Family law attorney Theresa Lyons discusses her life’s trajectory, as well as the societal pressures that she felt growing up as part of the LGBT community during the height of the AIDS crisis and learning and teaching within Catholic school systems. She not only is a practicing lawyer, but also has her Master’s in Social Work. She has pioneered several activities and organizations, including the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion, and is the managing partner of Lyons & Associates, P.C.

Metuchen resident Patricia Willard has always understood how gender plays an important role in how people are treated. She details growing up in Somerset, New Jersey in the 1950s, as well as her careers in music education and her time as a deputy attorney general. Patricia has a transgender son, who is the light of her life. She talks about experiencing her son’s transition and how his experiences have helped to shape her.

Nancy Gale recounts her adolescence and describes what it is like to raise a transgender child. She discusses how she has advocated for her child and how hindsight has helped her see key moments in her child’s gender expression.

Marine Veteran Danielle King talks about the different experiences she had throughout her childhood and the life decisions that brought her to the Robert Wood Johnson PROUD Center. She works as the Coordinator/LGBT Patient Navigator at Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas.

Cory Nichols is the Executive Business Director of the Institute for Personal Growth (IPG). Cory’s mom, Dr. Margaret Nichols, founded IPG in 1983, the same year that he was born. He talks about how, in some way or another, IPG has always been a part of his life. He discusses how IPG has become a safe haven for trans people and how he can continue to support the mission of the organization as well as the LGBTQ+ community.

Erica Cirulli lives in Philadelphia and talks about her experience as a trans woman. She discusses how she has approached the social, legal, and medical components of transitioning.

Veteran Alison Roth discusses taking control of her life one step at a time, especially since she came out as trans in 2011. She is finding balance in her family life with her children as well as her professional life. While it’s been difficult, she is grateful for how her transition has gone and how those around her have responded.

Highland Park resident, Austin Morreale talks about his good family life growing up, and living in Atlanta when he worked in advertising. It took him several years to begin exploring his gender identity, and health diagnoses halted his first efforts in transitioning. Not long after finishing his medical treatments related to health concerns, he started the process of transitioning again. He describes his family’s reaction to his transition, as well as his experiences with health care as a transgender person.

Austin works for the non-profit NeighborCorps. This interview was conducted in 2017 when Austin had just begun working for NeighborCorps. Please see his follow-up interview, from September 11, 2020, that is focused on his work at the reentry program.

James Geller describes his life as a trans man and recounts how his relationships with himself, his family, and his friends have evolved over time. James narrates his passion for technical theater as well as the difficulties he has faced in building a community of trans men.

Jenna Sisolak grew up trying to avoid conflict at all costs. The more that she moved away from those tendencies, the more that she began to express her authentic self. A part of this process was reactive: Jenna went from being a “star” student to a rebellious kid after her parents did not respond well to her coming out that she was gay. This process took lots of time, and included some very low points in her life, but it has also led her to being able to come out as trans.

Kimberly Legregor enlisted in the Air Force after being drafted during her first year of college. She got a job in radio while in the Air Force, and stayed in that career after she left the military, retiring as an electrician and general foreman at Anheuser Busch. Kimberly describes her earliest memories of identifying as transgender and her journey as a transgender woman today. She helps at the PRIDE Center of New Jersey. 

Sydney Schakelford moved around a lot as a child, and lived in a strict household, which often led her to seek her father’s approval. In 2010 she began to identify as genderfluid, and ultimately came out as trans in 2013. In this interview, her and her wife, who supported her through her transition, discuss working together to create a loving marriage, the concept of deprogramming from past experiences and expectations, and finding support within the Transgender community.