Interview with Nyke Slawik

Monika: There are some moments in the history of the transgender community that could be defined as game changers or landmarks that allow us to measure how successful we have become as a community as well as change the way we are perceived by society. The year 2021 was a special moment in Germany where Nyke Slawik and her fellow politician Tessa Ganserer together became the first openly transgender people elected to the German parliament. Today I have the pleasure of talking to one of them, Nyke Slawik, a German politician and member of the Bundestag representing the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the Alliance 90/The Greens list. Hello Nyke!

Nyke: Hello Monika!

Monika: It has been almost two years since you became a member of the German Parliament. I guess you must have had some expectations about the job. Did something surprise you?

Nyke: Yes, how little time there is to get everything done. Time and priorities are of the essence, especially if you don’t wanna burn out. In my first year in the Bundestag, I was a bit overwhelmed by everything.

Now I’m focussing on just a few projects that I can handle. First of all the ‘Selbstbestimmungsgesetz’ (self-id law) for trans people in Germany, the national action plan ‘Queer Leben’ (Queer Life) that is aimed at improving the lives of LGBTIQ people in Germany and making public transport more accessible to everyone.

Interview with Nora Dahmer

Monika: Today I have the pleasure of talking to Nora Dahmer, a German businesswoman and transgender activist from the Rhineland, and the author of "Endlich Nora!: Aus einem Transgenderleben" (Finally Nora!: From a Transgender Life). Hello Nora!

Nora: Hello Monika, nice to meet you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Nora: My name is Nora and I am 60 years old. For almost 3 years I have been living as a woman in society. I have two adult children. I advise companies on strategic issues as a freelancer. At the same time, I give lectures at schools and in companies for teachers and managers about LGBTQIA+.

Monika: What inspired you to write "Endlich Nora!: Aus einem Transgenderleben" (2022)?

Nora: With the decision to change my life, I sat down and reviewed everything for myself. Then I kept a kind of diary for myself practically during my transition from the moment I came out. I noticed how much was happening to me and my environment and decided to make a book out of my scripts. The aim was to help other people and to explain the background.

Interview with Luna

Monika: Today I am talking to Luna, a German transgender woman that documents her transition on social media. Hello Luna!

Luna: Hi Monika, nice to have a talk with you and I am glad to be able to share a little bit of myself here.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Luna: Of course, so my name is Luna, and I am 27 years old and I started being my true self only like 2 years ago. I live in Schwerin, the capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania.

Monika: What inspired you to share your intimate life moments on social media?

Luna: I wanted to be visible, to be out there, to show what is possible and how. Also, it grew more over time and it wasn't really that much planned in the beginning, but after seeing that there is soo little information about the processes and what will change I decided to show how my transition is.

Monika: Why did you choose Luna for your name?

Luna: Back at the time I decided Luna was the best fitting name for me I was really into the night and the moon and there also was a fictional character that played a huge role in the choice of my name and given the fact that I don't want to have any connection to my deadname it is Luna now.

Interview with Christin Sophie Löhner

Monika: Today let me present a charismatic woman from Germany. Christin Sophie Löhner is a German author, politician, activist and feminist, blogger, speaker on transgender topics, and expert in web development and server administration. In 2019 she published her autobiography „trans(*)parent: Wie eine Normvariante der Natur ihren Weg findet”. Hello Christin!

Christin: Heya Monika! Thanks for being with you. It is a pleasure for me to answer all your questions!

Monika: Did I miss anything in my introduction? You are a woman of many talents. :)

Christin: Haha, thanks! I'm asked from time to time how many hours my days actually have. My main daily business - besides my full-time job of course - is all about my own German-wide organization for self helping groups and peer support.

Interview with Nora Eckert

Monika: Today we are going to Berlin in Germany, where I would like to present to you an inspirational woman from Germany. Born on March 14, 1954, in Nuremberg, Nora Eckert is a well-known German cultural journalist and theater and opera critic. She is the author of many books and articles about German cultural events. I am going to talk with her about her recently published autobiography “Wie alle, nur anders. Ein transsexuelles Leben in Berlin” (Like everyone, just different. A transsexual life in Berlin), the history of the German transgender movement, and her own journey towards womanhood. Hello Nora!

Nora: Hello Monika, nice to meet you!

Monika: How are you doing in these crazy pandemic times?

Nora: These days are really crazy. None of us have ever experienced anything like this. But despite all the limitations, I try to live as "normally" as possible. Of course, I stick to the rules. Fortunately, I am not only a person interested in culture, but also a nature-loving person. While the theaters, museums, concert halls, cinemas were closed, I could at least go hiking. There are beautiful landscapes around Berlin and running is very good for my health!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Nora: You've already introduced me a little bit. I was not born in Berlin, but have lived here for 48 years. For me, this city was love at first sight, although back in 1973 Berlin was still divided and looked very different than it does today.

Interview with Marie

Monika: Today I am going to chat with Marie, a German transgender woman that shares her transition story on social media. Hello Marie!

Marie: Hello and I'm grateful for the opportunity to tell my story.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Marie: Yes, of course, I'm Marie and I love being myself. It was a long and really hard ride to realise that I could make my wish and dream come true. I lost my family but that's okay. If they don’t love me, then I will go and live my life on my own.

I am really happy that so many people in the village where I live support me. Now I'm an idol for all the women here and I love it. Being known as a lonely sad boy with such a good heart and being a lovely person, I lived through a horrible past but I have won the fight to be what I already was in my mind and heart.

Monika: Why did you choose Marie for your name?

Marie: I don't want my old life to fade away, so I took my time thinking about my name. And there it was. The name was shown to me like a vision and it felt really good. I was in love with it, beautifully female and old. Also it was a name from the Bible, so I was really happy and proud to have such a cute and fitting name to call myself.

Interview with Lena Kuner

Monika: Today I am going to interview Lena Kuner, a German transgender woman, fashionista, travel blogger, and gamer that shares her transition story on social media. Hello Lena!

Lena: Hello Monika, it's a pleasure for me. Thank you!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Lena: My name is Lena, and I'm 36 years old. I live in a small town in the German federal state of Saxony. I live there with my boyfriend and work as an archivist for our district administration.

Monika: Lena is a nice name. Why did you choose it?

Lena: Long story! *chuckles* I love the sound. I chose it a long time before my transition started. In video games I always had the nickname "Lalena".

Monika: What inspired you to share your intimate life moments on social media?

Lena: Because I want to show that trans people are just as normal as everyone else. I don't want to be special or something. Maybe I'm a role model for somebody. If somebody feels better after reading my posts, I'm happy. And of course, I love modelling! *smiles*

Interview with Hannah Herr

Monika: Today I am going to host Hannah Herr, a German social media influencer and transgender woman that shares her transition story on social media. Hello Hannah! 

Hannah: Hi Monika! Thanks for having me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Hannah: I'm 30 years old, and I studied biology and English before I got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I then tried myself as an optometrist for a few years until my condition got worse and had to quit my job as well. Now I am writing a blog on Instagram about being transgender while having a chronic illness, my life with my partner, my cat and whatever comes to my mind really. It has been a great outlet for me.

Monika: Hannah is a nice name. How did you choose it?

Hannah: I was set on the name Linda for the longest time, but a friend pressed me for an alternative and I spontaneously came up with Hannah. He loved it and it instantly grew on me, because it was similar to my old name phonetically, but different enough to not make an instant connection to the dead name. It is also a palindrome and I could keep my initials, the perfect name!

Interview with Felicia Rolletschke

Monika: Felicia Rolletschke is a young German transgender activist and academic teacher. Her website Transformational Tomorrow is the source of all relevant information for the German trans community. I am going to discuss with her the most recent actions launched by the German trans activists in order to change the archaic gender-recognition law. Hello Felicia!

Felicia: Hello Monika! Thank you very much for doing this interview.

Monika: How are you doing in the pandemic times of COVID-19?

Felicia: As well as possible in times like this. Much of my work was and is based on in-person workshops so naturally during 2020 many changes happened and I had to improvise a lot. Nonetheless, I already had my first online workshops this year and am already looking on a filled calendar for March and the following months.

Monika: Felicia is such a lovely name. Why did you choose this particular name?

Felicia: Thank you! There were many names I considered. "Felicia" won in the end over "Ayana" and "Julia" for being a name that meant something to me personally, was easy to pronounce in both my mother tongue German, and my most commonly used language English, and it was at least familiar enough to most people, so they do not have to struggle when writing it.

Interview with Selena

Monika: Today we are going to Germany where I am hosting a special guest. Selena is a German space scientist and transgender woman that documents her transition on social media. I am going to talk to Selena about her amazing journey towards womanhood. Hello Selena!

Selena: Hello Monika, thank you for interviewing me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Selena: Well, I am a 56-year-old trans woman from Berlin, of Australian origin. I began a physical transition 2 years ago. I had a brief period 23 years ago when I prepared myself for transition, but I unexpectedly met my darling wife. She knew about the doubts I had over my gender, but the relationship was so unexpectedly lovely that we both thought I could stay male for the sake of it. She thought her acceptance could cure my pain, and I thought I could live with my doubts as to an "envy". And for the first years of our relationship, this worked.

We have brought two sublime children into the world. As a stay-at-home parent, I was heavily involved in the pretty much all-female world of childcare, and I had some lovely first Mum friends who didn't seem to see my gender - they just treated me as one of them. So that soothed me for several years too.

Interview with Hannah Abigail

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Hannah Abigail, a German college teacher, skydiver, trans advocate, and video blogger that documents her transition on YouTube. Hello Hannah!

Hannah: Cześć – Hello, Monika. Thanks so much for reaching out to me. I feel so honored to be interviewed by you considered the many famous names on your website.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself? You have some Polish roots, don’t you?

Hannah: Yes, my great-grandma was Polish. But my ties with Poland stem much more from personal experience. I grew up in Cottbus, Germany, and learned Polish as my third foreign language at grammar school and spoke it almost fluently in the 1970s and 1980s when I visited so many Polish regions. I learned a lot and keep having a special, cordial, and respectful relationship with Poland.

Interview with Farah Zeiner

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Farah Zeiner, a German transgender activist, journalist, the founder of the YouTube vlog titled “Menschen dieser Erde”. Hello Farah!

Farah: Hello Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Farah: Hello, my name is Farah Zeiner. I studied social work, and I am a transgendered woman that advocates and promotes human rights, especially for transgender people in our society and around the world. I am living in South Germany at Lake Constance.

Monika: What inspired you to create a vlog where you place your interviews with transgender role models?

Farah: The inspiration to do interviews with transgender people came just naturally. Together with Michaela Werner, a good friend of mine and also a transgendered woman, we started making videos in our area, just for fun. So we developed the idea of doing interviews with transgender people. It was all going step by step; we found a brave transgender woman who gave us the first interview. After that interview, we got a huge fan base and more transgender people were able and brave enough to do interviews with our team.

Interview with Jula Böge

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Jula Böge, a German transgender activist and writer, the author of “Ich bin (k)ein Mann: Als Transgender glücklich leben” (2009). Hello Jula!

Jula: Hello Monika, I’m very impressed that you know my book because it is only accessible in the German language. My site julaonline.de is better known in Germany. It has more than 100,000 readers per year.

Monika: Could you say a few words about your career so far?

Jula: I never realized that I have a career. Nearly ten years ago I began to share my experiences and insights as a transgender person by writing articles and publishing them on my website. The book in 2009 was an important next step. Since then I have been not only a writer but also a speaker on CSD events in Germany and other European countries.

Interview with Jasmina von Leeds

Monika: Today I am taking you to Hannover in Germany where my guest lives. Jasmina von Leeds is a beauty stylist, YouTuber, singer, and actress from Germany. She appeared in such German TV series and shows as 'Köln 50667', 'Barbara Salesch', 'Niedrig und Kuhnt', and 'Berlin Tag und Nacht'. Hello Jasmina!
Jasmina: Hello Monika! Thanks for having me I feel very honored.

Monika: What do you prefer more: acting or singing?
Jasmina: It depends but I would say at the moment singing. I'm working really hard at my voice at the moment, getting a lot of singing lessons because this is what I want to do: singing in clubs. I really enjoy doing that and my other baby at the moment is my YouTube Channel: "Jasmina von Leeds". I love making videos about my life, giving beauty tips, talk about topics. This and my singing career are my biggest projects at the moment.

Monika: Could you elaborate on your acting career so far?
Jasmina: I played some roles in German soap operas and did realty stuff on TV. It was OK but I would love to play in a real movie. Maybe a dramatic part as a transwoman. What I did till now wasn't difficult or really creative in my opinion.