Elle talks about the voices of doubt and self-hate and transphobia that rattle around in our heads -- where they may have come from, and how she navigates them in the present. She reflects on a conversation she once had with Rachel Freemon Sowers (of Road to Radical Visibility) about people's projections on us, in addition to her work in the therapy world. Among other themes, this program includes exploration of distorted thought patterns, DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), CBT (cognitive Behavioral Therapy), and trauma work.

Please reach out to Elle with ideas and constructive feedback at [email protected]

For this week's episode, Elle shares a lecture she gave for SDA Kinship's 42nd annual Kampmeeting held in Riverside, California. Her lecture was given to a small audience of queer Christians in a hotel conference room. The lecture features her reflections on queer and chosen families, the imperfections amongst families, the ways in which we survive, and how to build thriving communities that can help us love well.

Please reach out to Elle with your constructive feedback at [email protected]

This week on the program, Elle interviews the founder and leader of Patchwork, a network of mutual support communities for and by transgender people. In the episode, Stephanie reflects on her own personal journey with gender, some of the key experiences that shaped her, and what she gives her heart and soul to today. In addition, she also discusses the importance of building networks of love for our survival as transgender people. Learn more about Stephanie's background in crisis support and emergency services, and how these skills have influenced the creation of Patchwork.

https://www.transpatchwork.org/

As always, reach out to Elle with constructive questions or feedback at [email protected].

During this episode, Elle reflects on some of her experiences with intersecting aspects of marginalization, as well as with enjoying privilege. She highlights the AWIS map of intersecting oppressions and privileges (click here), as well as similar diagrams from Sylvia Duckworth (click here). She talks about how she grew from dismissing systemic racism as an adolescent to becoming antiracist as an adult. In addition, she also invites a call to action for those of us who enjoy aspects of privilege in our lives today.

Some of the books and ideas mentioned include:

For this week's show, the question has to do with your commitment to work toward the cause of inclusion and justice. How are you giving yourself to this work today? How would you like to make the world a safer and more beautiful place for all people? What is one way you can commit to the work of justice?

Reach out to Elle with your comments and feedback at [email protected]

Mass media portrayals of trans lives can often be downers -- this podcast is no exception. The reality of living as transgender in a transphobic, cissexist, and heterosexist world is that suffering is nearly unavoidable. However, most of us who transition and live our lives authentically do so with the expectation of, and experience of genuine joy. In this episode, Elle discusses some of the ways in which the trans experience has brought her beauty and light.

Please reach out to Elle at the show's email address: [email protected] - and please share with her your experiences of trans joy.

This episode continues Elle's series asking the question about gender identity, Am I Transgender? This edition stands alone but is probably best absorbed in the context of the previous five (linked below). Elle talks about the spiritual nature of her transition, and how she made sense of it as someone who believes in the divine, the camaraderie she experienced meeting and hearing the stories of other trans people, and the professional medical consensus on her personal case. Additional themes in this episode of Transgender Woman Talking include: support groups, the DSM-V, the WPATH, Kate Bowler and her book "The Lives We Actually Have", conversion therapy or reparative therapy, gaslighting, gatekeeping, code language, and medical procedures.

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Previous episodes in the series:

Am I Transgender? (Part 1) - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/twatpodcast/episodes/Am-I-Transgender-e1r3df3/a-a8tfsck

Am I Transgender? (Part 2) - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/twatpodcast/episodes/Am-I-Transgender--Part-2-e1t0hp9/a-a94fg40

Am I Transgender? (Part 3) - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/twatpodcast/episodes/Am-I-Transgender--Part-3-e1v9592/a-a9c8939

Am I Transgender? (Part 4) - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/twatpodcast/episodes/Am-I-Transgender--Part-4-e23bj4a/a-a9ouuq2

Am I Transgender? (Part 5) - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/twatpodcast/episodes/Am-I-Transgender--Part-5-e26pv66

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Reach out to Elle at the following email address: [email protected] with constructive feedback, questions, or connection :)

In this week's episode, Elle tackles a question submitted by a listener about the mental and emotional effects of hormone replacement therapy. Discussions about the physical bodily results of HRT are discussed ad-nauseum on forums like Reddit, but sometimes the subtle impacts that take place between our ears are lost in the shuffle. For many trans people, some of the most palpable changes through transition happen in the mind, and no doubt in part due to hormones therapy.

Because she is transfeminine, this conversation centers on the impacts of progesterone and estrogen on folks assigned male at birth (and not on transmasculine folks who use testosterone). This episode discusses both positive, negative, surprising, and expected results of this regimen, as well as how she received access living in the United States. Some of the topics included are: sexuality and sex drive, emotion regulation, politics and equitable access, second puberty, side-effects, and joy.

As always, please reach out to Elle at [email protected] to offer your constructive feedback, and ask questions.

Trans siblings and allies, you are not alone ❤️

In this week's episode, Elle discusses Laurie Frankel's 2017 book "This Is How It Always Is", now in its second printing from Flatiron Books. The book is a novel about a family with a trans young person, and the trials and travails they all go through navigating a transphobic heterosexist cissexist world. In the episode, Elle discusses some of her reflections on the book, the points that resonate with her own experience and that of her clients. She also talks a little about the pressure that trans people face from cis people to fit into a box, any box whatsoever. The show also explores the experience of validation, and how our human need to feel un-alone may unwittingly press people to self-identify in ways that are ultimately not productive. Finally, she discusses the challenges of parenting; and the ways in which it often ends up being a repeated leap of faith.

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As always, please reach out to the producer/director/host/editor/marketer of Transgender Woman Talking at [email protected]

This episode is a recording of Elle's most recent creative work, a sermon given at Paradox Church in Redlands, a congregation that is enthusiastically affirming of LGBTQ people, anti-racist, and feminist. Elle's friend Craig is the lead pastor of the church and has invited her several times now to speak to the community. Paradox Church follows the Revised Common Lectionary and as such, Elle took her marching orders on the passage for the week from that document. Matthew 18:15-20 was the gospel reading for this week, and as she discusses in the lecture, is fraught with problems over the course of Christian history. In the coming weeks, Elle will follow up on some of these concepts, expanding them specifically for transgender people, and explaining more candidly some of the elements that were left out.

You may also watch a video recording of this lecture at Paradox Church's youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xywt-H0Cr_c

As always, send Elle an email at [email protected]. Stay tuned for future full length episodes :)

Elle talks about a small ministry based out of her previous denomination, and some of the harmful messages it espouses about queer folks. She discusses and unpleasant online interaction with former ministry colleagues, and her unvarnished responses to their messages. The episode also touches on the following themes and resources:

Please reach out with constructive feedback on the show -- as well as your opinions about which new logo draft should be used as the template for the final (click here for options) -- [email protected].

Watch out for the upcoming live recorded episode on YouTube, September 10.