Oral History
Vanessa Edwards Foster
A Life of Advocacy
About this interview
Vanessa Edwards Foster traces her journey from discovering the word 'transsexual' through Renee Richards in 1976 to becoming a pioneering transgender activist. Growing up in the 1960s and navigating isolation through the seventies and eighties, she attended Fantasia Fair in Provincetown and explored Houston's drag scene at The Exile in the late 1980s. After accessing hormones from Dr. Anthony without gatekeeping requirements, rapid feminization led to job loss in 1996, inadvertently launching her into activism. She founded the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition in 1999, lobbying Congress for ENDA inclusion and hate crimes protections, working with families like Gwen Araujo's and collaborating with Sylvia Rivera. Through two decades of advocacy work in Washington and Austin, she learned the art of finding common ground even with opponents like Republican Warren Chisum. After returning to Corpus Christi in 2018, escalating anti-trans legislation drove her decision to emigrate to Costa Rica by 2024. Her reflections reveal both pride in unexpected accomplishments and deep concern about historical patterns repeating, as dehumanization intensifies and violence against transgender people continues.
Highlights
- 0:00–0:49
Vanessa Edwards Foster introduces herself and the interviewer explains the unedited oral history format, setting expectations for the interview.
- 0:49–6:32
Vanessa Edwards Foster describes realizing her transgender identity in the 1960s, discovering the word 'transsexual' through Renee Richards in 1976, attending Fantasia Fair in Provincetown in the early 1980s, and her initial transition attempts in Houston in the late 1980s and 1990s.
- 6:32–9:47
Vanessa Edwards Foster recalls attending The Exile drag bar in Houston's Midtown in the late 1980s, meeting trans street workers, and being rejected by Miss T when she proposed unconventional drag performance concepts.
- 9:47–14:10
Vanessa Edwards Foster describes accessing hormones from Dr. Anthony in Houston without requiring letters, experiencing rapid feminization that led to job loss in 1996, and being unable to afford legal name and gender change at the time.
- 14:10–19:34
Vanessa Edwards Foster explains her entry into transgender activism in 1996-1997, attending conferences, lobbying in Washington DC and Austin, founding the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) in 1999, and advocating for transgender inclusion in the Employment Non-Discrimination Act through 2009.
- 19:34–31:10Activism Tom Lantos Jan Schakowsky Dennis Kucinich Jerrold Nadler Anthony Weiner Warren Chisum James Byrd bill
Vanessa Edwards Foster names congressional allies including Tom Lantos, Jan Schakowsky, Dennis Kucinich, Jerrold Nadler, and Anthony Weiner, and describes successfully lobbying Republican Warren Chisum in 1999 to support hate crimes legislation with 'gender nonconformity' language, though it was ultimately removed before passage in 2001.
- 31:10–42:27
Vanessa Edwards Foster offers advice on lobbying strategy, emphasizing the importance of staying calm, listening to opponents' logic, and finding common ground, while expressing concern about increasingly polarized politics and the challenges facing organizations like TENT (Transgender Education Network of Texas).
- 42:27–49:47
Vanessa Edwards Foster describes returning to Corpus Christi from Houston in 2018, initially planning to retire there but ultimately deciding to relocate to Costa Rica by 2023-2024 due to escalating anti-trans legislation in Texas.
- 49:47–57:11
Vanessa Edwards Foster discusses her work with families of transgender hate crime victims including Fred Martinez and Gwen Araujo, efforts to change media terminology and coverage of trans people, and collaboration with Sylvia Rivera on the Amanda Milan vigil in 2001.
- 57:11–58:10
Vanessa Edwards Foster begins to address a question about positive media representation of transgender people but the segment ends as the camera battery needs replacement.
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