Author and performance artist Kate Bornstein was born a biological male in North Dakota, where she began questioning gender at a young age. “It started when I was four years old….I thought okay, I’m a girl. I kept that inside me for thirty or forty years, and finally decided I wanted to be a woman.” But besides wanting to be one, Kate found herself attracted to women as well, so she visited a therapist who explained to her the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. “She looked at me and said, ‘dammit, you’re a lesbian…’” Kate recalls. “But I call myself a tranny dyke.” Kate has published several books about gender, including Gender Outlaw: Men, Women and the Rest of Us and Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws. She tours colleges and high schools, giving talks and leading workshops about sex and gender identity. –CL

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