37 transgender quotes on identity, visibility, and joy

At a time when transgender rights and identities are often under attack, it’s never been more important to highlight and uplift trans voices.

Research shows that transgender folks have an increased risk of mental health conditions, particularly depression and anxiety. And suicidality is sadly common in this community, with the Trevor Project reporting that 40% of transgender and nonbinary young people seriously considered suicide in the last year.

That’s why inclusive gender-affirming therapy is so important—it gives trans folks and people struggling with gender dysphoria a safe space to explore their identities and receive care without having their gender identity treated as something that needs to be changed or “fixed.”

However, trans lives aren’t defined by these hardships alone. Trans joy, resilience, and self-discovery are equally important parts of their story. The transgender quotes below offer a glimpse into the experiences of trans authors, actors, activists, models, and more. Whether you’re trans yourself, you’re a loved one or parent of someone questioning their gender, or you simply want to celebrate the trans community, read on for inspiration.

1. “Nature made a mistake, which I have corrected.” —Christine Jorgensen, US Army veteran and public figure
2. “For me, joy comes from self-authorship. Beauty is complexity, not conformity.” —Alok Vaid-Menon, writer and performer
3. “There’s power in naming yourself, in proclaiming to the world that this is who you are. Wielding this power is often a difficult step for many transgender people, because it’s also a very visible one.” —Janet Mock, writer, television producer, and transgender rights activist
4. “I live proudly in a body of my own design. I defend my right to be complex.” —Leslie Feinberg, author and activist
5. “Of course, trans women find joy and pleasure in our lives and accomplish incredible things. We have always been very resilient—but our resilience doesn’t mean that our lives are ever ‘easy.’” —Gwen Benaway, poet and activist
6. “Our identities matter. They help make us who we are and shape our outlook. Existing in them is a radical act, one that requires, in many instances, courage, hard work, and determination. I am a better person because of the experiences and insights that I’ve had because I’m transgender. I’m a more compassionate person than I was before I accepted that part of my identity.” ―Sarah McBride, activist and politician
7. “To me gender is not physical at all, but is altogether insubstantial. It is soul, perhaps, it is talent, it is taste, it is environment, it is how one feels, it is light and shade, it is inner music.” —Jan Morris, historian and author
8. “I don’t know who I am outside of someone who’s just trying to be free and find safety for myself and for others.” —Indya Moore, actor and model
9. “Who you are is not up for public debate. Your identity is not up for debate. If you were sharing your story with somebody, it’s inarguable. It’s your story.” —Ian Harvie, comedian
10. “Success in a gender is feeling comfortable in that gender.” —Kate Bornstein, author and playwright
11. “We have a right to live openly and proudly. When we are denied those rights, we are the ones who suffer that oppression. But when our lives are suppressed, everyone is denied an understanding of the rich diversity of sex and gender expression and experience that exist in human society.” —Leslie Feinberg, author and activist
12. “That’s the thing about trans joy: It can never be fully extinguished. People can try to narrow the possibilities for our lives, even end them, but our spirits will always expand to fill whatever space we are given. We will find the power in us.” —Geena Rocero, model, writer, and director
13. “The most radical thing that any of us can do is to stop projecting our beliefs about gender onto other people’s behaviors and bodies.” —Julia Serano, writer and musician
14. “Gender is not what people look like to other people; it is what we know ourselves to be. No one else should be able to tell you who you are; that’s for you to decide.” —Alok Vaid-Menon, writer and performer
15. “As you can see by the enclosed photos, taken just before the operation, I have changed a great deal. But it is the other changes that are so much more important. Remember the shy, miserable person who left America? Well, that person is no more and, as you can see, I’m in marvelous spirits.” —Christine Jorgensen
16. “I’ve never been interested in being invisible and erased.” —Laverne Cox, actress and LGBTQ advocate
17. “I think trans women, and trans people in general, show everyone that you can define what it means to be a man or woman on your own terms. A lot of what feminism is about is moving outside of roles and moving outside of expectations of who and what you’re supposed to be to live a more authentic life.” —Laverne Cox
18. “Being transgender is not just a medical transition. … [It’s about] discovering who you are, living your life authentically, loving yourself, and spreading that love towards other people and accepting one another.” —Jazz Jennings, LGBTQ rights activist and public figure
19. “I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self.” —Elliot Page, actor
20. “The more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I thrive.” —Elliot Page
21. “I never say ‘trans but,’ always ‘trans and.’ Because it’s like, no, I don’t hide who I am. People know exactly who I am here.” —Danica Roem, journalist and politician
22. “There isn’t a trans moment….It’s just a presence where there was an absence. We deserve so much more.” —Hari Nef, actress and model
23. “All of us are put in boxes by our family, by our religion, by our society, our moment in history, even our own bodies. Some people have the courage to break free.” —Geena Rocero, model and transgender advocate
24. “We are all assigned a gender at birth. Sometimes that assignment doesn’t match our inner truth, and there needs to be a new place–a place for self-identification.” —Geena Rocero
25. “We used to accept this crap of: ‘We’re not worthy,’ and ‘We shouldn’t exist’…We’ve got to revolt, and we’ve got to reclaim who [we] are and let these people realize, before they came along, we were honored and worshiped and appreciated and adored. If this world is going to get its act together, they have to support and put in the front to lead this revolution the people who are the most oppressed, which is my Black transgender community.” —Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, civil rights advocate
26. “We have to remain visible. They have to see us, they have to know that we’re not going [nowhere], that we’ve been here ever since God made man and woman, and they have to get over it. I don’t need their permission to exist; I exist in spite of them. I want you to train and teach and love on and create families within my community and gender non-conforming people, so that we can understand that we have a culture, we have a history, we have a reason to be here. We have a purpose. We’re entitled to be loved, and seek happiness, and share that with the people that we care about.” —Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
27. “I’ve always been Sarah. My gender identity has always existed. I’ve always been a woman. Gay people aren’t straight before they come out as gay, and transgender people are who they are before they come out and transition.” —Sarah McBride, activist and politician
28. “Our experience of gender is no more or less pathological than that of ‘mainstream’ society… We have a right to live in a body that matches our self-image and deep desires without someone else being the gatekeeper to our experience.” —Florence Ashley, transfeminine jurist and bioethicist
29. “The best thing about being a girl is, now I don’t have to pretend to be a boy.” —Avery Jackson, LGBTQ youth advocate
30. “We have to be visible. We are not ashamed of who we are.” —Sylvia Rivera, transgender rights activist
31. “When I was younger, I wish I would have been told more often that I was right and nothing was wrong with me, that I was deserving of everything this world has to offer, and that my visions for my future were worthy of pursuit.” —Janet Mock, transgender rights activist
32. “When I was little, the idea of waking up as a girl was like a fairytale. I had this idea that I’d meet a witch who would transform me. From the moment I found out that it was actually possible, I went to bed each night feeling that when it happens, it will be the best day of my life. And it was!” —Andreja Pejic, model and actress
33. “I’m more a collector of identities and words that feel right to me. To me this is an inarguable point. I am who I say I am and that’s not up for debate.” —Ian Harvie, comedian and actor
34. “Trans people are extraordinary, strong, intelligent, persistent and resilient. We have to be. And we will not stand for the picking and choosing of rights. We still have hope.” —Grace Dolan-Sandrino, activist and artist
35. “I don’t know what I am if I’m not a woman.” —Marsha P. Johnson, LGBTQ activist
36. “Each step forwards to become the person we are makes it harder to go backwards, to return to the shadowy, private world of closed doors and shuttered windows. The experience, the awakening of one’s true self, after being so long suppressed, can never be adequately explained with language.” —Lili Elbe, painter
37. “Breaking apart the forced unity of sex and gender, while increasing the scope of liveable lives, needs to be a central goal of feminism and other forms of social justice activism. This is important for everybody, especially, but not exclusively, for trans people.” —Susan Stryker, professor and author