Interview with Aleshia Brevard: Part 4

Monika: Before you started your movie and theatre career you were a female impersonator. How would you define this kind of vocation? Could it be regarded as a piece of art or just another form of entertainment or show business?

Aleshia: As I must always stress, Monika, the only assessments I can make on ANYTHING are based on personal experience. I cannot speak to the experience of others. Nowhere would this be truer than when answering your question concerning female impersonation. There are many people, both straight and gay, who are devotees of impersonation as an art form. My experience ‘backstage’, behind the façade at Finocchio’s in San Francisco, was limited and merely a respite during my gender journey. I was a neophyte, a “new Nanette”. I became a headliner at the prestigious nightclub in the late ’50s and early ‘60s because of how I looked, not because of any professional expertise and/or show business acumen.

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.

Interview with Aleshia Brevard: Part 3

 
Monika: Aleshia, in our previous conversation you stated that your true acting career took place in the theater. How would you compare these two artistic worlds?

Aleshia: Ah, Monika, that is a subject on which I could easily drone on for hours, one on which someone could write a book – and indeed many have. Accomplished actors still argue over whether performance styles must differ markedly between stage and film. I tend to agree with those artists who argue successful acting for film is more self-contained. The film is the more intimate medium. Obviously, on stage, the play’s ideas are projected into a three-dimensional space peopled with actors whose goal is to reach and move the theater audience. This requires a project of both voice and manner. Even with a long run of the play, the actors must speak their lines as though they had just thought of them, the “illusion of the first time.” I would further contribute that theater appeals to feelings first and to intellect second.

Interview with Aleshia Brevard: Part 2

Monika: Today I would like to focus our interview on your movie acting. Your first movie role was Sherry in „The Love God?” (1969). Did you have to go through any auditions to get the role? How did it feel to be an actress for the first time?

Aleshia: Oh, yes, Monika, Universal had seen every tall redhead in Hollywood by the time I auditioned. That, at least, is what I was told by my agent, with whom I’d just signed. I was so new in the business that I didn’t even have headshots – which almost proved my undoing. Some Universal executives feared I might not photograph well on screen but the director, Nat Hiken, fought for me. Bless that man! I was absolutely stunned by my good fortune, loved every single moment of the process, and promptly buckled down on set to learn my craft. It was a glorious experience.

Monika: Sherry was an extremely sexy lady that accompanied the main character played by Don Knotts. How do you recollect your work with him?

Aleshia: I adored Don Knotts. "The Love God", in my estimation, was a testimonial to Don’s comic genius. The film was ahead of its time, no doubt about that, but Don Knotts was perfectly cast as the misguided sex symbol. His improvisations still make me laugh when I see the film.

Interview with Vandy Beth Glenn

Monika: For today's interview I have invited Vandy Beth Glenn, an American writer, public speaker, and transactivist from Georgia. In 2007, she was dismissed from her job as a legislative editor at the Georgia General Assembly when she informed her supervisor, Sewell Brumby, of her transgender status. Following a lawsuit, her Glenn v. Brumby case became instrumental for the rights of transgender people that were discriminated against at work because of their transgender status. Hello Vandy! It is very kind of you to agree to be interviewed for “The Heroines of My Life”!

Vandy: Thank you! I’m happy to participate.

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

Vandy: I’m back at my job at the Georgia General Assembly, the job I was fired from for transitioning.

Monika: Where did you grow up?

Vandy: Here in Atlanta, Georgia.

Monika: Could you describe your childhood? When did you feel for the first time that you should not be a boy or man?

Vandy: My childhood was completely ordinary until I reached puberty. That was when I began to realize I was not like the other kids.

Interview with Jessica McGuinness

Monika: Today I would like to introduce to you Jessica McGuinness, an American transgender activist and community leader, and an Emergency Medical Service professional. Her story was presented in Greg Miraglia's book "American Heroes Coming Out From Behind The Badge" (2010) that features examples of how police officers, firefighters, and EMS professionals have been able to come out and be successful on the job. Hello Jessica!

Jessica: Hello Monika! Thank you for having me. I’m really excited about this!

Monika: What are you doing these days?

Jessica: I worked in EMS for 12 years but had to resign due to worsening arthritis from hemophilia. After about a year of being on disability, I got hired at the University of Pittsburgh as a clinical specialist for the Pitt Men’s Study. The Pitt Men’s Study is a 30-year-old study for HIV. It’s been really incredible and I couldn’t be happier.
I was born in 1975 with hemophilia and grew up in the ’80s during the HIV outbreak. Remember Ryan White? I’m one of the lucky few that made it out of that time HIV-negative. Most of those kids I remember at the hemophilia center are all gone. It’s nice because I feel like I can give a little back to the community.