Pride Month Profile – Liam Klenk: Interview With An Award Winning Author

Liam Klenk was born in Central Europe and has since lived on four continents. He has always been engaged in creative pursuits. Ranging from photography and graphic design, to writing short stories, books, and articles, to working as a show diver, performer trainer, and stage manager for large scale aquatic shows and stunt shows. In 2016, Liam published his first book and memoir, Paralian – Not Just Transgender, where he gives us an authentic view into his incredibly turbulent life journey, which so far has presented him with an abundance of challenges and adversity. This also included aligning his soul with his body when he understood that he was transgender.

Hi Liam, thanks for talking with me! We are currently celebrating Pride Month in June, and I’m interested in what that means to you?

I think it is very important. Because we are as a society worldwide not ready yet to be as all-embracing and open-minded as we should be.

There is still far too much inequality. People are even getting murdered simply for who they are. So pride month is still very important for he LGBTIQ+ community.

It will be for as long as it needs for people to let go of labels and simply appreciate everyone as the beautiful human being they are.

There is generally a positive stereotype that the arts and entertainment are welcoming industries for the LGBTIQ+ community – have you found this to be true in your experience working in the arts?

Yes and no. I have never felt open prejudice or had specific problems backstage due to being transgender. However, I have worked in two other industries besides the entertainment industry: in the tourism industry and management consulting industry as well. And in both these industries the active support and striving towards diversity and inclusion was much stronger.

I felt in my show families, people weren’t very interested to find out more about me. Everyone was so absorbed with themselves. Hardly ever did anyone want to learn more about my background or about what it means to be transgender. Whereas in the other industries I’ve worked for, there is an active interest in each other as well as in actively working together on human rights questions.

I’m currently reading your award-winning memoir Paralian – a deeply honest account of your life and work, that details overcoming adversity and many challenges as well as your identity journey. I understand you wanted to share your story with others and make a difference with your positive attitude and appreciation of life, which definitely comes across. What has the feedback and reception been like from your readers who have experienced similar life events? And what have been the highlights for you since you released the book?

Thank you for reading Paralian. And I am happy to hear that my overall love for life and humanity has come through. I have had feedback from many readers, and I must say this is also what has been most rewarding about the whole publishing effort.

Many young trans people have contacted me and either asked for advice or told me how much inspiration and strength Paralian has given them.

Especially touching was one instance when a mother wrote to me and thanked me because she had been worried so much for her son who had turned out to, in fact, be a daughter. After reading my book she said, “I thought she would never have a chance to live her life and do what she loved. Now reading about your journey I know that everything is possible.”

Then in a follow-up eval she told me, “I gave my daughter your book as a birthday present. She is still very depressed. But she loves your book. Together with her diary it has now become a permanent fixture on her night table. And whenever she despairs, she opens your book and reads her favourite passages.”

Being able to have such a positive impact on someone’s life makes me profoundly happy.

How do you reflect on the book now, some years after its first publication?

I have read many books about being transgender myself. I think mine is a rare exception. For it does not focus on being transgender, but rather highlights that we are the sum of our experiences.

My life has been a roller coaster. Starting with being conceived in a multiple-vehicle accident on an intersection. Then being orphaned as a baby, then adopted by a couple who struggled more than others with their own demons: my father is on the autistic spectrum and my mother suffers from paranoia, is neurotic, and narcissistic – a combination that caused her to heavily traumatise me throughout my young years and to never be able to love me. Add to that spasticity in my legs when I was a child, marrying once so my father could stay with his lover, and marrying for the second time, so I could stay in my chosen home Zurich. Then finding out that my soul is trapped in the wrong body. And the many complications this added to my life. It has been an odyssey.

But as such, my life is the perfect example in showing people that a transgender person is just like anyone else. Life throws a myriad of challenges and pain at us. And in this struggle we are united. Rather than looking for our differences we should look for what unites us as each of us fights this uphill battle which is life.

I personally have decided to embrace compassion at all times, for myself and all those around me, no matter what their background. I work on understanding myself and those around me every single minute of my life.

In terms of progress, inclusion and equality I’m sure there are many things I’m ignorant of, so do you feel there are any areas where we can improve as a collective, and be more supportive? How can we all be better allies to our LGBTIQ+ friends?

I think most importantly, be interested and don’t assume. Rather approach people and ask questions.

And saying, “Oh I don’t care. I don’t see a problem. I am good with everyone.” is in many ways just as damaging and furthers inequality as saying, “I don’t want anything to do with LGBTIQ+ people”.

Many people out there are suffering in silence. And for transgender people there are complications non-trans people won’t even think about. For example, when I go on tour and my company moves into a country where transgender people still get murdered by the dozens then this puts me under a lot of emotional strain and anxiety. Then it really is important that I know I can approach people about it. And this needs to be communicated clearly by the company.

For example, when I started working as a SCUBA diving instructor in the Maldives, the management of my dive centre actively approached me and told me that I can always come to them whenever I need their support. We lived in a very strict Muslim culture. So I was very glad they openly communicated that they had my back. And through the years, they always stayed true to that course of action.

In my good decade of working in the entertainment industry I largely felt very lonely and left to my own devices.

Which is why I feel very strongly that most entertainment companies need to wake up, take a stand, and really need to start caring far more about the members of their company. And not just LGBTIQ+ related. People come from all kinds of backgrounds. And as corporations we have a responsibility to actively work towards making this world a better place.

What advice would you give to any young people, those facing identity challenges or who are early in their coming out journey? Is there anything you wish you had known when you were younger, or any helpful words of wisdom that you received or would like to share yourself?

I am fifty now. So my biggest challenge as a young trans person was that the internet didn’t exist. Because of that, no one was really aware yet of what it means to be transgender or that we even exist. It is hard to know who you are if you have nothing to compare yourself with.

That is why nowadays there are so many more children who already come out to their parents. They look into the web. And it acts as a mirror that reflects them back to themselves.

My biggest advice is, don’t buy into the stereotypes. Don’t turn off your brain. Follow your heart and be true to yourself at all times no matter what other people think.

Also, many people will surprise you with their kindness and compassion if you give them a chance. So, also work on your own subconscious biases and prejudices. Be kind and give people time to understand. If they are not in your skin, what seems clear to you is something they might not even be able to grasp.

No matter what though, keep engaging, keep reaching out. And when you feel like you are drowning, look for help.

Go out there. Follow your dreams. You are beautiful. Just as you are.

Links:

Liam Klenk Website

Liam Klenk Blog

Paralian: Not Just Transgender on Amazon

Read articles from Liam Klenk on TheatreArtLife

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