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Being a teenager is difficult. Add gender dysphoria to the mix and it can be nearly unbearable. Laura Jane Grace and others discuss how they turned to drugs and alcohol as ways to cope.

Laura Jane Grace compares how she first identified as transgender with the experiences of others- and how popular culture's portrayal of trans people at the time influenced that discovery.

At one point, the loneliness, frustration, and despair proved too great for Laura Jane. She reveals she is among one of the many with gender dysphoria who attempted suicide.

The only thing possibly more difficult than coming to terms with being transgender is telling someone else.

It all gets real with the decision to go forward with gender reassignment. But Laura discovered that the physical changes of transitioning are just the beginning.

From friends to complete strangers, Laura and others have experienced sexism, resentment, and threats of violence as they continue their journey.

As Laura transitioned, so did her relationships with others. Members of the transgender community and Laura discuss how family, friendships and dating dynamics can change over time.

There are a lot of challenges that come with the transition process, but one of the hardest can be explaining it to your kids.

As society becomes more and more accepting of trans people, Laura and others are becoming more and more accepting of themselves, and hopeful for the future.

The much anticipated sexy new-media series Her Story grapples forthrightly with the frictions and fissures of desire between trans and queer women, as they navigate sometimes paradoxical identities in Los Angeles. Showrunners Laura Zak (a mentee of Jill Soloway) and Jen Richards (as seen on E!’s I Am Cait) combine their creative forces with director Sydney Freeland’s (Drunktown’s Finest, Frameline38) to center the frame on the lives and loves of women of trans experience. Allie (Laura Zak), a budding journalist for Gay LA, notices Violet (Jen Richards), a super-cute server, while out with her old-school lesbian posse (including Fawzia Mirza, The Queen of My Dreams, Frameline36) and finds her curiosity piqued. Allie makes a bold inquiry, asking Violet if she is trans and if she can interview her for a story. Although hesitant, Violet accepts, sparking an excitingly unexpected relationship. Meanwhile, Paige (Angelica Ross), a fierce LAMBDA Legal attorney and Violet’s best friend, helms a challenging case against a transphobic women’s shelter, while coming out as trans to her gorgeous, grounded new boyfriend. Before long these women’s stories and communities intersect with consequences that force everyone to question preconceived, normative notions of who they are allowed to be and be with. With #realtalk realness and beautiful cinematography, Her Story exemplifies the storytelling power of new media when it is made by and for trans and queer women.

In this episode, Violet, a waitress in Los Angeles, is approached by a reporter named Allie for a story about transgender women. Paige, an attorney for Lambda Legal, works on a case representing a trans woman who was denied entry into a women's shelter.