Obviously the transgender movement has not progressed in the way that the gay and lesbian movement has. But Im an activist - thats just the kind of person I am.

When I realised I was transgender I was so afraid of what my transition would do to everyone else in my life and how they would react to it and would I be rejected?

I've been embraced by a new community. That's what happens when you're finally honest about who you are; you find others like you.

I don't have the luxury of doing things privately.

A lot of parents never speak to their transgender kids again that's not the case in my family.

Deep down, my mom had long suspected I was gay... Much of her anger and hurt came from her sense of betrayal that she was the last to be told.

Around 2001, I started analyzing lesbians. I started to realize that even really butch-acting or -dressing women still had a strong female identity that I never had.