Transgender Interview Questions

There I sat in the dimly-lit corner of Cup-of-Joe, tracing the water droplets off my chilled chia-tea latte and trying ease my nerves. Thoughts ran through my mind; what if I went to the wrong coffee-shop, what if I got the date wrong, what if I accidently spilled my drink, then I saw her. Ms. Devin Lentz, a transgender bi-sexual woman, that I could meet due Quinn, a close friend of mine, involvement in the LGBT+ Center of Raleigh where Ms. Lentz works. I admit, I was a bundle of nerves but Ms. Devin was understanding and very supportive. The longer we talked the more at ease I became and the interview turned into an informal conversation between two acquaintances. When this paper was assigned, I knew that I wanted interview someone in the

Ms. Devin said she knew that identified as a woman from young age, and was aware of the sexist comments made by men and the discrimination women faced. When she was young, she was often perceived as being a heterosexual male, and would often hear discriminatory comments made about gay people, when the other parties were unaware that she was neither straight or cisgender. Ms. Lentz commented that a lot of how someone is treated revolves around how others perceive them to be, sometimes she would “pass” and someone would have no idea that she was transgender and other times the other person would be fully aware. She comments that she has been lucky and not faced much “in your face discrimination” as some of the people she has worked with have faced, but does believe that much of the discrimination someone will face depends on their age and where they

Devin said that she does believe that it has changed significantly since the 1980’s, and late 1970’s when she knew she was transgender. She comments how the depiction transgender characters on media back then depicted them as freaks, mentally sick and says the movie, Silence of the Lambs, stands out as what society perceived them to be. But Ms. Devin does believe media depiction has improved and can be used as a social pyrometer of where America is at, but is still facing pushback from local and state-level governments who try to implement bills like, or worse than House Bill 2. However, there are still many victories to be seen, including the recent actions implemented in the U.S. Army to include and give more rights to transgender individuals serving. Ms. Devin brought up the avid witch-hunts that would actively search for members of the LGBT+ community and kick them out of the Army before Don’t Ask Don’t Tell rule. She does comment that it can be discouraging when events such as House Bill 2 are announced, but there has been steps forward in the past few decades. She comments, “It is like a war in some aspects. The ultimate victory is winning the hearts and minds, and I don’t feel being angry is really going to win. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”. I really liked her view on trying to win