Trans in the Media: A Call to Elevate the Conversation
When I told my transition story in Marie Claire, I led with my adolescent journey of having genital reassignment surgery, a quest that took me from my hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii, across the Pacific...
View Article‘I Am Jazz’: My Intimate Conversation with Trans Tween Jazz & Her Mother...
Jazz's most prized possessions lay in a plastic bin in her bedroom. They're not expensive or sentimental or even something one-of-a-kind, like the shimmering mermaid tails she's sewn together as the...
View ArticleWhy Girls Like Us Matter: Jenna Talackova’s Fight To Be Included
Please assist me in spreading the word by using the Twitter hashtag #girlslikeus when Tweeting about Jenna and girls like us. "Who do you think you are?" That's the question image activist Michaela...
View ArticleWho We Say Matters: A Message for CeCe, Trayvon, Paige & #GirlsLikeUs
On Sunday, I delivered a keynote speech at the Univesity of Southern California's Lavender Celebration, a graduation ceremony for LGBT students and allies. Vincent Vigil, director of the LGBT resource...
View ArticleMy Journey (So Far) with #GirlsLikeUs: Hoping for Sisterhood, Solidarity &...
A few months ago, I participated in a focus group at the Hetrick-Martin Institute with eight other trans women. We gathered to offer insight into resources available for young trans women, and more...
View ArticleTrans in the Media: Unlearning the ‘Trapped’ Narrative & Taking Ownership of...
A friend of mine who is a producer on Dateline NBC told me that a piece on a trans girl was airing on Sunday night so I decided to watch and live-tweet my thoughts. What stood out most to me is this:...
View ArticleTrans in the Media: The New York Times’ Warped Portrait of Trans Women
I was sitting at a coffee shop yesterday with my friend Darnell L. Moore discussing why we write and how revolutionary it is to call ourselves "writers." He then mentioned the concept of living...
View ArticleReflecting on 2012: My Personal Year Review
My fridge is covered with holiday cards, smiling faces of loved ones with summaries of their year. Most I read, some I skip, posting them with a magnetic tack, which I look at smilingly as I sip my...
View ArticleNot All Memoirs Are Created Equal: The Gatekeeping of Trans Women of Color’s...
It's no secret that the queer and LGBT community often only speaks trans women of color's names after our sisters are long gone. Often times, we know nothing about these women, holding them up as...
View ArticleReflections on HBO’s ‘The Out List’& My Experience as the Sole Trans Woman
In September 2011, I sat on a black leather highchair, barefoot and a bit nervous. It was the first time I had been in front of the camera after sharing my story only four months earlier in Marie...
View ArticleChelsea Manning & the Battle for Trans Inclusive Healthcare Without Bias
I am an uninsured trans woman. I have been so for most of my life. All healthcare-related expenses I incurred throughout my adolescence and my adulthood were paid for out-of-pocket. When I was insured...
View ArticleA Letter to My Sisters Who Showed Up for Islan Nettles & Ourselves at the Vigil
Dear Sister, I stood in a crowd with you last night as we cried and cringed, applauded and gasped, embraced and turned away. I was there with you last night and I saw you in all your fierceness,...
View ArticleHow Society Shames Men Dating Trans Women & How This Affects Our Lives
Guess what? Many men are attracted to women, and trans women are amongst these women. We, as a society, have not created a space for men to openly express their desire to be with trans women. Instead,...
View ArticleQuiet Reflections: Why I Chose Silence on Trans Day of Remembrance
I chose silence on November 20, also known as Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day when "we mourn our losses and we honor our precious dead." I chose silence on November 20 because I face exile,...
View ArticleMy Year in Review: The Milestones That Shaped Me in 2013
I sit here in my mother's kitchen, reflecting. This isn't my childhood home. I've never had one of those. It's the first time I've been home for the holidays since I left the island of Oahu to flee...
View ArticleBecause of You: My Letter to CeCe McDonald on Her Release
Dear CeCe, I've started and stopped many letters to you, never knowing what to say. I sent books, instead. Books you requested, books that could probably impart more joy and wisdom and strength than I...
View ArticleMy Experiences as a Young Trans Woman Engaged in Survival Sex Work
At 16 years old, I began trading sex for money. The money I earned I used to pay for the vital medical care my family couldn’t afford. This essay is not a confession. Neither is my book Redefining...
View ArticleA Dream Realized: ‘Redefining Realness’ Is Finally Here
It didn’t hit me that I actually wrote a book until a hardcover copy finally came in. That was about three weeks ago. Though I wrote the book, went through the editing process, posed for the cover with...
View ArticleOn Words & Sheroes: Seeking Possibility Through the Works of Women Writers
I still remember how exhilarating it was to be a 12-year-old with a library card, to be nestled by rows of books by writers from all walks of life, to be able to leave that space with a stack of books...
View ArticleAn Open Letter to Jane Doe, the 16-year-old Girl Who Smiles & Dreams From...
Dear Jane Doe*, I’ve known about you ever since you wrote that moving letter to Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, pleading for your release. It marked your one-month anniversary being forcefully held...
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