Tylene

Tylene Carnell (she/her/hers)

Tylene Carnell is a 62-year-old, white, transgender woman, and a self-described small-town girl. In 2000, she moved from Haines, Oregon, a town of about 300 people, to Portland, Oregon, to find “people like me.” A year later, she moved to Ellensburg, Washington, where she has lived since.

Here, she shares her experiences coming out to her family, at work, and in Ellensburg, seeking and building a supportive community for herself and others – she started Helen House in 2019 – and traveling to Thailand for her medical transition in 2005. Tylene’s story reveals both the struggles and joys of TransRural Lives.

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Audio Stories | Transcripts

1. Finding Community (anxiety, community, lgbtq+ groups, mental health, rural life, survival)

2. Involvement at CWU (community, community groups, lgbtq+ groups, support, work)

3. Finding a Therapist (mental health, rural life, support, work)

4. From Haines to Ellensburg (community, gender expression, rural life, support, travel)

5. Group of Amazing Trans Women (community, support)

6. Finding Work and Being Seen (rural life, support, thriving, workplace support)

7. Out to Family (childhood, children, family, identity realization, parents, support)

8. Out to Daughter (children, family, parents, spouses/partners, transition)

9. Community Support (community, friends, medical transition, religion/spirituality, support)

10. After Summer Party (community, friends, rural life, support)

11. Esprit Conference (medical transition, support, trans groups)

12. Programs on Campus (LGBTQ+ groups, medical transition, mental health)

13. People Seeing Me (anxiety, gender expression, gender identity, survival strategies, work)

14. Slow Pirouette (gender expression, survival strategies)

15. Hypersensitive (gender expression, survival strategies)

16. Not Looking Over My Shoulder (community, rural life, thriving)

17. More to Ellensburg (anxiety, community, rural life, support, work)

18. Small-Town Girl (rural life)

19. Thailand (medical transition)

20. Thailand, The Doctor (affirmation, medical transition, support)

21. Thailand, Quality Care (anxiety, medical transition, support))

22. Returning from Thailand (gender expression, medical transition)

23. This is My Town (rural life)

24. Freeing Things (affirmation, anxiety, gender expression, joy, support, work)

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