Question: Are you ready to take on more of a leadership role in the LGBT community?
Answer: In doing what I do it will be more of a leadership role. We’re shooting Season Two [of I Am Cait], and I am learning more. I am so far ahead of where I was six months ago when I came out. Still have a lot to learn. Finances are certainly a big issue in the trans community. I was in New York, at the LGBT center there with a Latina group, and I asked them what their budget is. They do all this work. They’ve got HIV testing buses and stuff. And she said, $10,000 a year. Are you kidding me?! I would like to do my best in the future to work with corporate America to help in fundraising efforts.
Question: On the show, you spend a lot of time addressing your privilege, the fact that you’re much better off than most transgender people. How do you feel about that now and what challenges does that pose?
Answer: I’m white. I make a good living. And I get all that. I’ve heard that right from the beginning. I’m not going to make excuses for myself. I’m very happy that I’ve worked very hard in my life and I’m successful. It’s kind of the American dream. We’re fortunate to live in a country where we can do that. I’m very proud of what I was able to accomplish in my life. But I’m also smart in the sense that I know how to use that to make everything better. This show, that platform, that privilege has given us an opportunity to take our message to the masses out there, on a worldwide scale. Because our show is shown all over the world, you know? And because of my position in life, maybe I can make a bigger and faster change of thinking in the world than someone who doesn’t have a platform, so why not use it? So I’m going to use it to the hilt, of course I am.
