When people have points of reference that are humanizing, that demystifies difference.

The preoccupation with transition and with surgery objectifies trans people, and we don't get to really deal with the real lived experiences.

I'm always skeptical about representations of trans people, especially when trans people are not making the work.

Many in the trans community are fed up with L.G.B.T. organizations that continue to erase trans identity or just give lip service to trans issues. We need our cisgender allies - gay and straight - to treat transgender lives as if they matter, and trans people need multiple seats at the tables in the organizations that say they're interested in L.G.B.T. equality; this absence has been painful since Stonewall.

There's not just one trans story. There's not just one trans experience.

I was assigned male at birth, is the way I like to put it, because I think... we're born who we are... and the gender thing is something someone imposes on you. And so, I was assigned male at birth, but I always felt like I was a girl.

There are lessons in everything. The bad, the good. Our job is to listen, and to continue to learn, so that maybe we get better at this. Maybe get better at life.