Interview with Antonia Stevens

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Antonia Stevens, an Icelandic-born transgender woman from Canada. Hello Antonia!

Antonia: Hey, it’s a pleasure to meet you and I’m honored to be a part of the Heroine series!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Antonia: I’m 35 years old, currently living in Toronto, Canada. I’m a huge nerd and have always been but I also enjoy nature and the outdoors. I love sailing, cycling, hiking, canoeing, and kayaking. On the flip side, I love working on open-source software and hardware so I guess it balances out. I work in IT security so I and my colleagues help companies defend against hackers by finding the problems before the hackers do.

Monika: What do you think about the present situation of transgender women in Canadian society?

Antonia: It’s much better than I thought it would be when I started my journey, I guess my expectations were set back in ’93 when I first heard of the term transgender and started identifying myself as trans. I honestly expected to lose everything, job, family, and friends but so far I’ve not lost anything but gained so much.

Interview with Ugla Stefanía Jónsdóttir

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Ugla Stefanía Jónsdóttir, an Icelandic transgender rights activist. Hello Ugla!

Ugla: Hello Monika! Thank you for contacting me. I’m honored to be a part of this.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Ugla: Well, my name is Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir Jónsdóttir and I am a young transgender activist from Iceland.

I work for several organizations here in Iceland, including the National LGBTQ organization in Iceland, Q-Association of Queer Students in Iceland and I lead Trans-Iceland, which is the main organization for transpeople in Iceland.

I am very passionate when it comes down to human rights and I am starting my master’s degree in gender studies in January at the University of Iceland.

Monika: You are the champion of many transgender causes and actions. Could you name some of the initiatives that you took part in?

Ugla: I’d hardly consider myself a champion, but I have indeed taken part and or/organized many events and conferences in relation to transgender rights and LGBTQ rights in general. As the chair of Trans-Iceland I have organized Transgender Day of Remembrance in Iceland for several years. I have been a public spokesperson in Iceland for transpeople and I have been very public in the media for the past few years.

Interview with Anna Kristjánsdóttir

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Anna Kristjánsdóttir, a transgender activist from Iceland, former marine engineer, and co-founder of Trans-Iceland. Hello Anna!

Anna: Thank you Monika for giving me this honour.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Anna: As for my education and work, I am educated as a marine engineer officer and still working as a technical person; now working as a control room engineer at Reykjavik Energy, and going out to sea on merchant vessels every summer and also voluntary working as an engineer aboard a SAR boat (Search And Rescue), similar to the RNLI service in Great Britain. 
Monika: Anna, you are the icon and legend of the transgender movement in Iceland. How do you carry this burden?
Anna: I did never try to be such a legend. I tried to go through my transition for myself; it was a pure coincidence that I became the face of the transsexual movement in Sweden in the early 90s and I lost my “virginity” as a transgendered person making the transition in peace. I became known in Sweden and Iceland and the Lutheran bishop of Iceland at that time asked God to save his soul from this terrible person. :)