Vignette 1: Coming Out at Work 

I changed jobs in about, I want to say 2003, and at that point I was already out dancing and doing stuff because I was part of the Emerald City. But I made it a point, in starting with a new employer to just, I wasn't going to hide the person that I am. And I'm really glad that I did that because it it's never hurt my opportunities with the company I work for. I work for a large lighting retailer, home lighting retailer, and we do, you know, for builders and stuff like that. So and over my time with this company, and I'm coming up on 20 years, you know, it's never hurt my career with this company. And currently I manage our store in downtown Seattle. So, coming out has actually been fine for me in terms of, you know, what it's done for my working life. It's not been detrimental at all and I'm glad of that. I feel like I don't have to hide anything, and I like not having to hide anything. People just know who I am. My boss has seen the bands YouTube videos and, you know, he's like, well, when are you gonna go play again, you know, we miss you, that kind of stuff. Well, it's nice that. And really, again, I think the band started, was, you know I think there was about probably 4 years, maybe between when I came out, really publicly came out, four or five years, versus when the band really started. It it wasn't something that when I first came out that I wanted to do but as I met other people at Emerald City and just going out, I realized that I knew enough people who were good musicians that we could actually do this. And I, before I came out, when I was younger, when I was a teenager, I played in a lot of bands. If you're a bass player, you can always play in a band because there's never enough bass players.

Vignette 2: Involvement in Emerald City

When I first really came out as crossdresser, I was involved with a group here in Seattle called Emerald City, which was for crossdressers and trans people, as a safe group to come out to and they would host activities. They'd have a monthly meeting, but then there were all those weekly activities like going out to dinner, going dancing, going bowling. And for someone who is new coming out, it was a great resource, and they have a a yearly conference, transgender conference that's also for crossdressers that they do a lot in Port Angeles and that's called Esprit.

Vignette 3: Family Support 

I would have to say, not really a lot of support from the family. Not that they don't, not that they don't support me, and they know I am who I am. But they really haven't ever … I think my mom came out to a show once and I think she's going to come see us on Halloween, we're playing in Sequim on Halloween this year. So, she'll be out to see that. She's 91, so I kind of got to give her a little bit of a pass on the, you know, not always traveling kind of thing, but the rest of the family, not so much. I think they're a little bit, I'm not sure. Again, not that they really care what I'm doing but, I don't know, they're just busy being themselves, I guess. So, but that hasn't, you know, it hasn't hurt anything.

Vignette 4: Joy Playing Music 

I think one thing that people did get to see, especially from, I think Ginger and myself, when we would perform is that, if you look at any amount of pictures of us playing on stage, you will see that we are probably just totally filled with joy. We're working hard, but you could, there's a smile, there's ... people can really see that this is genuinely us, and I think that's something that, regardless of where we've played, people can tell. If you're, if you're phoning it in, they can tell. If you're being the real you, they can tell. And this is so much me, I just have such a great time when I get to play the bass on stage with the band. It's just it brings me so much joy and I think people just see that. And I know that's, I've seen so many pictures of Ginger where she's playing the keyboards or out in front singing apart or whatever, and it's just there's this joy that, I don't you don't know, until you do it you just can't know. It just feels so good to go out and literally bare your soul to people. I think that's part of, you know, really probably any performer that you like. It's part of them, is just that they bare their soul to you in some way that you identify with.

Vignette 5: Be Myself, Be Glam

When I was a kid, you know, I always liked all the glammy bands from England a lot in the early 70s, like David Bowie and T Rex. And so I always wanted to do that, you know when- as I started to learn how to play the bass. And then, [don’t know if this should stay in] so this is like a lifetime dream of mine to be able to go and play and be myself, be a bit glamorous and a bit much, maybe. But that's just what I can put out there and I think people really do like that. And I know, you know, again, I've seen so many pictures of Ginger where there's just this expression of happiness on your face because we're just out there doing what feels good, you know, and it's surreal so...

Vignette 6: Aging and TNH

For me, the performance aspect of it for me is pretty physical, so I don't know how long I'm going to be able to play. I figure I probably got another three to five years before my hands are kind of just ... not able to really do what the band needs, so. And I, you know, at some point I'm going to have to be good with that. I'll probably always play the bass guitar, but to play it with the fervor that the band needs, you know, will probably- at some point I'm going to have to say, ‘look, I can't do this anymore’, and I’ll have to live with that.

Vignette 7: Blossom as a Person

I want to relate that it's been a great experience for me to be able to get to go do this. I'm not sure that the opportunity would be available in rural Washington, you know. I, again, I spent part of my childhood - well, even later on after my parents divorced, my father still lived in, he lived in Pullman, actually, and so I spent a couple of years out and Pullman too when I was young. And, you know, it's just, it's a different thing. And so I'm grateful that I've had this opportunity to blossom, I would say as a person and as a musician and get to go do this. I would encourage anybody, who has musical aspirations especially, to follow them regardless of where they are in this state. I think that's really important. To be able to express your art and yourself and be the person that you are with your art. It's very important to be able to do that. To me, being a better person for sure, much better person, by being able to go do this in ways I never thought possible, I suppose. You know, to have people want to come up and talk to me after we play a show, and, you know, say nice things and ‘thank you’ for just coming out and being yourself is unexpected, and gratifying.