Celebrating (and deconstructing) the gender spectrum

If you've sanded down your edges to fit in, it's time to bring them back -- there's power, value and beauty there, says Crystal Rasmussen. With candor and humility, Rasmussen shares their experience navigating shame, how it manifests in ourselves and the world and the ways drag revealed a path toward self-love and acceptance. A talk for anyone struggling with becoming exactly who they're meant to be -- and a reminder that it's rarely easy but always worth it.

After leading a well-established life as a pastor, father and husband, Paula Stone Williams could no longer deny her truth and transitioned. In this conversational and at times humorous reflection, Williams offers her perspective on the everyday experiences lost, gained and once taken for granted in her journey of trans womanhood.

From the stage to everyday life, theater educator Jo Michael Rezes studies queer identity and the spectrum of gender performance — in its success and failure. Aided by a delightful introduction of campy charm, Rezes explores the freeing potential of playing with gender to better understand ourselves, each other and the spaces we inhabit.

LB Hannahs candidly shares the experience of parenting as a genderqueer individual -- and what it can teach us about authenticity and advocacy. "Authenticity doesn't mean 'comfortable.' It means managing and negotiating the discomfort of everyday life," Hannahs says.

How exactly does gender work? It's not just about our chromosomes, says biologist Karissa Sanbonmatsu. In a visionary talk, she shares new discoveries from epigenetics, the emerging study of how DNA activity can permanently change based on social factors like trauma or diet. Learn how life experiences shape the way genes are expressed -- and what that means for our understanding of gender.

Gender should be the least remarkable thing about someone, but transgender people are still too often misunderstood. To help those who are scared to ask questions or nervous about saying the wrong thing, Jackson Bird shares a few ways to think about trans issues. And in this funny, frank talk, he clears up a few misconceptions about pronouns, transitioning, bathrooms and more.

When fashion model Geena Rocero first saw a photo of herself in a bikini, "I thought ... you have arrived!" As she reveals, that's because she was born with the gender assignment "boy." In this moving talk, Rocero tells the story of becoming who she always knew she was.

"I was the mystery of an anatomy, a question asked but not answered," says poet Lee Mokobe, a TED Fellow, in this gripping and poetic exploration of identity and transition. It's a thoughtful reflection on bodies, and the meanings poured into them.