My name is Samuel Bernstein, I'm 15 years old,
and I am transgender.
When I was younger, I was told I was a girl.
I accepted it because I didn't think I was allowed to be anything else.
But then my body started to change.
I could tell you I was hitting puberty,
but it felt like puberty was hitting me.
They told me I was becoming a woman.
I accepted it
because I didn't think I was allowed to be anything else.
But I was no longer myself.
I became irritable and pushed away my friends.
I began having panic attacks
in hidden school backrooms for hours at a time.
I no longer knew what "happy" felt like.
By the time I was 13,
I was carving my pain into my own skin,
and I didn't want to be alive anymore.
I was miserable, but I didn't know why.
One day I sat in a psychiatrist's office, as he asked me to define my own gender.
I told him I was a girl
because I didn't think I was allowed to be anything else.
But that night, I was still stock on that question.
I went online and started exploring and came across the word transgender.
I'd never heard it before.
Transgender:
someone who identifies with a gender, other than the one assigned at birth.
Immediately, I knew exactly who I was.
That same night, I told my mom I wasn't a girl.
And instantly, I felt the fulfillment I haven't felt in years.
My entire personality started to change, as I began to express who I truly was.
I was happy again.
I'm not telling you all of my very, very personal story today
so that you will feel bad for me.
I am telling my story because I have to.
For many people, transgender is a scary word.
Most people don't know what it really means,
and even if they do,
they're very uncomfortable talking about it.
So that's why, I'm here today,
to prove that like everybody else here,
I'm just a person, whose identity deserves recognition and respect.
Because while you may be scared of me,
you do not realize that I'm scared of you too.
When I began to express who I actually was,
I thought the hard part was over,
I thought that I'd discovered myself,
and all my struggles would just magically go away
because I could live as my true gender.
But I was so wrong.
I am scared.
I am scared of not being accepted,
I am scared of being harassed in public bathrooms.
I am scared of doctors not knowing how to treat me.
I am scared of growing up and facing workplace discrimination.
I am scared that in this world,
my legal rights could literally be ripped away from me
at any moment.
I am scared that some people may never see me as a real man.
I am scared,
not only for myself,
but for every single transgender person living in this world,
especially transgender women,
non-binary transgender people,
disabled trans people,
trans people of color,
and queer trans people,
who will face so much more discrimination and ignorance and hate in this world,
than I, a straight, white, transgender male, will ever have to.
Even so, I am scared.
We are scared.
But we shouldn't have to be.
Transgender should not be a scary word.
No identity should ever be scary or weird or shameful.
We, as people, need to come together.
We need to celebrate diversity,
but in doing so,
we need to focus less on what makes us different
and focus more on what makes us the same.
Because under all of the beautiful layers of what makes us who we are
is just a person,
who wants to be loved and accepted as themselves.
This is a hard world to live in,
not just for me,
not just for transgender people,
but for everybody.
We all have good days and bad days.
We all have conflicts and pains.
We all struggle.
But most importantly, we are all trying to persevere.
So I ask all of you,
what is the point of using our energy to hate on each other,
when we could be using it to help, and support each other.
If your answer, like mine, is "I don't know,"
then I urge you to consider what you can do to make a difference.
Let people tell their stories.
Listen.
Let people share their needs.
Respect them.
Encourage people to live their happiest lives.
And please, most importantly,
just treat people the way you want to be treated.
Thank you.
(Applause)