Charles Byrd is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida in Gainesville.  Charles received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Florida after successfully completing an internship at River Valley Services, an outpatient mental health clinic in Middletown, Connecticut. Charles is currently engaged in research on topics such as cultural sensitivity and diversity, health psychology, and the impacts of academic and personal enrichment on children during after school hours. In addition to research, Charles supervises psychology trainees and provides free therapy to clients at Family Practice Medical Group in Gainesville, Florida.

Katherine Cummings was born John Cummings in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1935 and grew up in the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati), New Zealand, Fiji, Scotland and Australia. She has traveled widely, studied and taken degrees in Sydney and Toronto, and lived and worked in the United States during a time of turmoil and political conflict (she arrived the week Robert Kennedy was assassinated and left in the middle of Watergate). She has worked as a reference and research librarian in university and large reference libraries in several countries and writes regularly on a freelance basis. Despite rumors to the contrary, Katherine has not worked as a lumberjack, sailed alone around Cape Horn or modeled for Oscar de la Renta. She has, however, worked as a payroll guard, sailed alone around Cremorne Point and modeled for Madame Lash.

Ms Bob Davis is the secretary of the board of director of the International Museum of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History. Her columns on transgender history appear in the quarterly Lady Like Magazine, the monthly Transgender Community News, and the on-line Transgender Forum. Her writing credits include "The History and Significance of Female Mimics Magazine 1963-1979" which was first published in The Newsletter of the National Transgender Library and Archive. This article was presented at 2nd International Congress on Crossdressing, Sex and Gender in Philadelphia. She is a member of Transgender San Francisco, FTM International, Renaissance Transgender Association and International Foundation for Gender Education. As Bob Davis she is a full time instructor in the Music Department of San Francisco City College and teaches in the Theatre Arts Department of San Francisco State University. Bob is included in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 5th edition, 1998 and 6th edition, 2000.

Dallas Denny is a writer and transgender activist who lives in tiny Pine Lake, GA, the world’s smallest community with a transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance.

Lauren Gustafson has been an active member in various transgender groups in Florida since she began her transition in 1996.  She has spoken at several seminars and workshops, doing her best to educate people about transgender issues on a grass-roots level.  A multimedia designer by profession, Lauren received her Bachelors degree in Telecommunication from the University of Florida. It was there that Jennifer Sager and she met and began their close friendship.

Ms. Nangeroni is an outspoken transgender community activist, writer, musician, and media producer and host on issues of gender. After transitioning from living as a man in early 1993, she became a leading voice in the emerging Transgender movement, serving a stint as executive director for the International Foundation for Gender Education. Nancy is widely known for her active community support and commitment to collaborative activism. She produces and hosts the leading radio talk show about gender and transgender issues called "GenderTalk" which airs weekly on WMBR-FM in Cambridge, MA, and worldwide via the Web at www.gendertalk.com. An MIT graduate, Nancy works as a consulting computer telecommunications design engineer (Ninja Design), where her world-class designs have repeatedly helped her client businesses succeed where others have failed.

Nicole Pool is the librarian for the Resource Center of Dallas, a non-profit organization serving the gay and lesbian community of north Texas.  Before transition she worked as an academic librarian at several universities in Oklahoma.  She earned a Master’s degree in 16th Century English Literature in 1987 and a Master’s degree in Library Science in 1989.  Both degrees were earned at the University of Oklahoma.  She does review work for Lambda Book Report, and has published in the fields of literary criticism and library science.  She is a self-identified trans dyke.

Jennifer Sager is an associate staff member/therapist at the University of Florida Counseling Center.  She received her doctoral degree from The Pennsylvania State University, her masters’ degree from the University of Oklahoma and her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida.  Jennifer’s interests include multiple identities, specifically the intersection of race, sex, and sexual orientation.  She is a member of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association and enjoys assisting Transgender individual with change of life issues. Jennifer has published articles and book chapters on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Transgendered individuals, as well as provided workshops on Counseling with Transgendered Individuals for counselors and psychologists at the local, state, and national level. Jennifer recently co-authored the book Multicultural Responsibility, which will be available in 2006. 

Paula Sophia Schonauer, (her byline is Paula Sophia), is forty years old, a parent of two children, one boy (15 years old) and one girl (8 years old). She is a Gulf War veteran, a police officer (14 years on the Oklahoma City Police Department), an ordained Episcopal deacon (1999), and a columnist for the Gayly Oklahoman (Divinity and Diversity, Reflections on Faith), as well as a post-op male to female transsexual (surgery in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2002). Paula is a poet in Oklahoma City’s Wayward Poets review at Galileos on the Paseo. Recently, she won a spot on Oklahoma’s slam poetry team and competed at the national event in St. Louis, MO from Aug 4 through Aug 7, 2004. She is also an activist dedicated to raising public awareness of transgender people. Recently, she was profiled by People Magazine (2004) as well as several local publications.

Marla Roberson has been a librarian since 1997 and is interested in the diversity of cultural experiences.  She feels that by reading and exploring a wide variety of information, the world will be more tolerant of differences.