Diversity Rules Magazine

5 Diversity Rules Magazine September 2015 up against drug and alcohol addiction, and positive change. ere are also a couple love songs. I also did two cover songs one is "Round Here" by the Counting Crows and the other is "Man In e Mirror" made famous by Michael Jackson. Working with Barb Mor- rison and Jonathan Jetter was a privilege. It was such an incredible experience where I was pushed above the limits. My singing voice improved throughout the re- cording process and so did my songwriting. I wrote a couple of the songs while I was in the studio, which is a totally new experience for me. My drummer Kenny Truhn (from my records e eme of Humankind, e Rhythm and Soul Sounds) came in on the drums for this record and the chemistry between us was as strong as ever. I've already filmed a couple music videos for the record and plan to film more. I can't wait for the world to hear my new album. JRK: Transgender is a term we are hearing a lot more of lately with the recent "coming out" of Cait- lyn Jenner as well as other noteworthy news sto- ries over the past month dealing with transgender youth. ere is still a misunderstanding of what the term encompasses. Can you provide some insight into what you think it means? RC: Everyone's definition of the word transgender is different. For me it means, feeling differently than the gender you were assigned with at birth. Specifi- cally, for me that means transitioning from female as- signed at birth to male because I have always felt male. I think there's a lot of misunderstanding that gender is binary, when it isn't. Gender is more than just male and female. Also, not all transgender people choose to have surgeries and/or hormones and that's an important thing to note. Surger- ies and/or hormones do not make a transgender person valid, they are al- ready valid. JRK: Being gay or lesbian is a traumatic experience for a child in terms of the reactions by peers. e trauma that a transgender youth must endure has to be much more intense. What was your experience as a trans youth coming to grips with who you truly were? RC: I always had a strong sense of who I was so when I was younger and I knew that coming out was the right thing for me to do. I went through a lot of bullying in middle school and high school. I also was physically assaulted when I was a young teenager. I had to explain to everyone around me what being transgender meant because most people had never even heard of it. JRK: What are some of the most important things we can tell our youth generally about their individ- uality? What can be done to encourage them to em- brace it and be proud of who they are despite a soci- ety that sometimes degrades a person's individuality. RC: Every single person is different. However, there are people just like you out there in the world. You are not alone, you are never alone. No matter how you identify, your identity is valid. JRK: What was the reaction of family and friends when you actually embarked on your transition? What did you do to facilitate their processing of what was about to happen in terms of your journey forward? RC: My friends were all very supportive and they told me that they had been waiting for me to come out to them for a long time. ey weren't surprised at all when I told them. My family took a bit longer to come around. My older brother, Vincent and my younger brother, Frank always accepted me. ere was some struggle with understanding but they were always willing to learn. My parent took a little bit longer, especially my Dad but now both of my parents support me 100%. My extended family sometimes still struggles but it is much better than it was. Cassata - Con't on page 7

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