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Girl, my daydream today was iconic.

I got some of the biggest kids to respect me.

I got McDonald's for breakfast.

I was able to go to school, hopefully not being bullied.

Ooh, hold on, let me put my lip gloss on because this

is going to get serious.

Our house!

Who's house?

Our house!

When they say we need to protect the children,

what are you exactly protecting them from?

We're not going away.

We've been here since day one.

I got to see my best friend.

We had all of our classes together.

We ate lunch together.

The only dream I have for myself in the future is I

just want to live my life.

And maybe one day, change the world.

That would be nice if that could actually happen.

Protecting vulnerable children.

Ban a gender transition.

They regretted it later.

Welfare of the child.

That is mutilation.

Change an irreversible decision.

And don't need blades and drugs.

Go.

The wave of gender-affirming care bands that we

are seeing in the United States right

now are really unprecedented.

There's so much ignorance in the general population

about what transgender is and means and does,

that it's just been a piece of low-hanging fruit for people who

want to take that misinformation, lack

of information, and weaponize it in a way that helps influence

elections and public policy.

You know, I want to take it back to the Obama years.

I think there were a lot of people in the US

who were just freaked out about the fact

that there was a Black man with, you know, middle name,

you know, Hussein, who was president of the United States.

And, you know, I think the right kind of felt

like it had been like knocked on its heels,

that they were losing the culture wars.

It was a ruling decades in the making.

ANCHOR Same sex marriage

legal in this country across every state in this nation.

In 2015, the Supreme Court

ruled that the Constitution did not limit

same-sex couples from marrying.

The religious right viewed it as a personal attack

by the government.

And that became the impetus for all

of the extreme ideological legislation

that we're seeing now.

People who are ultra-conservative, extremely

religious, and they want the government to reflect

them and their ideas.

And so they are passing these laws in an effort to push

this agenda, inch it forward.

Across the country, with 24 states now

enacting legislation around gender-affirming care,

it's been less than two years.

It has been a tsunami.

It has been unlike anything that I have ever seen in my 60-plus

years on this earth, and unlike anything

that I have seen historically.

We are in South Carolina, small town,

Confederate flags everywhere, Trump flags everywhere.

I'm a proud father of four.

I'm a combat veteran.

I definitely believe in the Second Amendment.

Owning firearms has been a second nature to me.

It's something I grew up doing.

I carry 24/7.

The only time I don't carry is when I'm at my job

where I'm not allowed to carry it.

Typically people see me and they're like,

oh yeah, that guy's scary.

They think most people that look and talk and walk like me

hate gay and trans people.

Newsflash, I don't.

Those are my people.

No, because I found out some tracking.

Is there G minor, too?

I am Joplyn.

A lot of kids used to call me weird because I wouldn't do

necessarily what girls wanted.

So I wouldn't want to be the mother of the family

if we ever played house.

I never wanted to be the queen.

I wanted to be the dog, but--

Aries, come here.

I'm done chasing him.

He don't want love up on me, such a little turd.

Joplyn is full of spunk and energy and just funny.

I'm going to eat some.

Well, you eat whatever you want, buddy.

Like, I always ask the funniest questions,

like if there's something that can make people

squirm, that's Joplyn's place.

That's his thing.

I'm funny, I'm easygoing, very hyper.

Now you love me.

I'm very sociable person.

I like to scare my sisters.

I don't think they find that really funny.

You know, he's such a good boy, so pretty.

You're so pretty.

Joplyn's very caring.

They're like the sibling I'm closest with.

I get to talk to them about my boyfriend or like my friends.

And we get to just share all that.

It's a nice dog you got there.

He's my baby.

Not anymore.

Are you my baby?

Not me Eric.

When Eric and I met, he had two kids, I had two kids.

And almost immediately, our kids became,

like, best friends, really tight with each other,

started calling each other siblings right away,

and that was amazing to me.

My kids are the most important thing to me.

If Eric had not been supportive of Joplyn,

it would not have lasted.

It was never questioned.

I wouldn't have Joplyn any other way.

That's my kid.

My dad is this very strong, loving and very loyal

man.

Oh, my gosh.

Yes.

You say you are going to the meeting.

My dad is my male role model.

Whoa, somebody proposed you?

He ain't talked to me first.

This part of the country's not very, like,

accepting.

I used to have a friend whose, I didn't know,

parents were super unaccepting, and their parents immediately

made them shut me out.

I haven't started gender-affirming care because I

was too afraid to bring it up.

Ron DeSantis was threatening to take trans youth away

from their parents and charge the parents with child

abuse and child neglect.

You have a movement amongst, I would say,

rogue elements of the medical establishment

to do things that is basically the mutilation of minors.

I mean, they're--

That was a Florida official, not

even two states away from me.

It terrified me because what if Ron DeSantis

had a huge effect on legislation in South Carolina?

And what if the South Carolina legislation was like,

we want to follow that.

Ooh, $14.

I need to get out this aisle.

This is terrible.

I realized, me personally, I do not like following trends.

I realized that really quick and really early on.

Alazaiah is a Black trans woman who is fierce

and who is dedicated to get what she wants.

Oh wait, there's cute shoes.

And I really, really, really want to, like, you know,

bring my energy into people's spaces

and bring positivity in this world.

Ooh, honey, these heels is killing me.

I'm a very positive person.

I try to be the most I can, but I am very ghetto.

I'm not a sad person.

I don't ever try to be a sad person.

I try to be as bubbly as I can 'cause my mama always said,

be as strong as you can and always remember this world is

never going to be easy.

All righty.

Hi loves, welcome back to another video.

My name is Alazaiah and I'm your favorite Black transsexual.

Get up into the prayer or whatever.

I am back with a new YouTube video.

Oh, my god.

In high school, my senior year, that

was the most eye-awakening year because that was the year that I

decided, you know what, let me get on social media

and let me finally, you know, tell these people I'm trans,

and I'm not going to, you know, dim my life for anybody.

Here are a few ways on how to gain

confidence in the beginning of your transition

as a trans woman.

Ah, this is so cute.

Everybody started to slowly find me with my videos and stuff.

And I started to realize, there's

so many beautiful people out here,

and they just give me so much good energy.

And they started sharing their stories,

and they're giving me information

and tips on my transition.

It's basically like another family.

I love them so much, and I love to see my dolls out here,

you know, loving me, and they're fighting for me,

and they want to see me win, I love that so much.

Y'all, so we're teleported to the next location,

a.k.a., outside the house.

I am from Waco, Texas.

I grew up and raised there.

My mother, she was always trying to always keep me afloat

and always keep a roof over my head.

I love giving my mother a hug, and she

did not like that sometimes.

I would be like, you know, Mommy, can I have a hug?

And she'd be like, you're growing up.

You don't need to be calling me Mommy, call me Mom.

And I'm like, girl, I'm not going to do that.

You're the person who I look up to.

First, we have Chris Sephora.

He's been in the railroad ever since I heard him talking.

My mother was very loud, but loud in, like,

a very good way, like a joyful way.

I always say my mom reminds me of Zaiah and vice versa.

They're kind of, like, you know, peas in a pod.

MOM And in America's Most Wanted,

straight out of Hutchins--

I finally was going to break it to her that I'm

going to come out as trans.

I started just breaking down and crying

because it was like, if she doesn't accept me,

I don't know what I'm going to do.

So I sat her down and I basically told her, like, Mom,

I'm trans, I want to be the woman that I

always was destined to be.

She was a conservative person.

She did not, you know, go for the trans stuff.

She did not go for the gay stuff.

And she saw that I'm being dead serious about this.

This is who I am, and I'm not going to change for nobody.

And so she finally said, you know what?

Let's go forward with it.

Today is the day to go get some estrogen,

what you talking about?

Hey, guys, so me and my mom are in Austin.

We're almost there.

She was a single mom raising a transgender child.

She doesn't know anything about what a trans person is,

so she's discovering it all by herself.

And I will always be thankful for that.

Y'all, like, I'm trying to really transition,

like, this is so crazy.

It feels like a dream that came true.

It was the best feeling.

I gave her the best hug, I cried.

It was the best hug I ever gave my mom.

It was the last hug that I gave my mom for real.

In the middle of COVID, I started to get seriously ill,

and I feel like I passed it on to my mother.

I was really worried about is she OK?

My brother called me at school, he was crying.

I haven't heard from my eldest brother in from, like, 13 years.

So to hear him crying on his phone,

I'm like, what is you crying for?

When I got the call that my mom passed away way,

The first thing that was on my mind was pretty much blankness.

I was like, what's going on?

I collected myself as much as I can, call Zaiah and more,

like, froze, like, how should I tell her this?

I just broke down on the bus.

I was so broken that I would never

get to see my mom ever again.

My mom, to Zaiah, was pretty much

her everything, mentor, friend.

Losing Mom was just--

it's a whole different world for her.

I never, like, connected with anybody

in my family besides my mama.

When I just lost her, I felt like I lost my life.

I felt like I lost my only person,

and I just got so depressed.

I had no more guidance on life.

I don't know how to be an adult. I don't know how to pay bills.

I don't know nothing about no car insurance.

I didn't know nothing.

And my first thought when she passed, where am I going?

Who's going to take care of me?

When my mom passed away, Zaiah

was at risk of being homeless.

We did our best to try to figure out where Zaiah going to stay.

I don't want to be homeless.

I don't want to sit here and not be as strong as I can be.

And time was ticking, time was ticking.

So I'm trying to find a job, I'm trying

to find a roof over my head.

I was like, I'm going to fall down.

Where am I going to go?

And I just gave up on chasing my dreams.

Trans and gender nonconforming kids of color

have lack of access to employment, the lack of access

to safe and affordable housing, leads

to more economic insecurity than some of their white counterpart.

Like, I literally got to school today

with a positive mindset and all, and then

it just became a negative day.

When my mom died, all of my hormones, everything,

it just ran out.

My doctor basically told me they can't

give me hormones until I turn 18,

and it literally shattered my heart.

This is an election year

and everybody's trying to score political points.

There is this idea that the system we have now

isn't working for the people who want to be in control.

Organizations like the Heritage Foundation

and the Alliance Defending Freedom,

a lot of these organizations are funded by private money and

wealthy donors that are ultimately

putting pressure on lawmakers to make

our governments work for them.

It's part of an entire agenda of restricting

access to autonomy and information,

and they'll stop at nothing.

They're spending billions, with a B,

of dollars to make sure that their policies and their beliefs

are the ones that come out on top.

This is very open.

It's like nobody's hiding the fact that there is coordination

between, you know, dark money, billionaire funders, right wing

policy institutes, troves of, you know,

email correspondence between state legislators and funders

and policy people.

It's like it is a very well-orchestrated,

well-oiled machine that is very well-funded.

All right.

Politically, I've never picked sides, you know,

Republican or Democrat.

I was a correctional officer for several years in Oklahoma

at a max prison.

I always knew I wanted to be something in uniform.

I mean, but you definitely have to be tough or

thick-skinned to be in some of these jobs,

especially working in the prison system.

Good morning.

Did you sleep good?

Yes, ma'am.

Noah slept with me last night.

I hear some really foul things daily.

I would definitely not ever feel comfortable telling

them that I have a trans child.

I just want to start playing Fortnite

because I really do need to level up, since

it ends November 2nd or 1st.

So you only have until November 1st to level up?

Yeah.

Is that like the sign of Fortnite obsession?

Yes, very much, yes.

Well, have fun with that.

Yes, ma'am.

Play nice.

Yes, ma'am.

Ah, here's Sissy's blanket.

I like playing Pokemon.

My favorite Pokemon's Eevee.

I like drawing.

I love Animal Crossing.

I also like spending time with my brother

and talking to my best friend Sophia.

Chocolate milk, like chocolate milk, delicious.

She has always been the happiest child ever,

like, oh my Lord, if she could fart glitter, she would.

Tristan's so generous and caring.

You could literally give Tristan a roll of toilet paper

and she's, oh, thank you so much.

It's so soft.

Like, when I think of Tristan, I just

think, God, we need Tristan in a bottle because she's just happy.

So I've been on estrogen

for six or seven months, and it's been going pretty good.

In the past, I did feel like really depressed.

The estrogen, it makes me feel more like me.

You're like, whoa, that's cool.

You know, the day she got her first prescription

for her estrogen, oh my god.

I mean, is there even words when you see your kid

and she is just so happy?

She'll tell me, like, I feel like a real human, you know.

And recently, because of all the laws,

she feels like she's being dehumanized

and like her life doesn't matter.

REPORTER At the State Capitol Tuesday,

a large and boisterous crowd gathered

outside the House Chamber, hundreds of LGBTQ advocates

and the parents of transgender kids in attendance

as the House takes up a bill that

would ban gender-affirming care for minors in Texas.

When they introduced the law

banning gender-affirming care, I didn't think it would pass.

I just thought, there's no way.

How can the government get into our business?

You know, like, that's between me, my child, and their doctor.

I saw this one person saying that they

were making these laws to protect children

from being experimented on.

And when I just saw it, I was just like, what?

Y'all think we're being experimented on?

I think there are

a lot of criticisms of gender-affirming care

based on misinformation.

Gender-affirming care for some kids

is literally nothing beyond the exam room of hey,

I'm wearing a dress today, or hey, call me she/her.

And that's probably 95% of the gender-affirming care

that we provide in pediatrics.

ALAZAIAH (ON VIDEO): I don't know

what doll needs to hear this, but Donald Trump

is going to get in office.

All these anti-trans laws are coming into place.

Dolls, I need you guys to wake up.

I heard that they're banning gender-affirming care

through TikTok, and it made me so sad

to see that kids are fighting to get

the rights stripped from them.

These are literally life-saving hormones.

Before any conversation about puberty blockade,

there are years of mental health evaluation and treatment.

These bands outlaw lifesaving therapy.

I raise a point of order

against further consideration--

It went from there is no way, this is an overreach,

you know, to panic to now I don't sleep.

I'm constantly trying to figure out

how do I flee the state that we were so excited to come to?

REPORTER At the State House today,

a committee considering a bill that would ban gender-affirming

care for transgender youth in our state under the age

of 18 and today, it's 19th--

Today is the first day of legislative session,

and Eric and I are going to testify

in front of the Medical Affairs Committee

for the House of Representatives in South Carolina.

We'll grab that umbrella.

Typically, I like to open the door for her,

but my hands are full, so.

This could be the only time that we're able to testify in support

of gender-affirming care.

I know there's going to be quite a few people

going that are supportive of it.

Hopefully they'll hear us.

I love that you put the life, liberty, and pursuit

of happiness in there because--

That's what I fought for.

Yeah.

Honestly, I'm so angry about this.

I'll be surprised if I don't burst

into flames giving testimony.

I want them to feel the heat coming off my words.

I've never been a fan of big government.

Stay out of my business.

We ought to be able to choose what's best for our child

and not have the state try to tell us

what's best for our child.

That's a huge parent's rights issue.

I know my parents are testifying for my behalf and

the other behalf of other trans kids,

and it makes me feel proud of them.

I know my parents have my back, and

they will do anything to make sure I

have the gender-affirming care that I need to survive.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Martin Smith.

I want to officially call our meeting to order.

Representative Sessions,

would you lead us in prayer.

Let us pray.

Dear Lord, thank you for bringing us here safely.

We ask during these discussions and deliberations

that you grant us your wisdom, your love.

It's in Jesus's name, we pray, amen.

Amen.

Thank you for that.

Our next bill is House Bill 4624,

gender reassignment procedures.

There are few things

we do as legislators that are more important than protecting

vulnerable children.

What this bill does, the first thing it does

is protect minors from the use of hormone drugs

known as puberty blockers.

The second thing this bill does is

protect minors from the irreversible effects

of cross-sex hormones.

The third thing this bill does is

protect minors from radical and irreversible surgeries.

It's also a fact that approximately 60%

regret their choice later when they go

through with these procedures.

Mr. Chairman, this summarizes the bill,

and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

The 60% regret rate that you mentioned,

what was the source of that?

I believe there are several studies out there.

I reviewed a lot of them.

The one that you reported.

Well, I'll give it to you after this hearing.

I'll be glad to go find it for you.

So that 60% regret and quote,

you don't have the source for that?

I believe the 60 Minutes program talked about that.

I'm not sure about the study--

60 Minutes?

Well, I'm not sure if that was the study I read,

but I know that there was at least one or more.

Thank you.

We have many speakers that have signed up,

and we're going to go right down our list.

When we all went to testify,

there were over 45 of us--

There is no gender confirmation

surgery occurring here in minors in South Carolina.

None.

Minors are not making these decisions solo.

There's no such thing as a child coming in

after watching a video on social media saying, I think I'm trans,

and then we start them on meds.

That just doesn't happen.

versus one of them testifying

in favor of this bill.

No high quality studies have shown

that these drugs and procedures are

safe or effective for children.

There are certainly studies that lead to conclusions other

than gender-affirming care is lifesaving, and there are

problems with those studies.

Methods were not scientifically rigorous

or there was bias introduced.

More than 99% of children with gender dysphoria

grow up to be adults who are happy with their decision

to transition.

You might say, how is that?

Is that real?

And the answer to that is yes, because this

is a very rigorous process that these families

and children go through.

I don't see any questions at this point.

We have Eric Chiles is next.

Good afternoon.

I'll start by thanking you for allowing me

the opportunity to speak today.

My name is Eric Chiles, an Operation Iraqi Freedom combat

veteran, student, taxpayer, proud father

of four amazing children and a lucky

husband to an outstanding mental health professional.

I joined the military in my youth to defend this country.

I was deployed to fight religious extremism

and help set up democracy in another country halfway

across the globe, only to come home

and now have to defend against a different faction

of religious extremists in my own backyard.

As long as you attempt to legislate

and oppress the people of this state,

I'll be here to fight you for their freedoms.

As a combat veteran, a very proud father of a trans child,

I ask that you respect the sacrifices that

were made in the name of freedom for this country,

and vote no for Bill H 4624.

Eric, thank you for your testimony and service

to our country.

Are there any questions?

Eric, thank you again for being here.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thank you for being here.

We'll call the roll.

Mr. Beach?

Aye. Ms. Davis?

Aye.

Mr. Moore?

No.

Ms. Pedalino? Yes.

Mr. Sessions?

Yes.

Mr. Smith?

Aye.

The bill passes favorably, as amended.

We are adjourned.

We'll make sure you always have care.

You'll always be care.

We didn't pursue gender-affirming care

immediately because we were scared.

I realized that we needed to pursue the medically necessary

treatment when Joplyn told me that there

was some suicidal ideation.

Learning that Joplyn had attempted to end his life

was painful.

I was actually pretty shocked that I didn't already know.

There are some things, even when you have a great relationship

with your kid, that they're not going to tell you because they

don't want to hurt you.

I was terrified that my mom, my dad, or my sisters

would be endangered if I were to start

any sort of, like, gender-affirming care

because like, what would they do to them?

I would never want my parents to be charged

because of something I wanted.

And it scared me.

It really scared me.

I just really didn't want to see my family

crumble because legislation just doesn't like trans youth.

REPORTER Hatred is easier

to organize than understanding.

And there was a minority in our state

who found it to their advantage to bring

hate to Little Rock in 1957.

I was born in 1961,

grew up, and was socialized during the Civil Rights

Movement.

The idea of picking on a specific group

is not a new political tactic at all.

The essence of fear-based strategies

are to create a boogeyman.

You need something, some tangible, real thing,

to be afraid of.

It has been the playbook for the right wing

political establishment since the beginning of this country,

I would say.

The Irish, Jewish people, Italian people

have gone through cycles of vilification.

If they're in the same school as your child,

your child won't be able to learn.

If they use the same pool as us, we'll have to drain it.

Black people weren't allowed to drink from the same water

fountain as white people because of fear of contamination, right?

And that triggers something in people to go,

oh my god, I don't want to get sick.

I don't want to have to drain that pool.

It's this idea that trans people are somehow

going to make you trans.

If you have trans kids, then they're

going to make your kid trans, which is obviously

not how anything works.

I think those kinds of fears have

been used for a long time, Anita Bryant, you know,

who was the spokesperson for orange juice.

She was a dyed-in-the-wool, evangelical transphobe who used

her platform to promote an anti-gay agenda, and it

was called Save our Children.

The war goes on to save our children

because the seed of sexual sickness that germinated

in Dade County has already been transplanted

by misguided liberals in the US Congress.

We have to protect the children.

They're the future of the nation, and it's like--

it's kind of low-hanging fruit for low-information people

to, like, do that, like, save the kids rhetoric.

It's like it's appealing to that fear.

The United States is boiling over

with some of the most radical pediatric gender policies

on earth.

We're protecting kids.

That's why we're here is because we love kids,

we care about their emotions, we want to protect

them from themselves.

When you think about the children

as the future of the nation, then it's

like there are deep political struggles

over what kind of child gets to grow up into adulthood.

There's this dual identity

as a Black and brown person, which

is still a targeted community under attack.

And then you combine that with the trans identity,

it is certainly a much more challenging reality.

The attack on trans and gender nonconforming people

comes from so many different institutions,

entities, and even within their own families, right?

In fact, that's kind of where the bullying starts.

When Zaiah was younger, I heard family members, like,

bullying her and calling Zaiah the faggot word,

gay, sissy, all types of names and physically abusing Zaiah.

For me, I just felt, like, helpless at the time.

I didn't know what to do, but I always said to myself,

and I would say it to Zaiah, like, I'm

going to be the person to, you know, get you out of here,

get you out of this terrible situation.

When I did call her and she was about to be homeless,

I felt like that was my chance.

I'm coming to get you right now.

Oh my God.

On God, period.

Wait, where did you get one?

I need to win.

Oh, I see you. You'll need to move.

Hold up.

Y'all need to move.

My brother ended up reaching out to me,

and he was basically asking, you know, if you need anything,

if you need any support, I'm here for you.

I love you, sister.

And I never got that from, like, my family, like, for real.

Drive up to the place that they were staying at.

It's not doing it, I told you.

He come out with a bunch of trash bags full of clothes,

and I was like, I knew right then

and there, I'm like, man, yeah, I'm going to get you right.

Alazaiah came into play when I was on my way

out to the military.

So a lot of our time hasn't been all together, but now just

pretty much back in her life.

That's so dirty.

Oh my God.

We're, like, constantly on the phone trying to figure out

a way to do things like get Zaiah her driver's license

and get her to an actual apartment.

These are the things that Zaiah doesn't see herself getting

because of where she come from.

Dang!

I'm trying to make sure everything

is going well so that Zaiah can, you know,

move smoothly through whatever she's chasing.

You want to beat me in basketball?

Yeah, yeah.

I'm definitely going to win.

I love my siblings.

They mean the world to me.

And for them to, you know, go out their way to, you know,

take care of me, you know, that means so much to me.

And it really brings a smile to my face, you know,

that I actually have somebody who loves me

because like, it just felt so isolating in Waco.

I don't want to cry, but you know, yeah.

Yeah, ooh, the face is facing.

It is amazing out here in San Antonio.

It's a way better, more positive environment.

I finally got my first job and it is ghetto,

but first paycheck is going to saving to a car.

After I get a car, I'm going to get an apartment out in Atlanta.

And I'm planning on finally, you know, getting

the gender-affirming care.

Should I leave this out?

Oh, yes, this is cute.

My mom was like a grinder.

She worked a lot of jobs.

Alazaiah took a lot of that from her.

She would stay up all night looking for another job,

and she'd be like, I got 10 interviews tomorrow.

You know, it's like, all right, we're

going to go to all of them.

Midst of it or whatever, right?

Ah, you know, they gave me my name tag or whatever, right?

Y'all, why in the world did the name tag, it says my dead name.

And I'm just like, girl, that gets high, what--

When I'm, you know, working at a fast pace, and they say he,

it like kind of slows me down because it's

like, girl, I'm not a he.

It baffles me and it kind of moves me in a horrible direction

sometimes.

So I'd just rather, you know, be introduced

as Alazaiah, you know, introduced as the woman,

you know, that I am.

In addition to not being

able to access the health care that they need,

this is also a extreme blow socially.

So many of these kids are fighting for an identity

that the state tells them that they shouldn't want or have.

And so when they present themselves to the world,

there's all of the impacts that you

can imagine when you strip someone

of their basic human rights.

So trans women of color

are faced with racism, sexism, as

well as trans-specific vitriol that they face.

The dual identities of being Black or Latina and

being transgender presents just a multiplicity of challenges

for those young people.

Her job search was pretty intense.

She would come home crying and she was saying like,

people were laughing at her hair, how she looks,

and I guess her being trans in general.

It was really emotional.

For Zaiah to experience the hatred

that she gets, to go out on YouTube and just

be talking all motivational for other people to be inspired by.

And so my manager, she was like, you know,

you know, we can't change your dead name, but it's OK,

you know, we're still going to respect you, OK?

You know, I really don't care if you respect me or not.

All I care about is money.

On the last appointment with Dr. Lopez,

she was able to write Tristan a prescription

for a year for her estrogen.

There she is.

- Oh. - Hi.

Hi.

Hi, Ms. Lopez.

Oh my god, how are you?

I'm doing good.

I was going to ask because I've started taking estrogen--

Tristan, I think we should not

talk about your medical stuff because I'm

officially not your doctor anymore at this point.

Oh.

I just wanted to see in general how you're doing,

how your mom is doing, because I know how,

you know, things are in Texas and I'm worried about you,

but I can't--

I can't help you as you're, like, doctor, doctor.

I am so sorry for that.

We miss you.

We miss you so much.

I hope you understand

that it was not an easy decision for me to leave Texas.

A lot of doctors like me, Tristan,

have been targeted by people who don't understand these care

or they think it's wrong.

So they have attacked us.

I am worried, you know, that can get out of hand,

and they might want to hurt me or my family.

That's sort of the hard part of it.

I'm sorry that you're crying.

Have you thought about leaving Texas?

Is that a prob--

If I had--

if I had the way, we would have been gone yesterday.

XIMENA LOPEZ (ON VIDEO CALL): Yeah.

What is your main, sort of, barrier or difficulty

or challenge from leaving?

I mean, honestly, financial.

In a perfect world, I could just transfer my job somewhere else,

and we could just go somewhere where

my kids are safe and protected and can just live, you know,

a normal life.

XIMENA LOPEZ (ON VIDEO CALL): Yeah, it's so unfair.

We don't have-- we don't have that option, you know.

It's hard.

XIMENA LOPEZ (ON VIDEO CALL): I just

want you to know that there's a lot of people fighting for you.

Yes, ma'am.

XIMENA LOPEZ (ON VIDEO CALL): Crystal,

you're going to be fine.

Just take care of yourself.

Well, you take care, too.

We miss you, too, so much.

TRISTAN Be careful up there.

Thank you.

Tristan.

You OK?

Mm-hmm.

Oh.

You know, I've been keeping my eye on Florida and Texas

in particular in this current moment of moral panic

about trans people.

And I've just been very alarmed in recent years

to just see how far to the right the political establishment

in Texas has moved.

Children will die because of Governor Abbott's order.

Meanwhile, the governor and Attorney General

have said gender reassignment surgery could be considered

as child abuse under Texas law, calling

such procedures a horror resulting

from misguided ideology.

Ken Paxton, you know, it's kind of like almost

by fiat, you know, just says like, we're

going to go after families that have trans kids,

and we will empower the state to take

children out of those families.

I mean, that is one of the more shocking things, I think,

has happened.

Schools and other community organizations

are supposed to be a safe place, but

Child Protective Services and a lot of the draconian laws

that are attached to them ultimately

make those places unsafe.

If you say the wrong thing to the wrong doctor,

your kid ends up in foster care.

If you say the wrong thing to the wrong teacher,

your kid ends up in foster care.

The moment you turn neighbors against neighbors,

nobody is safe, least of all the children.

Vanilla, huh?

Earlier this week, the kids were playing a game

and a friend of theirs began talking about all trans people

should be stoned to death.

I would want to tell mom,

but Edward asked me not to since those we're his only friends.

And then it got more severe and more severe and like,

it was kind of messing with my head a little bit.

He did kind of convince a little bit of myself

that I am this bad person for being trans with them.

And it made me feel terrible.

And I told the kids, you know, that's it,

block him from the game, but there's no more communication.

And then I had woke up later that night because my phone kept

making that ding, ding, ding.

And he had texted me, he said, "What you're doing to those kids

is wrong, Crystal.

What is going through your fucking mind?

Tristan, what an abomination she--

oh, my bad, let me respect you.

And in an all caps, "HE REALLY IS."

Their whole life is going to be shit because of you.

You fucked around and now you're going to find out,

cough cough, CPS, cough cough."

That's Child Protective Services.

I feel like these laws have allowed dangerous people

to be dangerous.

I started to feel anxious about being

taken away from my mom.

I got super anxious about opening the door,

looking out the door.

I have surveillance and security cameras

just so we don't open the door, or if I'm not here,

they don't open the door to the wrong person.

I'm scared of, really, anybody coming, unfortunately,

at this point, because of the laws,

I'm even afraid if law enforcement shows up.

I've told the kids, unless it's like a medical emergency,

to not even open the door to law enforcement here in Texas.

I hear like this clock ticking going off now,

and I feel like I have to get her out of here,

or am I going to start running out of time with her?

The protection for families

so that their Department of Social Services could not--

Not my level of understanding.

Right, OK.

I need to understand it better because neither Amberlin

nor I started our chapters, and so you're

the one with that expertise.

Yes, yes.

I don't like her going to any event if I'm not there,

just because you never know what's going

to come out of the woodwork.

So anywhere she goes, I like to be right there with her.

It is rare that I go somewhere without him

now just because of the threats that I have received.

The threat that I received most recently,

a gentleman had seen one of my TikToks,

traced it back to my nonprofit organization.

He called from his own phone number.

Eric called him back and asked him

what it was that he needed from me,

and he told Eric that if I didn't keep my mouth

shut, that he was going to take care of me.

I won't tolerate that.

I'm here, I'm going to keep my family safe.

We're going to do whatever it takes.

When I found out that we actually

had an FBI agent assigned to our case,

it sinks in that it's even more real than you thought

it was in the first place.

When the FBI became involved, I knew it was serious.

They monitor my social media as well for threats.

Range is hot.

I don't play games.

I find it a personal calling to protect people.

Typically, I have somebody posted over here on that corner

or sticking out in the woods over there.

My job at our PFLAG meetings is basically I maintain

security of the building.

I check the perimeter, maintain the door,

make sure we don't have anybody that I don't recognize.

It's helpful having Eric because he's fearless.

On top of everybody else's safety,

hers is extremely important to me because what she's doing

is, for lack of better words, important.

She's going to do great things, and I

want her to be able to do that.

She's going to change the world for people.

Are you talking about these monsters?

Yeah, because this is different than the one

we were playing before.

Yeah.

So that's a new one that just came out.

What the fuck? Oh, goddamn.

Yeah, this one's crazy.

Oh, the animations go hard, I guess.

Yo, I'm telling you, right?

My goals have changed in the last couple of months.

Like, when I finally, you know, got put in San Antonio,

like, this is like a stepping stone.

It's like, you know, like, now I have to learn that I

have to pay bills by myself.

I have to buy groceries by myself.

But when they said that, you know, it starts to add up,

I didn't realize that it adds up.

So I just wanted to jump into Atlanta.

Now I realize you can't do that, you know,

that you're setting yourself up for failure.

What were you watching last time?

I was watching Minecraft, Choice TV, Roblox.

How can you watch other people's stuff?

I'm a Gen Z-er.

Yeah, as a matter of fact, that makes sense now.

Zaiah is 100% still a kid, but she's growing,

and she's gotten so much better with actually asking for advice

and help at the same time.

It's like, hey, this is what I'm thinking, what should I do?

So the biggest thing that I

want to ask is like, you know, how can I, you know,

save it without touching it?

One of the biggest things, too, and I

want you to understand this before going in,

because you need to establish this with the job

that you have now is budgeting.

Right now, your budget is like tight, hey zip these pockets.

I want to make sure that, hey, my money ain't flying away.

Them Ubers, they--

Zaiah did not have it easy at all.

I've seen the struggle that she had to go through,

and then finding out all the stuff

that I didn't know about at all because all I can do

is have a phone call and have my mom say, "Everything's good.

We're all good to go," smiling and don't actually know the pain

of what's actually going on.

There were things I didn't figure out until a lot later.

It was a struggle just to make it to the next day,

and I can feel that for her.

People in my community,

they get misgendered a lot.

I used to, like, back in when I was in my senior year, that's

like when I fully really came out and I fully, like,

really started dressing like this.

And you know, I used to, like, literally get thrown,

shit thrown at me.

I used to get the teachers cat calling

me, talking shit about me, just a whole bunch

of, like, nonsense.

And you know, I will retaliate.

I will cuss them out, you know.

I'll be biased and just hateful.

One of the biggest things I'll say

is like, know that it's not only happening to you,

it's happening to the people that

really aspire to you as well.

So those same people that look up to you,

they'll get those same hateful comments.

You can speak on the comments, speak out on them,

but there's no point to retaliate.

That's actually very-- that's an interesting take

because usually what I do, I've gotten so used to hearing

the "You're a man, go to hell," this and that,

"You're going to burn."

I'll be like, OK, blocked, on to the next.

But hearing that take, you know, maybe I

should just address one or two, you know, shed some light on it,

you know, try to encourage people to think positive,

you know.

You take too many of these comments and fester now,

you're going to end up exploding and doing

something irrational or whatnot, damaging your image

when that's not really you.

Yeah.

People will tilt you over and make you a character

that you wasn't the whole time.

Clock that team.

Everybody know the Alazaiah, the funny Alazaiah, the outlet,

the wonderful, the brightness--

They don't want to know me.

No, no, no, we don't want the bad one, right?

We don't want that heat.

The importance of family support for trans and

gender nonconforming young people

I believe it's the number one ingredient

for a happy, successful life.

Then we have some sponges.

I still have those.

Thank God y'all came in and clutch.

Y'all have Tide pods?

These are 10 each.

Yes!

Oh my god, I could wash my clothes.

And then you said you need a blanket.

Youth who don't have parents

or don't have supportive parents are

in a very vulnerable situation.

They don't have the resources that they need.

They ultimately end up relying on their communities

to help them.

That will never be enough for these kids.

You've never applied for a direct aid program.

No.

I was looking at that this afternoon.

I never did that.

Yeah, see, let's do it.

Oh, OK, OK, OK.

Survival as a theme

in the lives of trans youth, and yet they're

not trying to be Sisyphus pushing the rock

up the side of the mountain.

They are simply trying to live their lives.

Again, they're just kids.

Oh, and we're still looking at counseling.

OK, OK. - Yeah, yeah.

Definitely need that.

Well, y'all help with groceries?

Yeah.

Oh, yes.

And all that.

Yes, oh my god.

I have said, for years,

when I talk about trans issues, it's like first, survive,

then do everything else.

And so that sense of like, what will it

take to stay in this world, in a world that has,

like, become much more hostile to your being

and like, what do you do to be there?

I don't know where I want to build my house.

Let's go over here.

I always felt like I had to grow up

because just like I never had no money, I was always broke,

I was always struggling.

I was just always dealing with stuff.

And it's just like, you know, I just

wish I had those people in my inner circle to tell me, like,

just enjoy yourself and just enjoy being a kid 'cause girl,

you will never be another child again,

so you better enjoy it while it lasts, literally.

One of the things that I have seen in recent years,

it was probably somewhere around 200,000 people over the last two

years who have relocated essentially as refugees

within the United States who were fleeing

gender-affirming care bans.

That is one of the largest internal migration

in the United States since the Dust Bowl.

I work on a military base as a civilian,

and we do everything from flooring to drywall.

I have been working nonstop overtime with my job, side jobs,

and I'm not young anymore.

This is very hard, physical work.

I mean, I have calluses, you know.

And you definitely are not getting your nails

done with this job either.

I've been looking for jobs for easily a year.

I've applied for transfers to all the blue states

such as California, Oregon, New Mexico,

Washington, D.C., New York, all these places

that I've never been.

After every job that I've applied for,

it's been no, no, no, not forwarded to the hiring

manager, not selected.

And you do get a sense of like, why am I trying?

But you do what you have to do.

When a law like this has passed,

the low income families are hurt the worst, right?

They don't have the resources to just up

and leave a community that rejects them.

Upper middle class families have the resources

to pick up and move.

Low income families or single parents

who can't pick up and move to a new place or maybe

can't snap and find a job in a new place where

they can successfully take care of their children,

especially if they're a single parent, what choice do they

have now for their children?

Hi, Mom.

Hi.

So my mom is saving up right now to, like,

get us out of Texas because some of the not so good laws

that they're going to be passing.

Colorado is the only place I know on the top of my head

that we're trying to get to.

So three months after the law went into effect,

I had to make the decision to move into a much smaller living

space to start saving money so we could

try to move to a safer state.

I sleep in the living room because I

wanted my kids to still have their own bedrooms.

In terms of my financial situation,

right now, it's not good.

Like, I'm negative $147.

This is my credit union, I'm negative $147.

It's stressful.

It is so stressful.

I have tried a GoFundMe page because I

had seen where other people had had success,

and it gave me, like, hope that maybe there is a way.

It was doing really well.

I think we got a little over $700, so I'm very appreciative.

The reality of it, it's just not enough.

I try to hide from the kids how stressed I am, but they see it.

Maybe I'll hang it up when we move, but not right now.

It was getting way more, like, way too expensive for us

to live at the old house.

They were raising the rent higher and higher

so we couldn't really afford it.

And it was getting really hard to buy

groceries because of the rent, and we

couldn't pay all of our bills.

I'm already starting to get emotional.

For her estrogen, I want to say,

she was given 24 refills and that's been since July.

Oh, shit.

I didn't even notice that.

I thought she had--

sorry.

I don't want you to point that out to her.

Oh, shit.

Well, I thought she had 25 more refills left,

but I didn't see she just had refills until July of this year.

We're in January, so six more months.

Whenever I think about time running out for care whenever

Tristan has no more refills, I feel

like in order to save my daughter's life,

I have to make it happen.

I just don't know how.

But you know, what do we do as parents ?

We make it happen.

Are you all right? Yeah.

You're breathing?

Yeah.

You got this.

Yeah, I got this.

Can we try something like that, then?

Hmm.

Yeah, can we do that, then?

OK.

OK.

Joplyn has socially transitioned to using

the name Ray, and it's actually my dad's name.

He had a transgender sister, and he was loving, affirming,

and accepting of that sister.

My dad was deployed in Iraq.

I'm not sure exactly what he did.

I was Afghanistan in 2010.

Oh.

Smile.

I don't know, maybe it's just anxiety or nervousness,

but like, I'm excited.

It's going to be definitely very different.

So you're liking the length?

Yes.

Awesome.

Anything else I can do?

No, no, I love it.

I'm really-- - It's emotional.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, I get it.

I feel strangely different, but

it's good different, you know.

You like it?

Yeah.

It's just--

Well, you can cry.

It's OK.

I know.

It's OK to cry.

I think I'll be good.

Thank you so much.

I'm wrapping it up.

I can email or text your receipt.

Do you want the receipt?

Yes, I want the receipt.

I asked for the receipt so I could have the information

that this was the day you changed

and you loved yourself for the first time in years.

Thank you so much. Have a good one.

You, too.

Thank you guys so much.

We are about to head back to Columbia

for the reading of H 4624 that would

ban gender-affirming care for minors

in the state of South Carolina.

They'll probably just, like, kill it, hopefully.

Yeah.

Is there anything else I should be warned about?

Just that some of the things that will be said about us,

some of the things that will be said about you

will not be very kind.

Just an invalid opinion, basically.

The stakes are really high.

This has been years, years in the making to get to this point

and we are so close, probably within days,

if not hours, of being able to receive the care that he needs.

There's some folks upstairs,

there's some folks hanging out over there.

This is a very complicated feeling because it's

very stressful, very agitating.

Well, sometimes it's hard to know that people don't

like you because you're trans.

We are the only state in the region that does not have a care

ban and that is so largely due to the incredibly brave advocacy

of parents of trans kids. - Hey.

How are you?

I'm Phil.

Hi, I'm Ray.

Thank you for being here.

Oh, you're welcome.

We're a little bit nervous.

It's OK.

It is a tricky balance because we don't

want Ray to know everything.

Some of the things that are being said are hurtful,

some of the things that are being done are hurtful,

and those things are about who he is as a human being.

I'll protect Ray by allowing him to have his headphones.

A lot of it will get blocked out.

We have skyrocketing numbers

of young people involved in a social contagion,

believing they are transgender.

I can hear through those headphones,

and I listened to everything that the senators claimed.

It's kind of surprising to just witness

that none of these senators know what they're talking about.

What are the effects of puberty blockers and

cross-sex hormones?

Are they reversible?

I was texting a bunch of my friends being,

like, oh, I'm listening to Senator Cash talk shit about me,

basically.

If I don't have the health care I want, what happens to me next?

A lot of my friends were worried about that.

I have never seen children more engaged

in the political process.

When we even have these conversations at the statehouse,

when there's a subcommittee hearing, when there's

a federal action of whatever sort,

some hateful things shared, misinformation shared,

I will never be surprised to see the next day

a couple kids come in with serious suicide

attempts in the ICU.

You don't come to the ICU just because you

had a suicide attempt.

You come because you have a life-threatening injury.

You've shot yourself in the head and you need to be

on a ventilator in the ICU.

You've taken so much of a medicine that you're in a coma.

I'll be sitting in these hearings hearing hateful speech,

knowing that the next day what I'm going to see

and wishing that I could stop the train wreck.

There's going to be another sandwich.

Spinach.

Did you even put cheese in there?

You don't put cheese in spinach.

Y'all nasty.

Oh my goodness. Y'all nasty.

Something wrong with you.

Ain't nothing wrong with me.

My mama taught me how to cook.

You add cheese in there.

I think it's very important for Zaiah

to have family around her.

I believe Zaiah needs that, like, more than anything

because of all of the rejection she's had in her life.

I mean, pretty much her whole life, no one accepting her.

I believe she's tucking a lot of that emotion in because I

know she's going through it.

RAYMOND" You definitely got it.

At times, I do worry about her mental health.

I know the struggles she has been through

and it's still there.

It will always be there.

It's like it might be a strange thing,

but I'm trying to get Zaiah to cry.

I want Zaiah to understand that, you know, she has emotions,

that when those emotions are out,

that you have someone that loves you.

You know, who's Scott?

What is that?

Just straight up, just straight up.

I just want to hear her voice again.

Yeah, so I look at the videos, man--

Yeah, yeah.

as much as I can because all you do is hear her laughing.

Every video I almost got is just you hear her laughing.

Like, when mom passed, I didn't have--

I didn't have that relationship.

I didn't have that relationship with a lot of, even the buck,

like-- Even me, too.

I was gone.

So when Mom passed, I'm like, damn, we need to reconnect

because the rest of our family.

That was crazy.

You know, it took me wanting to come out of my comfort

zone to talk to y'all.

Like, you have to cherish people who fucking love you

because you don't know if those people will

be here the next day, and I'm for real thankful.

And y'all make me super fucking happy to get the fuck

up every fucking day, for real.

Like, y'all make me fucking happy.

It's crazy, like, y'all don't-- and it's hard,

and when you just--

no, just like, no.

You're good, man.

I appreciate that.

I love y'all.

I really appreciate that.

I love y'all.

Y'all make me happy.

Well, one thing I would say,

don't be afraid to reach out, like, for anything.

I've told you this before, but just

like, just don't forget that.

You can do everything, OK?

OK.

That's one of my biggest tips for you, and I got so many more.

And I hope to be around to tell you every single day

how to get your credit score, how to get a card,

and everything else.

I'm always a phone call away, Facebook away.

I'm on TikTok now.

Come talk to you, bro.

Remember they're asking to get deleted.

You might--

You just kind of--

Oh.

And back up on them.

Mm-hmm.

Yay.

Now you light the left.

Yeah, I've been doing that.

Why does it not want to set it on fire?

It's just going to take it a minute.

Do we want lighter fuel?

Uh, definitely not from you.

I don't know what I'm doing.

We're just trying to figure this--

Check.

Eric was on his way home from work.

He was working security at a location about an hour away.

I got a notification on my phone at about 2:52 in the morning

that Eric had been in an auto accident and he passed

away in that car accident.

It was really hard to lose the one, like, male role model

I've had, and it hurt, it really did.

I spent a month just sitting around doing nothing.

So you make the noise first.

All right.

Eventually, you just realize how much he did for you

and how much you lost.

That was a great man.

Eric and Ray's relationship was very close.

They understood each other pretty well,

and they both loved very hard.

It's definitely hurt Ray to lose his dad.

You know, Dad's not going to be able to teach him how to shave

and all those milestones, those male milestones

that Mom doesn't know anything about.

I think Ray is definitely going to miss those.

I have never done much grilling.

That was always Eric's job, not mine.

I admired my dad from his strength

and his determination to make sure freedom

was the right he fought for.

And I mean, he was the proud father of a trans son.

And he fought for this country for me

to have those rights that anyone else could,

and I admired him for that.

And this is my little humble abode or whatever.

You know, I finally moved into my house.

This is a very big deal.

I'm so excited because it's like, you know,

I finally have my own stuff at 18.

I'm going to be 19.

This is just a big deal for me because my mother

always wanted me to, you know, have my own home.

My mother always wanted me to be on my own

and learn independence, and look at me now,

like, it's so girly popping.

And it's just so--

it's so me.

I keep telling Zaiah, I'm like,

this is like the bottom of the barrel.

Like, you're going to have something much better than this.

And she's just like, oh, this is perfect.

This is perfect.

I finally got my own place.

Man, her place is amazing if you ain't seen it.

I'm like, how can you decorate something like low standards

and make it just pop?

I'm like, wow, yeah, you got your mother in you right there.

Alazaiah has picked up and thrived so far.

She has been on a roll.

I decided I was going to finally

try to get back on hormones because I

didn't have health care.

I went to Planned Parenthood.

That's where all the dolls told me to go to.

People think it's easy now because I'm 18, that I

can just easily get hormones.

No, it's still a challenge to get those hormones.

Hi, love.

WOMAN Hi, how are you?

So-- I'm good.

I wanted to ask you, you know, how, you know,

you got on hormones and can you guide me--

Yeah.

$200?

Dang, that's a lot.

Girl, I don't know about that.

My mom, she always said to just keep moving forward

and keep pushing.

I'm just going to keep pushing because she

taught me to do that.

When care is band,

youth do not stop seeking care, they turn

to other ways of accessing it.

The laws to ban trans youth from accessing

gender-affirming health care unequivocally

makes young people less safe.

Hey, y'all, so just came from the mall.

I worry that Zaiah will not get the proper treatment,

you know, from some, I guess, random doctor.

Chocolate shake?

Yes.

Gotcha.

When I was waiting to see if I would be approved

for testosterone, very nervous that I wouldn't be approved,

and I would be so close to the one thing

I wanted and just get denied that.

What if the bill comes and I'm unable to get this?

We found out that Ray had been approved

for hormones through a MyChart message from his doctor.

JESSICKA So where are we headed?

We are headed to the pharmacy

to pick up Ray's first prescription of hormones.

I remember it was in the middle of the school day,

so I do remember I started crying in the middle of school.

I was like, I was just happy tears.

And I remember my math teacher had to tell me, like,

three or four times to sit down because I would get up

and I couldn't sit still, I was excited.

My dad was very excited.

He was very smiley.

He was like, good job, buddy.

Like, it was a very happy time with my dad.

And I remember when he was in the doctor's office with me,

he would not stop talking about how proud he was and how he was

so excited for me to be on T, and to hear my dad say,

"I'm so proud of you, buddy," like, it meant a lot.

No.

You can ask to be in our friend's group.

Oh.

It's different.

So a week and a half after I started testosterone,

the governor signed the bill to ban it.

It deeply saddened me as I only had

a little vial of testosterone and I had just started.

So it really felt like everything

I had just worked so hard to earn

was getting stripped away from me, just because people

did not approve of me.

Grab your-- well, my slippers.

Grab those.

In the state of Texas, they can't go to school here.

They don't get medical treatment here.

We're just living to try to survive here,

and it's just-- it's impossible.

We have no freedom here.

But I just got noticed that I was offered and selected

a job in New York City.

So we are going.

New York City.

I can't afford to move right now,

but I can't afford to lose my child, my children.

Happy Mother's Day,

Mom, you're the best.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, you're amazing.

Oh, my heart.

I have this fight in my head where I'm like, OK,

we have to do this so my kids are safe.

But then I'm like, am I putting them

in a situation that could potentially be worse,

but in a different way, we're having to literally

flee to be free, you know?

And my daughter can exist without fear.

I'm excited about being able to experience,

like snowball and Christmas, being able to make new friends,

not having to be afraid of getting

hurt or assaulted by people.

It's going to be now.

And basic human rights, I'm really excited about those.

Basic human rights?

Yeah, for sure.

All right.

♪ You don't need nobody to save you ♪

♪ There's always some when the rains through ♪

♪ And you might not believe it, but I do ♪

♪ I just want you to see ♪

♪ You're superhuman ♪

♪ Bulletproof as can be ♪

♪ I know the truth is ♪

♪ You can do anything ♪

♪ Gonna fight your share of battles ♪

♪ In the eye of the storm ♪

♪ But you'll get through it ♪

♪ 'Cause you're superhuman ♪

It's so cool.

♪ You're superhuman ♪

♪ Bulletproof as can be ♪

♪ I know the truth is-- ♪

Is this what people call, like, New York?

♪ Gonna fight your share of # battles-- ♪

Stay with me.

There's so many billboards.

♪ But you'll get through it ♪

♪ 'Cause you're superhuman ♪

I don't think it's working.

♪ Yeah, you are ♪

Ah!

Here, ready?

Cheers.

♪ If only you could see yourself ♪

♪ The way that I see ♪

♪ You'll get through it ♪

♪ 'Cause you're superhuman to me ♪

Freedom, that's such an odd word

now because what some people consider their freedom is really

oppressing others, because a trans person should

be able to live here and not fear persecution,

not fear oppression.

Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness,

that shouldn't be that difficult to understand.

Something can come out of the sky.

When I think of America, I think of equality,

I think of, you know, opportunity, I think of freedom.

To get the America we want, we literally

had to fight day and night.

Range is hot, woo.

This country should be exactly what

it says in the Pledge of Allegiance,

for liberty and justice for all.

To be an American is like to live your life

as your true authentic self.

I want my trans youth to understand, never back down.

Stand 10 toes down in your transition

and stand 10 toes down in who you are.

If you love yourself, you will make it in this world.

Man, when I was transitioning, people was like,

oh, you're so brave.

I think about freedom more than I think about bravery,

and that if you have that sense of freedom,

nobody can actually take that from you.

It's like you could be in a cage, you know, and be free.

You could be living under political oppression

and you can be free.

It's like, all they can do is kill you, but they actually

cannot touch my freedom.

You see, I imagined myself, like,

wearing a cute skirt, some white tights,

a cute chunky sweater, and the snow,

like, I think that would be so amazing.

Hey, hey, hey!

My main focus is just be bright and sunny,

and I also have kids.

I want two mini-me's.

My dad's legacy, especially for trans youth,

will be the fact that he stood up for them.

Once I'm older, I might be able to fill his shoes a little bit

through advocating, but I believe

advocating for myself is just living my life

and not letting anyone fuck with it.

Whoa!

I want a dog, too.

I really want a dog.

♪ You are good luck ♪

♪ Don't need permission ♪

♪ Does it ever come back to-- ♪