We can be whoever we want. We can do whatever we want. We can be superheroes, because in many ways we are. We've had trans representation in television for a while, but it hasn't been the right representation.
The most inspirational person in my life has been my mother.
Because you never know when a transgender person is going to come into your life, you need to be prepared, and you need to be ready to help them.
It's OK not to understand the whole trans thing. That's alright. My dad didn't understand it. I still don't know everything. What's important is you sort of educate yourself on your own time, but you have to respect it on everyone else's time. Because no one should have to wait for equality.
I hope I can help convince people there that being transgender is not a big deal and that we are just average people trying to go to school, work, and live good lives.
I did a guest episode of 'Royal Pains,' and then right after that, 'Supergirl' happened, and I was like, 'How did I get here?' Every day, I walk on set, and I'm waiting for someone to be like, 'Ma'am, you can't be here.'
We didn't have anyone to tell us that what was going on with me was alright. There was no information about transgender people when we started our journey, but we managed to make it through because of the tremendous amount of love that our family had.
Acceptance at home is fundamental, yes, but frankly, it's just not enough. Trans youth, like most young people, spend the majority of their time at school. If you spent Monday to Friday from 8 to 3 being told that you weren't okay, that you were wrong, how are you meant to think otherwise?
Children are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.
Saying it now sounds obvious, but that can be really hard to remember when you're a trans kid who feels like your world's been turned upside down. Just having someone to see in the media is so empowering and validating.
Family has been really important to me.
At some point, I want to create a family and help them on their journey like my family helped me on mine.
What I'm really excited for is to see the evolution of trans characters and see more diverse stories be told, so that every time we're on screen, we're not really playing the part of educator and having to explain the experience to the audience, because it will have already been normalized.
When I was first trying to explain to my parents that I was really a girl, my father didn't know what to do. He had these preconceived notions about what his family was going to be like, and when I didn't fit into those notions, he just ignored what I was trying to tell them before he really came around.
Gender is something that occurs in the mind, and sex is something that occurs, you know, everywhere else on the body. And whether or not those two things happen to align - well, if they do, great. If they don't, also great.
I am transgender. I knew that I was for as long as I can remember.
When we have trans actors play trans characters, people can look onscreen and say, 'OK, this is what trans is.'
It's good to have a free space to laugh and cry and get angry about gender and sexuality. That's one of the things I am the most thankful for from my friends and my family. They've given me the place to freely have gender be a part of our discourse.
There are infinite combinations that people can experience, because no two people are alike, and no two people's identities should be expected to be alike. I mean, we see it in fashion: one size does not fit all. And I think it's, you know, completely ridiculous that we've expected people's identities to be one size fits all.
Cisgender actors don't take trans roles out of malice. I think it's just failure to realize the context behind having cisgender people play transgender characters because we don't see the same issue with sexuality.
