“My first time going to Pride was when I was sixteen and I was really nervous. It was in my neighborhood and I couldn’t avoid it—I had to just walk into it. Once I did that, it set me free. My favorite moment about pride is when people understand the value of love. I think that’s what pride represents—you’re choosing love. You are choosing to not just love whoever you want, but you’re choosing to love yourself, and to do that, it takes a lot of courage. 

“I think trans women are always the first ones to stand up for everyone, but we need more people standing up for us, without us expecting it. Once you do that, you understand that those missing links in society really add to the bigger picture [and] the whole ecosystem. If you eliminate us, then we all fall apart. 

“We need trans visibility in every walk of life. I would love to see a principal of a school that is trans or an instructor that teaches anatomy that is non-binary. In order to normalize any type of experience, you have to allow the children of our generation to simply see people from all walks of life. Once we get to that point, then I think that’s when we normalize human existence on different layers and dimensions in our society. Just one conversation can have people thinking differently.”