Gender Stories

Aydian Dowling is the co-founder and CEO at TRACE. With the support of just 1 person, a trans or nonbinary youth’s risk of suicide goes down by 40% . This is why Aydian co-founded TRACE , the app created to foster a brighter and more gender-affirming future for transgender and non-binary individuals. He has been a transgender activist and influencer for more than 12 years and has been featured on...

Born in a small pentecostal coal-mining town in the Appalachian Mountains, October Ryan struggled to express her true self from a very early age. When her femininity was met with hate, anger, & abuse, she retreated into a series of approval-seeking fake personas. The pentecostal pastor-in-training, the meek academic bookworm, the rebellious grad school party boy, the small town psychology prof...

PJ Desrochers is a visual artist who explores their nonbinary humanness through art. PJ creates images, builds sculptural installations and immersive experiences of their gender and a life well-lived. Their media originates with photographic self portraits printed on transparency film. PJ then builds creations by layering the transparent images and connecting them quite often using fingerprinted s...

K. Allison Hammer is assistant professor and coordinator of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Southern Illinois University.  Masculinity in Transition traces the roots of “toxic masculinity,” showing that while toxic strains of masculinity are mainly associated with straight, white men, trans and queer masculinities often reiterate similar patterns of behavior. Arguing that these malignant f...

S. H. COTUGNO (Sage) is a queer and mixed-race Victorian horror nerd born and raised in Los Angeles, California. They are a director, writer and storyboard artist in the animation industry and have previously worked on projects such as Gravity Falls , The Owl House and Star vs. the Forces of Evil . The Glass Scientists will be their first published graphic novel. You can see more of their work at...

 D’Lo is a queer/transgender Tamil-Sri Lankan-American actor/writer/comic. He has toured his solo shows internationally, his last show “To T, or not To T?” running last year at the Kirk Douglas Theater in LA. Acting credits include: LOOKING, TRANSPARENT, SENSE 8, and MR.ROBOT, CONNECTING, Quantum Leap and Billy Eichner movie BROS. He is a Senior Civic Media Fellow through USC's Annenberg Inno...

Pidgeon Pagonis is an activist on behalf of intersex and marginalized people. They have advanced youth advocacy with interACT, launched an intersex YouTube channel, written for Everyday Feminism , cofounded the Intersex Justice Project (IJP) and the #EndIntersexSurgery campaign, and introduced the intersex and nonbinary clothing line Too Cute to Be Binary. They’ve created two short documentaries,...

GenderMeowster (they/them) is a white, trans masc, nonbinary, AuDHD, mobility aid using, disabled content creator on Twitch, YouTube, and social media platforms. They, along with their friends, curate and maintain the Meowster’s Clowder discord server, Trans101 content on social media, and host and produce the Genderful Talk Show! Their online community is an intersectional 2SLGBTQIA+, neurodiverg...

Eli Conley is an indie folk singer-songwriter, teaching artist, and activist based on Miwok and Nisenan land (Sacramento, California). He makes music for queer and trans folks, justice seekers, and anyone who doesn’t fit easily in a box. Eli's voice is tender and heartfelt, with melodies and that can leave you teary-eyed yet hopeful. As a queer transgender man from the South, his songs tell s...

Tilly Bridges is one part of the trans woman / cis woman writing team (with her wife Susan) and creators of comics, screenplays, teleplays and audio dramas. On June 27th, Bridges releases BEGIN TRANSMISSION – The Trans Allegories of the Matrix, tracking one person’s transition journey — from Thomas Anderson, to Neo, to Trinity.  As a transgender woman, Bridges said she had always connected with th...

Redfern Jon Barrett (they/them) is author to novels including Proud Pink Sky , a speculative story set in the world’s first LGBTQ+ state – which will be released by Bywater Books in March 2023. Redfern’s essays, reviews, and short stories have appeared in publications including The Sun Magazine, Guernica, Strange Horizons, Passages North, PinkNews, Booth, FFO, ParSec, Orca, and Nature Futures . Th...

In this episode of Gender Stories, Alex talks to Coltan Schoenike, (they/them) a queer, nonbinary,  trans and femme marriage and family therapist mentee, sex therapist, sex educator, doctoral student, researcher, and author.  Together they discuss gender affirming care: what it is, what it isn't, and why it is vital. Find out more about Coltan at: https://www.coltanschoenike.com/ You can also...

Dee Fish is a Pennsylvania-based cartoonist, illustrator, and graphic designer. As a cartoonist, she is the creator of the online comic strip, “Dandy & Company“. An all-ages humor comic strip in the vein of “Looney Tunes” and “Peanuts” surrounding the misadventures of a dog and his boy that ran from 2001 to 2018. She is also the writer and artist of the creator-owned comic book, “The Wellkeepe...

LILY ZHENG (they/them) is a no-nonsense Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion speaker, strategist, and consultant who specializes in creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces through hands-on systemic change. A dedicated change-maker and advocate named a Forbes D&I Trailblazer , 2021 DEI Influencer , and LinkedIn Top Voice on Racial Equity , Lily's work has been featured in the Har...

Jen Winston (she/they) is a writer, creative director, and bisexual based in Brooklyn. Their work bridges the intersection of sex, politics, and technology, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal , The Washington Post , CNN, and more. Jen is passionate about unlearning and creating work that helps others do the same. Her newsletter, The Bi Monthly , is dedicated to exploring bi issues an...

Nick Walker is a queer, transgender, flamingly autistic writer and educator, best known for her foundational work on the neurodiversity paradigm and Neuroqueer Theory. She is a professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, senior aikido instructor at the Aiki Arts Center in Berkeley, author of the book Neuroqueer Heresies , and co-creator of the urban fantasy webcomic We...

Chrissie Chevasutt facilitates the online community Transgender Church and is well-known as an advocate for transgender awareness in the Church. She and her wife Pam have lived, worked and witnessed in Oxford for more than thirty years. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Chrissie-Chevasutt-107698101263187   Heaven Come Down: The Story of a Transgender Disciple by Chrissie Chevasutt (Darton, Longma...

Trans/Non-Binary artist Rascal Miles is part of a new wave and generation of artists emerging into the music scene who are well familiar with challenge and adversity but who are excelling because of it and not being defined by it. Rascal has been working towards the release of music that is personal and elevated and sets them on the path of the next stage in their music journey. That day is almost...

Trystan is the solo author of How We Do Family, a book described as “a refreshing new take on family life for the LGBTQ community and beyond.” He is also a 2021 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ Voices Fellow. Trystan co-wrote a children’s book with his partner, Biff. It’s called The Light Of You and was published by Flamingo Rampant Press. Trystan is also an essayist; his blog can be found here . Ho...

Alex Iantaffi interviews Precious Brady-Davis to discuss her book " I have always been me: a memoir " and the themes of family, life transitions, healing, faith, and belonging . Precious Brady-Davis is an award-winning diversity advocate, communications professional, and public speaker. She currently serves as the associate regional communications director at the Sierra Club. She served...

This episode was recorded live on April 21st, 2021 for London's fabulous, independent bookstore Pages of Hackney . Jamie Windust, model, presenter, contributing editor at Gay Times , TedxLondon speaker , and author of In Their Shoes discusses their book and writing process with Alex Iantaffi, author of Gender Trauma . You can follow Jamie on Instagram and Twitter . You can order In Their Shoe...

Alex Iantaffi interviews author, artist, screenwriter and speaker Hari Ziyad about their new book Black Boy Out of Time .  They talk about family, mental health, gender, growing up Black and queer,  abolition, ancestral grief and wisdom,  and healing. Hari Ziyad is a cultural critic, a screenwriter, and the editor-in-chief of RaceBaitr . They are a 2021 Lambda Literary Fellow, and their writing ha...

Alex Iantaffi interviews Lucie Fielding, author of the forthcoming book  Trans Sex: Clinical Approaches to Trans Sexualities and Erotic Embodiments (Routledge, May 2021).  They talk about sex, sexuality, gender, educating providers, the brilliance of trans people, and so much more.  Please be aware that in this episode Alex and Lucie talk about sex in a transparent and explicit way. CN: mentions o...

Alex Iantaffi interviews Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd about puberty blockers, in light of the Bell V Tavistock decision in the UK. They discuss why this decision is relevant in the UK and beyond, what puberty blockers are (and what is puberty), as well as the reasons why this is such a safe and effective treatment for some trans, nonbinary, and/or gender expansive children and youth. Angela Kade Goepf...

Alex Iantaffi talks about gender and sex in medieval times with Dr Eleanor Janega,  a medieval historian. More specifically, Dr Janega specialises in late medieval sexuality, apocalyptic thought, propaganda, and the urban experience in general, and in central Europe more particularly. She has taught (and still teaches) medieval and early modern history at a number of universities across London, in...