"SELF-ish is a narrative drawn from an international life, beginning with some early glimpses out at the world by a girl in a boy’s body. Chloe Schwenke was raised as Stephen in a Marine Corps family, and was sent off at age fourteen to “man-up” at a military academy. Later - and still embodied as a man - she ventured abroad to work in some of the roughest regions of Africa, the Gaza Strip, Turkey, and many other locales.
Her far-flung global journey was matched in intensity by an inner identity and spiritual struggle and the associated ravages of depression, before she came to the revelation of being a transgender woman. At a time when many Americans are just waking up to the reality of the transgender phenomenon, this portrayal of Chloe’s life, her challenging gender transition, and her many accomplishments and adventures along the way (including being among the first three transgender political appointees in U.S. history, under President Obama), creates a poignant story of authenticity, self-discovery, and the meaning of gender set against a fascinating international backdrop."
In 2017, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chloe. She is one of the very few transwomen that I know who managed to pursue a successful career, so I was eager to ask her about how our transitions impact our career prospects. This is what she told me: "Without seeming to be self-serving, it is extremely hard to be both transgender and successful in any career that requires extensive education and other experience – I have been blessed with a resilient (some would say “stubborn”) character.
Also, I did not transition until I was in my 50s, so I was able to access opportunities that “out” transgender people struggle mightily to access, especially in terms of employment and parenting."
"But delaying my transition imposed an extraordinary emotional strain on me and on my family, and without their support and the support of my faith community (Quakers), I would never have managed to keep it all together and pursue my career as I have done.
Even with those advantages, my career has been punctuated by an extensive period of under-employment, grueling ordeals (and multiple rejections) in seeking that “next job”, and extreme financial hardships due to the many self-paid costs of my gender transition and the reality that long periods with only short-term consulting assignments do not pay all the bills."Dr. Chloe Schwenke is an international public policy adviser, development ethicist and practitioner, human rights scholar and activist, researcher, and educator. Her career has focused on LGBTQ+ issues, inclusive development, gender equality, democracy, and human rights. She is currently the President and Founder of the Center for Values in International Development, based in Washington, DC.
Chloe has been a prominent figure in the fields of international public policy, human rights, and inclusive development. She has worked on projects in over 40 countries and has served as a political appointee at USAID under the Obama Administration, as Senior Advisor on democracy, human rights, and governance in sub-Saharan Africa, and on LGBTQ+ issues globally. She is also the author of the book "Reclaiming Values in International Development: The Moral Dimensions of Development and Practice in Poor Countries".
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Photo via The Heroines of My Life.
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