On Tuesday, March 12, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to meet with a group of representatives from Housing Works who, every Tuesday from January to June, travel to Albany, N.Y., to speak with New York state legislators to encourage them to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA). It's...

Speaking with Chicago-based transgender activist and recording artist KOKUMỌ, I feel as if I'm truly speaking to one who is anointed, one who has a strong sense...

With the upcoming release of his album Speculum Orum and the video for its title song, I wanted to talk to M. Lamar about...

In honor of the end of the Mayan calender, New York City drag and recording artist Peppermint does her own take on the Azealia Banks song "212." Pep's version is called "The Mayans." Enjoy!

WATCH:

Violence against transgender people is a serious and pervasive issue. Far too many trans people, and particularly trans women of color, have been targeted in violent attacks. So reading about the trial of former New York City firefighter Taylor Murphy, who is accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, model Claudia Charriez,...

This year I spent Transgender Day of Remembrance on the set of Orange Is the New Black, an original series for Netflix in which I play Sophia Burset. A large part of me felt that I should have been at events memorializing those we have lost this year to anti-trans...

Flo Rida has one of the top songs in the country right now. It's called "Whistle." But may I suggest another song that'll really have you dancing? I like to think of it as the girl-power alternative. (Yeah, I said "girl power." The Spice Girls just closed the Olympics. Girl power is back.) The song is brought to you by independent recording artist Mila Jam. It's also called "Whistle." It's one of those infectious pop ditties that, once you hear it, you can't get out of your head. At least I can't. Mila sings:

All the boys keep calling me.
They can't stop whistlin',
Whistlin', whi-whistlin'.
The boys keep on whistlin'.
They lovin' it and feelin' it and can't stop whistlin',
Whistlin', whi-whistlin'.
The boys keep on whistlin'.

It's one of those songs that makes you feel good about being a girl, those moments when you know you're looking and feeling good, 'cause all the boys are whistling, but it's so not about them. They're not worth our time, anyway, Ms. Jam suggests. "I admit I never, ever look a mess. Damn, I look good in this dress," she sings. Her call for us to put our hands on our hips and roll our necks is a fun dance move that also serves as a kiki rebuff of unwanted advances. Girl power 2012!

I had the pleasure of seeing Mila Jam perform live for her legions of gay fans earlier this month in a concert she did at the New York City hot spot Industry. Mila Jam is one of those artists you have to see live. Get thee to a Mila Jam show. Someone said to me after her concert that night, "Years later, when she's a huge star, we'll say we were at Industry when she blew the roof off the place and announced to the world that she ain't playing." She closed the show with "Whistle" and premiered the music video for the song. The video is effective in relating Mila's girl-next-door sex appeal and the female empowerment of the song. But the magic, energy, and charisma of seeing Ms. Jam perform that song live, dancing full-out with precision choreography and several backup dancers, cannot be replicated precisely in video. You had to be there. Mila Jam has mastered the art of singing live and dancing full-out at the same time, perhaps due to her musical theater background. She performed for years in the international touring company of Rent.

What was most impressive about Jam's Industry concert is that she can go from full-scale production numbers, with dancers and choreography, to simply singing all alone onstage. She's just as compelling doing both. The emotional high point of the show was a tender ballad Ms. Jam penned, called "Lions." When she sang, "We're fighting like lions and growling at each other," it was clear that Mila Jam has experienced real pain. I was brought to tears by her rendition of that song. Her voice has a delicate sweetness. Her vocal tone is like honey, but the voice is also powerful and packs a punch. Mila Jam is an artist and performer that the world should know.

For more info on Mila Jam, go to MilaJam.com.

One of the first things I did when I turned 18 was register to vote. Growing up in Mobile, Ala., I was raised by a single black mom who grew up in the segregated South. I was made very aware of the fact that my ancestors literally died so that...

When I was bullied as a child, called names, chased home from school, and sometimes physically attacked, it was because of my gender expression. The way I acted was way more feminine than how most of the people around me thought a boy "should" act. Though I was often told...

Several years into my transtion about a decade ago, I thought seriously about killing myself. Life was really hard. I wasn't passing as my true female self very well. I often was called a man as I walked down the street. I didn't think I would ever be accepted as...

I was so moved by and proud of President Barack Obama's history-making declaration yesterday with this sentence: "For me, personally, I think it's important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think that same-sex couples should be able to get married." This is great news. Marriage equality is...

Many of the trans folks I have talked to were over the moon when Donald Trump announced on Friday's 20/20 that the discriminatory ban on trans women competing in the Miss Universe pageant would be lifted, not only allowing Jenna Talackova to compete but opening the pageant to trans women...

I was very moved when I found out that the Miss Universe organization would allow Jenna Talackova to compete, reversing their earlier decision to disqualify her because she is transgender. The organization's statement asserted that she will be allowed to compete only "provided she meets the legal gender recognition requirements...

Do transgender people have the right to dream? This is what comes up for me most predominantly when I think about the recent disqualification of Jenna Talackova from competing in Miss Universe Canada because she is, in their words, not a "natural born female." She is transgender. Initially when I...

I have a movie opening in select cities nationwide this week. It's called Musical Chairs. I play Chantelle, an African-American transgender woman who is disabled. She's paralyzed from the waist down, but she maintains a fervent sense of humor about her situation and about life. Musical Chairs is a beautiful,...

I started off 2011 by attending the Sundance Film Festival for the first time. I was only there for a few days but got to see the films Becoming Chaz and Gun Hill Road. I left the film festival feeling infinitely inspired as an actress, artist, and trans woman. I...

The function of violence in this world, I believe, is to attempt to put people "in their places." I learned at an early age that violence toward me would be a potential consequence of me daring to step out of place, and I never knew my place when it came...

There's a part of me that's always been envious of Jamie Clayton, who just made her acting debut on HBO's Hung, playing the transgender character Kyla. I have known Jamie for over 10 years. She was my first choice of co-stars for TRANSform Me, the makeover show I co-produced and...

Recently my brother was chatting with someone and mentioned his sister and that she's transgender. The first question this person asked upon hearing this information was, "Has she had the full surgery yet?" By "the full surgery" this person meant bottom surgery. They basically were asking my brother to talk...

Talking to a friend about the recent conservative outrage surrounding Chaz Bono on Dancing with the Stars, my friend said to me, "Could you imagine people calling for boycotts and protests if it were a black person cast?" I, of course, immediately thought of the history of black folks on...