Interview with Sheala Dawn Reinertson

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Sheala Dawn Reinertson, an advanced patient care technician, happy wife, and mother. Hello Sheala!

Sheala: Hello, it is a pleasure to be with you.

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?
Sheala: Yes, thank you. I am 33 and came out as transgender at 31. Before then I had spent 8 years in the US NAVY, and am very proud of the time that I spent in the service. I am now making a great advancement in my career and in nursing school.
Monika: Your name hit the headlines in connection with The Name Change Project, which expanded to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a year ago and connects transgender people with volunteer attorneys. How did the project help you?
Sheala: That was honestly the only way I was able to complete my name change. In Pennsylvania, I had to go in front of a judge, I would have done the papers all wrong, they were also able to minimize the cost to me. Without that, I would not have been able to afford the name change.

Interview with Tela La'Raine Love

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Tela La'Raine Love, an American transgender activist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Hello Tela!

Tela: Greetings Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Tela: Sure, let me start by saying I believe this is a truly awesome thing you are doing for the transgender folk who can identify with the experience. I am honored that you wanted me to take part. With that being said you know my name is Tela La'Raine Love and I self-identify as a trans-experienced woman.

I view myself as a woman with trans-experience and not of the trans-experience because being trans is not the totality of my being but merely a facet of who I am. I am a trailblazer in the sense that I am one of the few trans-woman of color from south New Orleans, Louisiana that has chosen not to fully assimilate into a life of stealth. Why? That choice is simply not an option for me.

Interview with Jackie Enx

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Jackie Enx, an Irish/American radio personality, percussionist, performer, instructor, and a founding member of such rock bands as Warrior (Virgin Records 1982-1984) and Rhino Bucket (Warner Bros and Acetate 1989-1993 and 2006-2009). Hello Jackie!

Jackie: Good evening, Monika.
Monika: It has been over 20 years since you left Rhino Bucket. What are you doing these days? Are you working on any new artist projects now?
Jackie: I’m always working on something new, I’ve always had a “next” mentality and I do work really hard at whatever I’m doing, and then it’s “next”.
Right now I’m playing drums behind SHANE DWIGHT who is a singer/songwriter out of Nashville and I’m producing, arranging, and playing with an Irish band that has relocated to San Francisco called THE GUV’RMENT.

Interview with Mey Rude

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Mey Rude, the Trans Editor at Autostraddle, a writer, blogger, and transgender activist. Hello Mey!

Mey: Hi!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Mey: Well, obviously, my name is Mey. I’m a transgender Latina who lives in Idaho in the US. I’m also a lesbian, and a comic book nerd, and a writer. I work as the Trans Editor for the website Autostraddle.com.

Monika: As Trans Editor at Autostraddle, you follow and comment on all the trends related to the visibility of transgender women in the media. Thanks to the success of “Orange Is the New Black,” “Transparent,” “New Girls on the Block,” and “True Trans With Laura Jane Grace” and other TV productions, we have faced increasing visibility of trans characters. Is it a stable trend?

Mey: I really hope so. I think that all the awards that have been going to “Orange Is the New Black” and “Transparent”, as well as the recent Emmy win for Laverne Cox’s TV documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word” will encourage more people to take a chance on trans stories and trans characters. And we’ve been starting to see that. There are going to be a bunch of new shows featuring trans characters this year, including several with fictional trans characters played by trans actresses, so I think that’s a very good sign.

Interview with Nicola Jane Chase

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Nicola Jane Chase, a British writer from near Liverpool, who currently lives in New York. A former globe-trotting DJ and radio personality, she is the author of “Tea and Transition” (2015). Hello Nicola! 

Nicola: Hey Monika!

Monika: Could you say a few words about yourself?

Nicola: That's always hard! But I'd say I am a supremely content New York woman with a transgender history.

Monika: Why did you decide to write your autobiography?

Nicola: In fact, it started out as a journal, a diary, I didn’t set out to write a book. It was relatively early in my transition and I realized that I was having experiences and going through events that had never happened before and may not happen again. Starting hormones, the first therapy session,  and so on.

Interview with Bianca Leigh

Monika: Today it is my pleasure and honor to interview Bianca Leigh, an American actress, writer, and singer. Hello Bianca!

Bianca: Witam, Monika!

Monika: “She’s got Bette Davis eyes, Joan Crawford facial expressions, Faye Dunaway angst, Norma Shearer hauteur, and Marlene Dietrich cross-sexual appeal.” Who is that woman?

Bianca: A press agent’s dream! LOL That woman is me on-stage, chewing the scenery. The off-stage me is much more sedate. A little boring, even.