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My name is Samuel Bernstein,
I'm 15 years old,

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and I am transgender.

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When I was younger,
I was told I was a girl.

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I accepted it because I didn't think
I was allowed to be anything else.

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But then my body started to change.

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I could tell you I was hitting puberty,

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but it felt like puberty was hitting me.

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They told me I was becoming a woman.

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I accepted it

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because I didn't think
I was allowed to be anything else.

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But I was no longer myself.

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I became irritable
and pushed away my friends.

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I began having panic attacks

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in hidden school backrooms
for hours at a time.

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I no longer knew what "happy" felt like.

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By the time I was 13,

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I was carving my pain into my own skin,

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and I didn't want to be alive anymore.

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I was miserable, but I didn't know why.

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One day I sat in a psychiatrist's office,
as he asked me to define my own gender.

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I told him I was a girl

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because I didn't think
I was allowed to be anything else.

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But that night, I was still
stock on that question.

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I went online and started exploring
and came across the word transgender.

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I'd never heard it before.

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Transgender:

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someone who identifies with a gender, 
other than the one assigned at birth.

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Immediately, I knew exactly who I was.

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That same night,
I told my mom I wasn't a girl.

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And instantly, I felt the fulfillment
I haven't felt in years.

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My entire personality started to change,
as I began to express who I truly was.

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I was happy again.

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I'm not telling you all of my very,
very personal story today

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so that you will feel bad for me.

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I am telling my story because I have to.

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For many people,
transgender is a scary word.

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Most people don't know
what it really means,

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and even if they do,

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they're very uncomfortable
talking about it.

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So that's why, I'm here today,

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to prove that like everybody else here,

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I'm just a person, whose identity
deserves recognition and respect.

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Because while you may be scared of me,

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you do not realize
that I'm scared of you too.

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When I began to express
who I actually was,

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I thought the hard part was over,

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I thought that I'd discovered myself,

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and all my struggles 
would just magically go away

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because I could live as my true gender.

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But I was so wrong.

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I am scared.

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I am scared of not being accepted,

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I am scared of being harassed
in public bathrooms.

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I am scared of doctors
not knowing how to treat me.

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I am scared of growing up
and facing workplace discrimination.

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I am scared that in this world,

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my legal rights could literally
be ripped away from me

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at any moment.

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I am scared that some people
may never see me as a real man.

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I am scared,

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not only for myself,

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but for every single transgender
person living in this world,

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especially transgender women,

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non-binary transgender people,

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disabled trans people,

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trans people of color,

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and queer trans people,

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who will face so much more discrimination
and ignorance and hate in this world,

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than I, a straight, white,
transgender male, will ever have to.

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Even so, I am scared.

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We are scared.

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But we shouldn't have to be.

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Transgender should not be a scary word.

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No identity should ever be scary
or weird or shameful.

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We, as people, need to come together.

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We need to celebrate diversity,

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but in doing so,

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we need to focus less
on what makes us different

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and focus more
on what makes us the same.

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Because under all of the beautiful layers
of what makes us who we are

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is just a person,

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who wants to be loved
and accepted as themselves.

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This is a hard world to live in,

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not just for me,

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not just for transgender people,

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but for everybody.

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We all have good days and bad days.

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We all have conflicts and pains.

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We all struggle.

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But most importantly,
we are all trying to persevere.

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So I ask all of you,

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what is the point of using our energy
to hate on each other,

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when we could be using it to help,
and support each other.

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If your answer, like mine,
is "I don't know,"

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then I urge you to consider
what you can do to make a difference.

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Let people tell their stories.

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Listen.

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Let people share their needs.

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Respect them.

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Encourage people
to live their happiest lives.

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And please, most importantly,

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just treat people
the way you want to be treated.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)