The transgender cause is often folded in with the rest of the LGBT community. Being the last letter in that abbreviation, is the transgender community still able to push its own cause forward?

Paula: Yes, definitely. "Trans" as an umbrella term covers the various labels, whether a person wants to be called transvestite, transsexual, transgender, or something else. The acronym brings trans people into a community where oppressed minorities band together.

Monika: How would you sum up the current situation for transgender women in American society?

Paula: It's improving, and with more enlightenment, it will keep getting better.

Monika: Could you imagine living to see a transgender woman become President of the United States?

Paula: No, not in our lifetime. Back in 2008, I said I would live to see Hillary Clinton become our first woman president, and I still feel that way. In future generations, as more minorities occupy the White House, a transgender woman could very well become president.

Monika: At what age did you transition? Was it a difficult process, did you have support from family or friends, and did it affect your job situation?

Paula: I was born in 1938 and transitioned in 1963, at twenty-five years old. (This year I'm celebrating my seventy-fifth birthday and my fiftieth year living as Paula.) At first I had very little support from my family, though that's no longer the case today.

Surprisingly, I had more support when I transitioned in 1963 from straight friends than from gay and lesbian friends. Today, trans people can transition while staying at the same job. In 1963 that didn't happen. You had to pass as a woman to hold down a job in that identity.

 

With Troy Perry (YouTube).

 

Monika: Did you have any transgender role models to look to at the time of your transition? What did you actually know about transgenderism back then?

Paula: My role model was Christine Jorgensen. In 1952, when her story hit the news media and I read it in the newspaper, it felt like reading about myself. At that time, I knew nothing about transgenderism.

Monika: Throughout the 1960s, you were a patient of Dr. Harry Benjamin, long recognized as an expert on sexology and a leader in transsexual treatment. What do you remember about him?

Paula: Dr. Benjamin was a very caring and compassionate man.

Monika: What was the hardest part of coming out for you?

Paula: That wasn't difficult for me. I first made my transsexuality public in 1976, when I became involved with the Metropolitan Community Church in Portland.

Monika: Have you ever been married? What role has love played in your life?

Paula: I've never been married. As Sophie Tucker used to say in one of her nightclub routines, "I'm a single bed, one pillow mama." My love life has been checkered over the years with unrequited love. I've been on both sides of the aisle and have never enjoyed a two-sided romance.

When I see the problems married couples go through, gay, trans, or straight, I'm glad I'm single. I grew up believing my "Prince Charming" would come and sweep me off my feet, and that we'd live happily ever after. For me, that never happened.

Monika: Would you say you're a happy woman today?

Paula: Oh yes, very much so. I am who I am. I've made mistakes throughout my life's journey, but transitioning to become Paula was never one of them.

Monika: Paula, thank you so much for the interview!

 

All the photos: courtesy of Paula Nielsen.

© 2013 - Monika Kowalska

30 June 2022

Paula Nielsen died on June 30, 2022, at the age of 83. Her contribution to transgender history, LGBTQ journalism, Christian ministry, and television will always remain an important part of her legacy.