We recently sat down with Lucas Silveira (Tumblr), lead singer of The Cliks (Facebook, Twitter), to discuss their new and long-awaited release, Black Tie Elevator and his personal journey of transformation and transitioning.  Silveira was first “out” male transgender to be signed to a major record label but at the heart of Silveira is a constant creator whose passion and truth are always a shining example for everyone on this journey of lfie:

Congrats on your new record release today!  Take us behind the scenes, how did this album come about which has been four years in the making?

Lucas Silveira:  Thank you! Behind the scenes began with the simplicity of real life. I did some living and from that came the songs. I developed a lot as a person and that always reflects in my writing so the songs I started to write after I hit a certain level of, well, maturity I guess, are what I started to develop on for the record itself. When I had most of the material written, I approached my good friend Hill Kourkoutis and asked her if she would be interested in producing and it pretty much started to happen all after that. The songs were all taken into the studio, we demoed them and we found a cohesive sound for the record. Also, for the first time in years I collaborated in writing with Hill and out of that came the lead track “Savanna”, “No Good Do’er” and a complete revamp of a song I had written on my own called “Gone” that just wasn’t working in the place it was in. Hill just completely turned the song around.

What has the transition from female to male been like for you – what do you feel has been the most challenging part of transitioning but also the most rewarding?

LS:  This is an extremely complex question that I truly can’t answer in a few words but if I were to sum up the first three years of my transition, I’d say it was like walking through a tunnel of darkness towards the light. I’ve changed so much and interestingly enough, my physicality, which everyone seems to want to focus on the most, was the least of my changes. I think at first I thought my vocal change would be the most challenging but when that settled it was the emotional changes. Having to relearn (and still learning) who I am, how I run inside. I also experienced more loss than I ever imagined. This wasn’t and still isn’t a walk in the park. I find challenges daily, one of which is that my ability to concentrate is horrible and I forget everything. I also can’t cry anymore and anyone who tells me it’s some internal machismo I have internally can suck an egg. I feel the emotions, they just don’t follow through to tears.

What would you want others to understand most about the transgendered community?

LS:  We’re all completely different people with one similar aspect. It’s like asking, what would people who feel they are born into their biological gender want others to understand about them. We’re not a clumped up portion of humanity, we are part of humanity as a whole. I’m not a unicorn. I’m not special or different. I think when people start to realize that we’re completely normal, functioning members of society, they will leave the idea that we are abnormal at the door step.

I agree.  Not only have you personally transitioned but you also moved to Brooklyn for the creation of the new record…what do you love most about this area?  What are some cool spots you’d recommend to someone visiting NYC that you lived while living in Brooklyn?

LS:  Brooklyn is filled with artists and you can feel that energy everywhere. I loved that about NYC. It was almost like I couldn’t even try to hold my creativity if I wanted to. I exploded when I got there with writing. It was amazing that way. What I didn’t necessarily like about it was how isolating it could feel sometimes and how artists sometimes end up losing themselves there in the struggle to survive financially. It’s so expensive. It was great to lose myself in for a while but I don’t think it’s a place for working artists long term.

How would you describe living in the Toronto area as a transgendered man?

LS:  It’s an amazing city for people like me. There is a huge community here of trans people and trans allies and oddly, I have found more of my allies outside of the LGBT community than within it, but that’s my personal experience. I have many trans friends and queer friends. We’re all over this city.  I love living here.

What causes are you most passionate about that you’d like to share with our readers?

LS:  Love.   Simply.  I may sound like a cheese ball but seriously, if people just truly carried unconditional love inside them, this planet would be in much better shape.

What I love about you is your live your life with no apologies and transparent honesty –  you are so diverse in your gifts and talents – what motivates you to keep going and creating?

LS:  Well, isn’t that so nice of you to say! Thank you. My motivation is actually pretty simple. It’s innate. I can’t stop doing it. I think if I stopped creating I would actual perish. I have also decided that money isn’t a motivator in this industry because there’s not much of it to go around anymore so if you’re going to be any kind of artist these days, you have to really love what you do. So in that, I realized that living a real life is what helps create good art. So I have to really step back once in a while and just make sure I do that to continue to be motivated.

What’s next for you on your journey?

LS:  Career wise, it’s all about touring and finding ways to promote the new CD. Personally, who knows? I just try to move along everyday with an open mind and see what life brings me because Lord knows you can’t control any of this so you may as well enjoy the good moments and try to get through the hard moments with grace and strength.

For more on Lucas Silveira, and The Cliks, visit http://www.thecliks.com.  You can also purchase Black Tie Elevator on iTunes and check The Cliks out on the road, including at  The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, NY on May 3rd!

The post The Cliks’ Lucas Silveira: ‘Walking Through A Tunnel of Darkness Towards The Light’ appeared first on Gay Online Magazine | Out Impact.

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By Lauren Hodges (Out Impact on Facebook, Out Impact on Twitter)

Early last week, Jerilyn Goodman was scrambling to prepare for a public briefing on transgender issues. Phones were ringing, appearances needed to be confirmed and schedules needed adjusting before the crowd ascended on room 121 that afternoon.

“Sorry I’m in such a hurry,” apologized Goodman as she prepared some quick facts.

Goodman is the press secretary for Wisconsin congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, the co-founder and chairwoman of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. ”She led successful efforts in the House in 2009 to pass hate crimes legislation that includes protection for transgender victims,” said Goodman. “Like The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, signed into law as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010.” Baldwin also represented the LGBT population during the health care debate and was involved in adding provisions into the House version of the Affordable Care and Patient Protections Act, also known as the health care reform bill. The measures were meant to collect better data on the health of LGBT populations and lessen discrimination so they could have access to care. Unfortunately for Baldwin, her additions were not in the final signed bill.

Yet Goodman and the rest of Baldwin’s staff members are still working to educate the public on LGBT issues. The briefing, held on May 16th in the Rayburn House Office building in downtown D.C, addressed a new study called Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Study. “The study is the largest ever done on the prevalence of discrimination against transgender people,” said Goodman. “It reveals that transgender and gender non-conforming people face injustice in many places, including childhood homes, school systems that promise to shelter and educate, harsh and exclusionary workplaces, at the grocery store, at the hotel front desk in doctors’ offices, and at emergency rooms.”

The data supports Goodman’s discussion. According to the study, transgender people struggle daily with issues such as:

~Alarmingly high rates of harassment and discrimination while in grades K-12: harassment (78%), physical assault (35%) and sexual assault (12%). 51% of those who were verbally harassed, physically or sexually assaulted, or were expelled because they were transgender or gender non-conforming reported having attempted suicide.

~Direct housing discrimination — 19% reported having been refused a home or apartment and 11% reported being evicted because of their gender identity/expression.

~Double the rate of unemployment: survey respondents experienced unemployment at twice the rate of the general population at the time of the survey, with rates for people of color up to four times the national unemployment rate.

~Harassment, mistreatment or discrimination: ninety percent (90%) of those surveyed reported experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination on the job or took actions like hiding who they are to avoid it.

The briefing included guests like Mara Keisling, the Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, Jack Harrison, a policy analyst at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Stacey Long, the NGLTF’s Federal Legislative Director, Lisa Mottet, Transgender Civil Rights Project Director at NGLTF, and Owen Smith, a transgender citizen from Maryland who was on hand to describe his discrimination experiences with housing and employment. The briefing was co-sponsored by Balwin’s congressional colleagues Barney Frank, Jared Polis and David Cicilline. For more information on the study or briefing, visit Tammy Baldwin’s website at tammybaldwin.house.gov.

The post Injustice at Every Turn: New study examines the hardships of transgender life appeared first on Gay Online Magazine | Out Impact.

Join a networking organization we are a community & media partner with and support, Wonder Women (Facebook), and their partners and sponsors tonight (June 3) with their Kick-Off PRIDE Event at the Rubin Museum (150 West 17th Street between 6th + 7th Avenues), organized as part of their mission to unify diversity among all groups.

Admission to this festive and informative event is complimentary and open to all members, friends and allies. DJ Charo provides cool grooves in the K2lounge of the beautiful Rubin Museum as you partake in happy hour, with 2-for-1 drink specials from 6-7pm. Enjoy any of two free tours around the theme of “Transgender in Himalayan Art”at 6 and 6:30pm (limited capacity) followed by Cabaret Cinema’s film Dogtooth.    (Tickets complimentary with the purchase of a drink from the bar.)

MORE ABOUT THE TOUR:

Transgender in Himalayan Art
(beginning at 6pm and 6:30pm.—limited capacity)

In early Indian Buddhist art, the universal depiction of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara is male. How then does this deity transform over a 500 year period from male to female form within Chinese Buddhism? “Transgender and Transformation” will explore the artistic redefinition of gender in the history of Buddhism.

The post Wonder Women Event Tonight: Kick-Off NYC PRIDE Event To Celebrate Diversity and Inclusion appeared first on Gay Online Magazine | Out Impact.

Out Impact Showcase

MARCH 15, 2011 – 8P start, DOORS OPEN AT 7:30P

RARE Early show: Donations Only (*21 and under requires $5 to get in)

At: The Soapbox

Featuring Members of the Tranny Roadshow:

Jamez Terry (alias Vermicious Knid) is a zine-writing, fiddle-playing, story-telling, circus-loving performer, historian and radical organizer. In 2004, he co-founded the Tranny Roadshow and has since brought fantastic trans performance art all around North America.  Jamez’ performances blend storytelling, humor, poetry, music, and sometimes circus costumes, drawing audiences into his unique world where laughter, adventure, and revelation abound.

Jamez has published more than 50 zines in the last 13 years with writings that include politics, fiction, poetry, personal stories, and humor. His zines have been featured in exhibits at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Center for Book Arts, as well as in the Zine Yearbook #8 and many other printed collections. In 2003, Jamez co-founded the Denver Zine Library, which quickly became one of America’s preeminent zine libraries and was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Having worked in multiple queer activist settings, Jamez has provided trans education at conferences, schools, churches, and nonprofits around the country. In addition to trans 101 and other introductory topics, Jamez has conducted workshops on HIV prevention for trans youth; zines and the trans community; working with trans survivors of sex assault; and addressing trans issues within radical communities.

Jamez is the fiddle player, occasional singer, and pirate romancer for A is for Ampersand.  The band’s debut CD, Lost at Sea, was released in 2009 and their latest single, “Shovel,” is available exclusively on the Trans-Fusions 2 compilation.

In addition to being a traveling performance artist and educator, Jamez is an aspiring minister and an expert on presidential assassin Charles Guiteau.  He is currently living in Somerville, MA, with his partner and son, but he dreams of his eventual return to Alaska.

A.J. Bryce is

an in the moment 1 line poet whose “Affix Label Here” sign
winds around his female lines…
and curves, before you know it you’re inside,
he’s sold it he’s still broke, but he owns it’
… kind of guy.

He’s a 1 man Rock band with fans across the land
jammin to the 1 fan in the stands
like a wanna-be
FTM Rock God Legend.

Actor, Artist, and most importantly ‘Queer FTM Rocker’

A.J. Bryce is armed and ready to enlighten the world on what it’s like to be a Man who is Trans wielding a guitar in his hands.

Currently Performing under the Title “Modern Day Pinnochio” A.J. is gearing up to spearhead revolutions in Trans-Awareness by fusing his mad guitar skillz with his charming demeanor.

He has performed at Such venues as Camp Trans, Bushstock08′, the Hillsborough Road Coop’s “FreakShow” , as well as performed across the country with the Tranny Roadshow 06-08.

A.J. Bryce currently resides in Carrboro, North Carolina, where he lives at a cooperative house that holds many community events (and some really kick-a** parties’). In his free time he goes to work at a local cooperative food store as a Produce Clerk, and also is Marketing Coordinator for a national Staffing Company.

About Out Impact, Inc.:
Out Impact Mission Statement: Out Impact, Inc. is an gay omnimedia company for both gay men and women with a strong focus on making a positive impact in the gay community. Out Impact is committed in supporting the gay, artistic and activism communities, driven to make a positive difference. Out Impact, Inc. is committed to excellence by informing and entertaining our audience while giving back and having fun!

Out Impact was launched June 2007 and is currently a gay online magazine on OutImpact.com. Out Impact produces events benefiting various non-profits all over the country. Out Impact creates comprehensive, unique media campaigns to raise awareness for various philanthropic causes while bridging the non-profit, activism, artistic and gay communities.

Out Impact is a unique brand because we give every aspect of our progressive company a philanthropic connection, as well as marketing to both gay men and women, instead of marketing to a specific niche in the gay community. Our brand advantage is appealing to the entire gay community, raising awareness for philanthropy causes as well as providing quality content that is easily accessible to everyone on entertainment, style, news in our community, and everyday life for both gay persons and their allies.

The post Rare Out Impact Showcase in Wilmington Tonight at The Soapbox featuring Jamez Terry of Tranny Roadshow! appeared first on Gay Online Magazine | Out Impact.