Interview with Renae Pagel

Renae Pagel identifies as female and was assigned male at birth. She grew up in Cannon Falls, Minnesota on a hobby farm on 25 acres with horses, chickens, ducks, a goat, and a few pigs. She has five sisters, and she also has a half-brother and a half-sister. She hid her gender identity while in school and began to cross-dress starting at 9. She preferred to hang out with girls and do girl stuff. Her dad trained her to be a mechanic, and, following in her father’s footsteps to be “the man” to overcompensate for transgender feelings, she pursued more masculine type occupations such as the Army. She also still works out at the gym, coming to accept that it’s okay for girls to have muscles. Her mom is accepting of her identity, but her dad died before she came out. When she was in the Army as a mechanic from 1985-1990, she married a girl and stayed with her for seven years. Her wife knew she cross-dressed but Pagel was in denial, telling herself she’s just a guy who cross-dresses. She began to transition and come out in 2012 when she started therapy and going to a transgender support group, deciding she needed to focus on herself. She legally changed her name, started estrogen and testosterone blockers along with progesterone for a little while, had breast augmentation, and scheduled her gender reassignment surgery. She’s interested in facial hair removal as well. She suffers from anxiety and depression and takes medication for it. She’s involved with Pride Network at her job with Wells Fargo in the Twin Cities who have been incredibly supportive of her transition. She works in IT Support for them.

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View At: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll97:68?facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=Transgender+O...
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Item Information:

Identifier: fx719m62f
Collection: Audio and Video Clips and Transcripts
Institution: Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection, University of Minnesota
Creator(s): Pagel, Renae
Contributor(s): Jenkins, Andrea
Publisher: University of Minnesota Minneapolis Libraries
Date Created: Aug. 23, 2016
Genre: Oral Histories
Transcriptions
Places: Minnesota
Minnesota > Goodhue > City of Cannon Falls > Cannon Falls
Topic(s): Acceptance
Anxiety
Augmentation mammaplasty
Change of name
Coming out
Crossdressing
Depression
Electrolysis
Estrogen
Friendships
Gender identity
Gender realignment surgery
Hormone therapy
Hormones
LGBTQ+ relationships
Medication
Progesterone
Support groups
Transgender people
Transitioning (Gender)
Resource Type: Moving image
Text
Language: English
Related URL: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/
Rights: Copyright undetermined
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