This week on the show, Emily speaks with the authors of Gender Without Identity.

Ann Pellegrini and Avgi Saketopoulou are psychoanalysts who have focused their attention on gender and sexual identity. In their work, they have found the notion of a “core gender identity” or the “born this way” argument too simplistic and even problematic. All genders and sexualities, they argue, whether queer, straight, trans, nonbinary, or cis, are the result of complex psychic and social processes.

Their controversial take is that no one’s gender or sexuality is innate. 

Pellegrini and Saketopoulou assert that developmental events, even traumas, play an important role in all this. But to say that trauma may sometimes have a share in becoming trans or becoming queer does not mean trans or queer people are “broken.” Rather, they argue that trauma can function as an engine for transformation and growth.

This week's guest is Jasmine Vine, a 25 year old transgender woman from Adelaide, South Australia and host of the Trans Boss Podcast. Her story is one of great hardship including bullying, domestic violence, serious mental illness, and both parents dying by 21, yet she's overcome it all to become a powerhouse inspiration to her thousands of followers.

Suicidal from age 7 and being diagnosed with all sorts of things including bipolar type 1 which landed her in the psych ward at 17, she now owns her Javine, a company that helps transgender people feminize their voices and helps  people recover from trauma and develop an empowered mindset so they can feel more hopeful, confident, comfortable, and safe.

Tuesday night, Emily welcomes Toni Leslie to The Transgender Show. She's a Native American transgender female writer and artist From upstate New York. Her many past jobs have included professional photographer, contractor, pilot, radio station DJ, and photo collage artist. 

Toni is currently working as a peer recovery coach in addiction and working on a memoir describing her life and transition. 

Recorded LIVE on The Transverse
Twitch.tv/TheTransverse

#trans #transgender #thetransgendershow #thetransverse #mtf #lgbt #nativeamerican #twospirit 

Dean FM (Dean-Fraser Milford) is a Boston Massachusetts based non-binary rapper, activist and influencer. His music encapsulates eclectic thoughts that scat over percussive rhythms and exotic sounds. His performances exude drag culture and satiric expression. In 2016, Dean released his debut EP “Watch It”, which received local and national coverage. In 2020, Dean FM released his EP entitled “SISSY.” The music video for his lead single “Bottom Bit” shines a light on the exploitation of prostitution.

Dean FM stands for compassion, courage, and equality. In his activism, he supports the awareness and acceptance of gender neutrality. He refuses to deny his true identity — identifying himself with both he and her pronouns. Dean also advocates for the awareness of minority mental health and the prevention of animal abuse. As an influencer, Dean utilizes his platforms to further promote his art and advocacy work.

Amethysta Herrick, Ph.D. is a writer, podcaster, and activist.  Her works focuses on the origin and nature of identity, especially gender.  Ami has been a geneticist, a chemist, a software engineer, and a manager, but her greatest challenge to date is taking on the entrenched fallacy that identity and gender are only of concern to the LGBTQ community.  Instead, she teaches that identity is an ongoing process every human engages in throughout life.  In her spare time, Ami speaks about the scientific definitions of both sex and gender.

Recorded LIVE on The Transverse 2/6/24
Twitch.tv/TheTransverse

Kalie is an ordained pastor in Georgia and an advocate for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in religious institutions. She has a passion for building community and supporting and protecting the rights of individuals. She was dismissed from her seminary after being outed as trans. She joined the lawsuit challenging religious exemptions in Title IX in order to stop religious institutions from discriminating against LGBTQIA+ students while receiving federal funding.

 Corey is a transgender man who began his gender journey 21 years ago at the age of 25. Since then, he's lived mostly in stealth and integrated into male culture undetected. He worked as an automotive mechanic for 10 years before beginning his spiritual journey on the Appalachian Trail in 2011. That adventure taught him a lot about true strength and being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. 

He's been happily married for 10 years with 2 beautiful daughters who accept him as their father. Corey believes life is what you make of it and has made it his life's work to evolve and manifest himself into a superhuman. 

Recorded LIVE on The Transverse 
https://twitch.tv/thetransverse 
Tuesday 02/22/22 

#transgender #ftm #transition 

Van is a queer, non-binary, socialized as female, autistic, trans person dedicated to social justice. They are dually licensed as a Marriage & Family Therapist and a Professional Clinical Counselor. Van is passionate about holding space for all intersections of one’s identity(ies). Van aims to use a trauma informed lens to help folks learn ways to help support themselves in the best way possible. Van is author of the interactive book Exploring My Identities and produced a Documentary called Do Something: Trans & Non Binary Identities which we’ll be screening here on The Transverse on Thursday night. Their next project is hosting an international conference called Do Something: Identity(ies) (2022).

Justice Renée, born trans-female, was raised in a Fundamentalist Evangelical Home.  Her father was a leader in the Young Earth/Creation Science movement in Utah and surrounding states through the 1980s and 90s.  She was taught through shame to hate her trans identity.  In her preteens, Justice dedicated her life to Jesus and began ministry work with her church, AWANA, and CEF and gave her first evangelistic message at 13.  She went on to get Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies with a Missions Emphasis from Frontier School of the Bible, was Youth Pastor in Nebraska, worked at Christian Camps, and a CrossWorld Missions Candidate preparing for missions in Thailand.  

In 2009, responding to the Housing Crisis, she founded “Tears of the Patriots”, a Tea Party Group connected with Libertarian and Christian Nationalism.  Due to a myriad of reasons, Justice Renée re-examined her belief system over a period of 7 years ending with leaving the church.  

She opened to her partner about her gender issues in 2019 and transitioned in 2020.Currently, Justice Renée works as a Systems Engineer at Target, helps amplify diverse voices through Secular North Productions, and raises her two kids and her partner. She shares her story with others to give hope and move communities forward through the “Din of Conversation”.  She found freedom in acceptance and a path forward from the hate. 

Stepping out from behind the camera, Justice Renée has opened up in a more public way to build connections with others and amplify the "Din of Conversation". 

Currently, Justice Renée works as a Systems Engineer at Target, helps amplify diverse voices through Secular North Productions, and raises her two kids and her partner. She shares her story with others to give hope and move communities forward through the “Din of Conversation”.  She found freedom in acceptance and a path forward from the hate. 

A New Jersey native, Shannon is a graduate of Rutgers University, with a concentration in Historic Preservation and Political Science. She is a digital creator with content focusing on gender, race, and social justice. With her wife Rachel she co-hosts the podcast 'Our Life In Transition'. You can also find her every week boosting transition posts from other trans creators on Instagram, all the while proclaiming, "It's Tuesday!"