Interview with Kathryn Camfield

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Kathryn Camfield, a blogger, writer, former radio announcer, and transgender ally from Reno NV. Hello Kathryn! 

Kathryn: Hi Monika, and thanks for your interest in me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Kathryn: A few words? I laugh because my wife Cindy would be saying “be careful what you wish for.” Anyhow, I’m a transgender ally. An experienced crossdresser since 1957, I have lived and worked as a woman, on and off, since 1998. I reside in Reno NV with my wife, Cindy. I was a radio announcer for about 34 years in Ohio, Michigan, Texas, and Florida. In addition, I have written four published books and I taught people how to write books, on America Online, for 7 years. I have played guitar, bass guitar, and djembe (a hand drum) and have worked on various computers since 1986.

Since I came out in 1998, I have worked as a woman. First, (1998-2005) as office manager and workshop coordinator for Mark Allison Acting Workshops in Pasadena, California. Secondly, (2005-2013) Supervisor of store operations for Las Vegas HQ, a chain of souvenir shops in four Las Vegas casinos (Tropicana, MGM Grand, New York New York, Excalibur).

Interview with Lianne Simon

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Lianne Simon, an American Christian writer, social activist, housewife, and the author of “Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite”. Hello Lianne!

Lianne: Wow! Hi. Thank you so much for asking me. I’m amazed at the number of interviews you’ve done. You go, girl!

Monika: It has been two years since the release of your debut novel titled “Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite” about an intersex teen named Jamie who must ultimately choose between male or female. Were you satisfied with the readers’ acceptance of the book?

Lianne: The book was very personal to me since quite a bit of it was drawn from my own childhood. I wanted to show people, especially fellow Christians, what it felt like to grow up between the sexes. I was a bit disappointed that no major Christian publisher would consider a book about intersex.

However, the reception by readers has been encouraging. I’ve had positive feedback from a wide variety of people, including conservative Christians and LGBT book critics.

Interview with Vanessa Sheridan

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Vanessa Sheridan, an American expert consultant, published author, inclusion/awareness trainer, and speaker/presenter on transgender workplace issues; the Executive Director of the Institute for Transgender Economic Advancement; a member of the national Transgender Advisory Committee for Out and Equal Workplace Advocates; a member of the Advisory Board for GLBTQ Online High School; a former (and the first transgender) member of the Board of Directors for the Stonewall National Museum and Archives; a two-time national Lambda Literary Award finalist for her pioneering books on transgender spirituality topics; and the author of the groundbreaking business book, "The Complete Guide to Transgender in the Workplace." Hello Vanessa!

Vanessa: Hello Monika, and thank you for this invitation. I'm delighted to be with you and am very honored to be included with some of the other amazing individuals whom you have previously interviewed. I appreciate the opportunity to share some thoughts with you and your readers.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Vanessa: I'm a fairly boring person and don't think I'm all that interesting. I am passionate, however, about doing what I can to help the transgender community achieve equality in society. I've been committed to that goal since 1991 and will continue until we get there or until I die, whichever comes first.

Toward that end, I write, speak, consult, train, and do as much as possible to educate the public about the transgender phenomenon. We transfolk are a legitimate asset to the world, and the rest of the population needs to learn the truth about us.

Interview with Renee James

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Renee James, a Chicago-area writer, former magazine editor, and owner, the author of "Coming Out Can Be Murder" (2012), a veteran of the Vietnam conflict, licensed hairdresser, blogger, and wilderness adventurer. Hello Renee!

Renee: Hello Monika, and thank you for your interest!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Renee: I am a grandparent, now in my sixties, married and still devoted to my wife, and trying to be a successful novelist. My understanding of my transgender nature is a still-evolving mystery, but I'm finally at a point where I enjoy the complexities it brings to my life (except when I use the ladies' room in a straight restaurant).

Monika: Is there anything like transgender literature? What does it mean to be a transgender writer?

Renee: It seems to me that there is a very rich body of transgender non-fiction, especially autobiographies. I haven't found much in the way of transgender fiction, and I think this is a terrible shame. Storytelling is the best way to connect the straight world with our world, and it's not happening. That also contributes to the dearth of screenplays and stage plays that feature strong, effective transgender women.

Interview with Johanna Kamermans

Monika: Today is my pleasure and honor to interview Johanna Kamermans (born 1938), a writer, translator, and former striptease dancer from the Netherlands. For nearly 15 years, she worked in cabarets in Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg as a striptease dancer named Gina de Senfal (for a short time as Gigi Deloran), the author of the autobiographical novel titled "Schlauchgelüste" (2012) and other 10 books of all kinds. Hello Johanna!

Johanna: Hello dear Monika! Many thanks for your invitation and I am very glad that you give me the possibility to say something about my transgender life, especially in the former times. I always say: “Future and past belong together, especially for us transgender people, because also we – like other people too - become elder and elder (help !)…”
Monika: You come from a very cosmopolitan family with parental roots in Germany (mother), the Netherlands (father), and Flanders (paternal ancestors)...
Johanna: Yes, in 1933 my beautiful mother came from Gelsenkirchen-Buer (Ruhr-Region) to Vlissingen (a seaside resort on the Dutch North Sea coast). She worked there in the famous “Grand Hotel Britannia” and there she met my father. I wrote 4 genealogical books about both of them and my worldwide family.

Interview with Virginia Stephenson

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Virginia Stephenson, an American transgender activist, pastor, writer, spiritual practitioner, Director of the Transgender Spiritual Council, co-author of “Can Christians Be Saved: A Mystical Path to Oneness” and "Your Heart Is My Home". Hello Virginia!

Virginia: Thank you Monika, it is a pleasure to talk with you!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Virginia: yes, I spend most of my time trying to build bridges of understanding, love and trust between people. We have all grown up in a culture which supports the “us and them” mentality, which builds walls between people and groups. I have found spiritual ways that we can connect with each other that will enrich our own lives and those around us.
I do this through writing: my second book is being published this year, and through leading a heart circle in the Oneness community weekly, and through participating in organizations like the trans-Spirit Council The Council seeks to support trans groups around the nation, specifically transgender youth.

Interview with Morgan M Page

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Morgan M Page, a Canadian transfeminist activist, artist, film director, writer, founder and curator of Trans Women’s Arts Toronto, and recipient multiple awards, including two SF MOTHA awards and the LGBT Youthline’s Outstanding Contribution to Community Empowerment Award. Her performance and video art has shown in galleries and festivals around the world, including NEMAF New Media Arts Festival (Seoul, South Korea, 2013) and the Adelaide Street Gallery (Melbourne, Australia, 2014). Hello Morgan!

Morgan: Hey there.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Morgan: Sure, I’m a performance + video artist, activist, writer, and Santera in Toronto. I’ve been an activist for sex workers’ rights for about eight years now. I travel throughout Canada and the United States, lecturing and performing, and my video art has been screened in Canada, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

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

Morgan: To me, transfeminism is a political movement around the equitable treatment of all people. And it means looking at things intersectionally – that people receive both privilege and oppression on multiple fronts, such as race, class, and gender, and that these issues need to be addressed.

I think for me transfeminism centres the experiences of trans people, particularly trans women. So, issues that affect us, such as access to health care, the criminalization of sex work and HIV non-disclosure, racism, treatment of prisoners, and immigration policy are at the forefront of all discussions.

Interview with Christine Burns MBE

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Christine Burns MBE, a British equalities specialist; former vice president of Press for Change; ranked 35th (2011) and 42nd (2012) on the Independent on Sunday's annual Pink List of influential LGBT people in the United Kingdom (a judge in 2013), and author of many books, including the highly acclaimed textbook “Making Equality Work” and her recent memoir titled Pressing Matters (Vol 1). Hello Christine!

Christine: Well thank you for including me in your amazing collection of interviews Monika - I’m most flattered!

Monika: We are having this interview when you have just published the first volume of your memoirs titled Pressing Matters. It touches upon your biography but it focuses primarily on the Gender Recognition Bill. How important was that Bill for the transgender community in the UK?

Christine: “Pressing Matters” is a history of trans activism in the United Kingdom. It is a history which I was initially reluctant to write, as I wasn’t sure whether I was the right person to write such a thing. I was very close to the action during a phenomenal period of advancement in trans rights around the world. As such, I thought I might have been too close to tell such an important story.
My ideal scenario is that such a history ought to be written by others - with the perspective that comes from both physical distance and the passage of time. However, in spite of efforts to encourage that over the last few years I could see that such a history wasn’t going to get written unless someone took the first step.
At the same time, I think such a history is absolutely crucial - especially as a majority of those leading on trans activism in the UK now are quite young and would not otherwise understand how the circumstances they find themselves in came about.

Interview with Juliet Jacques

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Juliet Jacques, an inspirational British journalist, critic, writer, and columnist for The Guardian and The New Statesman. She is the founder and presenter of Resonance FM art discussion show Suite (212). Juliet was born in Redhill, Surrey, and grew up in Horley. She graduated from the College of Richard Collyer in Horsham, West Sussex, studying History at the University of Manchester and then Literature and Film at the University of Sussex. In addition, she completed a Ph.D. in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Sussex. In 2011, she was longlisted for The Orwell Prize for 'A Transgender Journey'. In 2012 and 2013, she was selected as one of The Independent on Sunday Pink List's most influential journalists. Hello Juliet!

Juliet: Hi Monika!

Monika: Your acclaimed account of gender transition in the Guardian titled “My Transgender Journey” won much praise and recognition and allowed you to have your blog longlisted for the 2011 Orwell Prize. This success made you one of the transgender role models in the UK. How are you coping with the burden?

Juliet: It’s been strange. I had a socio-political purpose with the Transgender Journey series, but my background was as a literature and film critic, and my inspirations were post-war authors who wrote first-person novels that focused on the interior life of their protagonists – people like Nathalie Sarraute, Ann Quin, Rayner Heppenstall and Jean-Philippe Toussaint. I hadn’t expected people to call me “an activist” or “a role model”, terms which carry very different expectations and responsibilities to “writer”, which was how I saw myself.

Interview with Roz Kaveney

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Roz Kaveney, a prolific British novelist, poet, critic, transgender activist, editor of Reading the Vampire Slayer, member of the Midnight Rose collective, and author of Rhapsody of Blood: vol. 1: Rituals and vol. 2: Reflections, and the poetry collection Dialectic of the Flesh. She is a Londoner, sentimentalist, radical, “somewhat disliked by various silly people”. Hello Roz!

Roz: Hello Monika!

Monika: While preparing for the interview with you, I was amazed by the number of initiatives and projects you took part in: a founding member of Feminists Against Censorship (FAC), a former deputy chair of Liberty, deputy editor of the transgender-related magazine META, a core member of the Midnight Rose collective. How do you find energy and time to cover so many activities?

Roz: Well, I didn’t do all of those things at the same time. I learned when I was quite young that I have limited energy and it’s all been a matter of prioritizing and forgiving myself when I need to walk away from something. For example, when I was elected to the Executive Committee of Liberty, I stepped down as Secretary of FAC, because there were plenty of other people capable of doing the work I had been doing.

When my health declined – I had some bad times with gall-bladder surgery – I resigned from Liberty to concentrate on my writing again which is why there is considerable hiatus between the Midnight Rose period of my work and the work I’ve done over the last decade.

Interview with Sherilyn Connelly

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Sherilyn Connelly, an American transgender writer from San Francisco, author of "Malediction and Pee Play”, featured in Topside Press‘s “The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard”. She writes about movies and television for Medialoper and the popular Gawker Media blog io9 and is the head film critic for SF Weekly. Hello Sherilyn!

Sherilyn: Hi!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Sherilyn: I'm a San Francisco-based writer. Most of my personal writing has been memoir, but over the past few years, I've been working professionally as a film critic and journalist for the Village Voice and SF Weekly.

Monika: How did you start writing?

Sherilyn: I'd always wanted to be a writer from a young age. Two things I wanted to be, actually, were a writer and a girl. At the time, the chances of either happening -- let alone both -- seemed impossibly remote.

Interview with Rachel Pollack

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Rachel Pollack, an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and Tarot grandmaster. Rachel was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from New York University and Claremont Graduate University. Her interests include the women's spirituality movement and writing. She is known for her novels: Unquenchable Fire (1989), "Godmother Night" (1997), and "Temporary Agency" (1995). Hello Rachel!

Rachel: Hi, Monika! Thanks for doing this.

Monika: In most people's minds, "Tarot card reading" means a woman in flowing robes, leaning over a small table in a candlelit room, foretelling impending doom. How far is it from reality?

Rachel: There are always people who do this sort of theatrical style, and always some who want to scare their clients. But most modern readers are serious about interpreting the cards to benefit people. Much of modern reading is psychological, about character as much as events. And there is a strong spiritual component.

Interview with Casey Plett

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Casey Plett, an American transgender writer, author of "Other Women", featured in Topside Press‘s "The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard". Hello Casey!

Casey: Hi Monika! Before we start, I must apologetically let you know I am actually living in Canada as of this January, so I'm only sort of American at the moment!

Monika: How did you start writing?

Casey: Well I've always read. I think I was eight when I got this idea that being a writer would be cool, and then I alternated writing sad or wacky shit off and on through my pre-teen and teen years.

A month before my nineteenth birthday, I was in Seattle for a weekend and suddenly in a rush just started writing down everything that had happened to me in the preceding months and that's when I thought "Nah, I'm really gonna give this writing thing a go, I'm actually gonna try and do this."

And like lots followed after like I did a bunch of schools, and I had periods where I didn't write and just smoked weed and got drunk. But that weekend in Seattle is the turning point that exists in my head, I guess.

Interview with Susan Jane Bigelow

Monika: Today let me present Susan Jane Bigelow, an American transgender writer, librarian, political columnist, and author of "Ramona’s Demons", featured in Topside Press: “The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard”. Susan writes a weekly political column for the outstanding Connecticut political news website, CT News Junkie, where she focuses on politics inside and relevant to the Nutmeg State. In 2005-2010, she wrote for the Connecticut political blog CT Local Politics. Hello Susan!

Susan: Hello, Monika! Thank you for having me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Susan: Sure. I’m a librarian, a political columnist, and a writer. I live with my wife in the northeastern United States. I’m the author of the Extrahumans series, the Grayline Sisters series, and you can find my writing in QUEERS DIG TIME LORDS as well as the Topside Press COLLECTION.

Monika: How did you start writing?

Susan: I’ve always been a writer, even when I was little. I would make up stories, and my mother would encourage me to write them down. I can’t imagine myself without writing at this point.

Interview with Mikki Whitworth

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Mikki Whitworth, an American transgender writer, author of "Masks of a Superhero", featured in Topside Press‘s “The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard” (2012). Hello Mikki!

Mikki: Hello, thank you for this opportunity to reach out to my readers and the community at large.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Mikki: What can I say about myself? I guess the one part of my life that stands out is that I am a disabled American veteran. I served my country in my youth. Now 25 years later, I am still picking up the pieces of that service. I have been with a wonderful man for 18 years, he has stood by my side through understanding my mental illness, standing next to me through transitioning, and returning to college at nearly 40.

Monika: How did you start writing?

Mikki: I started writing as a way to deal with my illness. I began writing with a group of veterans at my local veteran’s hospital. My first two major works were entered into the VA National Creative Arts Festival. They won silver and bronze medals. I knew I was doing something right and thus began my goal to write more and better, which eventually led to my desire to return to college.

Interview with Christine Beatty

Monika: Today I would like to introduce to you an amazing woman and artist. Christine Beatty is an American writer, senior software engineer, musician, and transgender activist. She was born in San Mateo, California. In 2000 she was distinguished as Transwoman of the Year by the Los Angeles Transgender Task Force. Christine helped to organize the 2003 Transgender Day of Remembrance in Los Angeles, and a year later she appeared in a Calpernia Addams’ and Andrea James’ all-transgender production of the Vagina Monologues. In 2011 she started a publishing company for the TS/TG community, Glamazon Press. Christine writes articles for Spectator Magazine, Transgender Tapestry, TransSisters, and other LGBTQ publications. She is the founder of the Glamazon rock band, and the author of a semi-autobiographical collection of short stories and poetry "Misery Loves Company" (1993) and biography "Not Your Average American Girl" (2011). 

Hello Christine! Welcome to “The Heroines of My Life”.

Christine: Hi Monika, thanks for asking.

Monika: How would you describe yourself? Musician, writer, transgender activist, or someone else?

Christine: First and foremost I’m a writer. So far it’s not paying the bills — yet — but it’s the one creative thing I do consistently. I do plan to get back into performing and recording rock music again. Also, I started taking film school classes last autumn.

Monika: Are you a feminist?

Christine: Most definitely, long before I knew I was a girl trapped in a boy’s body.

Monika: Where did you grow up?

Christine: In my memoir, I describe my terribly ordinary upbringing in a suburb twenty miles south of San Francisco. It was terribly middle-class and ordinary; I hated it. I instinctively knew I wasn’t destined for ordinary or “normal.”

Interview with Veronique Renard

Monika: Today I am meeting a fascinating woman. Veronique Renard is a Dutch painter and writer, Buddhist, and pro-Tibet activist, the author of "The Tibetan Freedom Struggle trilogy, and her autobiographical book titled "Pholomolo - No Man No Woman". Her full name is Véronique Françoise Caroline Renard. Inspired by the meeting with the Dalai Lama in India in 2000, she adopted the name of Pantau.

She is the great-granddaughter of the renowned French painter Paul Renard. Veronique lived and worked in the Indian Himalayas, Kerala, and Bangkok. In 2000, she established the Pantau Foundation with a view to raising funds and helping Tibetan refugee children living in exile in India. Hello Veronique!

Veronique: Namaste Monika, thank you so much for contacting me. I hope my contribution to your website will be helpful to many people.

Monika: What are you doing these days?

Veronique: I am still working on my next novel, Comrades of the Cut Sleeve, a story about a closeted gay Chinese military general who is in the process of liberating himself. These days all my books are about how to find happiness, enlightenment, I suppose.

Monika: You are one of the few people that met the Dalai Lama in person. What impact did the meeting have on you?

Veronique: Meeting him first time was very interesting. However, he didn’t mean that much to me at that time. I kind of accidentally met him.