Interview with Melissa Sklarz

Melissa Sklarz is an American transgender activist and Democratic political organizer from New York City. She transitioned in the early 1990s and later became a peer counselor with the Gender Identity Project at Manhattan's LGBT Community Center. Her work there exposed her to the lack of resources available to transgender people and led her into political activism. In September 1999, Melissa was elected a judicial delegate in New York's 66th Assembly District, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to political office in New York State. She subsequently became involved with the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) and the New York Trans Rights Organization (NYTRO), serving as NYTRO's director and advocating for transgender-inclusive legislation. Sklarz participated in campaigns surrounding the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA) and the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), advocating for protections based on gender identity and expression. She also worked with elected officials and community organizations on New York City's transgender-rights legislation.

 

Her political activities extended into the Democratic Party and broader LGBT movement. She held leadership positions in the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City and was its president by 2013. She also served as a board co-chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and the National Stonewall Democrats. She became the first transgender delegate from New York to the Democratic National Convention. Melissa advocated for transgender people's access to accurate identification documents and testified about New York City's birth-certificate requirements, arguing that restrictive rules created unnecessary barriers for transgender people. She also publicly discussed her own transition and her family's history, tracing the Sklarz family from Poland to Munich and eventually to New York City, where she said her family arrived in the late 1850s. Alongside her activism, Melissa worked in the financial sector, including a 19-year career with the Actors Federal Credit Union, where she worked in financial services and served as Director of Collections. She has spent two decades combining transgender advocacy, political organizing, community leadership and Democratic Party activism, becoming a significant figure in the early history of transgender political representation in New York.

 

Monika: Melissa, welcome! It is a pleasure and an honor to have you with us today.

Melissa: Hi Monika! Thanks for doing this and for reaching out to New York City!

 

Melissa Sklarz on learning about "transvestites".
LGBTCenterNYC. Source: YouTube.

 

Monika: Your surname sounds Polish to me, which makes me curious about your family roots.

Melissa: The family surname Sklarz means glassworker or window cleaner, depending on which part of Poland or the Czech Republic you are from. My estimate is that my family left Poland in the late 18th century and then went to Munich for three generations. My family arrived in New York City in the late 1850s.

Monika: Tell me about your career so far.

Melissa: I transitioned in the early 1990s and then became a peer counselor at the Gender Identity Project in the mid-90s. People asked about resources for trans people, and I discovered there were none. I started getting involved with the government and the political system at that point, and have continued from there.

Monika: How would you describe the attitude of President Obama's administration towards transgender Americans?

Melissa: President Obama is a great friend of the trans communities. He has done everything possible through Executive Order to change the way the US Federal government deals with trans issues. He has changed passports and legal recognition, hired trans people, and added legal support at the Federal level. However, deportation is still a problem, as is employment protection, so I hope those are next on the agenda.

I was one of the leaders who brought trans rights to New York City in the late 1990s, and the bill was signed into law in 2002 by Mayor Bloomberg. Since then we have been trying to bring the same rights to New York State, but have had limited success. 2014 is our 12th year in front of the legislature.

 

Happy to have marched with so many amazing people in
the St. Pat's for All Parade.

 

Monika: Your activism in US politics is well known. Tell me about some of your initiatives and projects.

Melissa: I have worked at the local, state, and Federal levels since 1997. I have helped make the non-trans political communities aware and supportive of our needs and causes. I ran for a local Democratic post in 1999 and won, becoming the first trans person elected to office in New York. That gave me and our communities access to lawmakers and political and community leaders. I have helped with civil rights, health care, birth certificate modernization, education, and aging.

Monika: You followed the last US presidential campaign quite closely. Did Republicans and Democrats differ in the way they addressed the needs and rights of the transgender community?

Melissa: At the last Democratic Convention, there were 12 transgender delegates, including myself. We came from all over the country and were all integral parts of our local Democratic establishments.

That makes three national conventions in a row to which I have been selected from New York. There has never been a trans person involved with the Republican Party who has been taken seriously by them. Although they claim to be the party of individual freedom, I guess it does not apply to gender expression.

Monika: American politics is built on interest groups pursuing their specific goals. How successful is the transgender community in this arena?

Melissa: The transgender communities are a very small portion of American culture, and our political power reflects that. There are even transgender people who do not identify as trans, and many more stay hidden. It is hard to build a political movement when so many stay away from publicity. But no one ever changed sex to go into politics, at least none in the US.

 

Melissa Sklarz Speaks Out Against NYPD's Stop &
Frisk Policy. GLAAD. Source: YouTube.

 

Monika: The transgender cause is usually promoted together with the other LGBT communities. As the last letter in the abbreviation, can the transgender community advance its own agenda within the LGBT movement?

Melissa: Sadly, it is very difficult for our communities to be heard and to acquire resources and funding in an LGBT environment. There are so many different LGBT people with so many needs. Gay marriage affects the most people with legal identities, and so that has carried the day. While working within the LGBT community is OK, a stand-alone trans operation might work best. We hope to find out soon here in New York.

Monika: Harvey Milk was a defining figure of gay activism in the 60s and 70s. Is there anyone in the US transgender community whose actions could be compared to his?

Melissa: I guess Sylvia Rivera stands out to some as a Harvey Milk-like figure in essence. But we have no political leader who evokes the same passion. Laverne Cox and Janet Mock seem to be acquiring cultural leadership at this time, so political leadership may not inspire the same way now as Harvey Milk did in the 1970s.

Monika: Turning to the bigger picture, how do you see the present situation of transgender women in American society?

Melissa: Living visible, authentic lives helps transgender women tremendously. There are hurdles, and race is always a dividing point in the US. Black and white experiences are different for all, and that includes trans women. African American trans women face more poverty and violence, and that is a huge barrier for all.

 

With Lana Moore and Dana Beyer.

 

Monika: Do you think we will live to see the day when a transgender woman becomes US President?

Melissa: No, I do not think I will see a trans woman as President of the US, but I am a lot older than I look. Dana Beyer is running for state Senate in Maryland this year, and we have to learn to walk before we can run.

Monika: Going back to the time of your transition, did you have any transgender role models to follow? What did you know about transgenderism then?

Melissa: The best role model I had was Renee Richards. I knew many trans women in the 1970s, but they were all very pretty and fem, and they lived for the night and few worked.

Renee Richards showed me that transition does not always begin at 14 or 15 and that there were hurdles to overcome. I was very moved by her and was able to relate.

Monika: Coming out is rarely easy. What was the hardest part for you?

Melissa: The hardest thing about coming out was facing the fear and the possible rejection. Trans life was different in 1990, but I was already homeless and in serious job jeopardy, so I had nothing to lose. I was an athlete as a kid and was terrified that my transition would never work and that I would never find a safe niche.

Monika: Has marriage ever been part of your life, and how important is love to you?

Melissa: I was never married, nor do I own a pet. I have spent so much time trying to relate to myself that I am catching up on relating to others. But time will tell.

Monika: You acted in "Transamerica" (2005) alongside Felicity Huffman. How do you remember that experience, and did you like the movie?

Melissa: The writers of Transamerica came to me secondhand because they wanted real-life experiences. So we ate and talked. One year later, I got a call saying they had finished the writing, had gotten funding, and were making the movie. I congratulated them. And then they said they had a part in it for me. I laughed but agreed to do it.

I got enough lines to get an application for the Screen Actors Guild, but I did not join and I did not quit my day job. The movie had trans people telling a trans story in a serious, sincere production. Today I relate better to "Orange Is the New Black" as a trans story. I am happy to have been involved with "Transamerica".

 

Melissa Sklarz, First Transgender Person Elected
to Public Office in New York State.
DeVote Campaign. Source: YouTube.

 

Monika: Many transgender women write their memoirs. Have you ever considered writing such a book yourself?

Melissa: Yes, I hope to write my memoirs. As you know, look how simple it is for me to write my thoughts on paper. Instead, I have 20 years of stuff piling up as my narrative gets longer and longer.

Monika: Looking at your life today, would you call yourself a happy woman?

Melissa: I am happyish. I go in and out of therapy and always wonder if I can be better or get things right. No one complains about my journey except for me. My family loves me, and I have been successful in the workplace, and have used my access to teach and try to make a difference. I am always looking forward to what happens next.

Monika: Melissa, thank you so much for this conversation!

Melissa: Thank you again, Monika, for your patience and persistence.

All the photos: courtesy of Melissa Sklarz.

© 2014 - Monika Kowalska

 

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