"Cisgender actors don't take trans roles out of malice. I think it's just failure to realize the context behind having cisgender people play transgender characters because we don't see the same issue with sexuality."
"My father grew up very conservative, and he really had set expectations for what boys and girls were supposed to be like. So when I came out to him, that did not fit into his plan of what raising twin boys was going to be like."
"We tried our best to work with the school and with the other families in the school system, and we did a gradual transition. I started transitioning when I was in first grade, and every year we kind of tacked a new thing on to it."
"I did a guest episode of 'Royal Pains,' and then right after that, 'Supergirl' happened, and I was like, 'How did I get here?' Every day, I walk on set, and I'm waiting for someone to be like, 'Ma'am, you can't be here.'"
"I always loved theater, growing up, and I was always like, 'Wow, it would be so fun to be an actor.' But my next thought was, like, 'I'm from Nowhere, Maine.' You know, no one's from Maine!"
"I know from first-hand experience that separating transgender students from their peers can cause many to leave school, hide who they are, or even do the unthinkable."
"For a number of years at my public elementary school in rural Maine, I was treated like all the other girls in school. That changed in September 2007 when a male classmate, set on a path by his grandfather, followed me into the girls' restroom. The end result was that I had to use the school's staff bathroom - just me, no one else."
"I am transgender. I knew that I was for as long as I can remember."
"I hope I can help convince people there that being transgender is not a big deal and that we are just average people trying to go to school, work, and live good lives."
"Now that we've seen broader representation of trans identities, I think it's safer to explore the fault in these trans characters and make them entirely human and three dimensional."
"Historically, we have seen cis men play trans women and vice versa. That casting breaks through the fourth wall, and it gives people the message that trans people are being played by cis men in real life, which is where we get this idea of men in dresses."
"I think kids need to watch 'Supergirl' for Nia, because there are more and more trans people coming out younger and younger."
"I think accurately presenting a trans character means not presenting them as perfect - I think there's been a pressure to do this with trans characters. They can have no flaws because they must represent the entire trans community."
"When we have trans actors play trans characters, people can look onscreen and say, 'OK, this is what trans is.'"
"What I'm really excited for is to see the evolution of trans characters and see more diverse stories be told, so that every time we're on screen, we're not really playing the part of educator and having to explain the experience to the audience, because it will have already been normalized."
"I had been on puberty suppressants and hormone suppressants, so I did not go through male puberty."
"I studied digital arts and graphic design, and then, at the same time I was studying, I was still doing auditions."
"If I had a super power, I'd want to be able to fly just so I could float around my apartment. Or I'd really like telekinesis because then you'd be able to slam the door on somebody."
"We can be whoever we want. We can do whatever we want. We can be superheroes, because in many ways we are. We've had trans representation in television for a while, but it hasn't been the right representation."
"Having trans people play trans roles show that we are valid in our identities, and we exist."
"With trans folks, we have a lot of people accusing us of just playing dress up for whatever reasons, and that's just not true."
"I knew that I was trans when I was three years old. Well, I didn't know 'trans' because I didn't know there was a word for it, but I just knew that in my head and my heart that I was supposed to be a girl."
"Separate but equal does not work."
"I would say my brother got lucky with me. Because we grew up with only boy neighbors, I developed a liking to shoot-'em-up and military video games. I could have come out a lot girlier."
"The thought of being a boy makes me cringe. I just couldn't do it."
