Chaz Bono

“There's a gender in your brain and a gender in your body. For 99 percent of people, those things are in alignment. For transgender people, they're mismatched. That's all it is. It's not complicated, it's not a neurosis. It's a mix-up. It's a birth defect, like a cleft palate.”

“I came out around 25 publicly.”

“When I was really little, it was very clear to me that I felt like a boy, and my friends were all boys.”

“I always had this idea that, 'Sure, I wished I was a boy and felt more like a boy and all of that.' But I wasn't, so I would deal with it. And I for some reason thought there were other lesbians that felt that way and that was just part of that community.”

“I feel really good, I feel like a man now, and I'm really happy.”

“In school I related to boys.”

“What mom cares about most is that I'm happy, healthy and enjoying my life.”

“I've been an activist in the LGBT community for a long time. I think nothing's changed, I'm just a little bit more focused on the 'T' now than I was on the 'L' or the 'G.'”

“I had felt uncomfortable as a woman my whole life.”

“When you transition, everyone kind of has to transition around you.”

“A lot of parents never speak to their transgender kids again; that's not the case in my family.”

“I was never religious.”

“Obviously the transgender movement has not progressed in the way that the gay and lesbian movement has. But I'm an activist - that's just the kind of person I am.”

“Until I really accepted this about myself and got over any of my own transphobia that I had, I really felt like I wouldn't be accepted. I thought I would ruin my life.”

“Deep down, my mom had long suspected I was gay... Much of her anger and hurt came from her sense of betrayal that she was the last to be told.”

“For me, it was never a question of whether or not I was transgender. It was a question of what I'd be able to handle transitioning and having to do it in the public eye. One of the issues that was hard for me to overcome was the fear of that.”

“Parents have to understand: if your kid isn't you, don't blame the kid.”

“I feel so much more comfortable that I've ever been. I've felt male as far back as I can remember.”

“I always wanted to shave. It is a very natural process. For my birthday I got a lot of shaving stuff.”

“As you get older it's more confusing. Suddenly, there's more pressure to fit in to your assigned gender.”