Interview with Nathalie Rettenbacher

Monika: Vienna, the beautiful capital of Austria, is the venue of today’s meeting with Nathalie Rettenbacher, an inspirational Austrian woman, comedian, and performer. Nathalie is a member of "Politically Correct Comedy Club" (PCCC*), Vienna's first queer comedy club, where she addresses her experiences as a trans woman in Austria. Hello Nathalie!

Nathalie: Hi Monika, what an honour to be part of your project and your blog. I think it is vitally important to gather and share positive stories about trans women. Thank you for doing that.

Monika: By the way, I love your orange hair. Is it your favourite colour?

Nathalie: Thank you so much! Orange has been my favourite colour for a long time I guess. I started dyeing my hair in that colour a few years ago and never looked back.

Interview with Ísabel Pirsic

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Ísabel Pirsic, an Austrian transgender rights activist, member of TransX, a Vienna-based organization that supports the transgender community in Austria. Hello Ísabel!

Ísabel: Hello Monika! Pleasure and honor is mine as well.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Ísabel: I started my public transition about 4 years ago and have been engaged in activism for 2 years. I work as a scientist at university, doing research in mathematics.

Monika: What are the goals of TransX?

Ísabel: We aim to give personal support for trans people in their individual processes and also do political activism for naming laws, depathologization, trans prisoners' rights, etc. The most visible part is our bi-monthly meetings, where we usually also have talks about dedicated topics; these are meeting places as well as a means of establishing what trans culture can be.

Interview with Monika Donner

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Monika Donner, a former officer of the Austrian Armed Forces, independent consultant, and lawyer in the Ministry of Defense of Austria, the author of "Tiger in High Heels". Hello Monika!

Monika D: Well, hello Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Monika D: I love to go my own way: my private way of love. In my childhood, I loved my big wild garden. When I entered kindergarten, I had to throw up because everything was strictly separated into girls and boys.

As I grew older, I learned to play both gender roles perfectly, until I decided to live as a woman – without letting doctors cut my genitalia. Therefore I had to fight against the old sexist/sadistic law by calling a high court. I won. Since then I am free because I defended my inner child.

Interview with Johanna E.

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Johanna E., an inspirational Austrian woman, stewardess, yoga instructor, and celebrity star from the German reality show about transgender people titled “Transgender - Mein Weg in den richtigen Körper”. Hello Johanna!

Johanna: Hi Monika, I feel very happy about this interview.

Monika: Why did you decide to apply for the casting to “Transgender - Mein Weg in den richtigen Körper”?

Johanna: It was pure instinct and ambition. When I saw "Transgender" for the first time two years ago, I have felt envy and a strong need to participate in that TV show as well. There was no certain reason, I just wanted to be part of that. I considered it as my next goal.

Monika: What are your impressions about the participation in that show?

Johanna: My impression is that the production team is really serious about the topic and about us, the participants. Nothing respectless was shown in the shows though they could have. For example, there were pictures of me attending an erotic dance class where I did not hide my gender and you could see everything because I wore tight leggings. But they did not show. On the other side, the show is quite superficial cause it's more about operations.