Laverne Cox Presents: 'The T Word' Full Documentary | MTV

[MUSIC PLAYING]

LAVERNE COX: When a baby is
born, one of the first questions

asked is, is it a
boy or is it a girl?

ZOEY: This is my room.

Beware of girliness.

LAVERNE COX: But what
if it's not that simple?

SPEAKER 1: The reality is you
were born to me as a female.

ZOEY: I was 10 when my counselor
told me that I was transgender.

KYE: I was at daycare.

OK, the boys go over here.

Girls go over here.

So I walk over with
the boys and they're

like, no, you're actually
supposed to be over here

with the girls, sweetie.

Haha.

That's cute.

DANIELLA: I've been identifying
as female for five years now.

ARI: All of a sudden,
all my friends

had to stop calling me Ariana
and they had to call me Ari.

LAVERNE COX: In the
next hour, you'll

meet seven brave
young men and women

who will show us what it
means to defy expectations.

KYE: I am the first openly
Division I trans athlete.

LAVERNE COX: To take
risk and make changes.

SHANE: It wasn't
just coming out.

It was, how am I going to
do all these medical things?

And I never had a
major surgery before.

LAVERNE COX: And even endure
discrimination and violence.

DANIELLA: I remember him
running after me, and he, like--

I'm sorry.

LAVERNE COX: Just to
have the same freedom

to live their
lives authentically

as who they knew they
were meant to be.

I'm Laverne Cox, and
this is The T Word.

For many of us, the T in LGBT
means more than transgender.

It also means truth.

When someone is trans, it
means they identify differently

from the gender they were
assigned at birth based

on genitalia.

Gender isn't black and white.

Even Facebook
recently added over

50 choices for people to
identify their own gender,

from transsexual to
cisgender and gender fluid,

so it can be kind of confusing
for some people to understand.

But the most important thing
to know about how individuals

identify their gender
is that it's not

about what's in their pants.

It's about what's in
their hearts and minds.

KYE: When I was five years
old, I knew that I was a boy.

I didn't question it.

That's just what it was.

AVERY: When I was,
like, 15, I realized

that I was so depressed
wearing clothes

that people expected
me to wear and how

to look and act certain ways.

SHANE: I started exploring
my gender identity

when I was about 14.

That whole period of time for
me, I was just very depressed.

I hated myself because
I felt inherently wrong.

LAVERNE COX: People
transition at different points

in their lives.

But many trans people,
like 18-year-old Ari,

report knowing their true
identity from early childhood.

ARI: Hey, guys.

I'm Ari.

Welcome to my house.

Come on in.

I'm from New York City.

I'm 18 years old,
and I love music.

This guitar I just
got for my birthday.

It's a beautiful instrument.

Thanks, mom and dad.

This is an ASCAP
award, and I won it

for my songwriting and stuff.

I've been playing music
and singing and songwriting

since I was about three.

I want to make it my career,
and I love it so much.

SPEAKER 2: I'm
looking for Ariana.

Where's she?

There she is.

ARI: I knew I was a boy
since I was really little.

Since I could dress myself.

I'd always dress up
in, like, boy outfits

and I only had guy
friends, and we all

used to scream at the
girls and tease the girls.

There was something about
me that just never connected

with a female.

SPEAKER 3: Here's
my little pumpkin.

SPEAKER 2: I have cheese--

these things.

ARI: Do you have any
peaches or anything?

SPEAKER 2: Trail mix.

ARI: You have peaches?

SPEAKER 2: No.

ARI: I was just really
confused all the time.

Like in middle school, it was
especially difficult because I

hit the wrong puberty
and got a menstrual cycle

and started growing
little things up top.

Nothing any boy wants
to have at 13 years old.

I wanted to be a teenage
boy and I couldn't.

One night I talked to
my dad and he was like,

you don't sound happy.

So I told my dad I
hate being a girl.

That night, he did a
little research into it

and he told me, like,
you're transgender.

And I was like, oh, yes,
there's a word for me.

Yes.

Thank God.

LAVERNE COX: Ari was
excited about finding a word

to describe his truth.

But there are some terms
that these young trans

people don't want to hear.

AVERY: Some of
the words that are

offensive to me are
tranny, shemale,

and just a flat out
man really hurts.

ZOEY: The word tranny.

It's very offensive to us.

It's like calling a
gay person the F word.

KYE: Girlboy, he/she.

Transgendered.

If you're saying
I'm transgendered,

it's like something
happened for me to be trans.

It's like saying
you've been blackened.

Like, what happened
for you to be Black?

SHANE: Any sort of language
that is not gendered male

is not correct for me.

But the one that
gets to me the most

is when people refer
to trans people as it.

LAVERNE COX: 12-year-old Zoey
has been experiencing this kind

of name calling from as
early as she can remember,

but no amount of harassment can
stop her from living proudly

as the girl she
knows herself to be.

ZOEY: I'm from the
Los Angeles area.

I have one brother and I have
one sister, and I have a mom.

She's a single parent.

And my dad has recently passed,
but everything's still good.

I still cope with it very well.

So this is my room.

Beware of girliness.

I mean, it just has
so much girliness.

I love dancing.

I love performing arts.

I love acting, and
I love drawing.

This is Dorothy from
The Wizard of Oz.

When I was two, I first started
feeling like I had a burden.

When I was little,
I always thought

that boys and girls
had the same genitalia

and that we all had
the same body parts,

so I just thought, oh, they're
confusing me for a boy.

Then I found out that they
actually have separate body

parts, and I felt very anxious
because I was wondering,

why do I have to live as
a boy when I really feel

that I'm a girl in the inside?

And I was just very
sad and depressed.

OFELIA: You have to
get ready for camp.

You have to start getting
your stuff together.

When she started
walking and talking,

she would generally gravitate
to playing princess.

She would wear my shoes.

So I kind of understood that
there was something different.

ZOEY: Oh, and we
got to go pick out

something for the formal dance.

My friend Nikki, she wore
this really pretty, like,

out there Cinderella
dress, and I was like,

I'm going to top you next year.

When I was two, I remembered
that my mom just got me out

of the shower and
she was drying me.

And I remember crying and
saying, I know in my heart

that I'm a girl.

And it was just really
confusing for her

and she didn't know what to do.

OFELIA: When I started
googling more information

about transgender people, most
of the information that I found

was negative.

Horrible words were used.

Abomination.

And I was like,
that's not my kid.

She's gorgeous.

LAVERNE COX: For Zoey,
Ari, and countless others,

deciding to transition
to a different gender

can be powerfully liberating.

But having to explain your
new identity and appearance

to everyone else can be
incredibly difficult.

Coming up on The T Word.

SPEAKER 1: I see
you as the child

that I gave birth to,
which is a female.

LAVERNE COX: And later.

ARI: I've had so many
opportunities to have sex

and I haven't been
able to ever have it.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

LAVERNE COX: Some
trans people feel

it's not necessary to undergo
medical transition, which

could include hormones
and/or surgeries.

But others choose
to make changes

on the outside that align with
how they feel on the inside.

SHANE: I guess first thing
was I picked my name, Shane,

and I started asking my close
friends to call me Shane.

I would be Shane out in public.

I felt so happy and so
confident and so fulfilled.

DANIELLA: I didn't
know if I was trans.

I didn't know who I was.

But I knew that when I
walked outside in a skirt,

I felt happy.

ZOEY: I transitioned in
front of everybody's eyes.

I came in hot pink
and I walked out

the bus and everybody was
like, whoa, that makes sense.

LAVERNE COX:
Transitioning can be

both exciting and challenging.

One of the biggest
hurdles can be

the time it takes friends and
family to accept the change.

So imagine how hard it must
be to experience all of that

under a national spotlight.

KYE: I am the first openly
Division I trans athlete.

There we go.

My action shot for today.

LAVERNE COX: In 2011, while
playing on the women's

basketball team at George
Washington University,

Kye was featured in a piece
for the website Outsports

announcing he was trans male.

The story caught fire and
made national headlines.

SPEAKER 4: Why come forward now
rather than play out your career

and then do everything?

KYE: I mean, that's what
my plan was, and then it

just-- it got too tough.

It got too tough to not be
me and to hear people call me

a girl, say she, or just refer
to me as something that I knew I

wasn't.

LAVERNE COX: Kye's
coaches and teammates

were quick to offer
support, but he

found himself faced with
a barrage of questions

from the media that made
focusing on basketball

difficult.

KYE: I went from
doing a post game

interview about the
game of, oh, hey, Kye,

so what did you
think about this?

How was that pass?

Things about sports, to, so are
you attracted to your teammates?

Are you going to
get the surgery?

Do you have a penis?

Like, what?

How many sports do people
play with their genitalia?

I don't understand.

How many jump shots has LeBron
James made with his penis?

I don't know.

I don't think any, right?

So why are you asking me
that as if that has anything

to do with my athletic ability?

It doesn't.

I was extremely overwhelmed.

It was a lot, having
everybody pay attention

to me just because I want to
change my name and my pronouns.

All I wanted was for
people to just focus

on my athletic ability.

And maybe the fact that I
needed to work on my 3-pointers

a little bit more.

LAVERNE COX: While
transitioning in college

was complicated
for Kye, coming out

as trans in elementary
school presented

its own set of unique challenges
for Zoey and her family.

OFELIA: Oh, drama?

ZOEY: I'm going into--

I might be going
to the mad dramas.

After I transitioned,
I had a lot of problems

with the school board.

They would always
give me a hard time.

The students bullied me as well,
but they didn't bully me as hard

as the administrators did.

They said, stay away from her.

She's a really bad kid.

She's like the Antichrist.

Yeah, it was really hard.

Next year, for sure,
I'm doing a talent show.

OFELIA: Good.

Finally.

A lot of people gave
me a really hard time

and they asked me to stop.

They asked me not
to encourage it.

It wasn't up to them.

If you see that
your child is happy

and they're living
a regular life,

why would you even want to
change it just so they could

fit into someone else's style?

ZOEY: I had other people come
and tell me, oh, you're a sin.

You deserve to live in hell and
you're going to burn someday.

And I was like, OK,
I'll see you there too.

OFELIA: I remember sitting
there in the whole crowd

and being so afraid of how
they were looking at her.

But she does great.

She's not afraid, and
that's the good thing.

I fought a lot with everybody
to let her buy her Barbies,

let her play with her toys.

Just leave my kid alone.

ZOEY: If my mom had
not been supportive,

I wouldn't be here today.

I would probably be a suicide.

OFELIA: You're just
a little kid still.

The more you grow, the stronger
you're going to become.

LAVERNE COX: Family
support is crucial.

A staggering 41% of
transgender people

have attempted suicide
in their lifetime.

That's nine times
the national average.

But the rate is
lower for those who

maintain a positive relationship
with family after coming out.

KYE: I can't hear you, Mom.

SPEAKER 1: Can you hear me.

KYE: Yeah, I hear you.

In terms of who's on
board with me being trans,

my siblings are great.

They call me their brother.

My mom is just-- she's--

I'm her oldest.

If you ask her, I mean, she'll
say that I'm her daughter.

Hi, mom.

SPEAKER 1: How is New York?

KYE: It's busy.

It's fun.

It's cool.

I went to Philly Trans Health
Conference this past weekend.

I talked to a trans kid
and he was asking me

about how to talk to his
parents about pronouns

because they won't switch.

SPEAKER 1: What do you
mean they won't switch?

KYE: Like, they won't
say, this is my son or he.

They just-- they do what you do.

They'll just play the
pronoun, like, game and just--

SPEAKER 1: I don't
say that either.

KYE: You don't say anything.

That's not better.

That's worse, I feel.

After I told my
team, I told my mom.

Being raised a Jehovah's
Witness, it was difficult.

It was difficult for
me, difficult for my mom

to process that.

And it tore us apart.

She just kept saying
it was a phase.

This is a phase.

It's not right.

The Bible says this,
the Bible says that.

SPEAKER 1: What I want
you to understand is this.

I gave birth to you.

I breastfed you for a year.

And it's very difficult
to just wake up one day

and go, OK, this is Kye.

And you know it took me two
years to just call you Kye,

and I still will not call
you a different gender

because I see you as the
child that I gave birth

to which is a female.

KYE: When my mom will give
my siblings pronouns--

so like my little brother,
this is her son, or my sister,

this is her daughter.

And then, this is Kye.

That is the most hurtful
to me because it makes

me feel like I'm not a human.

SPEAKER 1: An
orange is an orange.

You can't make it an apple.

You were born in a female body.

KYE: Yes, I was born
with a female body.

Yes, I have.

Yes, we know.

But that's just a body.

Mom.

Mom.

But that's just a bod--

SPEAKER 1: Why would
you want to do that?

Just answer that for me.

KYE: Because being
in that old body,

I literally-- being
in that old body

made me feel like I didn't
want to be alive anymore.

It didn't feel comfortable.

I couldn't even
focus on basketball.

I couldn't focus on school.

I couldn't focus
on doing anything.

And until now.

Now I finally see me.

I feel comfortable and I can
actually focus on my life.

But before that, that wasn't me.

SPEAKER 1: That's wonderful
that you feel comfortable,

and I'm glad you feel
in tune with yourself.

I would not love you any
different than what you decide.

But my reality is that you
were born to me as a female.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KYE: Would I love for my mom to
say it or to say, he and his?

Yes.

At the end of the day, my
relationship with her supersedes

pronouns.

But the fact that
she's not on board

means that I can
only handle so much.

Yeah.

I got to go.

SPEAKER 1: OK.

Well, I love you and be safe.

KYE: All right.

Love you, too.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

(SINGING) But we're
going to be OK.

LAVERNE COX: Coming
up on The T Word.

ARI: I've never been
comfortable enough

with myself to let
a girl touch me.

SHANE: My mother said
straight women will

want to date a man
and lesbians are

going to want to date a woman.

So who's going to
want to date you?

LAVERNE COX: Building
friendships and finding romance

is rarely easy
when you're young.

But growing up trans can add
another layer of complication

to all of these
rites of passage.

ZOEY: If I was
walking by a crowd

in a school I was
supposed to go to,

they'd be like,
OH, hey, gay boy.

So I decided that it's
best for me to move schools

so I could find friends.

DANIELLA: As a trans woman,
I've lost a lot of friends.

My life consists of Daniella,
home, but that's it.

AVERY: I think that
friends are everything,

and having supportive people
around you is really important.

Just one person that you
can confide in and get

some sort of validation of
being a normal human being

could mean everything
to somebody.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ARI: What's good, dude?

SIMONE: How are you, man?

LAVERNE COX: For Ari,
the social complications

started when he revealed that
he was trans to his classmates

in ninth grade.

ARI: I came out before high
school when I was about 14

as Ari, and that was really
the beginning of my journey.

I started really allowing myself
to feel like a boy in public.

SIMONE: Can we go?

ARI: Yes.

My high school was not
the greatest place.

My first year there,
I got bullied a lot.

There was just a group of guys
that just really didn't like me.

They went to the head
of my high school

and said that they weren't
comfortable with me changing

in the boys locker room.

One of them mentioned
that I watched them

pee, which is just ridiculous.

Like, nobody
watches anybody pee.

You've never seen Clueless?

Dude.

It's kind of a chick
flick, but it's so funny.

It was a really rough
place to transition.

I ended up not really
making it there.

I left.

Do you want to sit here?

SIMONE: Sure.

ARI: OK.

I started testosterone my
sophomore year in high school,

and that was one of the most
exciting points in my life

because I started a new high
school, new people, fresh start,

and my voice was low.

From that point
on, my transition

became more of a life
for Ari as a young guy.

LAVERNE COX: Even though Ari
has had several girlfriends

in recent years,
he still struggles

with how to express
his sexuality.

SIMONE: What happened?

ARI: This is how I
get changed by myself.

Dating and my sex life.

It's a rough thing, especially
because, at least for me,

sex is something that's always
been really scary to me.

If I get with a
girl, what if she

tries to put her hand in my
pants and then freaks out?

Because that's happened to me
before and it really sucks.

SIMONE: Who are you
excited about seeing?

Anyone specific?

ARI: I mean, everybody.

Definitely super ultra
mega excited for Rachel

to come, though.

Today is my 18th birthday, and
I'm going to be having a bunch

of my really close friends over
for a decent size little party.

Aw, you bought me a cake.

I'm warning all of you,
Mobley might hump you.

No, no.

He will hump you.

Hey, get out of my house.

RACHEL: Happy birthday, you.

ARI: Thank you so much.

I've had so many
opportunities to have sex

and I haven't been
able to ever have it.

Welcome, welcome.

Even with a
girlfriend, I've never

been comfortable enough with
myself to let a girl touch me.

[CHEERING]

Thank you, guys.

The relationship relies
on everything but sex.

Now I gots to make a wish.

And it can't be the wish
that I told certain people.

Being trans and dating can
be really tricky and a really

emotional thing, and you have to
really find someone who's safe

and who is really,
really supportive

and proves to you that
they're supportive.

LAVERNE COX: Dating
and sex can definitely

be harder for some trans
people to navigate.

SPEAKER 5: Let's
go back and graph

some more of these equations.

LAVERNE COX: But Shane
from Baltimore, Maryland,

is living proof that true love
can transcend gender boundaries.

SHANE: When I came out
as trans, relationships

were a very complicated thing
for me because I really--

like my mother said,
who is going to love me?

She was worried as a
mother that I wouldn't

be able to find a partner to
share my life with because she

said, straight women will want
to date a man and lesbians are

going to want to date a woman.

So who is going to
want to date you?

So I had this little,
like, Amish boy haircut.

I hated having long hair.

And every time that
I did have long hair,

I just threw it
up in a ponytail.

And I believed it
for a long time.

I didn't think that
anyone would love me.

I played baseball for a while.

And I thought that
it would always

have to be the baggage
that I brought along

into whatever relationship
that I was bringing.

Hey, I'm trans.

I hope that that's OK.

JESS: Trying to spice it up?

ARI: You're always
spicing it up.

I didn't think that anyone would
love me or be able to love me.

JESS: I can't believe
it's been a year.

I mean, I can believe, but I
can't believe it's been a year.

SHANE: Until Jess.

We met through a mutual friend,
and then one day our friends

had gone out and
we were left alone,

and we started
talking about life.

I'd never heard another
human vocalize the thoughts

in my head so articulately.

And from that point
on, I was like,

she's going to be
in my life somehow.

Come on.

JESS: Don't pull me in.

I don't trust you.

That's why I don't trust you.

I did not know anything
about trans people

or the trans community
prior to dating Shane.

[CHATTER]

The first time we were intimate,
we were taking a shower

together, and he said, I know
you haven't seen any other trans

people naked, and
I just didn't want

to get naked and throw you off.

I say, Shane,
you're not an alien.

You're going to have parts
that I'm familiar with,

and that's fine.

I'm kind of treading water.

SHANE: I know.

I avoided pools for so
long, I forgot how to swim.

JESS: I can imagine.

SHANE: No, it's a real thing.

I knew from literally the
first time I kissed her

that I wanted to marry her.

Within the week of kissing,
we were officially dating,

and within six weeks, we
had moved in together.

She is what I largely attribute
to how successful I am,

because she shows me
support, unconditional love,

and makes me feel like
I can do anything.

And it's amazing.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

LAVERNE COX: Coming
up on The T Word.

AVERY: I wrote, hey, I have to
tell you something important.

LAVERNE COX: Avery
reveals the complexities

of dating as a trans
woman and the danger

she faces just
for being herself.

AVERY: I don't like
to disclose in person.

It's a very real
possibility that we

can be harmed physically.

LAVERNE COX: For most people,
being perceived as the gender

we identify as goes a
long way towards making

our daily lives less stressful.

SHANE: I have what I call
passing privilege, which

is that when I'm
walking down the street,

people don't know
that I'm trans.

They're perceiving me
as a straight white man.

But not everybody
has that privilege.

KYE: I decided to
take testosterone

because every time I
would walk anywhere,

I would try to order
a sandwich, they would

ask, how can I help you, sir?

And I would answer and I'd say,
I want a roast beef sandwich.

And they'd be like,
I'm sorry, ma'am.

I'm like, no, no, no.

You had it right the first time.

LAVERNE COX: But sometimes the
consequences of not passing

can be very serious.

AVERY: My definition
of getting clocked

is somebody realizing
you're not a cis born

woman or a regular girl.

When I got clocked,
I felt like I

was representing what
I wanted to show,

and it made me
feel very insecure.

LAVERNE COX: 20-year-old Avery
has been identifying as female

for five years.

AVERY: I grew up with a
single mom and four sisters.

It was a lot of
estrogen, a lot of girls.

LAVERNE COX: At what
point in your life

did you realize that
you were different?

AVERY: Probably when
I was, like, 15.

I had two older
sisters and they always

wanted me to be their hot little
brother that got girls and was

a player and stuff.

But that really wasn't me.

Ever since that kind of stuff
was happening, I was like,

this doesn't feel right.

LAVERNE COX: Because
more often than not,

Avery's perceived as
the female she is.

She struggles with how and
when to reveal she's trans.

She knows all too well that
doing so to the wrong person

at the wrong time
can be dangerous.

AVERY: So I've been talking to
this guy and I met him online

and he's really
funny, and I haven't

disclosed that I'm trans yet.

And I'm a little nervous
to see what he says.

There's a time where I didn't
disclose that I was trans

and that didn't go so well.

LAVERNE COX: The
threat of violence

is something that's
really real for you.

AVERY: That's a real
possibility for me

because, sometimes,
especially with girls like us,

we like to test our realness.

We like to go out and
be like, oh, we're

so unclockable and everything.

But it's a very real
possibility that we

can be harmed physically.

You always see cases where these
women are murdered and killed,

and that's always in the
back of my head, which

is why I'm always cautious
when it comes to dating.

I wrote, hey, I have to tell
you something important.

I need to let you know
that I'm transgender.

I don't like to
disclose in person.

I like to be a little
cautious about that.

Texting is the best way.

LAVERNE COX: For safety?

AVERY: Exactly.

OK, so he just asked.

So what do you have down there?

This is actually really
typical in a lot of guys.

I feel like it's really kind of
insensitive and very personal

to ask.

I don't know.

We just met.

Like, I don't want to talk
about that area down there.

LAVERNE COX: So many people
will say that no matter

what surgery you
have, you're always

the gender that you
were assigned at birth.

Even if you have bottom
surgery, definitely

if you don't have
bottom surgery,

you are the gender you
were assigned at birth.

What would you say to them?

AVERY: I feel like
that is just ignorant.

Women come in all
shapes and sizes,

and I feel like
just to discredit us

because we were born
with a certain genitalia

is kind of ignorant.

I feel like it's
more fluid than that.

He wrote, I'm sorry.

I'm not into that.

I don't know why
you took two hours,

but it didn't work out, so.

LAVERNE COX: Most
of the time, Avery

says she experiences
rejection when

she discloses that she's trans.

But sometimes she
meets someone who's

open to getting to know
her just the way she is.

AVERY: Hi, how are you?

DONNIE: Nice to meet you.

AVERY: Nice to meet you too.

How do you feel about the whole
topic of transgender people

in general?

DONNIE: Does it
make you happier?

AVERY: Yeah.

DONNIE: That's what matters.

That's really what
the important part is.

AVERY: It's not for
everyone, obviously.

And it can be a total game
changer, which I understand.

Which is why I'm glad
you're OK with it.

The first date went pretty well.

He is really good at
keeping a conversation

and he's funny and sweet.

It makes me feel
validated and it

makes me feel like I'm
a normal person, which

is the most important thing.

Like I'm a normal girl.

LAVERNE COX: While
Avery navigates

the politics of
dating while trans,

L'lerret is struggling with
politics of a different kind.

L'LERRET: My name is L'lerret.

I'm 20 years old.

I go to a very private Catholic
HBCU, Historically Black

University.

I try to just perfect
my makeup because that's

part of my family.

Makeup is just, like, my armor.

I started hormones
in January, and it's

been a wonderful process.

It's been very transformative.

I've learned so
much about myself.

So I'm looking for,
like, a pore filler.

Something to make the skin
smoother looking before I

put on the foundation and stuff.

When you're getting
clocked, it's

like when you are just
living your life trying

to be yourself authentically,
and people can tell.

So people that don't pass,
they do experience a lot more

adversity because when a lot of
people experience trans women,

they don't know
how to react to us.

LAVERNE COX: Across
the country, studies

show that trans
women of color face

higher levels of police
profiling and harassment

than the general population.

And L'lerret is one
of the many trans

women in New Orleans who say
they have been unjustly targeted

by the police.

L'LERRET: This is Tulane
Avenue, and this is probably

one of the biggest
hotspots for the police

to come to meet their quota
and criminalize trans women,

especially trans women of color.

There's the stereotype
that all Black trans

women are sex workers.

No one goes to Bourbon
when the sun's out.

We go at night.

So if I'm leaving
school to go to Bourbon,

then of course I'm dressed
cute because I want

to look cute down in Bourbon.

Just the fear of being stopped
by the police is a problem.

They could see that as me
trying to flaunt my body

and they would crack
down on me as a way

to prevent me from being
harmed is what they say.

But when they crack
down on us consistently,

there becomes this
whole understanding

that all trans women
are sex workers

and they must dehumanize us
because that's who we are.

The intersections of being
transgender, being Black,

and being a woman altogether,
walking out late at night

is not a thing
that we do anymore.

People think that
when you're out here,

you're just like, open bait.

They'll honk their
horns, they'll stop.

We in New Orleans
are really working

to change this environment
and change the system.

So that trans women don't
feel afraid of going out

at certain times at night.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CROWD: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

L'LERRET: Five or
six months ago, I

joined an organization
called Breakout.

Youth Breakout in
New Orleans, and it's

centered around the
decriminalization of LGBT youth

of color in New Orleans.

Having Breakout as that
outlet for all the youth

to come together and
start owning their power

and using their truths
to really affect

some change in the
community, I feel

like that's really important.

I think that's where
Breakout is going to go

is going to mobilize the youth.

At the end of the
day, I'm not going

to be scared of
being who I am, but I

do understand that being
that person is dangerous.

LAVERNE COX: Coming
up on The T Word.

DANIELLA: Last year, in
the middle of spring,

on this very same corner, I
was pulled off the streets

and I was raped by a guy.

LAVERNE COX: I always
connect to these stories

because I've been catcalled
and then someone's

realized that I'm trans
and I fear for my life.

The trans community is
enjoying more awareness

and social equality
than ever before.

But anti-trans bias
is still pervasive,

and violence
against trans people

remains disproportionately high.

ZOEY: Of course
I've been bullied.

I've gotten people
threatening me.

I've never been
physically harmed,

but I have been threatened.

KYE: I was just walking.

One guy, he comes
right in my face

and just like, oh, so you think
you a man, you think you a girl.

Like, come on, son.

Like, I'm going to show you
what it's like to be a man.

Da, da.

And I'm just like--

and I was just
looking at him, like,

is this really
happening right now?

SHANE: I went to the
7-Eleven up the road.

These two guys came in and they
said, are you a boy or a girl?

I didn't say anything.

I didn't want to get
into it with them.

And then they started to
get more aggressive about it

and they were like, what is it?

And I became an it, and
I was no longer a person.

LAVERNE COX: And
since LGBT youth

are much more likely than
the general population

to experience
homelessness, they're

even more susceptible to
becoming victims of crime.

DANIELLA: I'm fine.

How are you?

LAVERNE COX: 20-year-old
Daniella from New York knows

first hand the dangers of
being a trans woman living

on the streets.

DANIELLA: I was
raised in foster care

from 18 months old until
escaping around 16 officially.

Growing up in foster
care was really rough,

and by the age of 16, I
just wanted to be free.

I was sleeping on
the trains, sleeping

in the parks, the village.

That was my reality
for quite some time.

Last year, in the
middle of spring,

on this very same corner, I
was pulled off the streets

and I was raped by a guy.

He, like, has a knife.

And he's like, bitch, say
another word and these

will be your last words.

It's that moment where you
just, like-- you don't realize

that this is happening to you.

You know?

You're like, damn, do I scream?

Do I shout?

So now here we are.

We're in this car.

And I remember, my hand
was shaking unbearably.

And I remember him like, telling
me, stop shaking, stop shaking.

I was just begging him,
please, just take all my money.

Take everything I own
and just let me go.

But my property wasn't enough.

The only property he
wanted to own was my body.

You feel so helpless that
all you could think about is,

will I make it
out of this alive?

Every single day when
I walk outside at night

becomes that moment for me.

Will I be a survivor
or will I be a victim?

LAVERNE COX: So
what happened next?

DANIELLA: Then we
get to the hospital.

And I remember like everyone
saying to me, don't worry,

things are going to be fine.

We're going to
give you a rape kit

and I'm sorry to have
to put you through this,

but we have to stick
it in the female area.

And I was just like, yeah, but
I don't think that's possible.

And then they said, so
how did he rape you?

And I said, well,
he, like, put it

in the anal and stuff like that.

And she says, oh, and
he raped you like that?

Because I could
feel the shift now.

You're sure it wasn't sex work?

LAVERNE COX: The second she
found out that you were trans,

she basically accused you
of being a sex worker.

DANIELLA: Yeah.

And then started
telling me, like, oh,

you sure you wasn't prostituting
and he took advantage

and he didn't give
you what you wanted

and now you're saying that
it's rape to get back at him?

I'll never forget it,
because here I am, just like,

you're not going to get
treated with respect.

LAVERNE COX: Daniella was
lucky to escape with her life.

But sadly, stories like
hers are all too common.

DANIELLA: I'm taking
in this moment

where I'm like, wow, look at
the things you've encountered,

but look at all of the things
you did to move past that.

And it's making me
emotional because I'm

thinking about
everybody else that's

coming, and knowing that this
is where they have to live.

[THUNDER]

LAVERNE COX: We are
going to the site

where Islan Nettles was
murdered almost a year ago.

This girl was 21 years old.

She had been
homeless and she was

beaten into a coma on Frederick
Douglas Avenue in front

of a police precinct.

The police pulled a young
man off of her, arrested him

for assault, and
once she died, they

dropped the assault charges
because they allegedly

want to bring homicide
charges against this person.

But they haven't done
it yet because they

don't have enough evidence.

It's a year later.

I always connect
to these stories

because I've been Islan
Nettles walking down the street

and catcalled and someone's
realized that I'm trans

and I fear for my life.

Hey.

So this is the place
where it happened.

This is for Island,
that we never

forget young women like her who
are fighting for their lives

or who may have
lost their lives.

We remember you and
we love you, Islan.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I'm just having all of these
flashbacks to CeCe McDonald's

story.

CeCe McDonald is a
young trans woman

who, like Islan, was
walking down the street

and then was violently attacked.

CeCe survived.

Her gifts for survival
was a prison sentence

because, in defending herself,
one of her attackers was killed.

If you look at Jules Gutierrez's
story in Northern California,

she was attacked at her school
by a group of young girls,

or Chrissy Polis in Baltimore.

That video that went viral when
she was attacked in a McDonald's

by a group of young girls.

We just came off of five trans
women being murdered in 41 days.

There's a feeling of
helplessness and powerlessness.

It feels like it's
sanctioned by the state

and by our society
to just pick us off.

It's infuriating and
maddening that it

feels like these murders are
treated as if they're OK,

as if we deserve to
be victims of violence

simply for being who we are.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

SPEAKER 6: Crazy, sexy
smart, fast, next, dangerous.

Ish.

LAVERNE COX: Don't go away.

The T Word continues right now.

We've seen how trans people face
widespread discrimination when

they start living their truth.

But despite that, this
remarkable group of young people

is rising above the stigma
and creating a brighter

future for themselves.

ZOEY: So this is
an award I received

from CSW because they saw that
I had some leadership in me.

LAVERNE COX: Zoey
just turned 13,

and she's already become a
powerful voice for trans youth.

She and her mom joined the fight
to pass a new law in California

that now provides greater
protection for trans students.

ZOEY: The law allows
students in California

to use their
preferred bathrooms,

and now I can use the girls'
locker room without any hassle.

So I'm just really excited.

LAVERNE COX: Kye retired
from competitive basketball

three years ago, but his unique
experiences in college sports

led to a new passion.

KYE: I went from being
an athlete to an advocate

like that, traveling
and speaking

to schools about
my story, trying

to create safer spaces
for other trans athletes.

I've had kids come up
to me and say, wow,

I've never met a trans person.

Like, thank you for
just coming to my school

and just being here
and sharing your story.

And they told me it
made a difference.

That's all I'm trying to do.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

LAVERNE COX:
Daniella is committed

to using her experience
to help other trans youth.

She has recently started
an online business

and finally has a
home to call her own.

DANIELLA: I really
do feel blessed.

This is my safe space.

I think I beat the
odds as a youth.

That's what my
apartment shows me.

LAVERNE COX: Ari survived high
school and is now on his way

to college to pursue
his dreams of becoming

a professional recording artist.

ARI: Being done with high school
means that I've overcome a lot.

I feel really proud of myself.

I can't wait to get this next
chapter started in my life

and be more
independent and learn

to really take care of myself.

So I'm really looking
forward to that.

And I'm looking forward, period.

I can't wait.

[CHEERING]

Thank you guys so much.

SHANE: Being here
today is amazing.

There are so many
beautiful humans here,

and I'm excited to
be a part of it.

LAVERNE COX: Both
L'lerret and Shane

are graduating from
college this year.

Avery not only has
a new job working

with a fashion designer--
she has a new man in her life

as well.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

AVERY: The most
important message

I want for people who aren't
in the trans community

is just that we're
normal people.

We have feelings.

We do normal things.

We're just trying to live
our lives like you are.

We're going through the
same struggles as you.

You should probably
get to know us.

[MUSIC PLAYING]