Interview with Birdy Reene

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

Birdy: Hi, hi, Thanks for wanting to interview me.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Birdy: Well, I'm 26, I'm a home health aid who looks after the mentally handicapped. Outside of work I play video games, run my own anime art website and play around with the concept of doing my own manga.

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

Birdy: My friend Sour Skiddlez has been doing video blogs for a long time, and exposed me to the process in one of her videos so I started doing it myself. I more or less wanted to show transition isn't the nightmare people make it out to be, its rough I won't lie, but I feel like if more of us were to educate the future trans community, maybe they can take from us and help themselves better.

Interview with Christina Warburton

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

Christina: Hello Monika, It is a privilege to speak with you today. I feel very honored to be looked at as an Idol.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Christina: Sure, I was born in Liverpool, England, moved to Philadelphia, PA when I was 10 years old. As for me currently, I’m a 35-year-old MTF, who is a proud parent of 3 children. I’m really no one special, I’m an average blue-collar worker that works for a landscaping company.

I pay my taxes, bills, go to work every day, and do the same things as everyone else, despite what some people would tend to try to make everyone believe. I am also a musician, I have been playing bass since high school, and am an avid video gamer and general techie.

Interview with Fiona Corwin

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

Fiona: Hello! Young! You’re sweet to say so. I’ll be 42 this year!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Fiona: I am a 41yr old trans woman. I started my transition in October of 2012, HRT in January of 2013, and living full time as a woman in May of 2013. It’s a complicated question because I am a lot of things depending on where you look from.

I am a Web Developer, an IT consultant, a manager, a business owner, a carpenter, a machinist, a musician, a writer, a lover, a poet, a martial artist, a fencer, and a bit of a pacifist who likes her guns. I am both fiercely independent and serially monogamous. I fall in love with people often – they fascinate me.

Interview with Calpernia Addams

Monika: Today I have invited a special guest. Calpernia Addams is an American author, actress, musician, spokesperson and activist for transgender rights and issues. Calpernia grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. She served as a hospital corpsman with the Navy and United States Marine Corps. She is a co-founder of Deep Stealth Productions, providing educational and entertainment material around gender-identification matters. Calpernia is known for her performance as a transgender woman in the 2005 film Transamerica, 2006 documentary film Beautiful Daughters, and a 2008 reality television series entitled Transamerican Love Story. Hello Calpernia!

Calpernia: Hello, Monika!

Monika: Having so many talents you seem to be more focused on acting. Which film directors or movies are your inspirations?

Calpernia: Well, Frank Pierson was a legendary writer and director going back many decades who eventually came to direct the film about my life called "Soldier's Girl". He has been the most personally influential director in my life, and if you look back at his body of work, anyone would see why he is very inspiring to me as an artist.

On a deep and personal level, I am inspired by the films of Marilyn Monroe. I know it can be a cliché to say that one likes "Marilyn", but I do feel a deeper personal connection to her story as a woman and an artist after studying her life, films, and myth-making process in depth. Living in Hollywood, I pass by the places she knew and went to almost every day, so she is sort of in the air.

Interview with Ramona Limon

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

Ramona: Hello Monika.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Ramona: Well, I’m a college student in Denver, Colorado and I am currently working for my degree in 2D animation.

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

Ramona: When I first started following my heart and mind to be the woman I knew I was, I watched some ladies on YouTube who, as well, were undergoing their miraculous changes. I consider all of them as my own idols that I connect with on a very personal level.

Interview with Brooke Sullivan

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Brooke Sullivan, a young American transgender woman and HIV activist from California. In addition, she is a video blogger that documents her transition on YouTube. Hello Brooke!

Brooke: Hello Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Brooke: I am a 28-year pre-op female transsexual living in beautiful San Diego, Ca. I currently work as the Communications and Consumer Marketing Manager for a start-up telemedical company called EXUSMED.

Some of my passions in life are volunteering with non-profits/non-profit events, making music, and creating digital art. I like to think I am a jack of all trades and master of some. 
Monika: Why did you decide to share your transition details on YouTube? 
Brooke: I felt compelled to share who I was with others, I have always been that way. I thought my story might empower others, as it has also empowered me by exposing myself to the world. When you find yourself and work towards an end goal, it gives you a sense of pride. I wanted to share that with the world. I also wanted to find solidarity…and posting a timeline video seemed like a good way to achieve it.