Transgender Girls

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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American Beauties is an award-winning documentary on Asian transgender immigrants. We enter the secretive, often misunderstood world of immigrant male to female transgenders. In a series of illuminating interviews, Amanda, Imani, Kimberly and Kosal give revealing insights on the issues closest to their hearts: discrimination, prostitution, and sex reassignment surgery as well as their former lives, and their dreams for the future.

Interview Transcript (Part 4)

Kimberly: Actually, I got married last December. And...I met this wonderful man, my husband, like a year ago.

Imani: Yeah, I have a boyfriend of 2 years, we've been together for 2 years, and he's the love of my life and I love him. He gave me a ring but somebody stole it, so I have to wear my silver ring. So, um...but he gave me a ring, he wanted me to marry him, but I wasn't ready, so...

Kimberly: Well, I'm attracted to my husband. You know, I love my husband. You know, every time, you know, he wants to make love to me, I'm always there, you know. I still get hard on, you know. Why not? You know, I love my man, he's sexy, too, you know. But, you know, we have pretty normal sexual life together.

Kosal: Yeah, I get hit on a lot, I get a lot of guys that are interested, I'm not interested in, in...like, well, I wanna say I am interested, but that's not my main priority right now. My main priority is my career, my work, um...once I have that established and I'll have a little bit, I can handle a little bit more room for, for a relationship.

I'm a make-up artist, um...I've done videos, I've done...um, I do videos and music, music videos, editorials and fashion, all those...um, also, work part-time, um, just in clerical stuff, um, in production companies and stuff like that.

Amanda: I'm a club DJ and re-mixer, um...music has been, you know, my first love and...and it's, it's, you know, ideally (?), um, you know, live for, that's, you know. Someone once told me that if you can do, if you can do anything, do it to the beat of the music, and you'll never go wrong.

My talent is my talent, it hasn't anything with gender, um...I feel music, you know, should be genderless, you know. I mean...and, my music has nothing with, with what I have between my legs or what I don't have between my legs.

Imani: Who I'm working with now, I'm working with a lot of youths now. I'm trying to help them build up their self-esteem, coming out the closet. Because it's very stressing when you're in the closet and not being who you really are. And I know it's really for them in high school, or middle school, high school, and that's what my organization is there for, to help build up their self-esteem and hope to be who they are.

Kimberly: My concern right now, biggest concern right now is to make money. Until they have zero balance under the account.

I talked to him, I said "honey, I just had to work. I had to go somewhere and make that money." But I think he got an idea what I'm gonna do. I don't have to tell him, straight up, this is what I'm gonna do. Because I don't wanna hurt his feelings. You know.

I mean, just right now, I make a lot of money right now. You know. And, you know, even my husband is very very hurt right now, I just...I try, I try to be with him. I love him, I mean, I love him. I kept telling him, nothing personal, just...you know. I have to do it because of money.

Amanda: Up 'til now, you know, I still have...positive feelings that things are gonna work out, somehow, you know, um, someway, somehow. And that maybe I'll find my, my, you know, my Mr. right.

Kosal: I picture myself to be a little bit more settled, still have fun, still involved, um...I don't know, just still, I find myself to never not be active. And find living in a stable life, um, marrying, children all that. Hopefully.