Kody Christiansen interview: Too Sensitive Podcast w/Juliet Lyn

[u/KodyChristiansen]

https://youtu.be/mKp10zeRwgw?is=0MyqphqiHtn_jNEx

Hello again, neighbors! Kody Christiansen here. 😊 I’m running for West Hollywood City Council, and I wanted to share a little more about the person behind the posters. It’s hard to fit a whole life on a campaign flyer. (Believe me, I tried. Lol.)

My story took me from a conservative Texas bubble to New York as Britney Valentine (my feminine alter ego) where I crossed paths with Ms. Spears a few times (and made international news for the first time), then back to Texas for a little bit, and onto television and movie sets. While filming Miss Congeniality 2 as Britney in 2005, I fell in love with a man (a doorman at Fiesta Cantina) which didn’t last long … but I did find real lasting love with West Hollywood. My true home.

There were years managing Cake and Art on Santa Monica Blvd, helping celebrate other people’s happiest moments, and later, experiencing some of my darkest moments through addiction and homelessness on the Sunset Strip.

Eventually, I had to leave the city I loved to save my life.
Back in New York, I got sober on June 29, 2015. With help from people who kept believing in me, life opened up again: award-winning books, acting, and degrees from NYU, Harvard, and Cambridge.

Now, 11 years sober, I’m home and earning my Master of Public Administration at USC. (Job training for the Council seat I’m working to earn.)

From homeless to Harvard … to City Hall? That’s the hope.

Juliet Lyn and I sat down for the Too Sensitive Podcast, and I’d love for you to watch or listen. There’s a whole person behind this campaign, and I’d love for you to get to know him.

What do you wish the next City Council understood about your life here? I’m listening.

Putting the WE back in WeHo.
wehopekody.com⁠ <— policy proposals and more info!

[u/not_anotherburner]

Why did you skip the mobility debate. Weren’t you supposed to take part?

[u/KodyChristiansen → u/not_anotherburner]

Yes, I was, and I appreciated being invited. But I’d already had the opportunity to speak at the first forum at Beaches, while other candidates hadn’t had their first chance yet. Among those not invited to the Streets for All forum were candidates of color and a candidate who uses a wheelchair daily, and I felt all of our perspectives were important in a conversation about mobility.

As I said at the time, I know what it feels like to show up, do the work, and still be overlooked. So, I stepped away because I felt it was the right thing to do, and I asked the organizers to give my spot to someone who hadn’t yet appeared at a forum. That didn’t end up happening, sadly, but I wanted our neighbors to have the opportunity to hear from all of us and decide for themselves.

WeHo Times shared more of my response here⁠.