Listen

Description

Justin Vivian Bond is a Tony nominated, Obie, GLAAD and Essie winning cabaret star and trans-genre artist. Vocal about being transgender, Justin uses V as a preferred pronoun.

The first time Bond took the stage was as a wee babe in a Christmas show at V.'s family’s local Church of the Brethren in sleepy Hagerstown, Maryland, but the rest of the word would have to wait decades before hearing from the sumptuous voice and acerbic wit which made Bond a legend.

After high school and a stint as a counselor at church camp, Bond knocked around New York and studied theater, but didn’t find a niche until moving to San Francisco in 1989. Out West, Bond took a day job at A Different Light bookstore and performed in plays, most notably in Hidden A: Gender by Kate Bornstein, the renowned performance artist and gender theorist. Like Bornstein, Bond spoke shattered simplistic theories, like the idea that everyone who transgender feels trapped in the wrong body.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.