But when I asked for the same pay structure on the back-end as the male—not the same amount, even, because he was in more of the movie—the same structure, they didn’t want to give it to me.

The Smithsonian has always been able to rise above the political moment. I don’t see anything that stops that process.

“Discrimination is not done by villains. It’s done by us.”

Human rights require a dedication to equality at every intersection of life.

Being exceptional isn’t revolutionary, it’s lonely. It separates you from your community. Who are you, really, without community? I have been held up consistently as a token, as the “right” kind of trans woman (educated, able-bodied, attractive, articulate, heteronormative). It promotes the delusion that because I “made it,” that level of success is easily accessible to all young trans women. Let’s be clear: It is not.

Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.

We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights. It is time now to write the next chapter - and to write it in the books of law.

I'm not an activist; I don't look for controversy. I'm not a political person, but I'm a person with compassion. I care passionately about equal rights. I care about human rights. I care about animal rights.

The demand for equal rights in every vocation of life is just and fair; but, after all, the most vital right is the right to love and be loved.