Interview with Roxanne Manzone

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Roxanne L. Manzone, a Florida Department of Transportation Roadway Inspector from Ocala, Florida. Hello Roxanne! 

Roxanne: Hello Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Roxanne: I retired from Law Enforcement here in Ocala, Fl, and have lived here for over 40 years, and grew up in New York. I am a “Car Girl” and enjoy displaying my car in car shows. I volunteer at a local soup kitchen once a week. I am a model train enthusiast, and I custom paint scale model trains.

Monika: I saw your short story in The New York Times series titled “Transgender Today.” Why did you decide to come out to the general public?

Roxanne: My attitude is that there is so little information about the Transgender Community, we are all responsible to be visible in a positive way, many people have never met a transgender person, and I want people who meet me to have a positive impression. I wanted people to see that we are everyday people too.

Interview with Jemma

Monika: Today’s interview will be with Jemma, a transgender woman that documents her transition on Reddit.com as SuddenlyJemma. Hello Jemma!

Jemma: Hi! Thanks for the opportunity!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Jemma: Sure! I'm in my early 30's, started transitioning at 30 years old. I currently work in a tire manufacturing factory that makes the tires for the giant off-road mining equipment. Our smallest tire is 9.5 feet tall and weighs almost 2 tons! Definitely not the easiest job; but it pays the bills. I have 2 rescue dogs and a handful of guinea pigs at the moment.

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

Jemma: The trans communities on Reddit really helped me to come to grips with my gender issues and help to give me a little bit of hope that transition might be a big help to me. At first, I was terrified that transition and hormones wouldn't have much of an effect on me. The Q&A posts, timelines, and the information there was so helpful and inspiring that I'd like to be able to contribute something back for people at that same early stage and need a little hope.

Interview with Faye Seidler

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Faye Seidler, an inspirational American transactivist, educator, and writer from Fargo, North Dakota.
Faye: Hi! :)
Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Faye: I’m a trans activist, writer, and nerd with a strong belief in a better future. My work primarily focuses on my experiences, humor, and research, all of which seek to create positive change for the transgender community.
Monika: I saw your short story in The New York Times series titled “Transgender Today.” Why did you decide to come out to the general public?
Faye: I saw a serious lack of visibility in our community and that most people were getting their information about trans people from stereotypes they saw on television. I also saw a medical network that told trans people to blend in, deny, or hide their identity. I saw a tremendous amount of erasure for what it meant to be trans and the identity itself controlled and enforced as a stereotypical binary by the medical industry.

Interview with Jessica Harrington

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Jessica Harrington, an inspirational American woman from Reno, Nevada. Hello Jessica!
Jessica: Hi Monika. Thank you for having me. 
Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Jessica: I am a 42-year-old trans woman. I have been in transition for almost 5 years and while it’s has been amazing being free, it’s also been the hardest time of my life.
Monika: At what age did you transition into a woman yourself? Was it a difficult process? 
Jessica: I started transition when I was 38. The process itself wasn’t that difficult. I did my research for years beforehand. I knew what I needed, who I needed to talk to, and about what everything would cost me.

Interview with Charlotte Flanigan

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Charlotte Flanigan, a British writer, and the author of the biographical book titled “The Whole Shenanigans: Charlotte's Story” (2017). Hello Charlotte!
Charlotte: Hello!
Monika: You were born in Germany? Could you say a few words about yourself?
Charlotte: Well, I wasn't as such born in Germany but went there from a young age and fell in love with the country and for some strange reason I found speaking the native tongue natural and was surprised by how comfortable it felt.
Monika: Your most visible hobby is tattooing… :)
Charlotte: Yes, tattoos are a big part of my life from a young age. I fell in love seeing the stories behind the tattoos people had got whilst young.

Interview with Ella Marques

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Ella Marques, a Portuguese-American writer living in Boca Raton, Florida, the author of the biographical book titled “I was born a boy, from Venus. It’s time to be yourself” (2017). Hello Ella!
Ella: Hi Monika, Thank you very much for the interview, and for thinking about me. I like your blog very much.
Monika: You describe yourself as an “international” woman. Could you say a few words about yourself?
Ella: Sure. I was born in Portugal, at the age of 14 I went to an international boarding school in Switzerland, and since then I have lived, worked, and visited many countries. I lived in London, Paris, Fortaleza, a city in the Northeast of Brazil. Lived over 30 years in various cities in Switzerland and moved to the USA 6 year ago.