In addition to being an accomplished Milwaukee filmmaker, the lead singer of a band, a sex educator, and an occasional Milwaukee Record contributor, Ashley Altadonna is an ardent trans activist. Though we're living in a time of unprecedented acceptance and consideration of one's gender, America is still presently wrestling with boycotts and increasingly heated debates about which bathroom somebody uses. Yet even with that opposition, the world is changing for the better. But is it changing fast enough? And what, if anything, can be done to accelerate society's understanding of gender identity? Altadonna recently joined host Tyler Maas at the uncharacteristically loud Milwaukee Record office to discuss America's apparent obsession with restroom labels, what the "trans" umbrella term covers, gender confirmation surgery, her work in film, and her own harrowing experience.
