Interview with Tamlyn Murray

Tamlyn Murray grew up in Centerville, Minnesota, a country town with farms that Murray describes as having zero resources for trans people. She has two younger sisters and two younger brothers. Growing up shy and uncomfortable in public, she kept to herself, staying away from typical boy-related activities, since it was difficult before coming out to be herself. She was a writer, painter, and artist in grade school and was involved in theater, however. She also lifted weights and took tae kwon do in school to avoid being harassed. Murray came out in 2015 as non-binary and also changed her name publicly. Being non-binary didn’t quite fit, however, and she began to use she/her pronouns. She was denied health care access for bariatric (weight loss) surgery after being asked inappropriate questions about her trans identity to determine if she was mentally stable for surgery. She experienced trans misogyny and policing from within the trans community when she came out. She’s not out to her family yet but plans to come out to them soon. At the time of the interview she didn’t have money to continue laser hair removal, electrolysis, or facial feminization. She is currently on estrogen, spiro, and dutasteride. She was born with a borderline intersexed condition that lessens her sex drive and identifies as bisexual and demisexual, which is on the asexual spectrum. She will continue to pursue more transition related surgery, perhaps vaginoplasty and definitely orchiectomy. She is half Irish, half eastern European. She’s pursuing legally changing her name and gender marker. She was a facilitator for the Minnesota Trans Health Coalition.

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View At: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll97:113?facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+...
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Item Information:

Identifier: h702q665z
Collection: Audio and Video Clips and Transcripts
Institution: Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection, University of Minnesota
Creator(s): Murray, Tamlyn
Contributor(s): Jenkins, Andrea
Publisher: University of Minnesota Minneapolis Libraries
Date Created: Dec. 27, 2016
Genre: Oral Histories
Transcriptions
Subject(s): Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition
Places: Minnesota > Hennepin County > City of Minneapolis > Minneapolis
Topic(s): Asexuality
Bisexuality
Bullying
Change of name
Coming out
Electrolysis
Gender diversity
Gender dysphoria
Gender identity
Gender realignment surgery
Gender-nonconforming people
Hair--Removal
Harassment
Health care
Intersex
Mental illness
Misogyny
Psychic trauma
Sexuality
Surgery, Plastic
Transphobia
Resource Type: Moving image
Text
Language: English
Related URL: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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