Interview with Tina Marie Phillips

Tina Marie Phillips is a remarkable 70-year-old British woman whose life embodies courage, resilience, and authenticity. Her journey is extraordinary, not merely because she has undertaken what few dare to do, but because she has navigated her path with honesty, grace, and a unique sense of humor, even in the face of immense challenges. From her earliest days in post-war Britain to her transformative experiences as a transgender woman, Tina has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to living truthfully. Her story spans continents and milestones: long and often arduous journeys to Thailand for gender-affirming surgeries, the physical and emotional highs and lows of recovery, and the everyday triumphs and struggles of fully embracing her identity. Through every stage, Tina has faced obstacles with remarkable fortitude, sharing her experiences in a way that is both educational and deeply personal, inspiring countless others to embrace their authentic selves.

 

Beyond her personal journey, Tina has been a pioneering voice in the transgender community online. She created the popular website Tina’s Transgender World, which became an essential resource for transgender individuals seeking guidance, reassurance, and community at a time when such spaces were scarce. Over the years, she has dedicated herself to documenting her life story, with her biography, From a Coal Miner to a Lady, promising to offer an intimate and powerful insight into her experiences. Tina’s influence extends beyond her own story. She has been an active advocate for transgender rights and awareness, organizing events and initiatives in Nottingham to support others in finding their voice and courage. Through her advocacy, storytelling, and sheer example, Tina Marie Phillips continues to illuminate the path for those navigating the challenges of gender identity, proving that living authentically is not only possible but transformative.

Interview with Penny

Penny is a woman whose story unfolds with quiet strength, deep honesty, and an extraordinary sense of grace. Penny is a landscape architect based in San Francisco, a partner at her firm, an artist at heart, and someone who has learned how to build not only physical spaces but also emotional ones where authenticity can finally breathe. Raised on the isolated beauty of Catalina Island and shaped by years of personal reflection, creative work, and love, her journey is one of patience, resilience, and profound self-discovery. Penny’s words carry the calm confidence of someone who has spent a lifetime listening closely to herself, even before she fully understood what she was hearing. In this interview, Penny speaks openly about transition, love, identity, and the subtle ways becoming oneself can transform every corner of life.

Interview with Sarah Fox

When we think of the history of transgender activism in the United States, certain names immediately come to mind, trailblazers whose courage and visibility have shaped the movement for decades. But some heroes, paradoxically, are those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, orchestrating change with a quiet determination that is easy to overlook. Sarah Fox is one of those rare figures: a strategist, a mentor, and, as she wryly admits, the “benevolent autocrat” who built the democratic scaffolding for the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) while deliberately keeping herself out of the spotlight. In this conversation, Sarah reflects on decades of activism, from the smoky motel rooms of early support groups to the halls of power in Washington, navigating both the exhilaration of political victories and the deeply personal costs of speaking out.

 

Her story reminds us that progress is rarely linear, that victories can be fragile, and that the arc of social justice often bends in cycles rather than straight lines. Witty, candid, and deeply thoughtful, Sarah brings a historian’s eye, a scientist’s rigor, and an activist’s unflinching courage to this interview. She offers not only a window into the battles fought and the lessons learned, but also a rare glimpse of what it truly takes to transform a community from chaos into a force capable of shaping national policy. As you read her words, you will find yourself laughing, reflecting, and, above all, appreciating the quiet but formidable power of a woman who understood that sometimes the most radical thing you can do is to step back, and let the movement take flight on its own.

Interview with Kai Newsome

 

Kai Newsome is a blogger and digital creator based in Toronto. Through her personal project, A Blog About a Trans Journey, she documents her experience of transitioning in her 30s, focusing on the thoughts, emotions, and everyday moments that are often difficult to articulate in casual conversation. The blog was created as a space where subjects that might otherwise remain unspoken, because they feel too personal, too complicated, or too emotionally charged, can be explored with honesty and care. Kai’s writing is deeply reflective, offering friends, family, and readers an opportunity to better understand her journey, not as a neatly packaged narrative, but as an evolving process. At the same time, the blog serves as a point of connection for others who may recognize pieces of their own experiences in her words. Whether someone is trans themselves, questioning, or simply trying to understand, Kai aims to make complex and emotional topics approachable without flattening them.

 

The project originally began as an interactive storytelling experiment. Its first ten entries were written in rapid succession over a single weekend as part of a game jam, using an experimental narrative format to explore themes of identity, transition, and self-discovery. What started as a creative exercise quickly grew into something more enduring, evolving into a long-term documentation of change, growth, and self-reflection. Kai strives to write for a broad audience, including readers who may not be deeply familiar with LGBTQ topics. She approaches her subjects with openness and accessibility, avoiding jargon when possible and grounding her reflections in lived experience. When she is not writing on the blog, she continues to share pieces of her story through Instagram, experimenting with vlogging and short-form content as another way of processing her life in real time and extending her voice beyond the written word. For this interview, I am meeting with Kai to talk through these experiences together, turning her reflections and thoughts into a more conversational space, one where her journey can unfold naturally through dialogue rather than monologue.