Interview with Meja Foss

Monika: Today I would like to introduce Meja Foss, a British woman, fitness and fashion blogger living in Norway, documenting her transition on social media. Hello Meja! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Meja: Thank you, Monika, the pleasure is all mine! 

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Meja: Sure! I’m Meja, I just turned 47, and I started HRT 2 years ago on the last day of May 2021. I live on a farm in rural Norway with my partner and two children.

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

Meja: Trans representation is so important - I know because it was something I myself desperately needed to see when I was pre-transition, in order to understand who I could become post-transition. It’s very difficult to be what we can’t see. So now I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to give back to the trans community and be a middle-aged, visibly trans woman happily living her best life in the hope I can inspire and give courage to other trans people, who have perhaps yet to make the leap.

Interview with Sandra Krogh-Bjerke

Monika: Today I would like to introduce to you Sandra Krogh-Bjerke, a mental trainer and coach from Norway. We are going to touch upon her transition, inspirations, and challenges as a transgender woman. Hello Sandra!

Sandra: Hi Monika! Really excited and grateful to have this opportunity.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Sandra: Just a few words? Oh my, where to start? Haha... I´ll start with my identity which has been the same over my whole life. I am a helping and caring woman that can connect with anyone and find solutions to their problems.

Monika: Sandra is such a lovely name. Why did you choose it?

Sandra: My old name, what someone calls a deadname, was not so different. My name was Sondre when presenting as a man. When I was young, about 13 years old, I was already very aware of me being a girl. I looked for a female name that I could feel comfortable with. At that time the German artist Sandra (Cretu) was very popular and I could really relate to her soft but determined artist personality. Also, Sandra means "the helper/defender of the people'' and that really fits me well. On the inside, I was Sandra from the age of 13, even though I didn't come out before October 1st, 2018 at 41 years old.

Interview with Eirin Grinde Tunheim

Monika: Today I am taking you to Tromsø, a city in northern Norway, which is a major cultural hub above the Arctic Circle. This is the town of Eirin Grinde Tunheim, a young Thai-born girl from Norway, beauty pageant queen with university degrees in dentistry and economics. In 2019, Eirin competed in the Norwegian edition of the Miss Universe Pageant to become the first transgender woman in the history of this competition. She speaks five languages, and I am happy that one of them is English, so I can share her amazing story with you all. Hello Eirin!

Eirin: Hello, Monika. Thank you for inviting me for the interview.

Monika: You were born in Thailand. When in 2006 you came to Norway with your whole family, what did you expect to see and achieve in the country that is so different from Thailand?

Eirin: Back then, my mom told us that Norway is a country where the weather is very cold with less sunlight. My siblings and I watched the Narnia movie and tried to have that expectation. However, we did expect to live in a country with a good education, health system, and quality of life. I grew up with my grandparents and father, therefore I always wished to live with my mom wherever she lived.

Interview with Esben Esther Pirelli Benestad

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Esben Esther Pirelli Benestad, a physician, sexologist, and professor of sexology, known as one of Norway's most prominent transpeople. In 2002, her son Even Benestad presented her story in the documentary All About My Father (Alt om min far). In 2007, she participated in the reality TV series Skal vi danse. She was also a political candidate for the Liberal Party, a social liberal political party in Norway. Hello Esther!

Esben Esther: Hello Monica and thanks for including me in your row of interviews! 

Monika: You are the author of several textbooks about transgenderism, including “Kjønn i bevegelse” (2001), Transseksualisme - hvor går vi og hvor står vi? (2002) and Transekjønn og diagnoser (2004), and Sexologi I Praksis (2006). Is it difficult to study and write about the phenomenon that you face yourself in your life?

Esben Esther: An era of therapeutic thinking emphasized the neutrality of the therapist, one should not “over-identify” with the clients. In the wake of this thinking, one came to consider it wrong for homosexually talented people to offer therapy to other homosexuals, and certainly also for the transgifted to offer therapy to their kinds.