Chris Schenlaer

"It's amazing when my story makes others think"

- I came out as a woman quite recently and feel incredibly privileged. I have never experienced hatred and threats and have never had problems with either my family or in my professional life. Therefore, I have also felt that I have an obligation to explain and tell my story. There are so many who cannot be open about who they really are.

- I’ve always had a drive to tell stories. I have written dramas, been an actor, and will soon publish my second novel. Talking about what it's like to be a transgender person is probably just a continuation of that. I am a woman but was born as a man and many don’t get it. They wonder why and I don't really have a good answer. It's like asking someone why they’re Swedish: it’s not possible for them to explain, but that’s who they are anyway.

- As a transgender person, you belong to a minority and it’s always the majority that defines minorities but still says that they don’t understand how we work or think. We can agree on what is or isn’t the colour red, but that does not work with minorities. We must constantly educate and tell the majority what we are. That’s my driving force, to show that we, who are defined as a minority, are just as different from each other as everyone else.

- It is most rewarding when people ask questions and it is fantastic when my story can make others think about their own role in relation to their fellow human beings or in society. When that happens, I feel that I have achieved something.

- But, of course, you sometimes get tired of telling the same thing over and over again. If, for example, you were constantly asked where you were born, you would eventually get tired of it. If the cashier at ICA or Coop always said, "It will be 47.50. Where were you born?” in the end you would just want to pay and go home. I'm a transgender person, but I'm also a Managing Director at Inkonst and that's more important to me.

- I am an incurable optimist regarding the role of culture, especially a culture with ears much larger than its mouth. Seeing others and being seen for ourselves is absolutely fundamental for us humans. It is important that society creates opportunities for people to meet and have conversations. If you don’t interact with your fellow human beings, your ability to empathize decreases, but you also reduce other people's ability to express their own identity.