Interview with Alicia Jane Ryder

Monika: Alicia Jane Ryder, an American trans activist and former US Government official, is my lovely guest today. Hello Alicia! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Alicia: Hello Monika! Thank you for having me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Alicia: I am a 71-year-old transgender woman, completely transitioned through surgeries, 7 sessions, 57 hours total. Retired from Government service after 51 years total, 26 for the feds and the balance for the state of Oregon.

Monika: What inspired you to be an LGBT advocate?

Alicia: I and my wife are both transgender. Together for 25 years married one day after it became legal.

Monika: How did you meet your wife? Was it love at first sight?

Alicia: We were both working on social issues and got a committee assignment together.

Interview with Bernadette Wagenblast

Monika: Bernadette Wagenblast, also known as The Voice of the Subway, is an American transportation journalist, radio personality, and voice-over artist. She is the founder and editor of the Transportation Communications Newsletter and the voice of various transportation facilities in New York City, such as the AirTrain and the Subway. She was active in her college’s radio station, WSOU, where she served as the news director and station manager. She also appeared on several New York City radio stations over five years, including WINS and WABC. She later joined the New York City Department of Transportation, where she helped to establish the city’s first transportation communications center. Hello Bernadette! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Bernadette: Thank you for the invitation, Monika!

Monika: Your voice is known to all the New Yorkers using the Subway. Is it easy to live with the voice that is so ubiquitous in New York?

Bernadette: I’m thankful for that voice. I’ve done more with it than I ever imagined and because of it I now have a platform to share my story. I hope by sharing my narrative more people will have a greater understanding of those of us who are trans. I’m putting a face to being trans for something that is part of many New Yorker’s daily lives.

Interview with Lucy Sante

Monika: Lucy Sante is a well-known Belgian-born American writer, critic, and artist. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books and the author of several books, including “Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York” (1991) and “The Other Paris” (2015). Until her retirement in 2023, she was also a professor of writing and the history of photography at Bard College. In 2024, she published her transition memoir “I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition”. Hello Lucy! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Lucy: Thanks for inviting me! I’ve dipped into your blog many times over the past five or ten years, and it has helped me see the great variety of transgender experiences.

Monika: Thank you so much! I am always happy to help my sisters. You are a very prolific writer. What makes someone a good writer?

Lucy: Close attention to language and its nuances; a sense of adventure and exploration about writing itself, quite apart from the subject matter.

Interview with Hazel Krebs

Monika: Hazel Krebs, a proud American transgender woman and a mother of two incredible kids, is my lovely guest today. Hazel is a writer, speaker, and transadvocate. She is the author of “Enthusiastically Me“ (2024), a book about her journey towards womanhood. Hello Hazel! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Hazel: Thank you, Monika! I am ecstatic for this opportunity!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Hazel: Sure! My name is Hazel, and I am unapologetically me! Recently, I published a book that discusses the hardships I faced after growing up in a world that didn’t know the real me.

In the beginning, I was assigned male at birth in Omaha, Nebraska. I grew up in what I consider a fairly typical midwestern situation, characterized by traditional expectations, which influenced me into adulthood. I went to college, found someone I eventually married, then had two kids. I adore my kids and co-parent, from whom I have since separated. These are the three most important people in my life.

Interview with Vanessa Joy

Monika: Today I have invited Vanessa Joy, an American podcast hostess, transactivist, and politician. Vanessa is known for participating in Transcending Humanity, a podcast group of Transgender/Nonbinary/Gender friends, and her Vanesstradiol YouTube channel where she chronicles her transition. A couple of weeks ago, she ran as a Democratic candidate for the Ohio House District 50, but was disqualified from the ballot for omitting her previous name. Joy was one of four transgender candidates running for state office in Ohio, largely in response to proposed restrictions of the rights of LGBTQ+ people. She is also the stepdaughter of GOP state Representative Bill Roemer. Hello Vanessa! Thank you for accepting my invitation.

Vanessa: Thank you for reaching out!

Monika: It has been a couple of weeks since you were disqualified from the ballot. It must have been a bitter experience. 

Vanessa: It was very disappointing, yes. I was caught completely off guard; I figured that if I was going to be disqualified it would have been because I did have enough valid signatures. I did have enough, this obscure law was a complete surprise. It was too many people, really, which is why it became such big news for four weeks!

Interview with Veronica Zerrer

Monika: Today I am very happy to present to you the story of a charismatic woman and soldier. Veronica Zerrer grew up on a farm in Kansas and retired from the US Army in 1998 having served nearly twenty three years. She relocated to California after gender transition in 2000. She worked in Intelligence, was a Cavalry Scout, and commanded a company in an Armor Battalion. She held numerous staff jobs at the battalion, brigade, and division levels with the Army’s 1st and 35th Infantry Divisions. She is the author of “Memoirs of a Cold Warrior: A Novel” (2022). Hello Veronica!

Veronica: Hello Monika!

Monika: Did you always want to be a soldier?

Veronica: Oh yes. My earliest memories were of playing soldier, either alone or with my friends. I was fascinated by everything military. I read histories of the World Wars, the American Civil War. I used to listen to and enjoy my father’s stories of his service during the Korean war.

Monika: You must have served in many exotic countries.

Veronica: The most interesting country I served in was Türkiye. The most enjoyable was being stationed on Guam. The coldest. Winter in Japan. The best coffee I ever have had in my life was in Germany. I’ve traveled to the Philippines, The Republic of China - Taiwan, Italy, Greece, and France.