Lena Van Hale Defying Trans and Sex Worker Stereotypes

Lena is a trans person, a former sex worker, and a sex worker activist. She talks about the misconceptions surrounding sex workers. She also discusses the prevalence of suicide among trans and gender-variant people, attributing this to their aloneness. She explains that having even one person, whether it be a friend, parent, or doctor, who recognizes a young person's gender or is just there for them has been shown to reduce the risk of suicide to just above that in the general population.

For older people, Lena believes that the critical time is when they first come out. She also talks about family and friends mourning a person after they have transitioned, an idea that Lena acknowledges is offensive to some trans people.