Interview with Ahya “Yah-Yah“ Nicole

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Ahya “Yah-Yah“ Simone, a young woman of many talents from Detroit, model, aspiring make-up artist and harpist. Hello Yah-Yah!

Ahya: Hi! Let me first say that I am so happy that you found me interesting enough to interview. Thank you!

Monika: You were featured in the Barney’s “Brothers, Sisters, Sons & Daughters Campaign” which was targeted towards bringing trans positive awareness within fashion. There are more and more transgender models that are successful in the fashion business…

Yah-Yah: Yes!! And I am so excited for that. Visibility and diversity is very important. It’s time for a breakthrough for trans people in the US. It is time to stand up and be recognized.

Interview with Jennifer Lydon

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Jennifer (Bryant) Lydon, a senior account executive at Metro US — a free daily newspaper popular in New York, Philadelphia and Boston; She is also the organizer of the Mid-Atlantic Transgender Community (M.A.T.C.) as well as the hostess of The Raven TG pride events in New Hope, PA. Hello Jennifer!

Jennifer: Hi Monika. Thank you so much for allowing me part of your site. It is an honor to be amongst so many inspirational people.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Jennifer: Questions like this are always tough for me… I either say too much or have nothing to say… lol … Anyway, here goes… I am a 48 year old trans-woman that has successfully navigated one life into another. I was married for almost 20 years and have 4 adult children that are still very much a part of my life.
I work as an account executive for Metro News Media. I’ve been there for over 14 years… the first 13 of which I worked as a mild mannered male… lol. Times have changed for sure!

Interview with Naomi Ceder

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Naomi Ceder, an American Python language programmer, blogger, transgender activist, lead software architect and developer at Razor Occam, former IT Director and Python developer at Zoro Tools, Fellow of the Python Software Foundation, and the author of The Quick Python Book. Hello Naomi!

Naomi: Hi Monika! Thanks for interviewing me!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Naomi: As my intro says, I’m a Python developer and systems architect. I’m currently working in London and Düsseldorf, which has been a lot of fun. 

Monika: Being a Python guru, how would you explain the importance of this programming language to persons that are not IT experts?

Naomi: I doubt I’m a guru, although most people who know me would probably say I’ve always been a teacher. Python is a very powerful and readable language that is also fairly easy to learn. It’s also a high level language, meaning you can get more done with less code. All of that makes it enormously useful in all sorts of areas – web applications, big data, scientific computing, day-to-day administration, etc. It continues to grow in popularity; for example, it’s one of the top languages at Google.

Interview with Jessica Vorster

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Jessica Vorster, a young video blogger that documents her transition on YouTube. Hello Jessica!

Jessica: Hi Monika! Thanks for inviting me to do this interview!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Jessica: I’m a transgender woman, 22 years of age. I’m just trying to find my place on this world. I’ve been living full time since December 2013 and have been on HRT for a year and 10 moths now. I’m a happy go lucky kind of person that likes to talk and help people. 

Monika: Why did you decide to share your transition details on YouTube?

Jessica: At first I wanted to raise money in order to go for surgeries, but people wanted to hear the story behind the story so I have been working on a few new videos that will be up on YouTube soon.

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.

Interview with Abby Grace Hughes

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Abby Grace Hughes, known to friends and family as Abby-Grace. She is a video blogger that documents her transition on YouTube and on her blog. Hello Abby!

Abby: Hello Monika, thank you for this privilege. So much has happened in my life. From coming out at around 6, to struggling through puberty and school. Touring the UK in my Rock band in the 80s and early 90s. Transitioning in my early 20s to turning away to have children.

Three gender dysphoria caused nervous breakdowns putting me into psychiatric help. Coming out. Starting hormones. Changing name. Being beaten up for being trans. Life threatened. Had people arrested. I falsely had the police called out on me. Falsely tricked and lied about. Ran away from the UK to the States. Got stuck in Germany during my connecting flight because of a slight error on my Visa which cost an extra $800. 2 years RLE now as good as complete. Finding work here and processing my Visa. Then I’m off to college if I can.

I think I am now better equipped to help people having gone through it all, so there was a reason.

Interview with Venus de Mars

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Venus de Mars, a transgender artist from Minnesota, poet, singer, songwriter, painter, and leader of the punk-glam band All the Pretty Horses. Hello Venus!

Venus: Hey Monika ;)

Monika: When did you decide that music will be your profession?

Venus: Ha! OK... well Hmm. I guess it started as a desire way back when I was a kid... you know. The glamour... seeing the portrayals, lifestyles, etc. in media from back then. That kind of attracted me to it all...but I was way too shy to sing... I didn't think I could really, so I just concentrated on playing the guitar. Started on acoustic when I was like 10 years old... and did basic lessons, but I branched out on my own and tried to learn classical, and flamenco... all that stuff, but rock still called to me.

Interview with Alessandra Bernaroli

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Alessandra Bernaroli, a transsexual activist from Bologna in Italy, whose legal victory was an important step for transgender rights in Italy. Hello Alessandra!

Alessandra: Hello Monika, thanks for this opportunity to talk about LGBTI Civil Rights!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Alessandra: I was born a man in 1971 and lived my life forcing myself to adhere to the image that the society established for people who had a male appearance. In my teen years, there was neither Internet nor so much “correct” information about transsexualism, so I always tried to deny my intimate feelings, believing that they were wrong and that it was happening only to me and no one else in the world.

However, that was not true; now I know it! So I behaved trying to look as manly as possible, and I succeeded easily in doing this also because of my physical appearance, which was, at that time, indubitably a male appearance both in aspect as well as in attitude. Year after year my deep feeling to be a woman didn’t disappear, of course.

I graduated in economics, served one year in military service, practiced charted accounting and finally worked as a clerk. In the meantime, I found love and I got married. Until then, it was 2005, and I was a man!

Interview with Natalie Colleen Gates

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Natalie Colleen Gates, an American writer, blogger, the author of Straight Boy/Queer Girl: A Memoir. Hello Natalie! 

Natalie: Hi Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Natalie: Oh my God, I'm so bad at things like that. You'd think being a blogger and having just written a memoir I'd be better at it. I don't know: I'm 32. I live with my dog Victoria Elizabeth in Richmond, Virginia.

Monika: Why did you decide to write your autobiography “Straight Boy/Queer Girl: A Memoir“ (2014)?

Natalie: To make money [laughing] at first. I've been blogging for a long time and people for the most part like my writing I thought I should take some of the energy I put into blogging and write a book. As I got into the project I realized it was important because I was writing the trans* memoir I wish existed before I transitioned.

All the memoirs I've read start with the trans* person in the present after they've transitioned. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to share my experience of thinking I might transition but not being sure about it. I really wanted to share with my readers how I came to the conclusion that I needed to transition.

I also wanted to share how what I was going through as a closeted trans* person was similar and how it was different from other closeted people's experiences.

Interview with Anna Kristjánsdóttir

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Anna Kristjánsdóttir, a transgender activist from Iceland, former marine engineer, and co-founder of Trans-Iceland. Hello Anna!

Anna: Thank you Monika for giving me this honour.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Anna: As for my education and work, I am educated as a marine engineer officer and still working as a technical person; now working as a control room engineer at Reykjavik Energy, and going out to sea on merchant vessels every summer and also voluntary working as an engineer aboard a SAR boat (Search And Rescue), similar to the RNLI service in Great Britain. 
Monika: Anna, you are the icon and legend of the transgender movement in Iceland. How do you carry this burden?
Anna: I did never try to be such a legend. I tried to go through my transition for myself; it was a pure coincidence that I became the face of the transsexual movement in Sweden in the early 90s and I lost my “virginity” as a transgendered person making the transition in peace. I became known in Sweden and Iceland and the Lutheran bishop of Iceland at that time asked God to save his soul from this terrible person. :)

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 Heli Hämäläinen

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honour to interview Heli Hämäläinen, a married woman from Helsinki, Finland, Senior Customs Officer in Finnish Customs, and a father. Hello Heli!

Heli: Hello Monika, it is my pleasure to meet you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Heli: I am soon 51 years old. I have worked most of my career as a public servant. I graduated in 1991 from the Helsinki School of Economics which is nowadays a part of Aalto University. I got married in 1996 in Keuruu Church, which was built in 1892. I am Evangelical Lutheran. My daughter was born in 2002.

In the Autumn of 2004, I felt that I could no longer suppress my female identity. My life was awful because even the advertisements at bus stops reminded me of my gender. I couldn’t read women’s magazines.

My wife gave me the advice to seek professional help and I did. A referral was written to official transsexuality investigations in November 2004 and I met the psychiatrist in February 2005. I was diagnosed as transsexual in April 2006 and I changed my forename in June 2006.

Interview with Shelley Bridgman

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Shelley Bridgman, a British stand-up comic, presenter, actress, and writer who started stand-up in 2004 under the stage name Shelley Cooper before reverting to her real name, the 2012 Silver Stand-Up honoree, transgender activist, the author of Stand-up for Yourself: And Become the Hero or Shero You Were Born To Be (2014). Hello Shelley!

Shelley: Hello Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Shelley: Not sure what is most relevant. I have several roles as in addition to Stand-up I am a Psychotherapist working with children and adults who have issues with their gender identity. I also do a weekly podcast when I interview people. 

Monika: I have conducted over 200 interviews and I find it striking that so many of my transgender interviewees are stand-up comics: Alison Grillo, Sally Goldner, Natasha Muse, Julia Scotti and now you …

Shelley: I think it is something about having a voice. Many of us, especially transwomen, lose status when we transition but I think I reconnected with my love of comedy after transitioning. It helped me find a vehicle to express myself.

Interview with Bobbie Lang

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Bobbie Lang, a transgender activist from the USA, businesswoman, blogger, Viet Nam veteran, and the author of "Transgender Christian in Chains". Hello Bobbie!

Bobbie: Hi Monika, thank you so much for asking me to be part of this wonderful group of people who are doing so much to advance the acceptance and civil rights of the trans community.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Bobbie: Well to start with I started my transition in 1981 and had GRS in 1984. At that time the term “transgender” had not even been coined yet. We were called transsexuals and even the professional community knew very little of this dysphoria. Many of the medical and therapeutic specialists thought this disorder could be alleviated with extensive and lengthy psychological treatment. Sadly, I find this approach is still widely believed within most denominational Christian churches.

Interview with Fernanda Milán

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Fernanda Milán, a Guatemalan native, the first transgender person to be granted asylum in Denmark. Hello Fernanda! 

Fernanda: Hi Monika! Thank you for your time and for being so patient with the delay of the interview. I hope you are fine!

Monika: The fight for your asylum in 2013 was a challenging task. Let’s go back to those times. Could you say a few words about your life and Guatemala and emigration to Denmark?

Fernanda: Well, as you say the fight for the asylum was very challenging in so many ways. As for Guatemala, it is a difficult place for a transgender woman. I would like to be more general about the issue of living there because this is the context that I happen to have shared with so many people.

It is an environment of rejection by your family circles, friends, education institutes, and workplaces. When you decide to start transition or to come out of “the closet”, you live ostracized from everything that you know because in general all the girls back there feel that they were born female, which is in contrast with the public opinion that being a trans woman is a choice.

Interview with Jennifer Chavez

Monika: It is my pleasure and honor to interview Jennifer Michelle Chavez a transgender activist and master auto technician from the USA. Hello Jennifer!

Jennifer: Hello Monika and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you!

Monika: Could you please say a few words about yourself?

Jennifer: I would be happy too! I am a 57-year-old woman who made the decision to transition 5 years ago! I finally found the courage to face my condition after 52 years and a whole lifetime of stress and turmoil! I knew I was different as early as 4 years of age, and as I grew I learned more about it and what it was called.

I tried to transition when I was a teenager and moved away to Los Angeles from my native Texas, but was thwarted by the many obstacles I encountered. My only regret at this point is that I wish I could have done it back then, but I would not have the greatest gift a person can have and that is my son Cody!

Interview with Rebecca Root

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Rebecca Root, a talented British actress, voice, and speech teacher, stand-up comedian, playing the lead role in “Boy Meets Girl” - a recently commissioned sitcom for BBC2 about the relationship between a transgender female in her 40s and a cis-gender male in his… 20s. Hello Rebecca!

Rebecca: Hi Monika, thanks for the warm welcome!

Monika: We are closer and closer to the premiere date of “Boy Meets Girl”. Is your excitement growing?

Rebecca: Certainly! It’s hopefully going to make a bit of a splash. I hope the response will be as upbeat as the early signs have indicated. Having said that, we have a way to go yet – filming should commence in the new year and I don’t know when it will actually hit the screens.

Interview with Denise Brogan-Kator

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Denise Brogan-Kator, a lawyer, transgender activist, Senior Legislative Counsel for the Family Equality Council, a national LGBT rights organization, the former Executive Director of Equality Michigan, co-founder of the Rainbow Law Center, recipient of the 2009 Pride Banquet Committee’s Choice Award, businesswoman, U.S. Navy Submarine Force veteran. Hello Denise!

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

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Denise: Well, the thing that is most present for me, these days, is the birth of my first granddaughter. So, despite all my accomplishments and activities, being a grandmother is currently my most important and most exciting job. And, family is – and has always been – at the root of my passions. It is such a natural fit for me to work for the Family Equality Council.

Interview with Felicia Flames

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Felicia Flames, a transgender pioneer, diva, icon, and a Screaming Queen, 27 years survivor of AIDS and a Vietnam Veteran - one of the participants of the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot, which was one of the first documented instances of transgender resistance to authority in the USA. Hello Felicia!

Felicia: Hello Monika and thank you for interviewing me, it is an honor for me.

Monika: I must say you can boast one of the most impressive LGBT legends. The Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966, so it preceded the more infamous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. However, it is not so well-known …

Felicia: You have to remember it was in the 1960s, and a lot of people thought we were sick, mental, trash and nobody cared whether we lived or died. Our own families abandoned us, and we had nowhere to go. And we were tired of the police harassing us because of who we were meant to be.

We were murdered, killed, thrown in jail, raped, and thrown out like trash by our families and friends. And in those days, I hear that the mafia had control of the TL, and all documents to this day were lost and no record of that day survived except for an unknown newsletter that documented that day. And nothing else.

Interview with Allison Woolbert

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Allison Woolbert, a transgender activist from the USA, Air Force veteran, founder of The Transgender Violence Tracking Portal - a database to track crimes targeting transgender people, and the Executive Director of the Transgender Human Rights Institute. Hello Allison!

Allison: Hi Monika- First, thank you so much for selecting me for being a heroine. It is truly an honor to be able to do an interview with you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Allison: Well, I grew up in Silver Bell, Arizona, a remote copper mining community (now a ghost town) where I never quite fit in. I ended up in the Air Force where I absolutely didn’t fit in, and in 2008, I began the process of transition. I finally feel whole as a person, and feel that I truly fit into myself. I’m the CEO of Phoenix Consultants Group, a software development company. I’m also the Founder of the Transgender Violence Tracking Portal and the new Executive Director of the Transgender Human Rights Institute.