I actually run a nonprofit that's all about giving people opportunities to be their own heroes and do their own work.
Visibility has an effect on those who are privileged; it brings more privilege, and on those who are marginalized, it brings more marginalization, because it also brings a spotlight onto them where they're at, in the hood or in certain places that are less tolerable.
Let's not fantasize about having a world of only trans people or only of LGBTQ people. Let's fantasize about a world in which we all can co-exist and where there is just talent that recognizes talent.
'Pose' makes the case that it's important to have some sort of family structure, even if you have to create one. You know, if I go back home for a while, my mom will be like, 'Oh, I didn't really throw you out the house.' And I know so many other LGBT parents who don't really own or talk about the rejection, and it prevents healing.
What I would love to happen is to have people at the top of their game - straight, gay, cisgender, transgender, whatever - to volunteer with us, as long as they have something of value to offer and they see the value in our community.
I made a naive decision, and I joined the Navy. I figured I would use the G.I. Bill to pay for any college I wanted. I dreamed of going to Julliard to study music and acting.
I had always been pegged for being feminine. People would always say, 'Ooh, that's a pretty little girl.' They would talk about my eyelashes or that I was sensitive or that I was crying all the time. I didn't want to play in the dirt outside with the boys.
I always have believed in the value of the diversity and resilience and just, really, the different skill sets that our community has. But we've never been able to find the right platform and find the right environment for us as a community - for us as a professional community.
What I've learned about being trans in transition is just that sometimes good things don't happen when you try to rush things. Just as a young girl grows into a young woman, you know, we transition; we grow into our bodies the same way.
Somebody, just because they are black, too, or just because they are trans, too, or just because they're gay and recognize I'm trans, does that mean you have the familiarity to use certain language? And I don't mean with just me but with the community.
You always have some trans girl saying, 'Oh, they were just being funny! They aren't really transphobic,' Just like you will always have some black folks defending some white person for using the 'N' word because they are 'cool.'
The problem with the spectrum that is trans-ness and where people like Caitlyn Jenner lie, transitioning and being trans is more than a physical thing. Transition is a process.
I was kicked out of my own house and had my own drag mother, you know, a house mother. Things with my family are great now - my mom and dad were at the premiere - but they had kicked me out.
I used to work at Bloomingdale's when I was transitioning, and they didn't want me using the same bathroom as the female employees or what have you, so it was a struggle.
The art of what they call female impersonation, or the drag shows, really helped me to hone what type of woman I was.
We have to learn to be allies to each other. We are in a deficit of financial and social capital, and TransTech aims to help trans people reverse that.
Media is a double-edged sword and has the power to change hearts and minds through authentic storytelling as well as the power to paint a person, or an entire community, in a dim and misleading light.
Being trans comes at a high cost, but being black and trans can cost you your life.
I get by mostly on speaking engagements, but as soon as I try to pay myself, I end up having to give it back to the business to cover operating expenses or other unplanned costs.
Technology has flattened a world where trans people are demanding their rights in the U.S. and abroad. TransTech Social Enterprises is here to empower, educate, and employ them no matter where they are. I could not turn down an opportunity for global exposure that our efforts alone might not have ever afforded us.
