Interview with Robyn Gigl

 

Some lives unfold in neat chapters. Robyn Gigl’s reads more like a layered novel, one where law, courage, persistence, and imagination keep circling back to one another until they finally click into place. Born in 1952, Robyn is an American lawyer, writer, and LGBTQ+ activist whose story stretches across courtrooms and bookshelves, personal reinvention and public change. Based in New Jersey, she has worked since the late 1970s as a litigation specialist in commercial and employment law, with forays into criminal defense, building a formidable legal career brick by brick. In 2006, she became managing partner of the firm she had joined decades earlier, began her gender transition three years later, and eventually moved to Gluck Walrath in 2015, a firm that would later merge with Dilworth Paxson. Before her transition, Robyn was married to a woman and raised three children, a reminder that transformation rarely erases what came before, it simply reframes it. Her legal work has never existed in a vacuum. Robyn has been at the center of meaningful change for transgender people in New Jersey, most notably through Sonia Doe v. New Jersey Department of Corrections, a case brought with the ACLU of New Jersey that challenged the placement of a transgender woman in men’s prisons. The 2021 settlement reshaped state policy, anchoring prison placement in gender identity rather than assumption. Beyond the courtroom, Robyn served on the state’s Transgender Equality Task Force and the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement, and in 2020, the New Jersey Law Journal named her one of the “Top Women in Law.” These are not just titles, they are markers of impact.

Interview with Jennifer Diane Reitz

 

Jennifer Diane Reitz moves through culture like a quiet constant, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden, always shaping the space around her. Born in Oregon at the end of 1959 and raised in a childhood of perpetual motion, she learned early how to live between places, between definitions, between what is permitted and what is necessary. Science, fiction, music, and imagined worlds became not escapes but lifelines, ways of giving structure to a reality that rarely offered her safety or recognition. Her creative work, from the early days of independent game design to the formative chaos of the early internet, reflects this instinct to build worlds when none exist. With Happy Puppy, she helped define how games were discovered and shared online, and with Boppin’, she insisted that games could be strange, emotional, uncomfortable, and unapologetically adult. Her later webcomics, especially Unicorn Jelly, continue this refusal of simplicity, unfolding as living systems of myth, logic, and transformation that demand patience and curiosity rather than passive consumption.

 

Alongside her work in games and webcomics, including the long-running Unicorn Jelly and other formally inventive projects, Reitz has consistently explored themes of identity, perception, and transformation. As a trans woman who transitioned in the early 1980s under hostile social conditions, her personal history is marked by resilience, conflict, and moments of profound crisis, but also by enduring partnerships and chosen family. She later founded the website Transsexuality as an attempt to systematize and explain trans experience at a time when accessible information was scarce, a project that remains debated and contested. Taken together, Jennifer Diane Reitz’s career forms a singular narrative at the intersection of early internet culture, independent game development, and lived transgender history, making her a compelling and sometimes challenging voice to engage with in conversation.

Interview with Andrea Glose

Some conversations stay with you long after they end, not because they are loud or dramatic, but because they are honest. This interview with Andrea is one of those moments. Andrea Glose is a Bolivian trans woman living in Florida, a barista, a survivor, a daughter, a mother, a partner, and above all, a woman who has learned to keep choosing herself in a world that often makes that choice unbearably costly. What unfolds here is not a polished success story or a neatly wrapped narrative of triumph. It is a life spoken in full sentences, with humor, grief, warmth, and defiance woven together.

 

Andrea talks about sunshine and humidity, coffee orders and gothic style, but also about loss, loneliness, survival, and the quiet miracle of still being here. She speaks with tenderness about her family, with gratitude about chosen community, and with clarity about the political violence facing transgender women today. This conversation moves gently between the everyday and the existential, between laughter and heartbreak. It reminds us that femininity has no single shape, that self-worth is an act of resistance, and that sometimes the bravest revolution is simply continuing to exist, to love, and to hope. Andrea’s voice carries all of that, unfiltered and deeply human, and I am honored to share it with you.

Interview with Alicia Sainz Arballo

Alicia Sainz Arballo is a woman shaped by time, patience, and a deep willingness to look inward. A lifelong educator, counselor, and advocate, she spent 36 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District supporting students, mentoring teachers, and quietly building safer spaces through her school’s GSA and LGBTQIA+ professional development work. Long before she had the language or freedom to live openly, Alicia was already listening, observing, and caring, skills that would later become central to both her poetry and her transition. A musician since the age of six, with a formal background in music and counseling, Alicia has always understood emotion as something felt in the body before it ever becomes words. Poetry became her way of holding what could not yet be spoken, grief, longing, confusion, accountability, and eventually joy.

 

Her poem Grief weaves together the experiences of aging veterans and trans lives, offering a powerful meditation on loss, listening, and the difficult work of letting go of systems that once felt unquestionable. Alicia medically transitioned at 62, decades after first coming out and after a long period of detours, pauses, and self-protection. Her book Transition is not a story of sudden revelation, but of endurance, honesty, and the courage to begin again later in life. Writing with vulnerability about family, love, separation, and self-awareness, Alicia speaks to a generation of trans people whose stories are often overlooked. She continues to advocate for trans-affirming healthcare for all ages, reminding us that becoming yourself is not bound by youth, but by readiness, compassion, and truth.

Interview with Bobbie Dodds Glass

 

Teaching is basically a family business for Dr. Bobbie Dodds Glass, so much so that if you traced her family tree, it might look more like a school staff directory. Her four grown children are all teachers, their spouses are all teachers, and somehow, this doesn’t even begin to capture her influence on students, colleagues, and the broader education community. To date there are nearly 9,000 teachers, principals, counselors and central office administrators spread across the world who have spent a minimum of 8 weeks training with Dr. Glass on their way to becoming licensed and certified to work with the most extreme and marginalized students in their school districts. Bobbie’s journey in Special Education started back in 1977, right when P.L. 94-142, what we now know as IDEA, was changing the landscape for students with disabilities nationwide.

 

Bobbie has taught every grade level from K-12 and every level of higher education from undergrad to doctoral students. She has worked with students who are blind or visually impaired, pioneered the use of assistive technology with funding and support from Apple, IBM, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education, and even led a state agency ensuring access to education, healthcare, and more for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. On top of that, she’s a licensed K-12 teacher, a full-time Special Resource Teacher, an advisor for LGBTQ+ programs in schools and medical curriculum, and a devoted mom and grandmother of 10. When she’s not shaping young minds, Bobbie is exploring Kentucky’s back roads, camping, off-roading, or navigating the great outdoors in her RV. She’s an inspiration for educators, families, and adventurers alike.

Interview with Patti Spangler

Patti Spangler’s life reads like an American road movie rewritten by truth, courage, and hard-earned self-understanding. Known to many as “Trucker Patti,” she has lived multiple lives across decades, identities, highways, and closets, not as an act of reinvention, but as survival. Born intersex with XXY chromosomes, Patti spent much of her life carrying a secret that shaped every decision she made, from love and marriage to career and geography. She was a Bourbon Street showgirl under the neon lights of New Orleans, a long-haul truck driver crisscrossing America in deliberate anonymity, a Navy musician navigating fear and loss, and a woman who spent 25 years passing flawlessly as “ordinary” while paying the price in silence.

 

Patti’s story is not about spectacle, it is about endurance, honesty, and the slow reclaiming of joy. Through satellite radio conversations on SiriusXM OutQ, Patti found community while driving alone through the night, and eventually the courage to come out again, this time with intention and purpose. Her story, captured in Beau J. Genot's documentary Trucker Patti (2014) and shared through activism and education, challenges not only straight audiences, but also LGBTQ communities, to expand their understanding of gender, intersex experiences, and the cost of invisibility. This is a conversation about closets and courage, glamour and grief, love and regret, fear and freedom, and what it really means to live an authentic life when the world keeps telling you to hide.

Interview with Meghan Chavalier

Some interviews feel like work. Others feel like conversation. And then there are those rare moments that feel like sitting across from someone who has unknowingly walked beside you for years. Meeting Meghan Chavalier was one of those moments for me. As a transgender woman, I carry deep respect for the women who came before me, the ones who carved space in a world that was often openly hostile, so that the rest of us could breathe a little easier. Meghan is one of those women. She is not just part of transgender history, she helped shape it, with courage, creativity, defiance, and an unwavering sense of self. What struck me most about Meghan is not just her extraordinary life story, which spans stage performance, film, music, and writing, but her clarity. She knows exactly who she is, and she has never apologized for it. That kind of certainty does not come from ease, it comes from survival, from reinvention, and from choosing authenticity over acceptance, again and again.

 

There is also something deeply bonding about speaking to another transgender woman who understands the quiet things, the unspoken experiences, the moments of doubt and the moments of joy that only we truly recognize in one another. This interview is grounded in that shared understanding. It is not distant or clinical. It is warm, honest, occasionally funny, and deeply human. Meghan is an icon, yes, but she is also a storyteller, a sister, and a woman who has lived many lives without ever losing herself. I am genuinely fond of her, I admire her strength, and I am grateful she trusted me with her story. This conversation is not just about where she has been, but about what it means to live fully, on your own terms, and to leave the door open behind you for others to walk through. I hope you feel that as you read it.

Interview with Penny

Penny is a woman whose story unfolds with quiet strength, deep honesty, and an extraordinary sense of grace. Penny is a landscape architect based in San Francisco, a partner at her firm, an artist at heart, and someone who has learned how to build not only physical spaces but also emotional ones where authenticity can finally breathe. Raised on the isolated beauty of Catalina Island and shaped by years of personal reflection, creative work, and love, her journey is one of patience, resilience, and profound self-discovery. Penny’s words carry the calm confidence of someone who has spent a lifetime listening closely to herself, even before she fully understood what she was hearing. In this interview, Penny speaks openly about transition, love, identity, and the subtle ways becoming oneself can transform every corner of life.

Interview with Sarah Fox

When we think of the history of transgender activism in the United States, certain names immediately come to mind, trailblazers whose courage and visibility have shaped the movement for decades. But some heroes, paradoxically, are those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, orchestrating change with a quiet determination that is easy to overlook. Sarah Fox is one of those rare figures: a strategist, a mentor, and, as she wryly admits, the “benevolent autocrat” who built the democratic scaffolding for the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) while deliberately keeping herself out of the spotlight. In this conversation, Sarah reflects on decades of activism, from the smoky motel rooms of early support groups to the halls of power in Washington, navigating both the exhilaration of political victories and the deeply personal costs of speaking out.

 

Her story reminds us that progress is rarely linear, that victories can be fragile, and that the arc of social justice often bends in cycles rather than straight lines. Witty, candid, and deeply thoughtful, Sarah brings a historian’s eye, a scientist’s rigor, and an activist’s unflinching courage to this interview. She offers not only a window into the battles fought and the lessons learned, but also a rare glimpse of what it truly takes to transform a community from chaos into a force capable of shaping national policy. As you read her words, you will find yourself laughing, reflecting, and, above all, appreciating the quiet but formidable power of a woman who understood that sometimes the most radical thing you can do is to step back, and let the movement take flight on its own.

Interview with Susanna

 

Susanna is a woman whose life story has been a constant source of inspiration to me. From the very first moment I learned about her journey, I was captivated by her courage, creativity, and unwavering authenticity. Susanna’s life reads like an extraordinary tapestry woven from art, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of self-realization. She began her transition at the tender age of 13, long before society had language or understanding for people like her, and navigated the complexities of gender identity with astonishing bravery. By 19, she had undergone her gender-affirming surgery, and she has lived her life unapologetically as a woman ever since. Susanna’s story is not just about survival; it is about thriving in the face of immense challenges. She grew up in a time when transgender people were largely invisible and unsupported, yet she cultivated a life filled with beauty, creativity, and remarkable accomplishments. As a teenager, she modeled for Salvador Dali, becoming part of the limited edition folio of prints The Twelve Tribes of Israel. She embodied the legendary “Asher,” the lost tribe symbolized by the olive tree, and began forging connections with some of the most iconic figures in art and culture, including Amanda Lear, International Chrysis, and Candy Darling. Her experiences with these trailblazing personalities shaped her sense of self, artistry, and poise.

Interview with Bobbi Waterman

Bobbi Waterman is a woman whose life journey has been as vast and inspiring as the galaxies she once helped explore. A former NASA engineer, she spent decades working on the Space Shuttle program, where she combined her lifelong fascination with rockets and exploration with an unshakable drive to contribute to humanity’s reach beyond Earth. Growing up during the Apollo era, Bobbi was captivated by the sight of humans walking on the Moon and dreamed of being part of that world of innovation and discovery. Her career eventually took her from Lockheed Space Operations to NASA itself, where she played a vital role in launching shuttles and supporting the intricate systems that powered them. After retiring, Bobbi’s journey turned inward. She embraced her true self and transitioned at the age of sixty, proving that it is never too late to live authentically. Her transition opened new dimensions of joy, confidence, and peace, culminating in her memoir The Woman Inside: From Outer Space to Inner Peace (2025), a heartfelt reflection on self-discovery, courage, and the universal search for belonging. 

 

Now living in Australia with her supportive spouse, Bobbi continues to inspire through her writing, travel, and openness about her experience as a transgender woman. Bobbi’s story is not only one of professional achievement and personal transformation but also of adventure and reinvention. Following her transition, she and her spouse embarked on a nine-month world cruise that allowed her to see the planet with fresh eyes, embracing her womanhood in every new culture and destination they visited. From the icy wonder of Antarctica to the warmth of Mauritius and the charm of Portugal, each stop became a celebration of freedom and authenticity. Along the way, Bobbi shared her experiences with a growing online audience, offering wisdom, humor, and hope to others seeking the courage to live their truth. In this interview, Bobbi reflects on her time at NASA, her late-in-life transition, and the lessons she has learned about authenticity, love, and resilience among the stars and within herself.

Interview with Fallon Fox

Fallon Fox was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1975, and even as a child she sensed a truth inside that didn’t match the body others saw. Growing up, she thought she might be gay, since liking “girl things” was labeled that way, but her longing ran deeper. At nineteen she married her high-school love, became a father, and quietly carried the weight of an identity she could not yet claim. Service in the U.S. Navy taught her resilience, but the discipline of military life could not silence her need for authenticity. After her discharge and a short time at the University of Toledo, she turned to long-haul trucking, saving every paycheck for the day she could live openly. In 2006, in Bangkok, Thailand, Fallon underwent feminizing surgery and breast augmentation, finally stepping into herself. Returning to Illinois, she trained in mixed martial arts at the Midwest Training Center.

 

She called herself the Queen of Swords, earning the name with three knockouts and two submissions—proof that strength and femininity could exist side by side. In March 2013, Fallon came out publicly through Outsports and Sports Illustrated, becoming the first openly transgender athlete in professional MMA. Her announcement ignited debate: some praised her courage, others questioned fairness. The discussion intensified after fighter Tamikka Brents sustained an injury in 2014. Fallon faced the controversy head-on, advocating for policies based on science and fairness, and encouraging research into how hormone therapy affects strength, bone density, and endurance. Beyond her record in the cage, her legacy became one of visibility and advocacy, helping to move the conversation from fear and resistance toward understanding and inclusion in the world of sports.

Interview with Andrea Montanez

It is easy to mistake Andrea Montanez’s life for the plot of a thriller. One moment she is raiding cartel hideouts in Colombia, dodging bullets, and negotiating with kidnappers. The next, she is in Orlando, with purple glasses and a trans flag fluttering from the vents of her Nissan Sentra, rushing from one public hearing to another in a fight for the dignity of her community. From undercover narcotics officer to TSA worker to full-time activist, Andrea has carried one thread through all of her lives: an unshakable courage to face danger head-on, whether it comes from armed guerillas or bureaucrats in suits. In Florida, that danger no longer hides behind machine guns, it hides in the technical language of state regulations, in manipulated medical reports, and in “emergency rules” designed to make health care nearly impossible for transgender people. When the state’s board of medicine moved to restrict gender-affirming care, Andrea did not sit back. She borrowed a van, drove activists across the state, charmed opponents who called her community “mutants,” and pushed back in rooms designed to silence her. If Pablo Escobar could not scare her into silence, neither could the board of medicine.

Interview with Elizabeth Taylor

Step into the fabulous world of Elizabeth “Beth” Taylor, a cisgender woman, where glamour meets courage, and transformation is nothing short of an art form. Nestled in the heart of LGBTQ-friendly Takoma Park, Maryland, just minutes from buzzing downtown Washington, DC, Beth’s private studio is more than a place, it’s a sanctuary where transgender women, male-to-female crossdressers, and genderfluid people come to explore their beauty, confidence, and authenticity. With her signature mix of warmth, skill, and sparkle, Beth turns every session into an experience: whether it’s a first-time client stepping into heels for the very first time, or a seasoned star looking for a fresh twist, she makes everyone feel luminous, seen, and celebrated. Beth’s path to becoming the queen of male-to-female transformation is as captivating as her artistry. After eleven years of service in the US Navy, where she taught nuclear propulsion theory and excelled in Human Resources and Equal Opportunity roles, Beth embraced a new calling: helping people express their truest selves. The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and her own coming out as bisexual/pansexual in 2012 opened a dazzling new chapter, leading her to create her signature transformations. 

Interview with Nikita Carter

For nearly 55 years, music was Nikita Carter’s language. As an avant-garde improvising saxophonist and composer, she thrived in a world of sound, vibration, and connection, creating bold, unconventional music that spoke directly to the soul. In August of this year, she added a new title to her creative résumé: published author. Her debut book, a project nine years in the making, grew out of a period of solitude when she had no one to confide in and was trying to make sense of her life. Much of it reflects on her gender transition in her 60s, placing her among the relatively small number of people who transition later in life. She describes that experience as carrying both the advantages and the scars of living for decades in a privileged role, and then stepping into an identity with profoundly different societal power dynamics. The transition brought significant losses. Many former friends, collaborators, and professional contacts disappeared from her life, and her career in music suffered as a result. She also faced risks that had not been part of her life before, including ridicule, social invisibility, and even the threat of physical violence. Among the most frightening episodes she recalls was being wrongfully arrested and imprisoned in Mexico. 

Interview with Giselle Donnelly

When you first look at Giselle Donnelly’s résumé, you might expect to meet someone who only speaks in policy briefings and Pentagon jargon. She’s an Emerita Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a specialist in national security and defense, a former staffer on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, and the co-author of major strategy documents that helped shape American military thinking. She’s also worked as a journalist and editor, covering everything from the Gulf War to Somalia, and has been at the center of Washington’s biggest debates for decades. In short: Giselle knows her stuff. But that’s just one side of her story. The other side is deeply personal, and a lot more colorful. In 2018, after years of living a secret life, Giselle transitioned and began living openly as a trans woman. She credits her wife, Elizabeth Taylor (yes, that’s her real name!), with guiding her out of the shadows. Elizabeth runs a makeover studio for transgender women, and she spotted the truth about Giselle before Giselle herself did. Together, they’ve built a life filled with love, laughter, and music.

Interview with Felicia DeRosa

Felicia DeRosa is not just an artist, she is an alchemist of emotion, translating the intimate textures of life into visual poetry. From her earliest days as a child prodigy exhibiting Dali-esque ink studies at the tender age of twelve, Felicia has danced gracefully through many artistic incarnations: draftsman, printmaker, photographer, designer, curator. Each phase added new depth to her voice, shaping a woman whose work now pulses with feeling, insight and unapologetic honesty. After earning her BFA from the Academy of Art University in 1997, Felicia spent years as a beloved fixture of the West Coast’s underground and salon gallery scenes. Her unique vision, blending impressionist tenderness with bold graphic forms, culminated in a striking new genre she called POP Impressionism. Through this lens, she captured more than just images, she offered emblems of human connection, subtle gestures distilled into icons of everyday grace. 

 

Felicia’s artistry has never stopped evolving. From city-sponsored murals in Chicago to soul-searching journeys through Europe, from quiet landscapes to vibrant acts of public art, her work reflects not only the world around her but also the transformations within. Earning her MFA in 2014 marked another turning point, one that invited dimensionality, dialogue and deep community engagement into her creative practice. In 2021, Felicia's journey took center stage in the documentary DeRosa: Life, Love, and Art in Transition, directed by Angelo Thomas. The film chronicles not only her life as an artist, but her blossoming into womanhood, an intimate portrait of courage, creativity, and becoming. Today, Felicia stands as both muse and maker: a woman whose art mirrors a life of fearless reinvention. As we sit down to speak, her story invites us to reflect on our own. What does it mean to transform, and to be seen?

Interview with Kim Brown

Kim Brown’s story reads like a beautifully woven tapestry of adventure, resilience, and quiet strength. From the seas she has sailed on to the fossils she’s unearthed in distant lands, her life defies the ordinary. Yet beneath the layers of explorer, writer, and car restorer is a woman who has spent much of her early years seeking to be seen and understood for who she truly is. Growing up surrounded by stories and solitude, Kim found comfort in books and the quiet magic of imagination. Her journey through multiple continents and unexpected roles reflects a courageous spirit that never shies away from life’s challenges or its delights. 

 

Whether repairing a classic car or crafting bedtime tales that light up children’s eyes, Kim embraces every chapter with a passionate heart. Her transition was not just a personal revelation but a profound act of living her truth, despite the shadows of misunderstanding and loss. Love has been both a tender refuge and a source of joy and heartbreak. Kim’s life reminds us that embracing our authentic selves can be both the hardest and most beautiful adventure we undertake. Today, she pours her soul into writing stories for her grandchildren and dreams that refuse to rest, continuing to inspire with grace, humor, and unwavering hope. Kim’s message is clear: trust yourself, live your truth, and never stop seeking the extraordinary in the everyday.

Interview with Nia Chiaramonte

 

Nia Chiaramonte is a storyteller of transformation, both lived and lovingly told. A mother of five, a devoted wife, and a transgender woman who came out after 35 years of hiding, Nia embodies the kind of courage that blooms quietly in the face of fear. Her life is a powerful mosaic of motherhood, advocacy, and humor, stitched together with threads of faith, empathy, and radical honesty. Professionally, Nia is a seasoned Human Resources executive with over two decades of experience building compassionate, inclusive workplaces across education, health, and global humanitarian spaces. She believes in putting “Employees First,” and brings that same conviction to her advocacy for trans and queer families. Whether guiding an organization toward equity or speaking directly to a parent navigating their child’s coming-out journey, Nia leads with love, and a laugh when needed (which, she’ll tell you, is often).

 

With a B.A. in Psychology and an MBA in Human Resources, Nia has dedicated her career to understanding human behavior, only to discover her greatest revelation in herself. Since coming out as a transgender woman, she has turned her truth into purpose, writing a memoir, co-founding Love in the Face with her wife Katie, and hosting the heartfelt podcast Embracing Queer Family. Today, she lives near Baltimore with her family, a rescue dog, and an enduring love for The Office. She is living proof that healing is possible, families can evolve, and joy is a birthright, even, and especially, in the face of change.

Interview with Julia Shelton

Julia Shelton is a fiercely resilient transgender woman, writer, and advocate whose journey is woven with courage, creativity, and an unyielding commitment to authenticity. She is the author of many books, including The Day the Colors Ran Away (2025), Becoming Me: A Trans Memoir (2025) and The Pronoun Party (2025). Through her memoirs, poetry, and children’s books, Julia offers fragments of her soul, stories that illuminate the often unseen emotional landscapes of transition and the power of embracing one’s true self. Her path has been marked by profound challenges, shifts in how others perceive her intelligence and worth, heartbreaks, and systemic barriers, but also by moments of deep spiritual awakening and quiet joy.

 

Julia’s story is one of transformation not just in appearance, but in spirit; of learning to love fiercely and forgive deeply, and of finding peace in finally stepping out from behind the mask she never knew she wore. As a woman who has fought to be seen, heard, and valued, Julia now channels her voice into storytelling and advocacy, dreaming of a world where healing and authenticity are celebrated, where LGBTQ youth feel protected and uplifted, and where every person can shine unapologetically. Her journey continues, bold, hopeful, and tender, building a legacy that lights the way for others to rise.