Interview with Alessandra Alferes

Monika: My lovely guest today is Alessandra Alferes, a transactivist, content creator, pianist, and mother of two children from São Paulo, Brazil. She is a screenwriter, producer, director, and editor of the TransSaber channel and presenter of the VídeoCast “Café Trans”. Hello Ale! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Ale: Hello, Monika! Thank you for the opportunity!

Monika: You are a woman of many talents. Could you say a few words about yourself?

Ale: I am a musician, conductor at UNESP, and professor of Music, Languages, Public Speaking and Performance. I have a specialization in Teaching and another in Diversity and Inclusion in Organizations. I give lectures on the LGBTQIAPN+ agenda at universities and schools and participate in podcasts as a guest, in addition to producing my own podcast through the TransSaber Channel. I am also the "mama" of a 6-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl.

Interview with Gaby van der Brug

Monika: Today I have the pleasure and honor of interviewing Gaby van der Brug, a Brazilian-born model living in the Netherlands, beauty queen, and transgender woman that shares her transition story on social media. This year she is going to represent the Netherlands in Miss Trans Star International, a beauty pageant for transgender women, which was first held in 2010 in Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. Hello Gaby!

Gaby: Hello Monika! Thanks for having me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Gaby: I'm Gabriela but you can call me Gaby. I'm 21 years old, I'm a hairdresser and upcoming model. I have been living in the Netherlands since I was 11 years old.

Interview with Julia Martins

Monika: Today we are going to Brazil, a fascinating country where my inspirational guest comes from. Julia Martins is a model, beauty queen, and game video creator. Hello Julia! 

Julia: Hello Monika! Nice to meet you! It's a pleasure for me to talk to you and your audience. 

Monika: Could you say a few words yourself?

Julia: I'm Julia, a Libra transgender girl, a lover of life and pets, a gamer from my childhood, and now an alternative Ascencion model at SuicideGirls.com and Onlyfans.  

Monika: How did you start your gaming career?

Julia: Since I was a child, I've always loved playing video games. When I was 5 years old, I already knew that I was "a boy who didn't want to be a boy", and I never realized until I was 13 years old, that I could undergo a gender transition. So I grew up being a sad child. And when I was playing video games, those were the moments when I had happiness during my childhood. So when I grew up, I thought "Why can't I continue to do this?" and that's how I started my life playing video games.

Interview with Danielly Drugge

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Danielly Drugge, an inspirational fashion model from Sweden, beauty pageant queen, Miss Trans Star International Sweden, cosmetician, and happy wife. Hello Danielly!

Danielly: Hi Monika, first of all, I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here on your blog, giving all of us visibility and voice.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Danielly: Well, I am a girl who was born in Brazil, with a strong temperament. I am a dreamer, who never gives up on dreams, even though there are many difficulties imposed by society for being a trans woman.

Interview with Kimberly Luciana Dias

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Kimberly Luciana Dias, a Brazilian transgender activist, artist, beauty pageant queen, blogger, and creator of “Mundo T-Girl – Travestis e Transexuais”. Hello Kimberly!

Kimberly: Monika, please bear in mind that I am trying to use the social network of my country to spread the visibility of our trans community, especially Brazilian transvestites and transsexuals. I love doing this, so it is a great pleasure when I'm in front of my computer, building a virtual policy and manifesto, trying to use everything I have learned in my life through activism, stage, model catwalk, and my experience as a transgender woman. I am doing this just to show our vision, glamour, and beauty because our community deserves it!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Kimberly: I am a very accomplished person; I have all my dreams come true, but not all of them. It has taken me a lot of years but although I have a very serious look, I'm a very humorous person. I like my independence and I have a few friends, I love my family and my life story, and I really like my solitude that makes me feel good to be alone!

Interview with Guta Silveira

Monika: Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Guta Silveira, an inspirational transgender activist from Brazil, actress, author of two biographical books: "Homens Não Choram" (1994) and "Transexual A História de Uma Vida" (2005). Hello Guta!

Guta: Hello Monika! Hello girls!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Guta: My story doesn’t deviate much from what usually happens to other transsexual girls. I was born with the body of a boy and I was raised as one. Despite that, when I was 3 years old I went to the sports club with my mother and we used to go to the girl`s bathroom and that was normal to me, part of my universe.

One day I went to the boys' bathroom and I was stunned by what I saw. Handsome men stirred something in me, but at that age, I didn’t know what it was. I grew up feeling different from my schoolmates, not knowing what my true place was. I loved to use my mother’s makeup on myself when there was nobody watching, and used rags to fake long hair, wrapped myself in bedsheets to make believe they were dresses, it was all very fun and pleasing.