Interview with Lisa Salazar

Twelve years have passed since I first sat down with Lisa Salazar in 2013. Back then, we spoke about her remarkable journey as a Canadian transgender advocate, author, and spiritual seeker, exploring her experiences of transition, faith, and the challenges of living authentically. Since that conversation, life has unfolded in ways neither of us could have fully imagined. Lisa and I share more than just friendship, we are soul sisters. Both of us have undergone gender-affirming surgery, both of us hold strong religious beliefs, and both of us have navigated the sometimes tumultuous intersection of faith, identity, and advocacy. The passage of time has only strengthened our bond. And while the years have added their chapters to our lives, Lisa and I look as vibrant and determined as ever, our shared journeys reflected in our continued passion for living authentically and speaking our truths.

 

Lisa is the author of “Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life” (2011) and “Then This Happened: After Transparently” (2023). In the years since our first conversation, she has continued to evolve both personally and professionally. From advancing her studies in Theology and Pastoral Care to deepening her advocacy for transgender rights in increasingly challenging times, she has demonstrated remarkable resilience and grace. Her story reminds us that growth is ongoing, and that even after the “big moments” of life have passed, there is always room for discovery, reflection, and renewed purpose. In this follow-up conversation, we reconnect to explore how Lisa’s life and work have evolved, how her advocacy has deepened, and how she continues to find hope and purpose in a world that remains as challenging as it is beautiful.

Interview with Anna Grodzka

Anna Grodzka is a woman whose life is a testament to courage, perseverance, and the pursuit of authenticity. Born on March 16, 1954, in Otwock, she struggled from an early age with the limitations of a world that tried to confine her to definitions imposed by others, embarking on a brave journey in search of her own identity. Anna was adopted by Józef and Kazimiera, who offered her love and support, and many years later, she also met her biological mother. Only when her son reached adulthood, at the age of 54, did Anna decide to undergo legal gender correction and modifying surgeries in Bangkok, a journey documented in Sławomir Grinberg’s HBO documentary Trans-akcja. This step demonstrated to the world not only Anna’s determination, but also her deep sensitivity and the strength of living her truth.

 

A turning point in her public life came with her election to the 7th term of the Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) in 2011, making her the first publicly transgender person in Poland to win a parliamentary seat. In the Sejm, she served as deputy chair of the Palikot Movement parliamentary club. She founded and led the Parliamentary Team “Fair Society,” was vice-chair of the Committee on Culture and Media, a member of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, and part of the Parliamentary Women’s Group. As one of the founders of the Trans-Fuzja Foundation, which advocates for transgender people, she was actively involved in its projects. In addition, she participated in the work of the Public Media Journalism Foundation and the nationwide Women’s Congress. As a member of parliament, she was recognized by Polityka magazine, which in its ranking awarded her the title of “Best MP of the 7th term of the Sejm.” Her social activism demonstrates that courage, authenticity, and daily efforts to make the world a better place truly bear fruit.

Interview with Bobbi Waterman

Bobbi Waterman is a woman whose life journey has been as vast and inspiring as the galaxies she once helped explore. A former NASA engineer, she spent decades working on the Space Shuttle program, where she combined her lifelong fascination with rockets and exploration with an unshakable drive to contribute to humanity’s reach beyond Earth. Growing up during the Apollo era, Bobbi was captivated by the sight of humans walking on the Moon and dreamed of being part of that world of innovation and discovery. Her career eventually took her from Lockheed Space Operations to NASA itself, where she played a vital role in launching shuttles and supporting the intricate systems that powered them. After retiring, Bobbi’s journey turned inward. She embraced her true self and transitioned at the age of sixty, proving that it is never too late to live authentically. Her transition opened new dimensions of joy, confidence, and peace, culminating in her memoir The Woman Inside: From Outer Space to Inner Peace (2025), a heartfelt reflection on self-discovery, courage, and the universal search for belonging. 

 

Now living in Australia with her supportive spouse, Bobbi continues to inspire through her writing, travel, and openness about her experience as a transgender woman. Bobbi’s story is not only one of professional achievement and personal transformation but also of adventure and reinvention. Following her transition, she and her spouse embarked on a nine-month world cruise that allowed her to see the planet with fresh eyes, embracing her womanhood in every new culture and destination they visited. From the icy wonder of Antarctica to the warmth of Mauritius and the charm of Portugal, each stop became a celebration of freedom and authenticity. Along the way, Bobbi shared her experiences with a growing online audience, offering wisdom, humor, and hope to others seeking the courage to live their truth. In this interview, Bobbi reflects on her time at NASA, her late-in-life transition, and the lessons she has learned about authenticity, love, and resilience among the stars and within herself.

Interview with Sara R Phillips

Sara R Phillips has always lived her truth boldly, gracefully navigating the delicate spaces between personal identity and collective activism. From the very beginning, she questioned the boundaries placed around her, at five, when boys and girls were being split into separate classrooms, she felt the first stirrings of a self that refused to be boxed in. By seventeen, she had begun tentatively explaining her feelings to her father, who, in the context of the time, responded that it was just a “phase.” For Sara, that response, while imperfect, was a quiet permission to keep going, to keep seeking herself. She grew up, fell deeply in love, married, and raised three children, all while the urge to live fully in her true gender identity blossomed quietly, persistently, like a hidden garden demanding sunlight. Coming out in 1992, she stepped into a world rife with voyeurism and negativity, determined to claim her life and her identity despite the harsh gaze of society. Her activism is both deeply personal and profoundly generational. As co-founder of the Dublin Trans Peer Support Group and Chairperson of TENI, she has fought tirelessly to build structures of support, community, and legal recognition.

 

Under the leadership of both Sara and Broden Giambrone, former CEO in TENI, Ireland passed the historic Gender Recognition Act in 2015, making it one of the first countries in the world to allow adults to self-determine their gender on official documents. Beyond policy, she has curated the Irish Trans Archive, documenting over 300 years of Irish trans history, reminding us that trans lives are not a modern phenomenon, they are woven into the very fabric of our society. Sara’s work extends internationally through her roles on the boards of Transgender Europe and the International Trans Fund, while at home she continues shaping national conversations on gender, equality, and inclusion via the National Women’s Council of Ireland. Yet, for all her achievements, Sara’s activism is rooted in care, for those who came before her, for those who live now, and for those yet to come. In 2018, she walked Dublin Pride as Grand Marshal with her mother and daughter, a living testament to family, visibility, and resilience. This conversation with Sara is about courage and compassion, about the life-long work of claiming space, telling histories, and building futures. She embodies a rare blend of wisdom, warmth, and determination, reminding us that activism is not just about laws or campaigns, it’s about the people, the families, and the lives we fight to honor every single day.

Interview with Valentina Berr

Valentina Berr is a writer, educator, and transfeminist activist whose work focuses on questioning normative assumptions about gender, identity, and the body. In her book The Answer to Everything You Would Ask a Trans Girl (2023), Valentina invites readers to reflect on the fluidity of identity, the complexity of femininity, and the challenges that trans people face in contemporary society, combining rigor, tenderness, and humor to make complex topics such as dysphoria, non-binarity, and transfeminist violence accessible. Her approach goes beyond individual experience, exploring how culture, politics, and social environments shape the ways we exist and relate to gender, always from a critical and liberating perspective.

 

Valentina shares her transition journey and the obstacles she has encountered, from her relationship with her family to confronting social and media-driven transphobia, proposing a way of living identity that celebrates plurality, self-definition, and resilience. Furthermore, her perspective encompasses both personal intimacy and collective issues, building bridges between individual experiences and broader social struggles, becoming a key voice for understanding the richness and complexity of being trans in contemporary Spain and beyond. Her work and reflections inspire questioning the norm, opening up space for questions instead of imposed answers, and recognizing the beauty of diversity in all its forms.