Tylene
Tylene Carnell (she/her/hers)
Tylene Carnell is a 62-year-old, white, transgender woman, and a self-described small-town girl. In 2000, she moved from Haines, Oregon, a town of about 300 people, to Portland, Oregon, to find “people like me.” A year later, she moved to Ellensburg, Washington, where she has lived since.
Here, she shares her experiences coming out to her family, at work, and in Ellensburg, seeking and building a supportive community for herself and others – she started Helen House in 2019 – and traveling to Thailand for her medical transition in 2005. Tylene’s story reveals both the struggles and joys of TransRural Lives.
Audio Stories | Transcripts
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1. Finding Community (anxiety, community, lgbtq+ groups, mental health, rural life, survival)
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2. Involvement at CWU (community, community groups, lgbtq+ groups, support, work)
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3. Finding a Therapist (mental health, rural life, support, work)
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4. From Haines to Ellensburg (community, gender expression, rural life, support, travel)
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5. Group of Amazing Trans Women (community, support)
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6. Finding Work and Being Seen (rural life, support, thriving, workplace support)
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7. Out to Family (childhood, children, family, identity realization, parents, support)
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8. Out to Daughter (children, family, parents, spouses/partners, transition)
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9. Community Support (community, friends, medical transition, religion/spirituality, support)
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10. After Summer Party (community, friends, rural life, support)
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11. Esprit Conference (medical transition, support, trans groups)
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12. Programs on Campus (LGBTQ+ groups, medical transition, mental health)
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13. People Seeing Me (anxiety, gender expression, gender identity, survival strategies, work)
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14. Slow Pirouette (gender expression, survival strategies)
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15. Hypersensitive (gender expression, survival strategies)
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16. Not Looking Over My Shoulder (community, rural life, thriving)
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17. More to Ellensburg (anxiety, community, rural life, support, work)
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18. Small-Town Girl (rural life)
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19. Thailand (medical transition)
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20. Thailand, The Doctor (affirmation, medical transition, support)
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21. Thailand, Quality Care (anxiety, medical transition, support))
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22. Returning from Thailand (gender expression, medical transition)
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23. This is My Town (rural life)
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24. Freeing Things (affirmation, anxiety, gender expression, joy, support, work)
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