Interview with Michelle Austin

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Michelle Austin, an American entertainer and adult movie actress, 2013 Tranny Award winner for Voluptuous Model. Not only an entertainer but producer, director, and video editor. A powerful businesswoman! Hello Michelle!

Michelle: Hello Monika! Thank you for having me!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Michelle: Well, as you all know already I am Michelle Austin. I have been in the adult industry for four years now. I don’t just work in front of the camera, I work a lot behind the scenes as well.

Monika: How did you come into the adult movies industry?

Michelle: At 21 I was early into my transition when Shemale Yum had approached me to do a set for them. At that time I had been on the cover of Ladylike Magazine and really wasn’t ready to be in porn. I didn’t think I wanted to be seen as a sex object that early on in my transition. Fast forward to being 30, and I was asked again by Shemale Yum, and I was ready in my life and had been full-time and comfortable in my own skin by then to do it!

Interview with Jessie Jacobson

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Jessie Jacobson, an inspirational woman from New York and Los Angeles, now living in London, United Kingdom, a specialist in psychotherapy and private counseling with a focus on transsexual, transgender, intersex, and other gender-variant individuals; in addition to lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual clients. Jessie also lectures on trans issues and therapy and has taught graduate psychology courses in Human Sexuality. Hello Jessie!

Jessie: Hello Monika. I’ve seen your site and have found the interviews both educational and enjoyable. I really appreciate what you’re doing and am honored to participate. 

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Jessie: I identify as a woman or a transwoman. I’m not too bothered about specific terminologies although there are certain names and terms I would prefer not to have applied to me. I believe all of us should be free to choose the terminology for ourselves that we believe is most suitable and that none of us should attempt to assign terminology to others. I transitioned somewhat late in life despite knowing since as far back as I can remember that I identified as female rather than male.

Interview with Sally Goldner

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Sally Goldner, an Australian drummer, singer, and stand-up comic, Executive Director for TransGender Victoria, treasurer of Bisexual Alliance Victoria, and treasurer of the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, listed in The Age Top 100 Creative and Influential People in Melbourne in 2011. Hello Sally!

Sally: Great to be with you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Sally: I’ve been physically alive since October 1965 but only spiritually alive since April 1995 which was when I finally received accurate information about trans. At that point, all the pieces of my life began to make sense. I realized my need to affirm my female identity permanently about 3 years later and in between those 2 ties, I got to the truth about my sexual orientation, which I now define as bi/pansexual – like most things, it’s an evolution. 

Monika: How did you start your artistic career?

Sally: I started out more with singing and then was invited to the spoken word. Stand-up and character comedy was something I wanted to do deep down and started in 2003, although it’s been on the backburner since about 2008 due to being busy with advocacy and personal reasons.

Interview with Andie Davidson

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Andie Davidson, a publisher, writer, blogger, musician, and author of "Realisations" (2012). Hello Honey!

Andie: Hi Monika, it’s great to join you here, and in such a company.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Andie: No! I talk far too much! But I can try. I live on the south coast of the UK and work as a technical writer in an engineering company. I was married for over 30 years and have two grown-up children. I’m recently divorced, but happy to have found my true self after 55 years of ignorance and another couple of years sorting it out.

Interview with Riah Roe

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Riah Roe, an inspirational American girl, transgender activist, and advocate, known for her transgender activism at Concordia College, a private college in Moorhead, Minnesota. Hello Riah!

Riah: Hi Monika, thank you so much for that kind introduction.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Riah: Well, as you mentioned, my name is Riah (Rye-uh) Roe. I currently call Minneapolis Minnesota my home. I moved here during the summer of 2013 shortly after I graduated from Concordia College in western Minnesota.

Throughout my studies there I focused primarily on critical issues within the field of gender and sexuality. Now, being a more conservative private college there really was not a program for that so I ended up with a double major in Psychology and Sociology with a minor in Women's Studies.

As for recreationally, I absolutely love spending time with my dear friends. I went to roughly twenty-three schools as a child and so I never really felt very connected to say a town or family members outside of my single-parent family.

However, a consistent theme throughout my life has been befriending like-minded individuals (usually outcasts) and sharing experiences together. It was inevitable that one day that experience sharing would eventually develop into social justice advocacy.

Interview with Robyn Alice McCutcheon

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Robyn Ann Jane Alice McCutcheon, an inspirational American woman, diplomat (Foreign Service Officer -- FSO) who has served at U.S. embassies in Uzbekistan, Russia, Romania, author of a number of publications on Russian and Soviet history, a former engineer on NASA projects including Hubble Space Telescope, author of a web journal titled Transgender in State. This year she is working at the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC, where she also serves as president of GLIFAA, the LGBT+ pride association for U.S. foreign affairs' agencies. Hello Robyn!

Robyn: Hi, Monika! I've enjoyed your profiles of transgender heroines, many of whom are my personal heroines. It's quite an honor that you would want to include me in that number!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Robyn: Well, I'm 59 going on 29, divorced, and happier and more excited about the world than I've ever been. I come from a Scotch-Irish family but fell in love with the Russian language and "things Russian" when I was in the university.
I grew up in the 60s in the early days of the space program. That's how it is that I ended up with two careers: 25 years of working on NASA projects and now 10 years of working for the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer.