[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.06,0:00:17.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My name is Samuel Bernstein,\NI'm 15 years old,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.21,0:00:19.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I am transgender.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.02,0:00:23.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I was younger,\NI was told I was a girl.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.46,0:00:27.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I accepted it because I didn't think\NI was allowed to be anything else.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.67,0:00:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But then my body started to change.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.43,0:00:33.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could tell you I was hitting puberty,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.33,0:00:35.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it felt like puberty was hitting me.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.11,0:00:38.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They told me I was becoming a woman.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.50,0:00:40.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I accepted it
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.54,0:00:43.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I didn't think\NI was allowed to be anything else.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.41,0:00:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I was no longer myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.03,0:00:48.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I became irritable\Nand pushed away my friends.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.27,0:00:51.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I began having panic attacks
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.38,0:00:54.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in hidden school backrooms\Nfor hours at a time.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.86,0:00:57.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I no longer knew what "happy" felt like.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.25,0:01:01.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By the time I was 13,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.88,0:01:04.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was carving my pain into my own skin,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.99,0:01:07.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I didn't want to be alive anymore.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.51,0:01:10.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was miserable, but I didn't know why.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.07,0:01:17.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One day I sat in a psychiatrist's office,\Nas he asked me to define my own gender.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.06,0:01:19.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I told him I was a girl
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.30,0:01:21.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I didn't think\NI was allowed to be anything else.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.27,0:01:24.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that night, I was still\Nstock on that question.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.00,0:01:28.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went online and started exploring\Nand came across the word transgender.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.03,0:01:30.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'd never heard it before.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.90,0:01:32.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Transgender:
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.35,0:01:36.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,someone who identifies with a gender, \Nother than the one assigned at birth.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.36,0:01:40.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Immediately, I knew exactly who I was.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.82,0:01:43.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That same night,\NI told my mom I wasn't a girl.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.14,0:01:48.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And instantly, I felt the fulfillment\NI haven't felt in years.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.61,0:01:53.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My entire personality started to change,\Nas I began to express who I truly was.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.18,0:01:55.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was happy again.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.99,0:02:00.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm not telling you all of my very,\Nvery personal story today
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.18,0:02:01.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that you will feel bad for me.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.31,0:02:05.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am telling my story because I have to.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.51,0:02:10.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For many people,\Ntransgender is a scary word.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.66,0:02:13.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most people don't know\Nwhat it really means,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.71,0:02:14.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even if they do,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.78,0:02:16.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're very uncomfortable\Ntalking about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.34,0:02:19.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's why, I'm here today,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.65,0:02:22.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to prove that like everybody else here,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.97,0:02:27.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm just a person, whose identity\Ndeserves recognition and respect.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.26,0:02:30.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because while you may be scared of me,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.50,0:02:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you do not realize\Nthat I'm scared of you too.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.46,0:02:37.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I began to express\Nwho I actually was,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.76,0:02:39.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought the hard part was over,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.81,0:02:41.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I thought that I'd discovered myself,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.58,0:02:44.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and all my struggles \Nwould just magically go away
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.10,0:02:46.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because I could live as my true gender.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.33,0:02:49.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I was so wrong.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.40,0:02:51.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am scared.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.66,0:02:54.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am scared of not being accepted,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.91,0:02:59.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am scared of being harassed\Nin public bathrooms.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:00.45,0:03:03.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am scared of doctors\Nnot knowing how to treat me.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.50,0:03:08.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am scared of growing up\Nand facing workplace discrimination.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.91,0:03:12.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am scared that in this world,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.44,0:03:15.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,my legal rights could literally\Nbe ripped away from me
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.95,0:03:17.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at any moment.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.28,0:03:23.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am scared that some people\Nmay never see me as a real man.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.41,0:03:25.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I am scared,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.19,0:03:27.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not only for myself,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.32,0:03:32.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but for every single transgender\Nperson living in this world,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.76,0:03:35.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially transgender women,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.57,0:03:37.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,non-binary transgender people,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.57,0:03:40.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,disabled trans people,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.60,0:03:42.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trans people of color,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.68,0:03:44.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and queer trans people,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.44,0:03:50.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who will face so much more discrimination\Nand ignorance and hate in this world,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.88,0:03:55.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than I, a straight, white,\Ntransgender male, will ever have to.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.43,0:03:59.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even so, I am scared.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.100,0:04:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are scared.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.71,0:04:04.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we shouldn't have to be.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.42,0:04:07.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Transgender should not be a scary word.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.37,0:04:12.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No identity should ever be scary\Nor weird or shameful.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.00,0:04:16.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We, as people, need to come together.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.68,0:04:20.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We need to celebrate diversity,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.06,0:04:21.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but in doing so,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.33,0:04:24.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we need to focus less\Non what makes us different
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.10,0:04:26.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and focus more\Non what makes us the same.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.28,0:04:31.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because under all of the beautiful layers\Nof what makes us who we are
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.70,0:04:32.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is just a person,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.94,0:04:37.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who wants to be loved\Nand accepted as themselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.08,0:04:39.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a hard world to live in,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.25,0:04:41.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not just for me,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.94,0:04:43.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not just for transgender people,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.26,0:04:45.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but for everybody.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.18,0:04:48.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We all have good days and bad days.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.44,0:04:51.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We all have conflicts and pains.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.57,0:04:53.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We all struggle.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.43,0:04:57.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But most importantly,\Nwe are all trying to persevere.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.22,0:04:59.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I ask all of you,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.05,0:05:03.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what is the point of using our energy\Nto hate on each other,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.70,0:05:06.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when we could be using it to help,\Nand support each other.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.22,0:05:11.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If your answer, like mine,\Nis "I don't know,"
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.08,0:05:14.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then I urge you to consider\Nwhat you can do to make a difference.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.01,0:05:16.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let people tell their stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.51,0:05:18.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Listen.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.38,0:05:21.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let people share their needs.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.89,0:05:23.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Respect them.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.95,0:05:27.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Encourage people\Nto live their happiest lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.60,0:05:30.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And please, most importantly,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.18,0:05:33.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just treat people\Nthe way you want to be treated.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.95,0:05:35.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.04,0:05:39.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)