Melissa Sklarz Oral History

Melissa Sklarz was the first transgender elected official in New York, having been a judicial delegate since the 1990s. She has served on many trans rights legislative committees, including the Stonewall Democrats and Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats, and was a delegate for the DNC in 2016. Yet her life before politics was marred by homelessness and substance abuse while struggling through life in New York in the 1970s and 1980s, and slowly coming to terms with her gender identity. Here she discusses her troubled past as well as her vision for a more just, trans-inclusive future. (Summary by Boyda Johnstone.)

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View At: https://nyctransoralhistory.org/interview/melissa-sklarz-2/
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Item Information:

Identifier: tq57nr288
Collection: Audio and Video Clips and Transcripts
Institution: NYC Trans Oral History Project
Creator(s): Sklarz, Melissa
Tennenbaum, Ric
Contributor(s): Johnstone, Boyda
Publisher: New York Public Library
Date Created: Jul. 5, 2017
Dates Covered: 1951 to 2017
Genre: Oral Histories
Subject(s): Caitlyn Jenner
Christine Jorgensen
Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats
GenderPAC
Kate Bornstein
Laverne Cox
Melissa Sklarz
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
Riki Anne Wilchins
Stonewall Democrats
Places: Oregon
New York
Topic(s): Bathrooms
Civil rights
Crossdressing
Elections
Ethnic groups
Gender diversity
Gender identity
Homelessness
Hormones
Isolation
LGBTQ+ sex workers
Lobbying
MtFs
Night life
Politics
Public facilities
Public sex
Representation
Schools
Stigmatisation
Substance abuse
Transgender people
Transgender rights
Transitioning (Gender)
Visibility
Resource Type: Audio
Digital Format: Duration: 2 hours 11 minutes 9 seconds
Language: English
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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