Interview with Rebecca Kling

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Rebecca Kling, a transgender artist, and educator who explores gender and identity through solo pieces and educational workshops, praised by The Chicago Tribune, TimeOut Chicago, NUVO Indianapolis, the Coyote Chronicle, instructor at the Piven Theatre Workshop, author of The Thang Blog. Hello Rebecca!

Rebecca: Thanks so much for chatting with me, Monika.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Rebecca: As you mentioned, I'm a transgender artist and educator. I tour colleges, universities, and theater festivals around the United States to conduct educational workshops and perform solo pieces focusing on gender and identity.

Monika: Is there anything like transgender art? What does it mean to be a transgender artist?

Rebecca: For me, being a transgender artist means that my work is being fed by my identity as a trans woman. I use my experiences as a trans woman to fuel my art, and my art to fuel my identity. I do think that trans art - like any type of identity-focused art - runs a risk of being boxed in; that someone can only be a woman artist or an artist of color or a trans artist. I hope that the work I do can speak to a wide audience, and not simply people looking for "trans" art.

Interview with Monika Donner

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Monika Donner, a former officer of the Austrian Armed Forces, independent consultant, and lawyer in the Ministry of Defense of Austria, the author of "Tiger in High Heels". Hello Monika!

Monika D: Well, hello Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Monika D: I love to go my own way: my private way of love. In my childhood, I loved my big wild garden. When I entered kindergarten, I had to throw up because everything was strictly separated into girls and boys.

As I grew older, I learned to play both gender roles perfectly, until I decided to live as a woman – without letting doctors cut my genitalia. Therefore I had to fight against the old sexist/sadistic law by calling a high court. I won. Since then I am free because I defended my inner child.

Interview with Lindsay C. Walker

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Lindsay C. Walker, an inspirational Australian artist, comics illustrator, and digital artist, the illustration author of such popular franchises as: “The Phantom”, "Street Fighter", "Darkstalkers", "Voltron", "Kolchak the Night Stalker", "Shi", "King Kong", "The Pro", "Hack/Slash", and "Zombies Vs Cheerleaders". Hello Lindsay!

Lindsay: Hello Monika!

Monika: When did you decide to be a professional illustrator?

Lindsay: For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be an artist. When I was small I always thought I’d be an animator. But I don’t have the patience for that.

Interview with Leslie Regier

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Leslie Regier, the author of "Unchaining My Truth: Taking Flight on the Wings of a Dream", published by her business, Violet Angel. Hello Leslie!

Leslie: Hi Monika. It is also my pleasure to meet you and have this opportunity to be interviewed. You have presented a professional series of these interviews, and I am privileged to be among them.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Leslie: It's difficult to know where to start. I am a person with so many facets, so many interests, so many passions in life. Some might call me a renaissance woman. I think perhaps at the core I am someone with a strong desire to learn, experience, play, share, and teach throughout my life.

Monika: Why did you decide to write your autobiography?

Leslie: I've always enjoyed writing in one form or another. The desire has varied at different times, but when I went through my gender transition I felt strongly compelled to share my experiences in a way that would openly reach more people. It was not only an outlet for me, but I also felt it would be helpful for others to learn from my experiences and my unusual journey, whether they are transgendered or not.

Interview with Nancy Nangeroni

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview longtime transgender activist Nancy Nangeroni. Nancy founded the Boston chapter of The Transexual Menace, a ‘disorganization’ of transgender activists, in 1995. She co-produced and co-hosted GenderTalk for 11 years and GenderVision for 11 programs. She served as Executive Director of the International Foundation for Gender Education and has been Chair of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition since 2008. An MIT-degreed engineer, she worked in the industry for 20+ years, now focuses on providing leadership and tech empowerment to the broader trans community. Hello Nancy!

Nancy: Hi Monika, thanks for inviting me to join your many amazing interviewees! 

Monika: For many years you have been dealing with transgender advocacy. What has been achieved so far and what are the current challenges for transgender people in the USA?

Nancy: When I began volunteer work for IFGE in 1990, there was little respect shown for people expressing or identifying with the ‘opposite’ gender, and any critique of binary gender thinking was relegated to the radical fringe. Now, we have laws in hundreds of jurisdictions protecting people’s right to freedom of gender identity and expression.
Most people in the USA now accept, if still resisting in some areas, the presence of transgender people in “respectable” society. We’ve forged a credible (some say leading) social movement that continues to grow. And we continue to win respect for people who don’t fit into pre-existing definitions, including definitions of what it is to be “transgender.”

Interview with Guta Silveira

Monika: Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Guta Silveira, an inspirational transgender activist from Brazil, actress, author of two biographical books: "Homens Não Choram" (1994) and "Transexual A História de Uma Vida" (2005). Hello Guta!

Guta: Hello Monika! Hello girls!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Guta: My story doesn’t deviate much from what usually happens to other transsexual girls. I was born with the body of a boy and I was raised as one. Despite that, when I was 3 years old I went to the sports club with my mother and we used to go to the girl`s bathroom and that was normal to me, part of my universe.

One day I went to the boys' bathroom and I was stunned by what I saw. Handsome men stirred something in me, but at that age, I didn’t know what it was. I grew up feeling different from my schoolmates, not knowing what my true place was. I loved to use my mother’s makeup on myself when there was nobody watching, and used rags to fake long hair, wrapped myself in bedsheets to make believe they were dresses, it was all very fun and pleasing.