Interview with Alicia Jane Ryder

Monika: Alicia Jane Ryder, an American trans activist and former US Government official, is my lovely guest today. Hello Alicia! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Alicia: Hello Monika! Thank you for having me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Alicia: I am a 71-year-old transgender woman, completely transitioned through surgeries, 7 sessions, 57 hours total. Retired from Government service after 51 years total, 26 for the feds and the balance for the state of Oregon.

Monika: What inspired you to be an LGBT advocate?

Alicia: I and my wife are both transgender. Together for 25 years married one day after it became legal.

Monika: How did you meet your wife? Was it love at first sight?

Alicia: We were both working on social issues and got a committee assignment together.

Interview with JoAnne Wheeler Bland

Monika: Today's interview will be with JoAnne Wheeler Bland, a woman and a transgender activist, a practicing attorney for 44 years, former Special Justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court, former Vice-President of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, current Board Member on the Fairness Campaign Coordinating Committee (in Louisville, Kentucky), a current member of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education's Committee on Equal Opportunity (the Diversity Committee).

In addition, JoAnne was a keynote speaker for the 27th Annual Kentucky Governor's Equal Employment Opportunity Conference whose topic was "The Transgender Worker", frequent guest speaker at Women's and Gender Studies at Kentucky Universities, and she participated as a guest speaker at numerous Kentucky Universities (on the issue of Transgender) and at PFLAG Meetings across Kentucky.

She studied theology for 13 years, and was a former United Methodist Certified Lay Speaker, evangelist and teacher, church choir member, architect, and interior layout designer, interior decorator, consultant to Kentucky School Districts on Transgender students and to Kentucky Courts on issues of Transgender, advising parents, adults, and children regarding transgender issues. Hello JoAnne!

 JoAnne: Thank you for interviewing me.