Trace Lysette

Trans women are conditioned to accept that society sees us as overly sexualized objects - even more so than how society already sexualizes cis women. It's almost as if they don't see us as fully developed human beings.

It was a dream of mine to be in an action film.

In my own personal life, it's been pretty hard navigating love, and so I've found this kind of contentment in loving myself and waiting for the world to catch up.

I have lived my life putting work first, pushing myself to overcome obstacles to get the job done.

Trans women should be accepted and celebrated, whether they look a little bit more on the masculine side of the spectrum or they're the femme of all fems.

A lot of my chosen family is black and I say that unabashedly. For anyone who doesn't understand that, they just don't understand me and my generation because especially in the LGBT community, the concept of chosen family is so important and it's a survival tactic.

I feel like if Hollywood can stretch for inclusion and intersectionality, and being intentional with its intersectionality, that that can ripple out past Hollywood into whatever industry and kind of affect society as a whole.

I got to choreograph a halftime dance with the cheerleading squad, which was all-female, at my high school. And I was the only boy, at the time. We did this whole routine to 'Maria Maria' by Santana, and 'Thong Song' by Sisqo - it was a mix.

How often do we get to see trans people interacting with each other onscreen? We have friends. Hello? We're people. We're not just this isolated unit all the time. I would like to see us carry a project.

Going to meetings for Time's Up has been deeply affirming for me.

Drag was not only my introduction to womanhood, but my introduction to entertainment. It was the first time I realized that I could move a crowd.

Everyone has a voice. I mean, that's the good side to the Internet Age and social media. Obviously, there's negatives to it, but I think that the fact that everyone has a voice now is a tool that we can use for good.