Interview with Gia Versace

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Gia Versace, an American entertainer and beauty pageant queen. Hello Gia!

Gia: Aloha Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Gia: Sure, I was born and raised on the windward side of Oahu in a city called Kaneohe, Hawaii.

Monika: When did you decide that you would like to be a stage artist?

Gia: My fascination with the stage began when I took a drama class in high school and it became really clear that I wanted to be a showgirl when I saw my first drag show in a night club called Venus.

Monika: Could you name some of the venues and shows in which you participated?

Gia: I have done shows and many fundraisers and night clubs such as Venus, which is now called Bar 7, and I am currently a showgirl at Fusions Waikiki (home of the two longest-running female impersonation shows in Hawaii).

Interview with Lora G

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Lora G, a Hollywood, California - based composer, guitarist, and keyboardist, co-founder of Lunden Reign. Hello Lora G!

Lora G: Hi Monika, thank you for reaching out to me.

Monika: When did you decide that music would be your way of life?

Lora G: I started performing at the age of 13 in Orange County, California. By 16 I started performing on the Sunset Strip scene in Hollywood. The amazing Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver, Guns N’ Roses, The Cult) was my drummer in high school. By 18, I had the luck to be involved in finding guitar sounds for Stevie Wonder’s album “Secret Life of Plants.”

However, at 19 I left music to go to college. I didn’t return to music until after an amazing Emmy-winning career in television and radio including working for Disney for over 14 years. I returned to music about 7 years ago after realizing how much I missed it.

Interview with Helen Belcher

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Helen Belcher, a British trans rights campaigner, member of the UK Parliamentary Forum on Gender Identity, and one of the founders of Trans Media Watch, software developer, and businesswoman. Hello Helen!

Helen: Hi Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Helen: It depends on what you want to know. I’ve just turned 50, I’m happily married with two fantastic children who are in their teens, I’ve been a computer geek since my teens, and have run my own company for the past 10 years selling software that I’ve written.
I sing in a good local choir, I’m a school governor, and I campaign on trans rights. It could all sound incredibly glamorous, but there is a lot of hard work and, generally, I think I’m incredibly boring! It’s just that I’ve had the good fortune to be in some of the right places at some of the right times.

Interview with Kristine Holt

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Kristine Holt, a transgender activist from the USA, speaker, author, lawyer, graduate of Temple University School of Law, a former judicial clerk at the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, successful litigant in civil-rights cases. Hello Kristine!

Kristine: Hello!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Kristine: Sure. I’m a parent, a grandparent, a spouse, an attorney, and a musician. I lean far-left on most political and social issues – a throw-back radical hippy freak, if you will. I transitioned in 1992 when there were just enough of us out and about to make people uncomfortable. I’ve had a fun and sometimes frightening life, and I hope to be around for a while longer.

Interview with Jessica Bussert

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Jessica Bussert, an American emergency room nurse, firefighter, professional photographer, inventor, and former IT professional. Hello Jessica!

Jessica: Hi Monika! Sorry for taking so long in getting this together. I've recently had a few major surgeries and have been laid-up with recovery.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Jessica: "A few words about myself" *grins*.

Monika: It has been almost 10 years since you were demoted from your senior IT job at Hitachi Data Systems after you started your transition. Are you still bitter about it? 

Jessica: Well, just to set the record straight, the company claimed that I was not demoted. It was their assertion that everyone else had been promoted above me. Yeah... Right... Am I bitter? Yeah, a little bit when I'm having a bad day. That said, I try to focus on the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives. If things hadn't turned out the way they did then I would have never discovered nursing. And I -love- being an ER nurse!

Interview with Nicole Bray

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Nicole Bray, an inspirational transgender woman from the USA, the main character of the documentary “Untitled Documentary – Nicole’s Story”. Hello Nicole!

Nicole: Hello, Monika! Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me to learn more about my story and about the documentary I am producing.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Nicole: Sure! I am an independent filmmaker currently focusing on documenting my unique life story on film. I observed that my sense of humor is my greatest asset in making my way through the transition. Furthermore, I really enjoy traveling and wish that I had endless funds to do so. Additionally, when I’m not filming movies, I love to watch them encompassing a range of genres. I’m also an avid researcher and spend a great deal of time educating myself about particular topics.
By the way, the title of the documentary, “Untitled Documentary – Nicole’s Story” is temporary. Once we have acquired a Director/Producer/Writer team, we will determine a fitting title for the documentary.

Interview with Jerrine Jeffries

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Jerrine Ka’iulani Madayag Calantoc aka Jerrine Jeffries, Former Empress 26/29 of The Imperial Court Of Hawaii, Former Golden Goddess 97 and Queen Of Queens 2000 of The Hawaii Boa Arts Ball Pageant, 2nd Runner up to the Universal Showqueen Pageant Hawaii 2006 & 2007, 4th Runner up to the Continental Elite Beauty Pageant in Chicago 2006 and the presently reigning Miss Fusion Waikiki Honolulu, Also a former cast member of The Paperdoll Revue and The Glades Revue. An American entertainer and beauty pageant queen. Hello Jerrine!

Jerrine: Aloha Monika!

Monika: You look fantastic, Jerrine. What is the secret of your beauty?

Jerrine: My Asian bloodline and my doctors.

Interview with Emma Roebuck

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Emma Roebuck, a transgender activist from the UK, Chief Officer Gay Advice Darlington/Durham GADD, ex-rock group roadie, and ex-pharmaceutical chemist radio broadcaster On Pride Radio North East. Sci-fi geek progressive rock, rock music,  and all-around nerd. Hello Emma!

Emma: Hi Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Emma: Just me I suppose. I am lucky enough to be paid to do something I am passionate about and as a result, make a difference in people’s lives. I am a post-op trans* woman who transitioned over 12 years ago but had been living a 50/50 life for years before that. I am 52 years old and looking back I have no idea where the time went of how I got here.
I have lived with the same guy for over 10 years but still identify as Bi despite it finally occurring to me about 2 years ago I was in what looked to the outside world to be a straight relationship. It was bizarre that I was presenting a role that almost conformed to a stereotype. This was something that I had been railing against for my whole life. I run an LGBTQI charity which is the vehicle for much of my work and the foundation for the good practice we seek to do.

Interview with Kathy Anne Noble

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Kathy Anne Noble, a transgender activist from Australia, the founder, and president of Agender Australia, and Changeling Aspects, a support group for transgender people located in Brisbane and Australia. The author of “Two Lives: A Transsexual's Story and the Fight for Recognition" (2011) now out of print. Hello Kathy!

Kathy: Hi Monika, good to catch up at last.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Kathy: Oh dear, that is rather a problem, as I have done so much in my nearly 80 years. I was born in London, lived through the Blitz, married twice, to sisters, served 2 years of National Service in the RAF. Spent most of my working life in the financial field, as a financial advisor both in the UK and Australia.

I Moved to Australia in 1980 and became a Citizen in 1988. I have 4 kids from both marriages still living, 7 grandkids and 8 Great grandkids. My kids are spread across the world, in Australia, the UK, and America. I finally transitioned in November 2001 on the Gold Coast, 45 minutes South of Brisbane. This year sees my 13th birthday as Kathy. Both of my wives are now deceased, and I miss them both.

Interview with Tiina Miettinen

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Tiina Miettinen, a transgender woman from Finland, one of the main characters of the documentary titled “Sukupuoli X” (1996). Hello Tiina!

Tiina: Hello Monika. I find this project of yours really delightful and appreciate this opportunity to share my thoughts about these important issues.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Tiina: Well, to begin at the obvious. This, the trans thing, has naturally been the most characteristic feature of my life. It's been present as long as I can remember, and before my tenth birthday, 1974, I secretly decided I must do something to... to enable it. Namely if by that date, regardless of all my wishes and prayers, God or fate or anything had not agreed to change circumstances for my favor.
So I made a conscious decision to begin secretly cross-dressing. I also found the word transvestite in an encyclopedia. Sensationalizing magazines sometimes reported, in a scandalous tone, about hormones prescribed, breast implants applied and genital surgery performed to some magical creatures living apparently nearby Hamburg's Reeperbahn in West Germany.
Later I read somewhere about Lili Elbe and Christine Jorgensen, and after I contacted Helsinki's local trans group at age 17, I heard about Cybele's priest(esse)s of the Roman Empire, the Native Americans' berdache, and hijras of India.

Interview with Nicole Garcia

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Nicole Garcia, a transgender activist from the USA. She is currently the vice-chair of the board of ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full-participation, a founding member of Trans* Lutherans, and a member of the advisory committee for the Trans People of Color Coalition. Nicole has held positions on the boards of the Interfaith Working Group and The One Colorado Education Fund and is a former member of the Latino/a Roundtable. Nicole has an MA in Counseling from CU Denver and is in private practice as a mental health counselor in Longmont Colorado. Nicole is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity through Luther Seminary. Hello Nicole! 

Nicole: Hello Monica. It is a pleasure and honor to be here.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Nicole: I was born the oldest son in a Mexican-American, Roman Catholic family. I tried very hard for 42 years of my life to live up to the expectations of my family and church. I married a beautiful woman in 1994 and became a law enforcement officer in 1996. I did all I could to prove to everyone that I was a man.

Looking back, I know I was actually trying to prove to myself that I was a man. In 2002, my wife and I divorced. After the divorce, I was suicidal and drinking heavily. I realized my life was a mess and I entered counseling. I found a wonderful therapist who helped me quit drinking and I worked on ending my severe depression. It was early in therapy when I told my counselor of my life-long cross-dressing behavior. She referred me to a support group at the Gender Identity Center of Colorado.

Interview with Vikki-Marie Gaynor

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Vikki-Marie Gaynor, an inspirational woman from England, truck driver featured in the British Channel 4 documentary titled MotherTruckers. Hello Vikki-Marie!

Vikki-Marie: Hello Monika! It’s a pleasure to finally talk. It seems like a long time since I began to follow you, which was about the time of my Tribunal against DHL/Blue Arrow in 2007.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Vikki-Marie: I am a loud and proud trans lady who was forced into becoming an activist against transphobia and hate crimes due to being a victim of both.

My life during and after the transition was not the “wonderful time” that I envisaged it would be. However, I went down the road of EDUCATION and began to study. This allowed me to see the potential in my life and with a few goals in place and some newfound determination to prove to the world “Who I would have been if I had been born in the correct gender”. Since then I have become a fully qualified beautician, nail tech, and masseuse as well as my level 4 sports masseuse, trainer in equality and diversity, and activist.

Interview with Mina Caputo

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Mina Caputo, an American singer, the lead singer, and a founding member of the New York heavy metal band Life of Agony. Hello Mina!

Mina: Hi Hun!!! Greetings! Blessings!

Monika: I have just listened to your first solo album as a woman titled “As Much Truth As One Can Bear” (2013) and I like it a lot. I love both lyrics and music. In the first song “Identity” you sing “… I’m sure that I’m not a woman…” It is rather a surprising line from the woman you have always been …

Mina: Well the correct lyrics to one of the verses are: I am not a man/I am not a woman/all I could taste is my burning heart/I’m sure I’m not a man/I’m sure I’m not a woman/all I could wear is a willing smile... It’s true, I identify completely with the feminine, but…

To me, the spirit has no gender. I truly identify with spirit, or consciousness, which is all energies, all knowing, and all not knowing. So to place myself inside of a boxed word(s) or language doesn't really sit well with me.

Interview with Antonette Rea

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Antonette Alexandra Rea, an inspirational transgender poet, and activist from Canada. Hello Antonette!

Antonette: Hi Monika, thank you for your interest.

Monika: We are having this interview at the time when you are recuperating from the car accident. How is your health, Antonette?

Antonette: I am in a far better mental space than I had been due to the pain and limited mobility while I heal. I was hit by a car and dislocated a shoulder and my other hand remains numb though the feeling returned in my shoulder and sciatica has settled down at the moment.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Antonette: I was a street surviving Queen of the night. My street poet handle used to be “Miss Understood.” My poetry was a coping mechanism when working the stroll and then it became a useful healing vehicle for processing so much adversity. The adversity that I didn't think had affected me until I had stopped using drugs and escaped from a life of prostitution. Sex and drugs go hand in hand it seems in some form or another.
My writing has allowed me to process so much negativity, where family and friends were nowhere to be found. Performing these difficult poems in front of an audience is like taking the bandage off a wound because It’s almost healed. There will always be the scars, but I can now let the past go and live more at the moment.

Interview with Rachel Mann

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Rachel Mann, the Church of England priest in charge of St. Nicholas’ Church Burnage in Manchester, and Minor Canon of Manchester Cathedral. She is a broadcaster, published poet, theologian, and music journalist specializing in metal, prog, and folk. Her memoir of being trans, lesbian, and Christian, “Dazzling Darkness” (2012) was a Church Times bestseller. Hello Rachel!

Rachel: Hi there, Monika. Lovely to chat with you.

Monika: I must say you are one of the most charismatic women I have ever interviewed. Heavy metal, priesthood, feminism, lesbianism, and poetry. Quite a mix!

Rachel: You mean not everyone shares my passions? ;-) I guess I’ve always been incurably curious. I suspect this means I can be a bit exhausting to be around – a bit like a two-year-old toddler. I feel sorry for my friends and family sometimes. They’ve really had to put up with my endless interest in knowing and thinking about new stuff. I guess ‘religious people’ often get stereotyped as a bit dumb, but I’ve always been driven on by a desire for knowledge and the creative.

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 Michela Ledwidge

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Michela Ledwidge, artist, director, and most recently the co-founder of Mod Productions, a production studio focused on interactive entertainment. Hello Michela!

Michela: Hi Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Michela: I’m a 40something artist and director living in Sydney, working on multi-platform media productions. I transitioned when I was 25. 

Monika: You are said to be a geek since you have been involved in the development of so many inventions…

Michela: That’s fair. I’ve been a technologist since the 80s when I used to sneak into my parent’s bedroom to play with Dad’s Commodore 64 which I wasn’t supposed to touch without supervision. I’m still mucking around with new tech all these years later and enjoy writing words, code, and music. I was fortunate enough to be exposed to the internet early on and networked communication has been the basis of my approach to media making ever since.

Interview with Alison Grillo

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Alison Grillo, a New York City comedian, guest on NBC's Last Comic Standing in 2010, named by The Advocate as one of “Five Hottest Transgender Comics of 2013” and one of "Seven LGBT Comics You Should Not Have Missed in 2011," and a celebrity judge of the 2013 NYC Pride March. Hello Alison! 

Alison: Hi, Monika. I like the way you spell your name with a k.

Monika: This is how my name is written in my mother tongue. Could you say a few words about yourself?

Alison: I do stand-up comedy, sometimes about trans-related issues, sometimes about general issues involving the phenomena of our lives as humans. I like to read literature from 100 or so years ago, go to movies, including those at New York City’s Film Forum, and take long walks in the City.

Sundays will sometimes find me in a pew of a Methodist church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where I’ll be struggling with questions of spirituality, seeking comfort and guidance in the preacher’s sermon, and very often mentally critiquing his/her rhetorical project.

Interview with Allyson Hamblett

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Allyson Hamblett, a transgender activist from New Zealand, musician, involved in the work for CCS Disability Action, Agender New Zealand, Outline NZ, GenderBridge, and the Cerebral Palsy Society. Hello Allyson!

Allyson: Hi Monika, thank you for the opportunity to talk with you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Allyson: Currently I’m the chair of the Local Advisory Committee of CCS Disability Action Auckland. I work as Media Assistant at Spark Centre of Creative Development, writing articles for their monthly newsletter. I am co-founder of Transadvocates. And have been an activist since my university days, when I discovered sociology and started to understand how society is constructed. I have cerebral palsy.

Monika: You have a passion for art and composing music. In addition, you take part in many live performances.

Allyson: I discovered my creativity about 12 years ago when I started going to Spark Centre of Creative Development. I enjoy painting with acrylic on canvas and love portraiture and figures in space. Making art allows me to focus on what I’m doing and forget about everything else.

Interview with Gerri Cannon

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Gerri Cannon, an American transgender activist, truck driver, carpenter, and computer professional. Hello Gerri! 

Gerri: Hi Monika! It’s a pleasure being able to share some of my stories with you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Gerri: Only a few? I’ll try. I am a person with many skills and interests. I worked in the computer field for just over 30 years. After being laid off for a second time I started my carpentry business. When the US economy crashed I found myself with a number of customers that couldn’t pay me for work I had completed. So, I learned how to drive Big Rigs and wet on the road. In addition to having a wide range of jobs, I am also a proud parent and a friend to many.

Monika: Being a truck driver and carpenter, you work in a very macho environment. How can you cope there as a woman?

Gerri: I was really concerned about this when I started. The number of women in the trucking industry is small, but growing. I have found that while there are many old-time drivers that don’t care to have women on the road, there are also many men that appreciate that we are out here doing a job, like everyone else.