Interview with Lisa van Ginneken

Monika: Today I am going to introduce you to Lisa van Ginneken, a Dutch politician, human rights advocate, and LGBTQI+ activist. Lisa is the President of Transvisie, an organization that supports the trans community in the Netherlands. This year she is running for a Member of Parliament seat, representing D66, a social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. Hello Lisa!

Lisa: Hello Monika! I feel very honored to be here today with you and your readers. 

Monika: We are meeting a couple of weeks before the General Elections in the Netherlands. Our whole trans community is keeping fingers crossed for you, and I am very grateful that you have found some time to present yourself to the readers of my blog. Why do you want to enter the world of politics?

Lisa: Politics might feel a world apart from our own daily lives sometimes, but it is not. It affects our lives hugely, not only through the decisions politicians make but also by the example they set with their behavior. The tone of public debate really worries me, in the Netherlands and worldwide. In my years of advocating transgender rights in the Netherlands, I got familiar and intrigued with the ways of politics. And it felt like this is the right point in my life to put forward this and other experiences I have.

Interview with Alexandra Chandler

Monika: Today I am hosting a very special woman. Alexandra Chandler is an American politician, lawyer, and former senior analyst at the Office of the Naval Intelligence. She is also an advocate for equality for LGBT people, especially transgender youth, immigrants, and people of color.

Currently, she holds the position of Policy Advocate at Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization with an urgent mission: to prevent democracy from declining into a more authoritarian form of government.

In 2018, she took part in the Democratic Party primary, running for election to the U.S. House to represent Massachusetts' 3rd Congressional District. Alexandra is married to Catherine, her high school sweetheart, and they have two children. Hello Alexandra!

Alexandra: Hello Monika! So glad to virtually meet you and those reading, wherever they are and whenever they do! 

Monika: How are you holding up in the pandemic times?

Alexandra: Relatively well, thank you. The truth is, we (speaking of our family) are very fortunate. My wife and I both have flexible (if intense this year!) and secure jobs that allow us to work from home and with some ability to reshuffle our hours around. We are both in good health with no major risk factors for COVID, as are our kids.

Yet that said, it is hard, as it is for all of us. There are so many moments where I feel I cannot be fully present as a mom or as a professional, because even with an amazing employer, there are times when I have to do both, with the addition of trying to be a halfway decent part-time elementary school teacher and IT support for my son doing remote school. I am also such an extroverted person, and I miss the in-person interaction with friends, I miss seeing bands in concert and dancing, I miss eating in restaurants.

Interview with Danielle Pellett

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Danielle J Pellett, an inspirational American woman, New Deal Democrat, trans rights activist. She is running for the Democratic nomination to represent Texas 32nd district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. She was the founding President of the first Transgender student organization at a Texas University, and later on, she worked with the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and the Progressive Alliance. Hello Danielle!

Danielle: Howdy, Monika, and thanks for the opportunity to get my message out there.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Danielle: I think you covered a lot of it in the introduction; I was born on the border in Brownsville, Texas to a mixed-race couple: David Ellsworth and Maria del Rosario.

Interview with Pam Bennett

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Pam Bennett, an American advocate for the LGBT community, politician, military veteran, and blogger. Hello Pam!

Pam: Hello from Annapolis, Maryland U.S.A. Happy to be here.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Pam: Asking a politician (former, but never say never) to say only a few words is like asking the sun to not shine too much today. My first thought every day is that I am the luckiest person on earth. The job I do is a lot of fun, enhanced by wonderful co-workers and bosses who care about their employees.
I live on a beautiful little peninsula, southeast of Annapolis, in the Chesapeake Bay. My cat, Boo, loves sailing on my boat. All of this is what I think of each morning because I also temper my happiness knowing that so many transgender people around the world cannot even dream of my world. I have had a great life, too many downs, but a lot of ups to make it interesting.

Interview with Petra De Sutter

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Petra De Sutter, a Belgian gynecologist, academic, senator, Professor and Head of the Reproductive Medicine Department at Ghent University, Executive of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), a member of the Royal Belgian Academy of Medicine, a former member of the Belgian High Health Council and of the French Biomedical Agency, author of over 300 journal articles. Hello Petra!

Petra: Hi Monika!

Monika: What did you feel when in July 2014 it was announced that you were appointed to the Belgian Senate as a Green Party nomination?

Petra: I was very happy and proud. I hope I can contribute to a more equal and just society, and although the Green Party is a small party (just under 10%), we can influence things and make our world greener, more sustainable and also more equitable.

Interview with Melissa Sklarz

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Melissa Sklarz with whom I would like to discuss the role of transgender women in US politics, culture, and society. Melissa is a transgender advocate and activist, delegate to the Democratic National Convention in New York, presiding over Stonewall Democratic Club. Hello Melissa! 

Melissa: Hi Monika!!! Thanks for doing this and for reaching out to New York City!! 

Monika: I am tempted to ask about your family roots. Your family surname sounds Polish …

Melissa: The family surname Sklarz means glassworker or window cleaner, depending on which part of Poland or the Czech Republic you are from. My estimate is my family left Poland in the late 18th Century and then went to Munich for 3 generations. My family arrived in New York City in the late 1850s.

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

Melissa: I transitioned in the early 1990s and then became a peer counselor at the Gender Identity Project in the mid-90s. People asked about resources for trans people and I discovered there were none. I started getting involved with the government and the political system at that point, and have continued on from there.

Interview with Laura Calvo

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Laura Calvo, an American politician, transgender advocate, served as Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Oregon, the first transgender woman elected to the Democratic National Committee, Vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus, according to Just Out - one of the top 25 LGBT community leaders of the past quarter-century. She’s been awarded the IFGE Trinity Award, and Spirit of Pride Award by Portland Oregon’s annual Gay Pride organization. Hello Laura!

Laura: Hello Monika! I was pleasantly surprised to be included in your interviews. 

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Laura: I’m a child of the ’60s growing up in the Haight-Ashbury of San Francisco. In the mid 70’s I went to work for the city of San Francisco as a paramedic. My first political action was helping with Harvey Milk’s campaign. I then moved to rural Southern Oregon in the ’80s and eventually to Portland Oregon in 2004, where I currently live.

Along the way, I eventually found myself and have no regrets other than I wish that I had the foresight way back then to have found myself earlier. I’m not sure how much that would have changed where I am at now, but if I’m honest perhaps I would not be involved with politics as I am now.

Interview with Kelly Ellis

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Kelly Ellis, an inspirational transgender advocate, lawyer, and politician from New Zealand. Hello Kelly!

Kelly: Good Morning Monika.

Monika: Do you think transgender women can make a difference in politics?
Kelly: I think anyone can make a difference in politics. They shouldn’t be there if that’s not their motivation. I’m motivated by hoping to contribute to a society where our children have better work and educational opportunities. That can only happen with a redistribution of wealth. These views are independent of who or what I am. They are the goals any good citizen should hope for.
Notwithstanding that, visibility for transgender people is important if we are to increase our influence. There are few things that are more visible than entering politics.

Interview with Marisa Richmond

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Marisa Richmond, a transgender politician, activist, a member of Boards of Directors of The National Center for Transgender Equality, the Trans Advocacy Network, and a lobbyist for the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition. She is also an active leader in the Democratic Party in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Hello Marisa!

Marisa: Hi Monika. Thanks for having me.

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

Marisa: I assume you mean as a trans activist. I don’t really consider that a career since I do it for love, not money. I enjoy the challenges and doing what I can to move our community forward. I want to make everyone’s life easier. I am especially concerned about doing so for the younger generation. BTW, my real career is as a historian. I love teaching, but I need to get back to research and publishing.

Interview with Tamara Adrián

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Tamara Adrián, a prominent LGBT activist and law professor from Venezuela. She is also an international activist, being the current Trans Secretary of ILGA, the Chair of IDAHO-T, and a member of the BOD of WPATH, GATE, and GLISA. Hello Tamara!

Tamara: Hello, Monika. It is a pleasure to be with you today, and respond to your questions. I think young LGBT are needed of positive examples of life, so they may create and fulfill a plan of life that fully responds to their wishes and desires, and promote their abilities and dreams without discrimination.

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

Tamara: Well, I am a lawyer that graduated with honors in Venezuela; I have a Doctorate in Law with honors at Paris University, and I am a law professor, as well as a practitioner lawyer.
Within this context, I’ve been able to potentiate my activism, by means of both writing and action. Some people are only academics, the others are only activists. I think that when you are able to combine both, you may propose ideas from the academic point of view, and may defend them in the field with your activism.

Interview with Gina Leigh Duncan

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Gina Leigh Duncan, a successful businesswoman, transgender advocate, and activist, President of Orlando's Gay Chamber of Commerce, a former candidate for Commissioner of Orange County, Florida, a senior manager at Wells Fargo, an American multinational banking and financial services company, and currently on the Board of Directors of Equality Florida. Hello Gina!

Gina: Hello, Monika, so nice to talk to you.

Monika: You are very active in politics. Do you think transgender women can make a difference in politics?

Gina: I do. While I think it critically important that we know the issues, have solutions, can be great communicators to motivate our constituents, we also bring an inherent acceptance of being transgender by gaining someone’s vote. We have an extra layer of objection to overcome. We might align with a voter in every area, yet they do not understand transgender people. I felt I just had to work that much harder and be that much sharper on the issues. Once in office, that thinking would continue with me. Work harder, be sharper, never let being transgender be an issue. Let it be an asset. I would want to use my office as a platform to educate people on what it means to be transgender.

Interview with Janice Covington

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Janice Covington with whom I would like to discuss the role of transgender women in US politics. Janice is an LGBTQ advocate and activist, she is also the first transgender woman to have been elected from North Carolina to the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Hello Janice!

Janice: Hello Monika!

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

Janice: I have always loved working with my hands and I have owned my own successful business since 1983 as a building contractor, mostly doing historical and residential renovations.

Interview with Sarah McBride

Monika: Today it is my pleasure to interview Sarah McBride, a young trans-activist from Delaware, USA. Sarah served as Student Body President at American University from 2011-2012 during which time she came out. Since then, Sarah has worked at the White House, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, and serves on the board of Equality Delaware. I would like to discuss with her the role of transgender women in US politics. Hello Sarah!

Sarah: Hi Monika! It is great to talk to you!

Monika: Why such a young lady as yourself is interested in politics?
Sarah: I’ve been interested in politics since a young age. As an observer, I think politics, government, and history are fascinating. It describes and shows us who we are, at our core, as a people and tells us the story of where we’ve been and where we are going.
I’m an active participant in politics because I genuinely believe that there is no more effective way to change and improve your world than through civic engagement. As they say, “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Interview with Babs Siperstein

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Babs Siperstein with whom I would like to discuss the role of transgender women in US politics. Barbra Casbar Siperstein is an American politician and transactivist. She serves in many Democratic Party political organizations and groups, including the New Jersey Stonewall Democrats, Garden State Equality, and the Democratic National Committee Eastern Caucus. Hello Babs!

Babs: Hi, Monika! Thank you, for the opportunity to have an international stage. As one who can neither sing, dance nor model, it is a rare opportunity!

Monika: Could you say a few words about your career so far?
Babs: Lucky! The writer and actor Woody Allen once said that 80% of success in life is just showing up and I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to show up and lucky that when opportunities have arisen, I’ve been able to “carpe diem”, take advantage of them.

Monika: What are the current issues on the transgender advocacy agenda?

Babs: Where to begin? I think the most important right now are jobs and access to health care. Often in many cases, it’s just a fundamental matter of survival. Looking at the big picture we need to win the culture wars to gain societal respect to be recognized as the people we are.

Interview with Dana Beyer

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Dana Beyer, an American transgender advocate, the executive director of Gender Rights Maryland, a civil rights and advocacy organization supporting Maryland's transgender community. In addition, she is a columnist at HuffPost and a Democrat politician. I am going to discuss with her the role of transgender women in US politics. Hello Dana!

Dana: Hi Monika! Good to speak with you today.

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

Dana: I’ve had a few, actually. I’ve been a physician and surgeon. I’ve done research on endocrine disruptors and human sexuality, as well as other public health issues. Then there’s been my work as an LGBT and trans civil rights activist.

Monika: What are the current issues on the transgender advocacy agenda?

Dana: The main issue facing many trans persons in the US today is still making life after transition. Even with federal employment protections, people find it hard to manage in a generally ignorant and, unfortunately, still hostile world. Persons of color are still targeted for assault and murder. Health care is hard to come by, though we’ve seen major improvements on that front.