I thought, transgender people are much worse off than I am. That's why they're willing to risk everything to be who they are. But the older I got, the harder it got to stay in my body.

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.

I had felt uncomfortable as a woman my whole life.

People who don't have gender dysphoria aren't going to catch it by watching me dance on television.

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

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

I wanted to show America a different kind of man. If there was someone like me when I was growing up, my whole life would have been different.