NYC Trans Oral History Project

Rye Young is the executive director of Third Wave Fund, a grantor engaging in “radical philanthropy” focused on funding organizing initiatives by young women and trans people of color. In this interview, Rye goes into depth on non-profit organizing, the contradictions of philanthropy as an industry, the evolution and difficulties faced by Third Wave. Rye also details their own personal history rad...

Dylan Kapit reflects on their experiences going to an all women high school, Barnard at Columbia University, in New York City, and coming out as a trans masculine person. They also discuss their life post-college as a special education teacher, and being trans among other straight teachers. Dylan discusses their work with All Sex and Ni Queer. (Summary by Kiah Brem-Frame.)

Ceyenne Doroshow shares her experience developing a supportive relationship with her family, enduring ignorance and discrimination, first meeting another transwoman, learning about hormones, and discovering Miss Major and others who she now calls her moms. Having grown up in a time there were so few out and proud transwomen in her life, Doroshow explains how she has seen the trans movement progres...

Amaree Jael recounts their life growing up in New York City as a transmasculine person of color. Beginning on 125th Street between 5th and Lennox, Amaree describes their early life in a changing neighborhood and an emotionally withholding biological family. They discuss school as a time of social discomfort and intellectual growth, learning the nuances of moving through the world as Black, queer,...

Donna Cartwright discusses her long history in the labor movement, as a socialist militant, in leading roles in trans rights organizing and LGBTQ organizations. She recounts her 30 years spent as a New York Times copy editor, active in the left caucus within the union of employees at the New York Times, and her leadership work with Pride at Work, the LGBTQ constituency group of the labor movement'...

Lauren Simkin Berke describes their work as an illustrator, animator, artist, and zine creator based in Brooklyn, NY. They walk us through growing up in an unconventional primary school setting, finding community in an anti-oppression college drama troupe at Cornell University and the Art Students' League of New York, as well as their artistic inspirations and hobbies, reflecting on changes in tra...

Evan is a Brooklyn-based photographer whose photo-work primarily touches upon issues of gender and identity, and in this interview he describes his perception of his own intersectional identity. Originally coming to New York from Chicago to attend Pratt while identifying as a lesbian woman - Evan details his journey of coming the the realization he was a man, transitioning and his relationship wit...

Ky Platt is a mixed-race, transgender comedian and author. Originally from Hamilton, Ohio, Ky has been active in the NYC LGBTQ+ community since the 1990s. In this interview, Ky recounts his experiences of being raised in Southwestern Ohio as a mixed-race person who had identified as being queer since childhood, being a part of the LGBTQ+ community in the 1990s, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, his popu...

Grace Detrevarah was born in Detroit, Michigan to an automobile industry family and moved to New York City as a teenager. In this interview, she discusses running away and the drag queens and trans women who protected her, religion and spirituality, incarceration, attending NYU Tisch School of the Arts, "revolutionary girls" like herself, and transgender healthcare. She has written a book _Grace:...

Elsie grew up middle class in the Midwest where the church was a big presence in her life. Though she encountered a progressiveness in various ways within the religious communities she was part of her in childhood, the fact that she was gender-questioning ultimately alienated her from the church. An important part of her socialization took place online, in the Myspace, DeviantArt, Twitch websites...

Simon Chartrand describes his experience growing up in upstate New York, being outed to family, living with chronic pain and navigating healthcare as a trans person. Simon discusses the long process of embracing his trans identity through college and graduate school. He found community and a network of friends through groups offered by the LGBT Center, as well as through trans events such as the T...

Eli Oberman—one of, if not the first, trans-identified students at Eugene Lang— talks about coming out as one of two very different trans children to a family of feminists, misogyny in transmasculine communities, the power of music and its ability to influence social change, and his spiritual connection to nature. As a breast cancer survivor living with depression, Eli explains the need for increa...

Alyssa Pariah recounts her difficult childhood in New Jersey, her involvement in trans women of color and sex worker communities in New York, and her radicalization as a revolutionary socialist. She became involved in Occupy Wall Street, then later joining the Black Lives Matter movement and a socialist organization in Portland Oregon. She shares her critique of nonprofit activists unwilling to en...

Hannah E. Simpson is an activist who draws on her education and harassment during medical school to inspire her advocacy work. She was one of the first trans individuals to speak in front of officials from the U.S. Army and was instrumental in promoting trans affirming Board of Education policies at her former high school in an affluent section of New Jersey. Hannah reflects upon how multiple iden...

Naz is a gender non-conforming queer artist who works around in between spaces. They were born in Iran into a middle class muslim family, and followed their parents to the United States as a child in 1977. Naz recounts their experience of being an outsider in this country. They describe growing up as an immigrant and attending white Italian Irish catholic school in a polarized, racially divided ci...

Margaret Berg discusses growing up in rural Ohio—generational trauma, farm life, high school support networks, and suicide attempts—until moving to New York at the age of 30. Margaret is candid about her experience transitioning later in life, dating, recovering from an alcohol addiction, the election of Donald Trump, and the joys of growing comfortable in her own skin and finding her own voice. (...

Interview of Luce Lincoln by NYC Trans Oral History Project

Cerah Rowley shares her love for Star Wars and Star Trek, an addiction to prescription medications, and growing up in a conservative Christian household and coming to identify as a non-binary trans femme queer.

​Brenda Holder relives her glorious younger days in the “ball room scene.” Ms. Holder was born in Georgetown, Guyana before moving to the US, serving in the US military. She describes her first hormone shot, and later her medical transition. She discusses people who have inspired her in drag queen scenes, and her appearance in films, television and FX’s Pose.

(Entrevista en Español/Interview in Spanish.) Amanda Hurtado habla con Tamara Oyola Santiago sobre su vida en Ecuador y el cambio que ella vivió al venir a los Estados Unidos. En esta linda conversación, Amanda comparte su historia, hablándonos de las barreras personales, familiares y culturales que encontró y superó en su camino de aceptarse y cómo lo logró con la ayuda de varias comunidades y or...

Mike Altamar is a community health educator, referral specialist and parent engagement specialist who's work has drawn on his own experience accessing resources and navigating hirs coming out and family relationships. Mike's life growing up in New York City colors the background of hirs story as ze develops a role mentoring and supporting other trans folks. Ze talks about homelessness, distance fr...

Robin discusses growing up in the Upper East Side of New York, how her neighborhood has evolved over time, and her favorite areas in the city. She recalls mental issues preventing her from attending classes in high school and college troubles which led her to go into art. She reflects on the significance of her tarot deck as well as her journey as an artist. Elaborating on her understanding of gen...

Carla Roldos was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in New York City. After being placed into a psych ward as a young child, she became the first nurse and transwoman to work at Callen Lorde. She shares the ways in which NYC has changed as transwomen have lost many of the spaces they used to frequent—GG Barnum Room, Sally's, Gilded Grape—meanwhile young trans people have increased access to resources...

Gus is a native New Yorker, punk rock drummer, and dog trainer. In this interview, Gus talks about the ways in which New York City, and its punk community, have changed over the years. Gus discusses growing up on a tour bus, transitioning, youth, and religion. (Summary by Evie Zavidow.)

Dan Rosensweet was born and raised in Brooklyn. In this interview, Dan discusses their high school experience, performing drag for the first time, struggling with an eating disorder, and seeking out television depictions of trans youth. Dan goes on to talk about the media and pop culture influences—Powerpuff Girls, Sailor Moon, RuPaul's Drag Race—that have played a key role in their life. Dan furt...