Interview with Jameela Maxwell Boardman

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Jameela Maxwell Boardman, a British free thinker, scientist, spiritualist, and the author of the biographical book titled “Jameela's Journey: From Jonathan to Jameela” (2010). Hello Jameela!

Jameela: Thank you for inviting me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Jameela: In hindsight, I think that it would be more accurate to call me a Third Gender person rather than Transsexual, but unfortunately that option is not legally open to me in my country (Britain).

We are all a combination of Nature and Nurture, and I feel now that the hiding of my male part after transition, is just as much a distortion as the hiding of my female part was before! I often use the simple phrase: A "Balance of Yin and Yang" to quickly explain my feelings. It never was a sexual issue, rather a spiritual wholeness that I sought. That sounds as though it wasn't much of a problem, but it was! I knew that something major was wrong, and I had to move in the direction of the feminine.

Interview with Maki Yamazaki

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Maki Yamazaki, a Japanese-British musician, producer, artist, games developer, trans-feminist, and advocate of queer and disabled people’s rights, the creator of Dr. Carmilla - a retrospective-futurist cabaret, the head of Silvana Studio and games developer.Hello Maki!

Maki: Hi there, lovely to meet you, and thanks for having me!

Monika: You describe yourself as a transfeminist. What does transfeminism espouse?

Maki: Trans-feminism is basically feminism that is fully trans-inclusive. It's not implicitly one kind of feminism but an umbrella term for different types. But the key thing is about trying to make things better for women of all kinds, with the inclusion of trans-feminist writings and ideas (such as 'Whipping Girl' by Julia Serano).

Interview with Miranda Yardley

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Miranda Yardley, a British accountant, music magazine publisher, blogger and businesswoman. Hello Miranda!

Miranda: Hello Monika! Thanks for asking me to do this and for helping my voice to be heard.

Monika: You can boast a considerable number of music magazines such as Terrorizer, Dominion, and Sick Sounds, which specialized in extreme music. Has your music preference changed over the years? 
Miranda: Terrorizer is the only one of these magazines that is still regularly published. My taste in music has always been very broad, I’m open-minded to most kinds and I continue to search out both old and new music that interests me.
Monika: How did you enter the publishing business?
Miranda: I had an accounting client who owned Terrorizer and wanted to drop the title. The rest is history!

Interview with Sarah Brown

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Sarah Brown, a talented British Liberal Democrat politician and transgender activist, the former Cambridge City Councillor for Petersfield ward, for several years the only openly transsexual elected politician in the UK, listed many times on the Independent on Sunday "Pink List" of the most influential LGBT persons in the UK. Hello Sarah!

Sarah: Hello Monika!

Monika: I was so sorry when I heard that you failed to be re-elected as a Cambridge councillor in May 2014? How would you summarize your term and legacy?

Sarah: Thanks. It was always going to be a tough campaign, given the demographics of the ward I represented and being elected originally during “Cleggmania”. Still, I’m pleased that I managed to do some good during my time as a councillor. The two things I’m most proud of are setting up a fund to help teach disadvantaged kids to swim, and getting a motion to introduce a 20mph limit on all residential streets in Cambridge through the council with unanimous support. There were times when it was really stressful though.

Interview with Alice Denny

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Alice Denny, a British poet, and transgender activist from Brighton, England. Hello Alice!

Alice: Hello Monika, it’s a pleasure to meet you - so to speak.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Alice: Well I came out and transitioned later in life than most, after bringing up a family. As such transition has given me a new lease in life, a new energy. It has presented some interesting issues with relationships. I Identify primarily as a woman, parent, poet etc. and trans is more coincidental, a reference to my development that has little current relevance. Although in practice it has a big impact on the way I interact in the world and the world treats me.

Monika: Some time ago you attended a meeting in Prague, the Czech Republic. How important is networking for transgender activism?
Alice: I did Monika but I don’t think of myself as an activist as such; there are some fabulous activists and advocates out there. Meeting people from other areas and countries – from the next street even- is so important because it reminds us we are not alone, helps share experience and work to fight prejudice – which is considerable around the world.