NYC Trans Oral History Project

Nala Simone is an activist who was born and raised in Brooklyn. Nala begins with her childhood in Bushwick, her time as a fashion design student at the Fashion Institute of Design, and her process of coming out twice. She discusses her experiences with retail work and workplace discrimination, as well as her involvement with Retail Action Project and the TransWomen of Color Collective, which she c...

Yanyi, a poet and software engineer, reflects on his experiences being part of and building many forms of community, including Asian American community, queer/trans community, and neighborhood communities. Born in China, he immigrated with his family to Canada (and then to the US) as a small child, and has lived in New York City for six years. Here, he talks through the many ways that, throughout...

Story sharers include: Katie Liederman, Diana Cage, Maxe Crandall, Chris Parker, Naomi Clark, Buffalo Trace, AJ Lewis, Zachary Scholl, Rebecca Novack, Joss Barton, Sarah Schulman / / Friends of prolific writer and performer Bryn Kelly come together to reflect on the legacy and lineage she left behind. Hear her editors and professors explain what it was like to work with somebody so insecure despit...

erformer, and activist Spree shares her experiences as a Radical Faerie; a member of ACT UP, The Emma Goldman Gypsy Players and The Eggplant Players; and a resident of numerous places around the world including IDA (Idyll Dandy Arts) and her current home of Sassafras. She recounts various AIDS actions she took part of in NYC with her friend activist Ortez Alderman; and touring Europe and the US wi...

In this interview, Sabelo Narasimhan--a South Asian youth activist, organizer, photographer, and immigrant of color--discusses his penchant for collecting and sharing stories. Hear him talk about what it was like moving from India to California and then New York, experiences with the NYPD, his childhood, travel, and supportive and loving family. (Summary by Evan Zavidow.)

Stella Dance is an educator, tarot-card reader, and professional dungeon monitor who currently works at the recently unionized Babeland sex toy boutique in New York City. In this interview they describe their experience dealing with bullying, physical disability, and mental illness while growing up in a working-class family around Park Slope in Brooklyn, and later attending college in the south. T...

Max Zev Reynolds is Jewish leader and participant in New York queer life. Beginning with their membership in United Methodist Church in Spokane, Washington, Reynolds has explored their faith and gender identity simultaneously. Queer two-step dancing at Appel Ranch and Karen's Queer Country Events; Sylvia Rivera Law Project; and queer bars including Wild Rose, The Gutter, and Twin Peaks have also f...

Christian Appel grew up in New Rochelle, escaping to find community in New York's party scene (particularly the Motherfucker parties) and at IDA, a queer gardening farmstead in Tennessee. She draws strength and liberation from her partners and seeks healing for herself and her community through secular spiritualism, her job at SAGE and her recent work creating the TransGenerational Theatre Project...

Eve Elle describes the development of her identity and experiences as a trans woman over time, from realizing her identity at a very young age, to dating before and after transitioning, to her thoughts about her future and the possibility of parenthood. Throughout, she touches on her family, her relationship with the arts community, and shifting attitudes towards trans people and trans representat...

Anna Keyes discusses the textured and representational aspects of her films, her process of self realization and the embodiment of her womanhood through online community, her family and being out in the world; owning her process as well as recognizing the tension of "passing" as an ideal. Identifying puberty as a "process of coming into one's own humanity", Anna examines the experience of her seco...

In this brief interview, Brycen Gaines touches on a variety of topics, beginning with his first moment of awareness of his gender identity. He discusses discrimination, healthcare, family, and trans friends. He shares his frustration with the lack of LGBT community and resources in New Jersey outside of college campuses. Finally, Brycen talks about the importance of therapy to LGBT people and abou...

Gykyira Shoy is the Program Director of New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG). Here, she describes her experience as a trans person of color and her work as an activist, engaged in justice struggles for all people. Beginning with her life in the South, she shares her experiences in the foster care and shelter system, her struggles with sickness, and the journey that brought her to New York C...

In this interview, Sylver describes a childhood growing up in the Bronx and a period of awakening that began after they were kicked-out of their mother’s home at 15. Sylver, having at times struggled with depression and alcohol dependence, describes the impact of finding their trans family and discovering activism through organizations such as Sylvia’s Place, WRRQ, an artist collective, and an int...

Abigail Thomas, who identifies as non-binary trans-feminine, reflects upon their experiences of as growing up as a disabled child in New York City. Xie explores the circumstances that shaped their journal to transition, including sexual abuse. Now playing “catch up,” and finding a source of confidence and pride in their non-binary trans-feminine disabled identity, Abigail discusses the road to tra...

Marty Hernandez Avedon discusses growing up in the foster care system only to be adopted by a family who rejected him at the age of 10, reconnecting with his biological parents, and what the name Hernandez Avedon means to him. A gender non-conforming tech worker, Marty explains the lack of diversity in programming and the steps he is taking—such as working with Access Code—to change that. (Summary...

In this interview Kyle Katz speaks about their childhood, growing up in Boston, coming to New York, and the role that timing, books and community have played in how they identify, and understand themselves. (Summary by Ted Kerr.)

Kiara St. James is the CEO and a co-founder of New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG). Here, she recalls the experiences throughout her life that inform her activism and advocacy today as a trans woman of color. She recounts her early upbringing in an evangelical Christian community in Beaumont, Texas and her adolescence spent with a foster family in Heidelberg, Germany. She details many of t...

Aiden Simon, a Brooklyn-based visual artist, details a life spent moving among different spaces both geographically and in terms of community. He discusses his experiences living in various cities in the US, seeing changes in queer and trans narratives over time, and the evolution of his artistic practice. Throughout, he expresses appreciation for the varied systems of support in his life, and for...

Santos, a bassist and sex educator, shares the story of his life in New York City, from his strict upbringing in East New York in the 80's, to his introduction to the punk and hardcore scene in the 90's, and his experiences with manhood and trans community in the 2000's and beyond. He emphasizes the importance of pleasure, vulnerability, and respect in his relationships with others. In particular,...

Tiffany Miles describes growing up in conservative, religious small-town Alabama, where she lived for the first thirty-two years of her life. She discusses her complicated relationships with family, the slow process of coming out to herself, and her deep love of science fiction, particularly Star Trek. After coming out as trans, she moved to New York City, where she has continued her transition, n...

Yana Calou spent much of their youth traveling around the world and eventually found a community in Utah, where they began advocating for LGBTQ rights. Later, Calou moved to NYC, where they worked on campaigns for the labor rights of retail workers, where many queer and trans people are employed. They talk much about hormones, gender reconstructive surgery, and the health insurance disparities. Ca...

In this interview, Miss Major talks about the culture of transwomen sex workers in New York City and Chicago during the 1960's through 1980's as well as her care-work and advocacy during the rise of the AIDs epidemic, particularly in California. She illustrates her experiences in navigating bathhouse culture, sex work in 1960's New York City and rudimentary hormone and surgery access. Becoming a p...

Allison Charde shares her experience "under the trans umbrella" while growing up on Long Island attending Purchase University and presently in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Allison speaks about her relationship to the internet, queerness, whiteness and how they interact with her idea of community and identity. (Summary by Christine Buckley.)

Kai Pelton is a co-facilitator of the Trans-Generational Theatre Project, a community initiative in NYC for trans-folk. Here, the 21 y.o. New York City native describes their journey as a trans person of color from the perspective of a lifelong fine and performing artist who emphasizes natural expression. This interview takes you through Kai’s coming-of-age transformation from an "awkward caterpil...

Nico Fuentes is a member leader in a current unionization campaign at the Pleasure Chest, a sex toy shop. Beginning with an account of growing up in a Mexican family in West Texas and Oklahoma, she goes on to describe her move to New York City to become involved with fashion. Eventually she found work in sex toy retail, where she came out as trans, politicized informed by Black Feminism, and event...