Whether you're transgender or not, most of us get to a point in our lives where we can no longer lie to ourselves.

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

Writing a book is quite an undertaking and I wouldn't want to do it just to do it.

We live in an uncertain world and we want to believe that what a man is and what a woman is-I know that. And people don't want to critically interrogate the world around them. Whenever I'm afraid of something or I'm threatened by something, it's because it brings up some sort of insecurity in me. I think the reality is that most of us are insecure about our gender. They think, 'Okay, if there's this trans person over here, then what does that make me?

Who you are authentically is alright.

I believe if we have something that we love to do, that can save our lives. That can get us through.

Just me existing, as an openly black transgender woman from a working-class background, thriving, is a political act. My brother always reminds me that if you are black in America and you're alive, you deserve a round of applause. There are so many forces that don't want us to be alive, and so just being openly who I am, and happy and thriving, is a political act.