Monika: What happened next as you set out on your new journey?
Deena: For the last time, I went to the hotel where I had been staying, put on my makeup, slipped on my favorite pencil skirt and flowered top, and then, choosing a few pieces of my favorite jewelry, I checked out and headed north into a new life of exciting uncertainty. As I drove out of Nashville for the last time, I thought, I came here with everything I needed packed in my car and $800. I am leaving with everything I need packed in my car and $1,000. So in 30 years, I have made $200!
Monika: When you transitioned, did you look to any transgender role models for inspiration, and are there transgender women today whom you particularly admire and respect?
Deena: At some time or other I have seen great transladies who were inspirational and whom I admired tremendously. Certainly, Christine Jorgensen had my great respect. April Ashley, Renée Richards, all of the ladies who transitioned without being intimidated by the “what-will-people-think” mindset. The footprints of their high heels are certainly ahead of me on the path that I travel.
Monika: Do you believe public figures who transition can change the way society views transgender people?
Deena: Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” That is why I have so much respect for Caitlyn Jenner. Choosing to transition in the fishbowl that is her life is a serious commitment. Deciding to transition is not just an impulse, like walking through Petco and deciding to buy a goldfish. If transition dies, one cannot just flush it down the toilet.
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| Onstage at a college in Seattle, WA. |
Monika: Caitlyn Jenner has often faced criticism, sometimes even from within the transgender community. What are your thoughts on that?
Deena: Caitlyn often gets such a bad rap from our own community. How can we profess the principle of living an authentic life and then, when Ms. Jenner does just that, attack her for being rich, having white privilege, being unaware of perpetual trans attitudes, and knowing Kanye West? Come on, it has been less than a year since she took the “Pink Plunge” into the transgender world. Give the lady a break. She has not set herself up as the spokeswoman for us all; the media has been mostly responsible for promoting that. She is trying to learn what a 65-year-old cis woman has spent a lifetime learning. She is learning what most of us have had secret nights and dozens of years to absorb, and in just a few months.
Monika: How do you see the broader impact of Caitlyn Jenner’s transition?
Deena: Her public metamorphosis has certainly raised the level of the discussion of gender variance. Now we all can say we have known someone who was male-born before she came out as transgender. So if there is a transgender woman who does not want to stand by Caitlyn, move out of the way so that I can! She is my sister.
Monika: Looking back, what was the most difficult part of coming out for you?
Monika: Looking back, what was the most difficult part of coming out for you?
Deena: Probably the actual, definite decision to do it! I am rather hesitant to say that it has been okay, not easy, but certainly a progressive process that, once begun, is just a matter of connecting the gender dots to make the final picture.
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| Backstage in Nashville before Transition. |
Monika: How did the people around you react once you began sharing your truth?
Deena: Now there are very few persons to whom I have reached out and given the information about my changes who have chosen not to respond to me. In fact, to date, there are only two people who knew me before and have not returned an answer to my letters. I suppose that says more about them than it does about me.
Monika: Within the broader LGBT community, do you feel that transgender people have been able to promote their own cause and be fully recognized?
Monika: Within the broader LGBT community, do you feel that transgender people have been able to promote their own cause and be fully recognized?
Deena: At times it has been difficult to be near the last in billing. And of the original four letters, LGBT, we are the people who are not defined by our sexual practices. But in the association of LGBT, we are the glitter. You don’t hear people say, “Let’s go to the bisexual bar!”.
Monika: How do you feel about the way transgender people have been represented in films, newspapers, and books so far?
Monika: How do you feel about the way transgender people have been represented in films, newspapers, and books so far?
Deena: Well, I have heard so many trans people say that all trans movie roles should be played by transgender actors. As a person who has been in show business for many decades, I can tell you, one must hire the right actor, not just an actor who has lived a similar story. Using that reasoning, all of the murders portrayed in film should be played by artists who have actually killed someone.
Monika: Are there particular works or portrayals that you feel have done justice to transgender stories?
Deena: So “Tangerine” is a wonderful work of art. “HerStory” is absolutely exquisite. “The Danish Girl” made me cry. “Sense8,” though very violent, featured a terrific trans actress, Jamie Clayton, in a trans role. This Netflix series was mostly written and directed by the Wachowski sisters, Lana and Lilly. Oh, and one of the cisgender nurses in “The Danish Girl” is played by the great transgender actress, Rebecca Root.
Monika: Are you involved in any lobbying efforts, and do you believe transgender women can make a real impact in politics?
Deena: Gender Justice is a wonderful organization here in Nevada.
Monika: How would you describe your relationship with fashion, and what kinds of outfits do you enjoy wearing? Do you have any favorite designs, colors, or trends?
Deena: Long ago, I decided that I would rather be classy than sexy, and I try to dress that way. Class before sass!
Monika: What role does love play in your life?
Deena: I have the love of some wonderfully precious souls. ‘Nuff said.
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| Deena in San Diego, A Happy, full-time Lady. |
Deena: Every day. I have some musical creations I would like to offer in a collection very soon. These are songs I have written from a trans point of view. The creative energy I have found since choosing transition is very freeing. Before I went full time, I had written only one or two songs in the past two years. After living 24/7, I wrote about thirty new songs in the first few months.
Monika: That sounds exciting. Could you share some of the specific ideas you are exploring?
Deena: Since my voice is higher now, I would like to take one of my old recordings from Nashville and do a boy/girl duet with myself! Does that sound kinky? John Denver had a huge hit with one of my songs called “Some Days Are Diamonds.” I would like to record it again as my female self and do the original lyric, which was a trans feeling.
The original verse is:
Now the male face I see in my mirror,
More and more is a stranger to me.
More and more I can see there’s a danger,
In becoming what I never thought I’d be.
Monika: What would you recommend to all transgender girls struggling with gender dysphoria?
Deena: First of all, I would caution anyone not to listen to people like me!
But seriously, Folks: find someone to talk to, a TransWoman, a shrink if you can afford it, search the internet for support groups, like, for instance, on Facebook, there is a group called Association of Transgender Professionals. There is a lot of good, serious help for TransPersons, now.
Monika: Deena, thank you for the interview!
Deena: It was indeed a great joy to be included in such an illustrious group of Trans Heroines. Thank you so very much, Monika.
END OF PART 2
All photos: courtesy of Deena Kaye Rose.
© 2016 - Monika Kowalska
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