It really bothers me when I see people doing my mother in drag. I mean, just imagine if you saw people doing that with your mother.

I had felt uncomfortable as a woman my whole life.

I absolutely believe in assimilation. I don't believe I'm any different from straight people. My wants and needs are the same as theirs. I don't look at sexual orientation as that big of a deal. It's just an orientation.

I felt like one of the boys. My friends were boys. In school I related to boys.

Being self-supporting is important to me.

There's a gender in your brain and a gender in your body. For 99 percent of people, those things are in alignment. For transgender people, they're mismatched. That's all it is. It's not complicated, it's not a neurosis. It's a mix-up. It's a birth defect, like a cleft palate.

What mom cares about most is that I'm happy, healthy and enjoying my life.