AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS was coordinated in conjunction with the second publication of Visual AIDS' DUETS series, Che Gossett & Alice O'Malley in Conversation on Chloe Dzubilo (2014), which features a conversation between Che Gossett and Alice O'Malley about the art, activism and life of Chloe Dzubilo. DUETS is a series of publications that pairs artists, activists, writers, and thinkers in dialogues about their creative practices and current social issues around HIV/AIDS.

The NYC Trans Oral History Project is a community archive devoted to the collection, preservation and sharing of trans histories.

This program was supported by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities.

Event Photographs by Maia Paroginog unless otherwise indicated.

KATE BORNSTEIN is a world renowned transgender activist, author, playwright, performance artist, blogger and educator who focus on issues of gender and sexuality. Her books “Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us” and “My Gender Workbook” are essential reading in gender, queer and feminist studies. Kate’s books are taught in five languages in over 200 colleges and universities around the world. She lives in New York City with her girlfriend, three cats, two dogs, and one turtle, in whose company she wrote her new memoir, A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology, and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today. For more info on Kate Bornstein: katebornstein.typepad.com

JAY TOOLE is a 67 year-old butch identified (well superbutch identified) lesbian who battled addiction for 37 years, during which time she was homeless for over 25 years, and often lived on and under the streets of NYC and in the NYC shelters. In 1999, she got her GED, she began volunteering with The Coalition for the Homeless as a shelter Monitor. In November of 2000 she left the shelter system for her first ever apartment in her own name. Since 2001 she has graduated from The Resource Training Center to become a alcohol and substance abuse counselor with a award and prize for leadership in education, worked part-time as an out-reach worker to the shelter system on recovery issues at the LGBT Community Center. In 2006 she received the Richard L. Schiegel National Legion of Honor Award for Emerging Activist. In 2011, Jay was honored for her service to the transgender community by the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. She is a Co-Founder of Queers for Economic Justice and was the Shelter Project Director for over 14 years and now is the founder of Jay’s House. In 2014 Jay was honored by Camba (one of NYC largest homeless providers) for her continued work to make shelters safer for queer adult homeless.

Amidst ongoing violence and increased visibility for the trans community is the truth of the importance of trans lives. Tourmaline moderates the panel at AGING FIERCELY WHILE TRANS.