Interview with Madi Madsen

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Madi Madeleine Kruse Madsen, a Danish transgender activist, and owner of a beauty parlor. Hello Madi!

Madi: Hi Monika – thank you for inviting me to do this interview.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Madi: I am 55 years old now, and I spend the first 50 years of my life living as a man – even though I have always known that I would prefer to be a woman. So I have spent the last 5 years transitioning from man to woman.

Monika: You are the owner of a beauty parlor. Which special treatments do you offer to your customers?

Madi: We actually have two beauty parlors – and we do a total of 40 - 50 treatments for customers each day. I have been working with this for about a year now, and I have expanded the business from one small shop doing about 5 treatments every day to where we are now – 10 times as large.

We mainly offer 3 types of treatments – normal facial treatment, massages, and slimming treatment with Lipo Laser and Cavitation equipment.

Interview with Andie Davidson

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Andie Davidson, a publisher, writer, blogger, musician, and author of "Realisations" (2012). Hello Honey!

Andie: Hi Monika, it’s great to join you here, and in such a company.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Andie: No! I talk far too much! But I can try. I live on the south coast of the UK and work as a technical writer in an engineering company. I was married for over 30 years and have two grown-up children. I’m recently divorced, but happy to have found my true self after 55 years of ignorance and another couple of years sorting it out.

Interview with Deja Nicole Greenlaw

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Deja Nicole Greenlaw, an inspirational American transgender activist, and advocate. Hello Deja!

Deja: Hello Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about your activism and yourself?

Deja: I have lobbied in government buildings in Washington DC and Hartford, Connecticut for trans rights but I believe that my biggest and most important activism is being out at work and having many people interact with me.

I deal with many people from several departments in a manufacturing environment and with hundreds of manufacturing plants all over the globe. Anyone who interacts with me can say that they know a transgender person and working with one is not an issue. If someone they know says something negative about transgender people they can refute it because they have the first-hand experience with working with me.

For the majority of the people I work with, I am the first transgender person that they have ever met. A few of them may have had issues with me in the beginning but now they are all very accepting of me.
The same goes for the community that I live in, the stores that I patronize, the doctors and staff that I interact with. They all know a transgender person. By being open and out and about I am helping to change people’s thoughts about transgender people. I believe that is my greatest contribution to activism.

Interview with Jenny-Anne Bishop

Monika: Today I have invited Jenny-Anne Bishop, a British transgender activist and former sales and marketing manager in scientific instruments. She is a graduate in industrial chemistry and a staunch advocate of the Transgender and LGBT communities. Jenny-Anne is a lay pastoral leader and Board of Directors member of the Manchester Metropolitan Community Church, a member of the Westminster Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity, and a trustee for several LGBT organizations. Sie is also a member of many organizations and steering groups on reporting and reducing hate crime and on equality and diversity standards. She is living with her partner Elen in Rhyl, North Wales. Hello Jenny-Anne!

Jenny-Anne: Hello Monika, Thank you so much for asking me to do this interview, I feel quite humbled to be included in your series of outstanding Trans People.

Monika: What are you doing for a living these days?

Jenny-Anne: Well I've been retired for over 5 years now, so I am able to devote my time to trying to help and improve life for all our Trans* community.

I'm also an active member of the LGBT Church I attend in Manchester and lobby for LGBT Christian rights and acceptance. I guess it's about making every aspect of life Trans friendly because being trains is pervasive, it affects every aspect and corner of your life.

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 Lisa Salazar

Monika: Today I would like to invite you to meet Lisa Salazar, a Canadian transgender advocate, graphic designer, photographer, educator on the transgender phenomenon, and author of the book titled "Transparently: Behind the Scenes of a Good Life" (2011). Hello Lisa!

Lisa: Hi Monika, thank you for your interest and for the opportunity to share with you and your friends.

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

Lisa: I have been a self-employed graphic designer all of my professional life. Unfortunately, my current work situation is very different from what it was five years ago — I am severely underemployed.

I attribute this to four reasons; first, my client base has shrunk slowly as many of my clients (who are about the same age as me) have retired; second, the economic slow down has made finding new clients and employment very difficult; third, my age (I’m 62); and fourth, being transgender is a liability when it comes to doing business.

Interview with Allison Lenore Annalora

Monika: Today I have invited a special guest. Allison Lenore Annalora is an American cabaret singer and hairstylist. She was born in Alderwood Manor, Washington, as Larry Duane Miller, and then given up for adoption at birth in May of 1955. Alison is working on a biography to be published in 2016. She lives in Arizona. Hello Allison! It is a pleasure to interview such a remarkable woman as yourself.

Allison: Thank you!

Monika: What do you do for a living these days?

Allison: I work full time as a hairstylist in a Spa at a large resort/casino in Rancho Mirage’, California, and sing in a Cabaret Show once a month at a local restaurant.

Monika: Where did you grow up?

Allison: Seattle, Washington.

Interview with Danielle Bergan

Monika: Today I am going to take you to the Hawaiian islands where my guest lives and works. Danielle Bergan is an author, transgender advocate, and speaker. In 2012 she published her book “It's Always Okay To Be Me: A Journey to Recovering Lost Hope”, which became the catalyst for her passionate transgender advocate's platform. Hello Danielle!
Danielle: Aloha Monika! I hope you are well.

Monika: What are you doing for a living these days?
Danielle: Well, as a writer, we do whatever we can, you know, “the starving artist.” I am still writing and trying my hand at working for New York Life. They have helped so many people over the past few centuries I was attracted to their ethics. I’m also working in a small restaurant as a cashier. Both jobs involve helping people; which is exactly why I wrote my book.
Monika: Why did you decide to write an autobiographical book?
Danielle: I wanted to share my story with the world for a few reasons, but mainly to help others. My story is not just for the transsexual who still suffers but for anyone who is living a life addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Interview with Josephine Emery

Monika: Today’s interview is with Josephine Emery, an Australian writer, screenwriter, script editor, and media and publishing strategist, from Cairns in Queensland, known for her work on Freedom (1982), Fever (1988), and The Coming (1981). She was the Director of Literature at the Australia Council for the Arts and Head of Screenwriting at the Australian Film, TV, and Radio School, and worked as a features journalist.

She is the author of "The Real Possibility of Joy: A Personal Journey from Man to Woman” (2009), shortlisted for the 2010 Nita Kibble Award for Best Life Writing by an Australian woman. Hello Josephine!

Josephine: Hi, Monika. It’s a little strange for me being asked to do this interview. I seem to have moved on a lot in my life since my gender history was a real concern of mine. Or writing, for that matter.

Monika: What are you doing these days?

Josephine: I’m 65 years old. I transitioned around the age of 58-59. Second Saturn Return to be astrologically specific. I’ve reached the point where I can say goodbye to the need to identify myself as a writer. I now live in a village of 1200 people, grow my own vegetables, and make bespoke furniture from reclaimed timber.
I fill in as editor of my local newspaper when the editor’s away. I’m getting better at blues guitar: playing slide, bottleneck, resonator. I’m catching up with the things I didn’t do enough of in the previous 65 years!