{ "id": "p16022coll97:179", "object": "https://cdm16022.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getthumbnail/collection/p16022coll97/id/179", "set_spec": "p16022coll97", "collection_name": "Tretter Transgender Oral History Project", "collection_name_s": "Tretter Transgender Oral History Project", "collection_description": "
The Tretter Transgender Oral History Project (TTOHP) collects, preserves, and makes accessible oral histories of gender transgression, especially as theyintersect with race, age, sexuality, citizenship, class, and ability. The project seeks to document the power and vision of trans movements for justice through the stories of activists working to imagine another world.
\n\nThe first phase of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project was led by poet and activist Andrea Jenkins—who became the first Black transgender woman to serve in office in the US after she was elected, in 2017, to the Minneapolis City Council. This phase of the project sought to document the life stories and experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming people, with a focus on people living in the upper Midwest as well as those often excluded from the historical record, including trans people of color and trans elders.
\n\nThe second phase of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project is led by trans studies scholar Myrl Beam. This phase of work seeks to document histories of trans activist movements and politics in the US, and is grounded in the belief that trans movements for justice are about more than rights: they are about survival, and about creating a new, more fabulous, more livable, and more expansive world––one not structured by racialized gender norms. The oral histories collected during this phase document the transformative power of trans movements, and the stories of trans activists who are building them.
\n\nFor more about the project, visit: https://www.lib.umn.edu/tretter/transgender-oral-history-project.
", "title": "Interview with Taya Mitchell", "title_s": "Interview with Taya Mitchell", "title_t": "Interview with Taya Mitchell", "title_search": "Interview with Taya Mitchell", "title_sort": "interviewwithtayamitchell", "description": "Taya Mitchell is a Black trans woman from California. At the time of this interview, Mitchell was working as a performance artist and community organizer in Minneapolis. In this oral history, Mitchell speaks about being homeschooled, bullying, her childhood, housing discrimination, coming out, encounters with healthcare, and socially transitioning. Mitchell discusses things such as racism within LGBT spaces, trans visibility, street harassment, and ball culture.", "date_created": [ "2016-04-06" ], "date_created_ss": [ "2016-04-06" ], "date_created_sort": "2016", "creator": [ "Mitchell, Taya" ], "creator_ss": [ "Mitchell, Taya" ], "creator_sort": "mitchelltaya", "contributor": [ "Jenkins, Andrea (Interviewer)" ], "contributor_ss": [ "Jenkins, Andrea (Interviewer)" ], "notes": "Forms part of the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project, Phase 1.", "types": [ "Moving Image" ], "format": [ "Oral histories | http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300202595" ], "format_name": [ "Oral histories" ], "dimensions": "1:02:05", "subject": [ "Black", "West Coast (United States)", "Art and Creative Work", "Activism, Social Movements", "Harassment", "Education", "Coming Out", "Race", "Racism", "Ball Culture", "Visibility and Representation", "Gender Affirming Care", "Drag", "Bars and Clubbing", "Friendship and Community", "Trans Celebrities", "Tretter Transgender Oral History Project Phase 1" ], "subject_ss": [ "Black", "West Coast (United States)", "Art and Creative Work", "Activism, Social Movements", "Harassment", "Education", "Coming Out", "Race", "Racism", "Ball Culture", "Visibility and Representation", "Gender Affirming Care", "Drag", "Bars and Clubbing", "Friendship and Community", "Trans Celebrities", "Tretter Transgender Oral History Project Phase 1" ], "language": [ "English" ], "city": [ "Minneapolis" ], "state": [ "Minnesota" ], "country": [ "United States" ], "continent": [ "North America" ], "geonames": [ "http://sws.geonames.org/5037657/" ], "parent_collection": "Tretter Transgender Oral History Project", "parent_collection_name": "Tretter Transgender Oral History Project", "contributing_organization": "University of Minnesota Libraries, Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.", "contributing_organization_name": "University of Minnesota Libraries, Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.", "contributing_organization_name_s": "University of Minnesota Libraries, Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies.", "contact_information": "University of Minnesota Libraries, Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies. 111 Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222 - 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455; https://www.lib.umn.edu/tretter", "fiscal_sponsor": "This project is funded through the generous support of The TAWANI Foundation, Headwaters Foundation and many individual donors.", "local_identifier": [ "tretter414_tohp110" ], "dls_identifier": [ "tretter414_tohp110" ], "rights_statement_uri": "http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/", "kaltura_audio": "1_y2ls0ekf", "kaltura_video": "1_p2pmavz0", "kaltura_combo_playlist": "0_akif8osj", "page_count": 0, "record_type": "primary", "first_viewer_type": "kaltura_combo_playlist", "viewer_type": "kaltura_combo_playlist", "attachment": "119.pdf", "attachment_format": "pdf", "document_type": "item", "featured_collection_order": 999, "date_added": "2018-09-24T00:00:00Z", "date_added_sort": "2018-09-24T00:00:00Z", "date_modified": "2020-05-22T00:00:00Z", "transcription": "Taya Mitchell\nNarrator\nAndrea Jenkins\nInterviewer\nThe Transgender Oral History Project\nTretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nApril 6, 2016\nThe Transgender Oral History Project of the Upper Midwest will empower individuals to tell their story,\nwhile providing students, historians, and the public with a more rich foundation of primary source\nmaterial about the transgender community. The project is part of the Tretter Collection at the\nUniversity of Minnesota. The archive provides a record of GLBT thought, knowledge and culture for\ncurrent and future generations and is available to students, researchers and members of the public.\nThe Transgender Oral History Project will collect up to 400 hours of oral histories involving 200 to 300\nindividuals over the next three years. Major efforts will be the recruitment of individuals of all ages and\nexperiences, and documenting the work of The Program in Human Sexuality. This project will be led by\nAndrea Jenkins, poet, writer, and trans-activist. Andrea brings years of experience working in\ngovernment, non-profits and LGBT organizations. If you are interested in being involved in this exciting\nproject, please contact Andrea.\nAndrea Jenkins\njenki120@umn.edu\n(612) 625-4379\n1 Andrea Jenkins -AJ\n2 Taya Mitchell -TM\n3\n4\n5 AJ: So, hello. My name is Andrea Jenkins, and I am the oral historian for the Transgender Oral\n6 History Project at the Tretter Collection at the University of Minnesota. Today is April 6th, 2016,\n7 and I am in south Minneapolis with Ms. Taya Mitchell.\n8 TM: Hello.\n9 AJ: How are you, Taya?\n10 TM: I’m doing wonderful.\n11 AJ: Great. Hey, listen, tell me - state your name and how you spell it. Right?\n12 TM: Uh huh.\n13 AJ: And then what is your gender identity today, and what was your gender identity assigned at\n14 birth.\n15 TM: Okay.\n16 AJ: And then what are the pronouns that you go by.\n17 TM: Okay. My name is Taya, spelled T-A-Y-A. I identify as a woman. I was assigned male at birth. And\n18 my pronouns are she and her.\n19 AJ: Great. Wow. Thank you. So, Taya, tell me what is the first thing you remember in life.\n20 TM: The first thing I remember in life?\n21 AJ: The first memory. Yeah.\n22 TM: Oh, my god. The first memory that I actually have is a birthday party. I don’t know if it was my\n23 birthday party, or if it was my - like, one of my cousins’ birthday party.\n24 AJ: Right.\n25 TM: But I put my face in - dead face in the cake.\n26 AJ: Is that right?\n27 TM: I remember it was a chocolate cake and I just put my face dead in the center of it.\n28 AJ: You wanted some cake, huh?\n29 TM: Yeah.\n30 AJ: Eat the cake, Anna Mae, eat the cake.\n31 TM: One of those moments.\nTaya Mitchell 2\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nAJ: Oh, man, you had a “What’s love got to do with 1 it” moment, huh?\n2 TM: Right. But I did it to myself.\n3 AJ: But you did it to yourself!\n4 TM: I was, like - I was, like, four or five.\n5 AJ: Okay.\n6 TM: Yeah.\n7 AJ: Where’d you grow up?\n8 TM: I grew up in - in south LA.\n9 AJ: Oh, really?\n10 TM: Yeah.\n11 AJ: South-Central, or just south LA?\n12 TM: Well, it was - when I was born, in like, Englewood, and then, like, once we got older we moved\n13 out into the suburbs.\n14 AJ: Okay. Okay.\n15 TM: So I grew up in Woodland Hills.\n16 AJ: Oh, wow. Uh huh.\n17 TM: But I still have family in Englewood, South-Central, Watts.\n18 AJ: Oh, wow.\n19 TM: Yeah.\n20 AJ: All over Los Angeles. Los Angeles. Wow, sunny California. What was it like growing up out there?\n21 TM: It was - it was so much fun.\n22 AJ: Yeah?\n23 TM: So much fun. I - but - I don’t - I don’t really remember it, because I travel so much.\n24 AJ: Okay, okay.\n25 TM: I would - I want to go back, like, now that I’m older, to experience LA -\n26 AJ: Right.\n27 TM: - as an adult, rather than a kid.\n28 AJ: Kid. Yeah. No, that makes sense. Totally makes sense. So did you go to grammar school,\n29 elementary school in LA?\nTaya Mitchell 3\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nTM: I - I was homeschooled, until I was...I was homeschooled 1 until high school.\n2 AJ: Oh, wow.\n3 TM: Yeah.\n4 AJ: Okay. And then - all the way through high school, or…?\n5 TM: So - so, high school, I went to a public school.\n6 AJ: Okay.\n7 TM: In Memphis, Tennessee. But prior to that, because we moved to Memphis, but, like, prior to\n8 that, everything was, like, from kindergarten all the way up until grade eight, I think, I was\n9 homeschooled.\n10 AJ: So no bullying or anything like that at school?\n11 TM: No.\n12 AJ: ‘Cause you weren’t in school, per se.\n13 TM: Right. Right. But definitely the bullying and stuff came from, like- came from, like, neighborhood\n14 kids.\n15 AJ: Oh, really.\n16 TM: And, like - and, like, just -\n17 AJ: Just being in the world.\n18 TM: Just being myself. Yeah. Just being myself and being in the world. There was bullying.\n19 AJ: Wow.\n20 TM: And teasing and stuff. I think -\n21 AJ: Yeah - do you think that was - oh, I’m sorry, go ahead.\n22 TM: It’s like, you can’t really get away from it, even though you’re in homeschool.\n23 AJ: Yeah. That’s true. Wow. Do you think that was around your gender identity or your perceived -\n24 TM: Definitely. Definitely -\n25 AJ: - gender identity?\n26 TM: - because I was a very, very feminine little kid.\n27 AJ: Really?\n28 TM: Yeah.\n29 AJ: Okay. Okay.\n30 TM: Yes. I always say I was a flaming glitterball coming out of the womb.\nTaya Mitchell 4\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 AJ: Oh, wow.\n2 TM: So…\n3 AJ: A flaming glitterball coming out of the womb! That’s an image that’s going to be in my head all\n4 day, Taya.\n5 TM: But - yeah.\n6 AJ: A beautiful image! I’m not -\n7 TM: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just like, a ball of beautiful glitter.\n8 AJ: I love it! I love it, I love it. So people gave you a lot - a hard time about that.\n9 TM: Yup. Yeah.\n10 AJ: Family, too?\n11 TM: Family too, yeah.\n12 AJ: Yeah?\n13 TM: Definitely. Like, they would say, like, “Toughen up,” and “You’re a boy, you’re not supposed to\n14 be playing with dolls!” and all that stuff.\n15 AJ: Oh, wow.\n16 TM: But I was, like, “Whatever!”\n17 AJ: Oh, wow. Do you think your family sort of homeschooled you to try to keep you -\n18 TM: I think that -\n19 AJ: - out of some of that?\n20 TM: I think - I think a lot of it was for that reason. And my grandfather was - is a blues singer.\n21 AJ: Okay.\n22 TM: So - Carl Sims.\n23 AJ: Oh, wow.\n24 TM: So we would - we would tour the US, like, going to festivals, like, just, like, him just having shows\n25 in arenas, or, like, a theater or something. So, like, we would travel a lot, so I think that’s a big\n26 part of it. That was a big part of why homeschool, too.\n27 AJ: Big part of why you were being homeschooled, ‘cause you were on the road.\n28 TM: Right.\n29 AJ: With your - with your family. A musical family. What was that like?\n30 TM: It was so much fun growing up! That’s why I perform, and that’s why I love music today, because\nTaya Mitchell 5\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nof that foundation that my 1 grandfather set.\n2 AJ: Right.\n3 TM: It was - it was so much fun, and so - like, meeting so many interesting and different people. It\n4 was beautiful.\n5 AJ: Wow. That’s awesome. So what kind of performance do you do?\n6 TM: I sing, and act. I don’t dance, really, much.\n7 AJ: Really? I - I’ve seen you dance!\n8 TM: I mean, I do dance, but mostly singing and acting, that’s - and, like, musical theater. That’s -\n9 that’s my thing.\n10 AJ: Yeah? That’s beautiful. So your home life, you were kind of bouncing around the country, going\n11 to these musical festivals, and concerts, and concert halls.\n12 TM: Yeah.\n13 AJ: DId you have any siblings? Brothers or sisters that you - ?\n14 TM: No.\n15 AJ: It was just you?\n16 TM: It was just me. Just me.\n17 AJ: Yeah?\n18 TM: Yeah.\n19 AJ: And - and you were - you mentioned you were raised by your grandparents.\n20 TM: Yes.\n21 AJ: Okay. Wow.\n22 TM: Yeah.\n23 AJ: So -\n24 TM: So basically I’m an only child. Like, I - I have brothers and sisters on my dad’s side, but I don’t\n25 really know them and they don’t know me.\n26 AJ: Right.\n27 TM: So it’s basically like I’m an only child.\n28 AJ: Sure. Yeah. You don’t connect with them at all. When was the first time you realized that you\n29 were not the gender that you were assigned at birth, or not the gender that everybody thought\n30 you were?\n31 TM: Very, very early on.\nTaya Mitchell 6\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 AJ: Is that right?\n2 TM: Very early on. Like, maybe, like, three? Four? Four years old? Like, wanted to, like, play dress-up,\n3 and tea parties, paint my nails with my girl cousins and stuff like that. Like, wanted to get - like\n4 wanting to grow my hair out. Like, just all sorts of different things, like, that typical girls do.\n5 AJ: Right.\n6 TM: I wanted to be, like, be more in that area.\n7 AJ: Sure.\n8 TM: But my - my family would always, kind of, like, redirect me, go, “Hey, no, you’re supposed to\n9 want to play basketball.”\n10 AJ: Right, or -\n11 TM: “You’re supposed to want to play football. How about you play baseball?”\n12 AJ: Okay. Yeah.\n13 TM: And I’m, like, “No? Actually I think I’m pretty good, like, staying over here, thank you.”\n14 AJ: Okay! Wow, that’s funny. DId you - did you try sports at all?\n15 TM: I tried it. Hated it.\n16 AJ: Hated it.\n17 TM: Hated it.\n18 AJ: Yeah.\n19 TM: But…\n20 AJ: So sports and athletics not your thing, huh?\n21 TM: Mm-mm. Only sport that I did like was running. That’s the only sport that I did like and that I\n22 really connected to, because when you’re running, you just lose yourself, and just - just go for it.\n23 AJ: Yeah.\n24 TM: And -\n25 AJ: And running is kind of genderless, right?\n26 TM: Exactly.\n27 AJ: Yeah.\n28 TM: So that was - that was the one sport that I really did connect to. But other than that, I was just\n29 like, screw sports.\n30 AJ: Yeah. Cool. So you realized at a very early age. But I’m sure you didn’t necessarily come out as\n31 being trans -\nTaya Mitchell 7\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nTM: Right. I 1 didn’t come out -\n2 AJ: - at that time.\n3 TM: I didn’t come out at that time at all.\n4 AJ: So what are some of the, sort of, terms that you used to describe yourself over time?\n5 TM: Okay. So, at first I thought, “Hey, maybe I’m just, like, a really really gay boy.” So I identified as a\n6 gay male until...I would say I was about, like, twenty-one. But even then - even then, like,\n7 everything was, like, more on the transfeminine side.\n8 AJ: Yeah. Yeah.\n9 TM: Even though I didn’t have a name for it, or I couldn’t vocalize it, how I wanted it to.\n10 AJ: Sure.\n11 TM: I think it was always there, I just didn’t have a label for it.\n12 AJ: Label for it. Yeah. Yeah. So in - so you went through a period of sort of identifying as a gay\n13 person. And then -\n14 TM: Yeah, I came out when I was twelve years old as a gay boy.\n15 AJ: Really? Oh, wow.\n16 TM: So it was just like - it’s just been there.\n17 AJ: How did your grandparents react to that?\n18 TM: My - okay, my grand - my granddad was, like, oh, okay, we already knew.\n19 AJ: Oh, really?\n20 TM: My grandma was, like, “Um, I don’t want you - I don’t want you to get hurt.”\n21 AJ: Right.\n22 TM: “But I support you, and I love you.”\n23 AJ: Yeah.\n24 TM: “And I’m not go - I’m not going to do anything to - I’m going to love you unconditionally and I’m\n25 not going to shun you out or shut you out or anything.”\n26 AJ: Right.\n27 TM: But she - she was definitely worried about my safety.\n28 AJ: Worried about your safety. Which is under - parents do that.\n29 TM: Yeah. Yeah.\n30 AJ: Whether you come out as gay or not, like -\nTaya Mitchell 8\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 TM: Yeah.\n2 AJ: - they - they’re - they worry about their children, so. So that’s understandable. But you still have\n3 a relationship with your family.\n4 TM: Yeah.\n5 AJ: Even since you came out as being transgender?\n6 TM: Yes.\n7 AJ: Yeah.\n8 TM: Yeah. I mean, we talk every now and then. Either she’ll reach out to me - my grandma will reach\n9 out to me, or I’ll reach out to her, sometimes. But it’s not, like, a consistent kind of thing. It’s\n10 like, every - every month or so, she’ll be like “Hey, how are you doing? Is everything good, like,\n11 are you still working, blah blah blah.”\n12 AJ: Sure. Do you go visit for the holidays or anything like that, or…?\n13 TM: Last time I saw my grandma -\n14 AJ: I know it’s pretty expensive to get out to California, but...\n15 TM: Yeah. Last time I saw my grandmother was in...October.\n16 AJ: Okay.\n17 TM: Like, a little bit before my birthday. And we hugged, and, you know, talked for a minute, and\n18 then - because I was going to Texas.\n19 AJ: Oh, okay.\n20 TM: Yeah.\n21 AJ: Wow. So - so that’s great. You still have a - a good...\n22 TM: Yeah, a good relationship -\n23 AJ: Relationship. Not close, ‘cause you’re just physically not in the same place.\n24 TM: Yeah, not close. Right.\n25 AJ: But emotionally close.\n26 TM: Yeah. Definitely.\n27 AJ: Yeah. I love that. What challenges have you faced since you have began to express your true\n28 gender identity?\n29 TM: So many. Just, like, a lack of access to - to jobs, and a lack of access to, like, stability, as far as,\n30 like, housing, and a lot of just, like - just, like, navigating through the world. It’s - it’s - I think it’s\n31 a bit harder as a trans person.\nTaya Mitchell 9\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nAJ: Yeah. Yeah. I would agree. What are some specific things that you have 1 encountered in your\n2 journey?\n3 TM: Okay. I applied for - I applied for an apartment and - was that Burnsville, or something?\n4 And...like, when I - when I filled the application out, I filled it out as a female, but on my - on\n5 my..\n6 AJ: ID...\n7 TM: ID, it says male.\n8 AJ: Right.\n9 TM: And, like, after that, we went through the interview process, I had the deposit, blah blah blah, all\n10 that stuff. And after that it was just, like, “Okay, we’ll be calling you to - to schedule - to show\n11 you the apartment.” All that stuff. And then, like, after - it was just, like, nothing. Absolutely\n12 nothing.\n13 AJ: Wow.\n14 TM: So that was, like, some form of housing discrimination.\n15 AJ: Yeah, absolutely.\n16 TM: And there’s - there’s been, like, just - just times when I’m in public where it’s just, like, I don’t\n17 know. I don’t know how to describe it.\n18 AJ: You ever experienced, like, street harassment?\n19 TM: Oh, yeah. Every day. All day.\n20 AJ: Really. Oh, no.\n21 TM: Yeah. I try to - I try to, like, keep earphones in.\n22 AJ: Right?\n23 TM: I try to keep earphones in so if - like, if I don’t - if it doesn’t register to, like, my senses, it’s not\n24 happening.\n25 AJ: Sure.\n26 TM: But it happens everyday and it’s - it’s a reality that I have to face, but I try to - I try to deal with it\n27 as less as possible.\n28 AJ: Yeah. Wow. I mean, you’re so beautiful, I can’t imagine people -\n29 TM: Thank you.\n30 AJ: - just checking you like that on the street.\n31 TM: Yeah.\n32 AJ: But - but I know it happens. It does happen. What have been some of the positive things that\nTaya Mitchell 10\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nyou’ve experienced 1 since coming out?\n2 TM: The positive things - it’s just, I get to be myself!\n3 AJ: Yes.\n4 TM: And I get to just, like, just live my life and be happy in my own skin, which is something that, like,\n5 now that I’m getting older, and just, like, coming more into my womanhood, it’s just - it’s so\n6 refreshing. And I think that just, like - just learning to love myself and just be myself for exactly\n7 how I am, I think that far outweighs all of this - all of the discrimination, all of the street\n8 harassment. I think that far outweighs all of that stuff.\n9 AJ: Oh, my goodness. Wow. That’s so amazing.\n10 TM: Yeah.\n11 AJ: I’m - I’m overwhelmed right now. No, because - you know, it is a process to get to love yourself\n12 for everyone.\n13 TM: Exactly.\n14 AJ: Right? No matter who you are. And I think it’s - it’s incredible when people who have been told\n15 that they shouldn’t exist - TM: Right.\n16 AJ: - and that their lives don’t matter, and that, you know, they don’t, you know, that you can’t use\n17 the bathrooms in certain places.\n18 TM: Right.\n19 AJ: You know, to be able to learn to love -\n20 TM: Which is ridiculous.\n21 AJ: I know. Speak on that a little bit.\n22 TM: I only want to use the restroom! I only want to urinate! What is the big deal about -\n23 AJ: Yeah! Exactly!\n24 TM: - like, that’s - that’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy. Okay. Obviously if I went in like this in a men’s\n25 restroom…\n26 AJ: Yeah. You’re going to be extremely harassed.\n27 TM: Yes. Extremely harassed, and probably beaten up. Probably raped.\n28 AJ: Do you - yeah. Sexually assaulted. Yeah.\n29 TM: Like, who - I don’t - I don’t think anyone in their mind that’s going to a public restroom is\n30 thinking “Oh, let me just, like, do some...pervertedness.”\n31 AJ: Right.\n32 TM: It - it just doesn’t make sense to me, because when I’m thinking about, like, if I have to use the\nTaya Mitchell 11\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nrestroom, I just want to use the restroom and get 1 to where I’m going.\n2 AJ: Yeah. Exactly. And there are laws that people -\n3 TM: Right.\n4 AJ: - beat somebody up or rape somebody or do anything -\n5 TM: To a trans woman, it’s excusable, because - “Oh, I didn’t know she was trans.” Or “he.” That’s -\n6 that’s the thing. “I didn’t know he was a trans person.”\n7 AJ: Yeah.\n8 TM: Or “He tricked me.” Which is...no.\n9 AJ: So the misgendering - do you experience that at all?\n10 TM: Yeah. I - I just got misgendered, like, last week.\n11 AJ: Oh, no.\n12 TM: Some guy - I was at the light rail station. This guy just comes up to me and he’s like, “Are you a\n13 man or a woman?”\n14 AJ: What makes people think they can just walk up to...\n15 TM: Rude, first of all!\n16 AJ: Did you know him?\n17 TM: No! I didn’t know him at all! I just walked away.\n18 AJ: He’s not a friend of yours?\n19 TM: Not a friend. Just some stranger just comes up to me, “Are you a man or a woman.” And I was\n20 just like...No. Just don’t even talk to me.\n21 AJ: Right.\n22 TM: Like…\n23 AJ: Yeah.\n24 TM: I would have - like, if he had said, “Hey, can I ask you a question? What pronouns do you use?”\n25 AJ: Right.\n26 TM: That would have been - I would have been, like, okay, I use she and her, but I am transwoman.\n27 So I’m very open about who I am.\n28 AJ: Sure. Yeah.\n29 TM: And I just don’t - I don’t hide it. It is what it is.\n30 AJ: Yeah.\nTaya Mitchell 12\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nTM: But, like, is - it’s just in how you 1 approach people.\n2 AJ: Sure.\n3 TM: I felt like that was very rude and it made me feel, like - it made me feel like crap, to be honest.\n4 AJ: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, I can imagine. I - I’ve experienced it myself, so I know -\n5 TM: Yeah.\n6 AJ: - how it can make one feel. I’m sorry that you experienced that, but - but it does kind of come...\n7 TM: It comes with the territory, I guess.\n8 AJ: Yeah. When is the first time you ever saw another trans person?\n9 TM: The first time I saw a trans person...I don’t know. But I do know the first time that a trans person\n10 approached me, as far as becoming trans, it was - it was Pride 2013. This woman stopped me in\n11 a bar and she was, like, “Hey. Are you transitioning?”\n12 AJ: Oh wow.\n13 TM: And I was like, “Uh, no, what’s that?” And she was, like, “It’s a process to become a\n14 woman.”And I was like, “Oh, okay.” And she was like, “You do want to become a woman, right?”\n15 And I was like, “Uh, I think so, yeah!”\n16 AJ: Oh wow! Did you know this person?\n17 TM: No, I didn’t know her at all.\n18 AJ: So just some random woman!\n19 TM: Just a random trans woman was like, “Hey, are you transitioning?” I was like...\n20 AJ: Okay!\n21 TM: But she’s - she’s the one who led me to, like, start researching about trans people and\n22 researching about hormone replacement -\n23 AJ: Did you become friends with her?\n24 TM: Huh?\n25 AJ: Did you become friends with her?\n26 TM: Yeah, I did.\n27 AJ: Okay! Okay.\n28 TM: She - she’s in Atlanta now, but…\n29 AJ: Okay.\n30 TM: Yeah, we actually did become friends after that. Yeah.\nTaya Mitchell 13\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nAJ: Wow. 1 So she sort of -\n2 TM: She - she -\n3 AJ: - connected you to resources, and to…?\n4 TM: She didn’t connect me to resources, she told me to - she told me to look it up, and then, like\n5 after I looked it up, I found her - or I saw her, like, downtown or somewhere. We - we connected\n6 again.\n7 AJ: Right. Right.\n8 TM: And we exchanged numbers.\n9 AJ: Okay.\n10 TM: And, you know, facebooks and stuff like that.\n11 AJ: Wow.\n12 TM: Became friends.\n13 AJ: Wow! So she clocked you!\n14 TM: Yeah!\n15 AJ: As they say in the community.\n16 TM: Yeah, she clocked me and was, like, “Uhh, I want to get you together.”\n17 AJ: Right! Let me get you together right now.\n18 TM: Yeah.\n19 AJ: Snatch them edges right up, honey!\n20 TM: Yeah! And I - I do thank her for that, because - I mean if it - probably for her, I probably would\n21 have still been a gender nonconforming person.\n22 AJ: Do you mind saying her name? Is that a -\n23 TM: Paradise.\n24 AJ: Oh, really!\n25 TM: Yeah.\n26 AJ: Oh, wow!\n27 TM: Yeah.\n28 AJ: I know Paradise!\n29 TM: Yeah!\n30 AJ: Paradise Lashay.\nTaya Mitchell 14\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 TM: Yeah!\n2 AJ: Oh, my goodness. Yeah, we’ve got to get her as a part of this project.\n3 TM: Oh, yeah!\n4 AJ: I think she lives in New York City right now, though.\n5 TM: I thought she was in - last time I talked to her she was in Atlanta.\n6 AJ: She was in Atlanta? Okay. All righty. Well, Paradise is a very - I would - I will call Paradise a force\n7 of nature.\n8 TM: Yes. Definitely. She’s a firecracker, isn’t she.\n9 AJ: Yeah, she is.\n10 TM: I love her.\n11 AJ: I love her as well. I absolutely do. So, to the extent that you feel comfortable, Taya, can you\n12 share any medical interventions that you have sort of undergone up to this point, or - ?\n13 TM: Like, surgeries?\n14 AJ: Yeah. Do you have any thoughts about that?\n15 TM: I haven’t had any surgeries yet. But - it’s something that - it’s something that I do think about.\n16 AJ: Yeah?\n17 TM: And it’s something that is in the back of my head. Like, “Hmm, maybe I want to - maybe I want\n18 to get a breast augmentation,” or “Maybe I should get a nose job” or something like that. But\n19 it’s - it’s, like, way in the back of my head. It’s not a primary focus.\n20 AJ: Sure.\n21 TM: But I do think about it. As far as, like, hormonal, my hormone regimen and stuff, I do take\n22 spironolactone.\n23 AJ: Okay.\n24 TM: And estradiol.\n25 AJ: All right.\n26 TM: Through the pill - both through pill form.\n27 AJ: Pills? So no shot?\n28 TM: Yeah, no shot. I do want to try - I hate needles!\n29 AJ: Okay!\n30 TM: So I will never - I’ll probably never go to the shot.\nTaya Mitchell 15\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 AJ: Oh, no.\n2 TM: But I am looking at patches, like -\n3 AJ: Yeah.\n4 TM: - transfer -\n5 AJ: Transdermal.\n6 TM: Mmhmm.\n7 AJ: Yeah.\n8 TM: Yeah, I am looking at that part - at that. Because I don’t really take my pills every day like I\n9 should.\n10 AJ: Uh oh. Yeah...\n11 TM: But! That is something that I do.\n12 AJ: You’ve got to take care of your health, honey.\n13 TM: Yeah.\n14 AJ: That’s a big part about it. Well, thank you for sharing that. I really appreciate it. You know - I\n15 know, from my own experience, that the social transition is much more challenging.\n16 TM: Yeah. Yeah.\n17 AJ: Aspect than...\n18 TM: Than the medical.\n19 AJ: Yeah.\n20 TM: Yeah.\n21 AJ: So just being in the world, being who you are, being yourself, having people respect you as a\n22 woman.\n23 TM: Right.\n24 AJ: As the woman that you are - is - is really important, but is also sometimes a challenge, to -\n25 TM: Yeah, it can be.\n26 AJ: - to get to that, so. But I think you’ve accomplished that.\n27 TM: I...I would say yeah, I have.\n28 AJ: Yeah?\n29 TM: For the most part.\n30 AJ: For the most part. It’s an ongoing...\nTaya Mitchell 16\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nTM: It’s an ongoing thing. It - it’ll always happen where I’m clocked. It comes 1 with the territory.\n2 AJ: Yeah.\n3 TM: I - at least I think. But -\n4 AJ: And I guess you said, you know, this is who I am.\n5 TM: Right.\n6 AJ: You know? I use she and her pronouns and I’m a trans woman. Like -\n7 TM: Right.\n8 AJ: So it’s not like - you know -\n9 TM: It’s not, like, a bad thing.\n10 AJ: Right. It’s not a bad thing at all, and not trying to really fool anybody, or deceive anybody.\n11 TM: Exactly. That’s - I think - I think that’s the most - that’s - that’s the most important for me. I’m\n12 not trying to fool anyone. I’ll tell anyone, “Hey, I’m trans.”\n13 AJ: Yeah.\n14 TM: Because I - I mean, it’s just who I am. It’s part of who I am.\n15 AJ: How do people respond when you say that?\n16 TM: Some people say “Oh, I didn’t know,” or some people say “I kind of could tell,” or some people\n17 say “Oh, I already know.”\n18 AJ: Really?\n19 TM: Yeah.\n20 AJ: Okay. Negativity - do you get any negativity when you come out as trans?\n21 TM: I haven’t received negativity. Thankfully.\n22 AJ: Yeah. Yeah.\n23 TM: Thankfully. I haven’t been bashed, or - like, of course, like, verbally -\n24 AJ: Yeah.\n25 TM: - abused, but not physically.\n26 AJ: Okay.\n27 TM: Thankfully.\n28 AJ: Thankfully. Thankfully. That’s wonderful. So, looking back over your decision to express your\n29 true gender identity, what were some pivotal moments? Like, I know you said Paradise snatched\n30 you up out of the club and said “Come on, honey.”\nTaya Mitchell 17\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 TM: Yeah.\n2 AJ: “We’re going to make you a girl.” But - no, one - and - and that couldn’t have happened if that\n3 wasn’t already...\n4 TM: It was - yeah, it was already there.\n5 AJ: Who you are. But - but what were some pivotal moments in your life that really triggered - “This\n6 is - this is where I’m - this is who I am, this is where I need to go, this is what I need to do?”\n7 TM: You know what? I don’t know. Because - I really don’t know. It started when I was, like, fourteen\n8 years old. I started wearing makeup when I was fourteen.\n9 AJ: Okay.\n10 TM: Started growing my hair out at age, like, eighteen. Like, slowly incorporating women’s clothing\n11 into my wardrobe.\n12 AJ: Okay.\n13 TM: Or, like, mixing and matching some, like, some - like, it’ll be, like, some masculine jeans and a\n14 feminine top.\n15 AJ: Right.\n16 TM: Or vice versa. Wearing high heels and stuff like that. So it’s - it’s been, like, an ongoing process.\n17 AJ: Sure. It’s not a one time, kind of, one moment in history or whatever.\n18 TM: Right. Right.\n19 AJ: Huh. Yeah. No, and I get that. And - and it’s fine, I mean - some people have that “Aha” moment,\n20 and -\n21 TM: Yeah. For me, it was just, like, “I’m just - I’m just doing this.”\n22 AJ: Yeah.\n23 TM: And I - I don’t have a word for it, don’t have a label for it, I just know I like this, and this is what I\n24 want to go for, so I’m just going to do it.\n25 AJ: Wow. I love that. Anything that you regret in your new life that you would have done\n26 differently?\n27 TM: Any regrets. I wish I would’ve transitioned sooner, actually.\n28 AJ: Yeah. Yeah.\n29 TM: That’s - that’s it.\n30 AJ: That’s what I hear a lot of people say.\n31 TM: Yeah. Just wish I would’ve did it sooner, when I was, like, twelve, or thirteen, when I came out as\n32 a gay boy, I should’ve been, like, “Hey, I’m actually a girl on the inside!”\nTaya Mitchell 18\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 AJ: Yeah.\n2 TM: I wonder how that would’ve worked.\n3 AJ: Yeah. Sometimes it goes over well, sometimes -\n4 TM: Right, sometimes it doesn’t.\n5 AJ: - it’s not so - not so much. So - one of my questions is, has there been a specific moment or\n6 person or organization that’s had a significant impact on you related to your gender identity.\n7 You already told me there’s been a person. Any organizations?\n8 TM: Oh, yeah, definitely.\n9 AJ: Okay.\n10 TM: Definitely. Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition.\n11 AJ: The Health Coalition? Minnesota Transgender -\n12 TM: Yeah - Health Coalition - they provided so many resources, so - like, opened so many doors for\n13 me as far as, like, coming into my own as a - as, like, a woman, and coming into my own as a\n14 community organizing, and doing, like, some of the activist work that I want to do.\n15 AJ: Right.\n16 TM: It’s - it’s definitely opened some doors for me, in that - in that way.\n17 AJ: Okay.\n18 TM: Also, OutFront Minnesota has been helpful as far as, like - like letting me lead trainings, and,\n19 like, doing lobby day. And just, like, opening avenues for Black trans women.\n20 AJ: Right.\n21 TM: That’s - I think that’s so important for us to be represented and in a city where it’s\n22 predominantly white.\n23 AJ: Yes.\n24 TM: And - like, there’s not - there’s not a lot of Black trans representation, especially on the feminine\n25 side.\n26 AJ: Right.\n27 TM: So I - yeah. I think OutFront is definitely one of them.\n28 AJ: OutFront has been part of that.\n29 TM: Mmhmm.\n30 AJ: Okay. Yeah. Any other organizations or groups or…? I know I saw you voguing once.\n31 TM: Yeah! Yeah.\nTaya Mitchell 19\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nAJ: And - which is a part of, sort of, 1 house ball culture.\n2 TM: Yeah, house ballroom.\n3 AJ: Yeah.\n4 TM: Right. I am in the House of Valentino.\n5 AJ: The House of Valentino.\n6 TM: Yes.\n7 AJ: Tell me about the house scene - like -\n8 TM: It’s - it’s a lot of fun.\n9 AJ: Yeah?\n10 TM: Yeah. It’s a lot of fun because, like, if - if you’re going to - if you’re going to a ball in, say, like, DC,\n11 or - or like, Florida, people from all over the country come. And it’s just like a big networking\n12 opportunity. So you meet so many brilliant, wonderful trans and - and, like, just Black LGBT\n13 people. It’s amazing.\n14 AJ: Wow.\n15 TM: And - I - I love being in House.\n16 AJ: Yeah?\n17 TM: I do!\n18 AJ: So the House of Valentino - is that here?\n19 TM: Yeah, it’s here in -\n20 AJ: Twin Cities?\n21 TM: It’s here in the Twin Cities, and it’s also - we also have chapters in Texas, Chicago, Detroit. We\n22 have - we’re building a chapter in Atlanta. So we’re pretty much nationwide. We have a chapter\n23 in New York, and Boston.\n24 AJ: Oh, my goodness.\n25 TM: Yeah.\n26 AJ: It’s a powerful network, all over the place.\n27 TM: Yeah.\n28 AJ: What kind of - so there’s this performance aspect to it, like going to the balls and things.\n29 TM: Yes.\n30 AJ: But what happens sort of in between? And, you know, I’ve seen Paris is Burning, and - and films,\n31 and there’s all kind of - sort of ball culture online, but - but what’s your experience like? Do you -\nTaya Mitchell 20\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\ndo you live in a house? Do you live in the house or do people live in a 1 house together here, in\n2 the House of Valentino? Is that a thing?\n3 TM: So - so - so at one point, yes, I did live in a house with two of my - I lived with a house sister and\n4 a house brother.\n5 AJ: Okay.\n6 TM: And that - that process was interesting.\n7 AJ: Okay.\n8 TM: It was interesting. A lot - a lot of - a lot of, like, what goes on in between from, like, this ball to\n9 this ball, it’s a lot of, like - it’s like, underground, and like, a little bit hush-hush.\n10 AJ: Right.\n11 TM: But it’s like, “Okay, this house shaded us, so we - we - we’re going to go for them!”\n12 AJ: Right.\n13 TM: “We’re going to get them at the ball!”\n14 AJ: Yeah.\n15 TM: But it’s like -\n16 AJ: Competition, though, right?\n17 TM: It’s - right - it’s like, comp - it’s, like, competition. So it’s, like - it’s - it’s fun to, like, be able to\n18 express yourself, and - and just, like, do what you love, basically.\n19 AJ: Yeah.\n20 TM: And it’s - it’s expensive, too. I will say that.\n21 AJ: Why is it so expensive?\n22 TM: Because - okay. You have to - like, being in a house, you - you’re expected to have a certain\n23 amount of...like, the - the effect that you - that you put on, you’re - you’re expected to, like, be a\n24 step above someone who isn’t in a house.\n25 AJ: Okay.\n26 TM: And then, like, being in the House of Valentino, which - that name itself is like, a fashion house.\n27 AJ: Sure.\n28 TM: An expensive fashion house. So it’s - it’s, like, a step above that.\n29 AJ: Above. Right.\n30 TM: So that’s, like - and then, like, putting into - putting money into your effect, and then traveling,\n31 and then housing yourself while you’re going to, like, these different balls and stuff.\nTaya Mitchell 21\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 AJ: Sure.\n2 TM: And then on top of that, like, paying for the ball itself, which can sometimes be, like, fifty dollars\n3 to get in.\n4 AJ: Oh, wow. Okay.\n5 TM: Yeah. So it’s -\n6 AJ: And when you say effect, you mean, like, your hair, your makeup, your clothes?\n7 TM: Your hair, your makeup, your clothes, like - if they’re calling for - if they’re asking for, like, a\n8 specific look, make - sometimes you have to, like, go out and search for that.\n9 AJ: Sure.\n10 TM: And, like, it can be expensive.\n11 AJ: Yeah. What could be a look that they might say “This is the look for tonight”?\n12 TM: Okay. So. I’m going for - I’m going to a ball in Texas.\n13 AJ: Okay.\n14 TM: And I - in June. And the effect is calling for a church lady look.\n15 AJ: Wow.\n16 TM: Right!\n17 AJ: Okay!\n18 TM: So I’m thinking - I’m thinking I want to get, like, a big Easter hat -\n19 AJ: Big hat.\n20 TM: And like, a nice blazer and, like, skirt set, but definitely, like, of quality.\n21 AJ: Right. Yes,\n22 TM: So I’m going to put some effort into that. Plus I want to do something extra, because I am in a\n23 house, and, like, give out, like, a flyer for, like, a revival or something.\n24 AJ: Right? Oh, wow! Okay!\n25 TM: So - right! So - so, like, when it’s -\n26 AJ: So it’s creativity...\n27 TM: Yeah. It’s like - it’s - it’s a whole bunch of creativity. Like, that - that are put into these balls.\n28 AJ: Sure. Oh, my goodness.\n29 TM: Yeah.\n30 AJ: It’s - it’s a culture. You’ve - you’ve said a sort of subculture underground.\nTaya Mitchell 22\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 TM: Yeah.\n2 AJ: But I think it - it creates family and network, for -\n3 TM: Yeah, it does. It definitely does.\n4 AJ: - transgender and gender nonconforming people to have a - a way of supporting each other.\n5 TM: Right. And a way of, like, connecting with each other, and, like, lifting each other up.\n6 AJ: Yeah. Yeah.\n7 TM: And just - I - I would say, like, House of Valentino, I really feel connected to the members, and I\n8 actually feel like there’s a strong, strong, strong, like, focus on family rather than balls.\n9 AJ: Okay. So the ball is sort of -\n10 TM: It’s like - it’s like something that we do for fun.\n11 AJ: Right.\n12 TM: But we want to make sure that we do do them, because we are, you know, we do - we are a\n13 house that walks balls, but, like, focused on, like, family, and making sure each other are strong,\n14 and making sure each other are stable and stuff like that. Yeah.\n15 AJ: Yeah. Is there any sort of political aspect to the balls? Like, I know I’ve been to a couple and\n16 there will be people sort of doing HIV/AIDS advocacy, and -\n17 TM: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Definitely\n18 AJ: Other kinds of resources. Do you experience that when you go to them?\n19 TM: Mmhmm. Yeah, there’s - there’s always - there’s always an incentive to make sure that\n20 everyone is, like, practicing safe sex, and, like, making sure they know their status.\n21 AJ: Yeah.\n22 TM: And, like, even voting, like, there’s - there’s been, like -\n23 AJ: Oh, really?\n24 TM: - an emphasis on that at some balls. Yeah. Definitely.\n25 AJ: Yeah. No, that’s what’s up, man. Because people are sort of in this underground culture, we’ve\n26 got to figure out ways to connect people to the broader culture, right?\n27 TM: Exactly.\n28 AJ: Yeah. That’s what’s up. Talk to me a little bit, Taya, about romance, and love, and relationships.\n29 TM: Okay!\n30 AJ: Are you - are you in love? And how - and - and then - in more importantly, how has - has\n31 your...love life, your sexuality, been impacted by your gender identity?\nTaya Mitchell 23\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nTM: Okay. Am I in love? 1 No. I’m single.\n2 AJ: Okay.\n3 TM: I do date, every now and then. I do go on a date every now and then.\n4 AJ: Yeah.\n5 TM: I have been in relationships since - since I’ve transitioned.\n6 AJ: Okay. Yeah.\n7 TM: It was fun while it lasted, I guess.\n8 AJ: Yeah.\n9 TM: I just - I just felt like - just, wasn’t - it was going in a direction that I didn’t want to go, so I just\n10 washed my hands of it.\n11 AJ: Okay. So you called it off.\n12 TM: Yeah.\n13 AJ: Okay.\n14 TM: Yeah. It was going - like, it was getting too serious too quick, so I just - I was just like, no.\n15 AJ: Wow. Okay. Yeah, you are only twenty-five years old, after all.\n16 TM: Right. Right. It is challenging being a trans woman and dating. Because people - like, some guys\n17 only like trans women, and most of them are looking for sex.\n18 AJ: Right.\n19 TM: It’s not something I’m interested in. Or - and then, on the flip side, it’s like, men who’ve never\n20 been with a trans woman, and probably have thought about it or want to experience it, and it’s\n21 something - it’s not something that they’re used to, so they want to hide it behind closed doors.\n22 AJ: Sure.\n23 TM: I’m not into that.\n24 AJ: Yeah.\n25 TM: I’m - I’m - I’m not - I’m just not here for it. And I - I think the other - the other guys that I’ve\n26 come in contact with, they’re like...they - they say they’re straight men, or whatever, and I - I\n27 think they’re straight men.\n28 AJ: Yeah.\n29 TM: Because I’m a woman, and...whatever. But it’s - it’s a lot of, like - it’s a lot of weeding through\n30 BS, and weeding out, like, trying to find the right guy who complements my personality, first of\n31 all. Just, like, who I have, just, like, a chemistry with.\nTaya Mitchell 24\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 AJ: Right.\n2 TM: Yeah. And - it’s - it’s a lot that goes into it.\n3 AJ: Which is a challenge for anybody, you know. But I - I do think that a transgender identity makes\n4 it harder.\n5 TM: Makes it a little more difficult, yes. Dating is hard for anyone.\n6 AJ: Yes. It is.\n7 TM: And then being trans on top of that, it’s just like oh…kay.\n8 AJ: Yeah. Yeah, it’s pretty -\n9 TM: What did I get myself into?\n10 AJ: - pretty challenging for Black women, too, just -\n11 TM: Right.\n12 AJ: - all Black women.\n13 TM: It’s either fetish -\n14 AJ: Yeah.\n15 TM: - or just like, you’re overlooked. And then I’m a dark woman on top of that. So it’s even more.\n16 But it’s - it’s been fun.\n17 AJ: What is that - how - so being a dark woman. You - you mentioned that, so I’m going to follow up\n18 on it, like -\n19 TM: Please.\n20 AJ: What does that mean to you?\n21 TM: My darkness is beautiful.\n22 AJ: Okay.\n23 TM: I love my dark skin.\n24 AJ: Yeah.\n25 TM: But I - I do feel like I’m discriminated against sometimes. Because of dark skin.\n26 AJ: By other...\n27 TM: By other - by -\n28 AJ: Black people?\n29 TM: By other Black people, by some white people. Even, like, people in the trans community will be,\n30 like, oh, that’s just, like, a dark girl, she’s not going to do. You know?\nTaya Mitchell 25\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nAJ: Wow. Okay. No wonder people be throwing shade at me, I’m - I’m a dark 1 girl, I never knew.\n2 TM: Yeah. That may be a part of it.\n3 AJ: What’s your sexual orientation?\n4 TM: I am a - I say, “I’m straight or whatever.”\n5 AJ: Okay. Straight or whatever. Okay. That tells me a lot, Taya.\n6 TM: The “or whatever” part comes because I - I think I gravitate more towards pansexual men, or\n7 more bisexual men.\n8 AJ: Okay.\n9 TM: Rather than a straight man. Because I’m not - I can’t - I can’t give a straight man a child. And I\n10 kind of don’t want to get married in the traditional sense. So I feel like, for me to get in a - like, a\n11 serious relationship with a straight man would be, like, a waste of his time, because, like, a lot -\n12 unless - unless he’s someone who - who doesn’t want kids, and all that good - like, all that stuff,\n13 and like, family life, and stuff like that.\n14 AJ: Sure.\n15 TM: Like, unless it’s someone who’s not interested in that, then I’m open to, like, exploring that\n16 option.\n17 AJ: Right, right.\n18 TM: But for the most part, it’s like, I’d rather be - I’d rather be with, like, a - a bi man or a pansexual\n19 man.\n20 AJ: Okay. All right. So - but you’re pretty into male-identified bodies - people.\n21 TM: Yes. Yes.\n22 AJ: Have there been any times when institutions have been either really helpful or really\n23 insensitive? And when I say institutions, I mean, like, the medical industry, or the criminal justice\n24 system, schools, or - you know, hospitals, that kind of thing.\n25 TM: So I haven’t been discriminated in the medical or schooling. What was the other one? What was\n26 the other one that you mentioned?\n27 AJ: In - criminal justice.\n28 TM: Criminal justice, I haven’t been arrested, but I know if I do, I’m going to be put in the male - the\n29 male jail cell.\n30 AJ: Right.\n31 TM: So I try to avoid that at all cost.\n32 AJ: At all cost.\n33 TM: Yeah. At all cost.\nTaya Mitchell 26\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nAJ: But when you go to the doctor and hospitals, people 1 have been pretty…?\n2 TM: Yeah, people have been pretty - pretty good about, like, my gender identity. They call me Taya,\n3 she/her.\n4 AJ: Okay.\n5 TM: And if they’re unsure, they - they say “they.”\n6 AJ: Wow.\n7 TM: Which I - which I prefer.\n8 AJ: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. You’ve been pretty fortunate then.\n9 TM: Yeah.\n10 AJ: It means the world is changing a little bit.\n11 TM: A little.\n12 AJ: Yeah.\n13 TM: I think - I think with my friend’s case, with Fairview, it’s - it’s kind of, like - I think people are\n14 paying more attention to us now.\n15 AJ: Okay.\n16 TM: Especially in, like, hospitals and, like, clinics and stuff like that. I think it’s - I think it’s becoming,\n17 like, less and less and less of a thing, where, like, we’re discriminated against in those - in those\n18 areas.\n19 AJ: So you have a friend who have a case against Fairview?\n20 TM: Yeah.\n21 AJ: What is that about?\n22 TM: So my friend - I don’t know if he wants me to mention his name or not -\n23 AJ: Yeah, probably not. Yeah.\n24 TM: But he - he is a trans man and he had an incident where he was - he was - he had to go to\n25 Fairview clinic, and they bas - I don’t remember the specifics -\n26 AJ: It was unrelated to his gender identity, right?\n27 TM: Yeah. Yeah, it was unrelated to his gender identity, but they were very, like, discriminatory and\n28 wouldn’t give him care, and stuff like that.\n29 AJ: Yeah. Yeah. Wow.\n30 TM: So he - I think he won that case, actually.\n31 AJ: Yeah. I - I think you’re right. I think I know the person you’re referring to. Yeah. They did win,\nTaya Mitchell 27\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nand - and hopefully changes 1 are happening.\n2 TM: Yeah. Changes our perception on this sex - sexual orientation and gender - gender part of, like,\n3 that whole Title IX clause, right?\n4 AJ: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Title IX protects women and girls and gives access, and it includes\n5 transgender identified women.\n6 TM: Yes.\n7 AJ: That policy.\n8 TM: Yeah.\n9 AJ: Yeah. I’ve got to - I’ve got to follow up with that person.\n10 TM: Yeah.\n11 AJ: To find out how they’re doing afterwards. So, what do you think the relationship is, like,\n12 between the lesbian, the gay, the bisexual community, and the transgender community?\n13 TM: We have a long way to go.\n14 AJ: Yeah.\n15 TM: We have a really long way to go.\n16 AJ: What - what - what - what are some of your thoughts around...\n17 TM: I try - okay. It’s - I hear a lot of gay men. I - I don’t know about lesbians, but I hear a lot of gay\n18 men say “I don’t understand trans people, they’re still a man.” I hear a lot of gay guys say “Oh,\n19 that’s just a man anyway, so, I - like, whatever.”\n20 AJ: Yeah. They feel like they can say anything or do anything, or - yeah.\n21 TM: Yeah. So I feel like - I feel like we still have a - a long way to go socially with the LGB community.\n22 And, like, making sure the T is inclusive, and making sure that we are all, like, loving each other\n23 and supporting each other.\n24 AJ: Right.\n25 TM: ‘Cause I don’t - I don’t - yes, there are some in - in the other LGBT - LGB part, that support us\n26 and love us, but as a whole, I - I don’t think there is a lot of incentive to connect with the trans\n27 portion of that.\n28 AJ: Wow. Yeah. Well, that’s unfortunate. Do you - do you think that - well, here’s what I was going\n29 to ask. Were you involved in, sort of, this whole marriage equality movement?\n30 TM: No.\n31 AJ: No?\n32 TM: No, I could - I could care less about marriage, to be honest.\nTaya Mitchell 28\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 AJ: Yeah.\n2 TM: That’s the last thing on my mind.\n3 AJ: Right. Not ready to get married, huh?\n4 TM: Right. No.\n5 AJ: Okay. Do you think that - that the passage of same sex marriage, though, has any kind of impact\n6 on the trans community, either negative or positive?\n7 TM: Definitely. We can get married anywhere now.\n8 AJ: Yeah.\n9 TM: So - but - my sisters in Louisiana can get married, or Mississippi.\n10 AJ: Right.\n11 TM: And Georgia. Like, states that would never want to, like, put - like, have another, like, someone\n12 assigned male at birth married to another man.\n13 AJ: Yeah.\n14 TM: Like, I think - I think that is so positive, that we - that we can do the - like, I can go to fricking\n15 South Carolina and get married.\n16 AJ: Right.\n17 TM: Like, who would have thought!\n18 AJ: Good luck with that, but -\n19 TM: No. Not going to happen.\n20 AJ: You might be able to get married, but you won’t be able to go to the bathroom!\n21 TM: Right.\n22 AJ: Yeah.\n23 TM: Unfortunate.\n24 AJ: Yeah. What do you think about that? All of these bathroom bills, and all of this nonsense. I\n25 mean, I know we talked about it a little bit earlier, but just a anti-transgender sentiment that’s\n26 happening.\n27 TM: Right.\n28 AJ: And let me frame it in another way.\n29 TM: Okay.\n30 AJ: So there’s been all this, sort of, visibility that has been happening for the trans community. You\n31 know, Laverne Cox on the cover of -\nTaya Mitchell 29\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 TM: TIme Magazine.\n2 AJ: Magazine.\n3 TM: Janet Mock, Angelica Ross.\n4 AJ: Yeah.\n5 TM: Like, Chaz Bono. Like, so many.\n6 AJ: Caitlyn Jenner.\n7 TM: Caitlyn Jenner.\n8 AJ: Yeah.\n9 TM: The one who - I think - I think Caitlyn really spearheaded the trans movement. Even though\n10 there were people before her, that - that have come out and been doing activist work and - for\n11 so long, I think Caitlyn was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.\n12 AJ: Okay.\n13 TM: With us.\n14 AJ: Wow. And so created just, this whole worldwide international awareness about transgender\n15 people.\n16 TM: Yes.\n17 AJ: Do you think that awareness is positive or negative?\n18 TM: Both and.\n19 AJ: Okay. Say more.\n20 TM: As far as Caitlyn herself, I think she has a lot of work to do. A lot of reading to do. A lot of\n21 learning to do.\n22 AJ: Sure.\n23 TM: A lot of self-learning to do. And a lot of intersectionality work to do.\n24 AJ: Sure.\n25 TM: Because, like, there’s been people, like, Janet and Laverne and Cece who’ve been, like - just, like,\n26 saying basically the same thing that Caitlyn has - has said, and has been trying to do, but it’s like,\n27 once Caitlyn came out and, you know, revealed herself to the world, it was just like a boom.\n28 AJ: Right. Yeah, like oh my god, this is new!\n29 TM: Yeah. Yeah. It was, like, oh, this is new, when trans people have been around since the\n30 beginning of time.\n31 AJ: Right.\nTaya Mitchell 30\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 TM: So.\n2 AJ: Exactly. So - so that’s the good part. What’s the - what’s the - you said it’s both/and.\n3 TM: Once again, people not respecting our identities, and not - not taking us serious. And even, like,\n4 even, like, tabloid headlines saying “Caitlyn wants to be Bruce again” when she’s never said that.\n5 AJ: Right.\n6 TM: I think - I think Caitlyn feels very comfortable in her skin. I - I think she may miss aspects of\n7 Bruce, but I think Caitlyn is - I think she’s - I think she’s happy where she is.\n8 AJ: Yeah.\n9 TM: And she’s been - she said she’s been trying to transition since the eighties, so I don’t - I think\n10 there’s a lot of, like - there’s a lot of, like, our story’s being told by people that aren’t necessarily\n11 us.\n12 AJ: Yes.\n13 TM: And they’re getting it wrong, so, yeah.\n14 AJ: Wow. Well that’s - that’s a beautiful statement. That’s why I’m so glad that people like you and\n15 others are willing to share their stories -\n16 TM: Yeah.\n17 AJ: - for this oral history project, so that we can have those real, lived narratives from people who -\n18 who are transgender -\n19 TM: Right.\n20 AJ: - and not, just, know somebody, or -\n21 TM: Exactly.\n22 AJ: - their nephew is, you know, becoming a girl, or something. So thank you for - for being here,\n23 and sharing that, Taya.\n24 TM: Yeah.\n25 AJ: What do you think - you know, I know you - you - you think a lot about...trans activism and\n26 organizing around transgender issues and trans community. What do you think the agenda\n27 should be for the transgender community going forward?\n28 TM: Wow. That’s a huge question. What the agenda should be. I think...I don’t know how to answer\n29 that question right now.\n30 AJ: Yeah. Yeah.\n31 TM: Because it’s - it’s so much going through my mind, on that - like, what should we focus on. I\n32 think we should focus on, like, find - like, making a way for young trans people that are coming\n33 up to - to be stable, as far as, like, housing. To have access to jobs. To have, like, just - like, to be\nTaya Mitchell 31\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nable to express themselves and live how 1 they want to live.\n2 AJ: That’s a pretty solid agenda, I would say! Housing, jobs. I don’t know. Maybe access to - I don’t\n3 know, healthcare, maybe?\n4 TM: Yeah. Healthcare, definitely. Definitely healthcare.\n5 AJ: Yeah? What is - what is your role in - in sort of trying to create that?\n6 TM: I - what is my role in that? Oh, wow. Just...I think - I think being simply trans, and just showing\n7 up.\n8 AJ: Showing up.\n9 TM: And, like, making my voice heard.\n10 AJ: Yes.\n11 TM: That’s a big part of it, yeah.\n12 AJ: Yeah. I absolutely agree, and I’m so thrilled and delighted and honored that you’re a part of just\n13 showing up and being out. I think that’s a big part of the agenda, is we have to be out.\n14 TM: Be visible.\n15 AJ: Be visible.\n16 TM: That’s another part of the agenda that we - that we do want to focus on. Like, just be visible.\n17 AJ: People need to see us in spaces that -\n18 TM: That we ordinarily wouldn’t go. Yeah.\n19 AJ: Exactly. Exactly. Have you ever worked for or volunteered for any trans or LGBT organizations?\n20 TM: Mmmhmm.\n21 AJ: Yeah?\n22 TM: I’ve done - I’ve done some things for...what was it? I think it was RECLAIM?\n23 AJ: Okay. RECLAIM, yeah.\n24 TM: Definitely in THC and OutFront. So those three.\n25 AJ: Yeah. Cool. What - what’s your performance life like? You told me you’re a performer. You like\n26 to sing...\n27 TM: Love to sing.\n28 AJ: And act.\n29 TM: Love to write music. Love to act. I took a - I took a break for a - for a while.\n30 AJ: Okay.\nTaya Mitchell 32\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nTM: To, like, to find my sound, and to find, like, what works for me. But I’m definitely 1 - I’m starting to\n2 get back into the groove of things. I took - last time I performed was in October.\n3 AJ: Okay.\n4 TM: So I’m - I’m starting to get back into the groove of things, get back into the swing. I miss\n5 performing, actually.\n6 AJ: Yeah.\n7 TM: And I miss, like, just vibing with other artists. And, like, because - there’s so many dope artists in\n8 Minnesota!\n9 AJ: There are. There are. It’s a great artist community.\n10 TM: So I - I definitely miss it.\n11 AJ: Do you ever do, like, drag performances?\n12 TM: I performed drag once.\n13 AJ: Really?\n14 TM: Mmhmm. It was at -\n15 AJ: Liked it? Loved it? Hated it?\n16 TM: It was at Madame, and I ended up winning the competition, actually.\n17 AJ: Is that right?\n18 TM: Yeah. I won that competition. It’s not something that I would do normally, but, like, every now\n19 and then, it’s so fun.\n20 AJ: Yeah?\n21 TM: It’s so fun. I get to be as, like, flamboyant and extravagant as I want.\n22 AJ: Right, exactly.\n23 TM: But - I mean, it’s not something that I’m...it’s not, like, a performance art that I’m - I would just,\n24 like, naturally gravitate towards. It’s more like singing and acting and stuff like that.\n25 AJ: Okay. But you - you do consider drag -\n26 TM: Performance art.\n27 AJ: A performance art.\n28 TM: Mmhmm.\n29 AJ: Yeah.\n30 TM: Yeah, it’s definitely a performance art.\nTaya Mitchell 33\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nAJ: Wow. Man, Taya, how do - how do you think your trans identity has impacted 1 your professional\n2 life?\n3 TM: I don’t think it has at all. Because - I think because I’m trans, and a community organizer, it’s\n4 actually opened more doors for me.\n5 AJ: Okay. That’s - that’s an impact. So it - it’s created more opportunities for you.\n6 TM: Yeah.\n7 AJ: And what - I saw - I know that you’re involved in, sort of, Black Lives Matter organizing.\n8 TM: Yeah.\n9 AJ: And social justice organizing. What do you see the - the intersections of - of being transgender-10\nidentified and being African American? Like, what...how - how do you bring those two\n11 communities together? I mean, I know you bring it together within your own -\n12 TM: With my own body.\n13 AJ: In your body. Right. Self. But how do you - how do you bring those communities together more\n14 broadly?\n15 TM: It’s - it’s so challenging. It’s so challenging, because white supremacy has told Black bodies from\n16 slavery that a man is, like, less of a man because of this.\n17 AJ: Right.\n18 TM: And a - a woman is a man because of XYZ. I think that holds a lot of weight in today’s time.\n19 RIght?\n20 AJ: Yeah.\n21 TM: And, like, trying to - trying to break those stigmas and trying to, like, affirm ourselves as Black\n22 trans people, I think we have so far to go. And, like, even - even as far as, like, having respect as\n23 a Black woman. I think - I think that in itself is a big, big, big thing that we need to change, and\n24 we have to try to - we have to try to break stigmas around - surrounding that, you know?\n25 AJ: Right. Do you - do you find, sort of, transphobia or homophobia to be more prevalent in the\n26 Black community, or in the -\n27 TM: I would -\n28 AJ: - or in the broader community at large.\n29 TM: I don’t know if it’s more homophobia in the Black community - or homophobia and transphobia\n30 in the Black community, rather than as a whole, but we definitely have to work - I think - I think\n31 with this new generation that’s coming up, there’s a lot of work that’s being done to lessen\n32 homophobia.\n33 AJ: Yeah.\n34 TM: And to lessen, like, transphobia and just accept people for who they are.\nTaya Mitchell 34\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\n1 AJ: Yeah.\n2 TM: And I think it start - I think it started with, like, the kids that were born in the nineties, and it’s\n3 just like - it’s just, like, moving on to, like, kids born in the 2000s and stuff -\n4 AJ: Wow.\n5 TM: And, like, that are upcoming, because there is a lot of respect, and there’s a lot, a lot, a lot of\n6 dope Black youth out there that want to love everyone, and want - every - like, want Black\n7 people to come together and just have Black unity.\n8 AJ: Yeah. I saw this - this photo on facebook the other day of - of you, and Rahima, and Michael.\n9 TM: Yeah.\n10 AJ: Who is a very active Black Lives Matter organizer.\n11 TM: Yeah.\n12 AJ: And it just warmed my heart to see the three of you smiling and happy together.\n13 TM: Yeah.\n14 AJ: And, you know, I don’t know what - what Michael’s identity is, but I know that -\n15 TM: Michael is one of my best friends, actually.\n16 AJ: Is that right?\n17 TM: Yeah.\n18 AJ: Well, I know that he is very well-respected within, sort of, the - the Black Lives\n19 Matters…movement, and organizers from other, sort of, racial justice and - and social justice\n20 organizations.\n21 TM: Yeah, definitely.\n22 AJ: And to see him embracing two trans women of color -\n23 TM: Yeah.\n24 AJ: - and, you know, when you post something up on the world wide web, it’s just that.\n25 TM: It’s - right.\n26 AJ: World wide.\n27 TM: Yeah.\n28 AJ: And, you know, a lot of Black men are just not willing to take that kind of risk.\n29 TM: Yeah. They’re not willing to take that risk, and they’re not - they don’t even - they don’t even\n30 want to think about it, actually.\n31 AJ: So - so shifts are changing.\nTaya Mitchell 35\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nTM: Yeah. I think - I think shifts are changing, but it’s going to take a lot of time, 1 a lot of work, and\n2 definitely a lot of effort and a lot of educating. I think that’s a big part of it, too. We need to - we\n3 need to start educating our older brothers and sisters on trans identities and, like, gay people. It\n4 was - it was back in prehistoric African times.\n5 AJ: Absolutely.\n6 TM: You know?\n7 AJ: Yeah.\n8 TM: So it’s, like, why are we shunning a part - a part of ourselves out, you know?\n9 AJ: Yeah, no, I absolutely agree. What are you excited about right now, Taya?\n10 TM: What am I excited about? I’m excited - I’m excited to - I’m excited for warmth. Warm weather!\n11 AJ: Yeah?\n12 TM: FIrst of all!\n13 AJ: Yeah, it’s a little chilly right now. We’re still -\n14 TM: Yeah. I’m excited to just, like - I’m excited to just, like...get new opportunities as far as\n15 performing.\n16 AJ: Okay.\n17 TM: And just, like, I want to travel more. I’m going to travel more this year.\n18 AJ: Yeah, you said you’re going to -\n19 TM: I’m going to Texas, and then I’m going to Detroit.\n20 AJ: Okay.\n21 TM: And then I think I’m going to Chicago soon, actually.\n22 AJ: Oh, wow.\n23 TM: Yeah, I’m supposed to be going to Chicago at the end of May, so.\n24 AJ: Okay. What’s going on there?\n25 TM: A ball.\n26 AJ: A ball, wow.\n27 TM: Yeah.\n28 AJ: Okay.\n29 TM: Yeah, there is a ball there.\n30 AJ: So you’re heavily into this ball scene, this ball culture. Can you win money doing those?\nTaya Mitchell 36\nThe Transgender Oral History Project Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies\nUniversity of Minnesota\nTM: Oh, yeah. You definitely win money. Yeah. There’s some - some categories 1 are upwards of\n2 10,000 dollars.\n3 AJ: Is that right?\n4 TM: Yeah.\n5 AJ: Wow. So it’s worth the investment?\n6 TM: Yeah. Yeah. Rahima actually - we went to a ball last year. She - she was in a category to win, I\n7 think, 1,000 dollars.\n8 AJ: Okay.\n9 TM: So, yeah - it is. It can be lucrative, and it can pay off.\n10 AJ: Yeah. Absolutely.\n11 TM: Yeah.\n12 AJ: I just want to say thank you so much for being a part of this.\n13 TM: You’re welcome!\n14 AJ: Taya - just so delightful to talk to you, and to see your smiling face.\n15 TM: Always a smile.\n16 AJ: Is there anything else you want to share that I maybe didn’t ask about?\n17 TM: I think we covered it.\n18 AJ: Yeah?\n19 TM: I think we covered it, yeah.\n20 AJ: All right, sweetheart. Well, until we meet again.\n21 TM: Yes.\n22 AJ: All right. Peace.\n23 TM: Peace!", "_version_": 1710339103049908224, "type": "Moving Image", "collection": "p16022coll97", "is_compound": false, "parent_id": "179", "thumb_url": "https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/p/1369852/thumbnail/entry_id/0_akif8osj", "thumb_cdn_url": "https://dkp5i0hinw9br.cloudfront.net/a0fab65b896dd26fba2fc45b2c11e8a036f2426d.png", "children": [ ] }