#Bernie Wagenblast

[rythyme]

TIL the voice of the new york subway system is a trans woman named Bernie Wagenblast and she ROCKS (source)

[kenyatta]

Engaging with Wagenblast’s long journey towards self-actualization, I found myself getting deeply affected — I also grew up harboring the feeling in my core that being trans was not okay. I thought I would only embarrass myself if I tried to be a woman, and that I should probably just lean into whatever version of manhood I found least repellent. For a while, that included doing radio, which I, like Wagenblast, grew up with a strong appreciation for— imitating the deep, buttery-smooth tones of classic announcers from the pre-television days. (In an especially freaky bit of coincidence, her podcast interview was even released on my birthday in April.) Less than two years after I’d come out myself, I wrote about the the newly launched FaceApp in 2017, wondering if its transformational filters could have catalyzed my awakening earlier. To my shock, Wagenblast says the app actually helped her in exactly the ways I speculated it could have helped me. “I expected that it would just like, put long hair on me and maybe some lipstick or something like that,” Wagenblast told Death, Sex & Money. “But for the first time I saw myself as a woman, what I felt was a realistic portrayal of what I might look like.” And once again like me, Wagenblast found that realism and comfort in someplace unexpected: a filter that made us realize we could, and did, look like our mothers. “I had been told that I looked more like my mom than my dad, but I could never identify what made me look more like her,” Wagenblast explained. “And I saw that for the first time and it was this light bulb going off, that, oh my gosh.” Cis folks might joke in horror about turning into their parents, but there’s a very specific kind of gender euphoria that comes when you transition into your parent. Seeing a vision of that possibility opened new doors for Wagenblast, pushing her forward into transitioning for real. Wagenblast’s story doesn’t just show how far trans acceptance has come in U.S. culture — it also demonstrates how much trans people have in common with one another, emotionally and socially, as we struggle to find our truest voices and be heard for who we are. As Wagenblast settles back into semi-retirement (she does transportation podcasts and newsletters these days, for all you transsexual train enthusiasts out there), we hope she can find joy in knowing that her life and work will continue to inspire new generations of trans folks, just as she sought comfort in the wisdom of trans elders more than fifty years ago.

The Voice of the NYC Subway Is a Trans Woman With an Inspiring Story | Them

[madamemozart]

I've literally only been to New York once, and that was during the summer of 2022. Of course we rode on the MTA and heard this voice all the time announcing which stations we were approaching and all that. I never realized that voice belonged to a trans person! And you know what? GOOD FOR HER.

HEY HEY LISTEN THE VOICE OF THE MTA TRANSIT SYSTEM, ALL THE ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THE NYC SUBWAY LINE??

SHE'S A TRANS WOMAN AND TRANSITIONED AT 66!!!!!! THE BACKGROUND HUM OF MY CHILDHOOD, AND SHE'S LIKE ME!!!! WHAT THE FUCK

[b0tster]

Adding to the trans asks pile and related to seeing the Bernie Wagenblast news story on my feed the other day (such a great name). I started figuring this stuff out about 6 months after I turned 30 and currently in the final few months before starting HRT about the same amount of time after turning 33.

Seeing older trans folks and especially older trans folks who started later than 33? Fills me with an indescribable amount of joy.

I feel sometimes a little out of the loop with pockets of the online trans community who are considerably younger. I love that the knowledge is more widely available now, but seeing a trans person with grey/white hair, wrinkles and being OLD makes my day every time.

I never thought about the idea of growing older, I never could see myself as being an old man. However, all I can think about now is how much I can't wait to be an old woman. Hanging out with other old trans people and just getting to AGE. I couldn't give a shit about looking youthful, even if I am blessed with a more youthful face.

I want everyone who feels like it's too late to see stories like Bernie's and so many others that it's not. There's always going to be regrets, but the bigger regret is never starting the journey in the first place.

thank you so much for sharing your story. and i totally agree. seeing old trans people, properly old, fills me with so much hope, and i also honestly cant fucking wait to be an old goth rocker granny myself 💙

[aeide-thea]

One of the first voices millions of commuting New Yorkers hear each morning is the measured tone of former traffic reporter Bernie Wagenblast reminding them to stand away from the platform edge. Wagenblast, AKA “the voice of New York”, reminds AirTrain passengers at JFK or Newark that the doors are closing, and hosts a podcast about infrastructure, including episodes on Ohio’s bridges and wildlife crossings in Oregon. But that […] voice, honed by years of practice to impart clarity and authority but not alarm, is changing. Earlier this year, Wagenblast, 66, went on the radio to present herself publicly as a transgender woman, and has this month been participating in US Pride celebrations with gusto, including the march at Asbury Park on the Jersey shore. Wagenblast is still Bernie, but that’s now derived from Bernadette. […] She has had support from the people she knows, even casually. The reception from her friends from Catholic university has been similarly supportive, and she’s working with her high school classmates for their 50th reunion without issue. “It’s wonderful,” she says. “Times have changed.” Hateful comments have only come from people who do not know her, she says. Her relationships with female associates, she says, have also benefited from her public presentation. “They’re comfortable and accept me and it’s been one of the great pleasures.” […] One of the side-effects of a public transition is, she hopes, to give encouragement to those who are still not out. Each time somebody in the subway station hears her voice, she says, they will know that LGBTQ people are part of everyday life. “We’re not just on TV or people you read about that are somewhere else but an intricate part of day-to-day living. I think that can be very powerful.”

[hachinana87]

増えてきたから整理

★★★素敵すぎ写真、制作過程、解説

★★★制作過程、nas のに被りがないかデータ解析したこと、ハミルトンのオフブロードウェイのときはwe knowでローリンヒルの歌詞を借用してた

★★bizziesのラップはヘレン・パクに書いてもらったこと、映画でのお気に入りのギャング

★★★地の文の「ビンのカチャカチャ音を聞いて反射的にwarriors come out playyyyが出てこない方に説明すると、」に笑った。原作と映画の文化的立ち位置、殆ど1人で書いたハミルトンとは対象的だった制作過程、ウォリアーズクソオタのリンマミ

★Encantoで女性キャラクターの歌を作る特進クラスに入りましたので…というのとリリックを書かせるのはあんた��けだよ、とあと実際のMTAのアナウンスのBernie (Wagenblast) にスタジオで収録してもらったて話

★ブロードウェイ視点、theがない理由

★キム・ドラキュラのインタビュー　going downのデモはリンマミ

★コンセプトアルバム10選

YouTube

歌詞

[smashcut]

HUGE win for trans people and train enthusiasts everywhere!!

[jewishdragon]

This reminded me of the story that is going around about Bernie Wagenblast, who at 66 years old transitioned, this is not even a year into her transition. (7 months about)

Shared in a public post on FB three years ago, my FB memories just brought this up;

This guy was 67 years old when he started his transition. On the right he is pictured 3 years on T and just recently after his top surgery, so about 70 years old.

It is never, ever, too late for you. I suspect that's why he shared it the way he did, to show others not to be afraid, if he can do it as a senior citizen it's okay if you can't do it as a teen. Live. Survive. And whenever you're ready, chase your happiness. You deserve it.

[pretty-little-martyr]

it is super dope that my dad knows so many people who are Very Important in voiceover but on god i am going to have a panic attack over him putting me in contact with the Bernie Wagenblast my fucking god

[cavenewstimes]

Transitioning later in life can feel isolating. One social group wants to change that

(From left to right) Portrait of Nicole Brownstein, Bernie Wagenblast, and Patrick Buenaventura at Wagenblast’s home in Cranford, NJ, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Gabby Jones for NPR hide caption toggle caption Gabby Jones for NPR (From left to right) Portrait of Nicole Brownstein, Bernie Wagenblast, and Patrick Buenaventura at Wagenblast’s home in Cranford, NJ, on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Gabby…

[tracygrenier-blog]

NYTimes: The Voice of the Subway Speaks for Herself, at Last

The Voice of the Subway Speaks for Herself, at Last https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/06/nyregion/bernie-wagenblast-new-york-subway-transgender.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

[pashterlengkap]

History-making NBA referee comes out as nonbinary & transgender

Che Flores, an NBA referee touted as one of the first two female referees in the league, is setting the record straight by letting people know that they identify as both transgender and nonbinary. Flores says they’re “letting people in” after recognizing some hurt they felt after coming out to colleagues during a pre-season meeting earlier this year. Related: Bernie Wagenblast, the booming voice of NYC’s subway, has come out as transgender “For me, this change is the culmination of a lifelong dream.” “One piece I was missing for myself was that no one knew how I identified,” they said. “Being misgendered as she/her always just felt like a little jab in the gut.” Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you: Subscribe to our Newsletter “When I started refereeing, you had to look a certain way,” Flores told GQ. “This is the first time I’m comfortable expressing myself through my own fashion and not having to worry about it. I feel one hundred percent myself now. “I can go through the world and even my job a lot more comfortably,” they added. As Republicans have vilified transgender people and banned trans athletes from school sports, Flores knows that her announcement can make a small difference. “I just think of having younger queer kids look at somebody who’s on a high-profile stage and not using [that privlege],” Flores told GQ. “And I’m not using the league to an advantage in any way. This is just to let young kids know that we can exist, we can be successful in all different ways. For me, that is most important — to just be a face that somebody can be like, ‘Oh, okay that person exists. I think I can do that.’” They said they’re consciously “letting people in” instead of shutting them out. “I’m allowing you in my life,” they said. “And then you have the decision to be a part of it or not. I feel like I have a responsibility to be who exactly I am without hiding anything. I am letting everybody in.” “I just feel like just 100% myself now,” they continued, “and I just feel so light now, moving around, not having to worry about anything. I don’t have to worry about myself not being myself.” http://dlvr.it/Sy0zhH

[lovecorecutie]

🌻

The voice you hear on the new York subway system belongs to Bernie wagenblast, who recently came out as a trans woman!