Candis Cayne, the primary transgender actress to play a recurring transgender position on prime time tv, was a type of thousands and thousands of voters who didn’t expertise their desired end result. Now, she has made it her mission to battle again in opposition to what these frightened voters imagine Donald Trump’s second administration will convey these subsequent 4 years.

Cayne first made a reputation for herself as Carmelita on ABC’s 2007 drama Soiled, Attractive Cash, and now she’s utilizing her platform to advocate for transgender equality, together with their proper to make use of the toilet that matches their gender id.

The actress and activist sat down with TooFab for an unique interview, sharing that in her ongoing mission, “it’s so irritating for trans individuals who actually simply wish to use the toilet. I imply, that is what all of it boils right down to.”

Cayne is not any stranger to discrimination on a private stage. “Foremost as a minority and as an underprivileged group of individuals, we have confronted this earlier than. We have been referred to as out and yelled at from the second we might stroll as a result of we have been totally different,” she instructed TooFab. “So we perceive this mentality, we perceive easy methods to battle in opposition to it.”

She recalled interacting with each producers and audiences throughout her position as Carmelita 17 years in the past: “Individuals hadn’t heard of trans individuals actually earlier than and they might see me, they might see Laverne [Cox], they might see Alexandra [Billings],” she defined. “And we’re simply, simply fabulous,fabulous individuals going into their tv units and speaking to them like actual individuals.”

Cayne’s experiences haven’t solely taught her to steer with love, however they’ve additionally made her extra observant. To her, conservative politicians are “the bizarre ones. They’re those which are speaking about bogs and speaking about all this bizarre stuff […}, we’ve just trying to live our normal lives.”

Bathroom bans and transgender marginalization have increasingly populated headlines, with a lot of scrutiny in the political sphere falling on Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender Representative to be elected to The House.

After McBride’s election, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson came out in support of Nancy Mace’s transgender bathroom ban in The Capitol. From Cayne’s perspective, the Republican Party’s actions are transparent, and “it’s see through and we see right through it. It’s a way to make clicks to raise money, but it’s marginalizing an entire community while you’re doing it, and causing harm and death in our community, and it’s scary, and they should be held accountable for that. What they’re doing is… is awful. They’re not very good people.”

Cayne’s opinions about the current GOP have been echoed by others in the LGTBQIA+ community, but there are also those who support the incoming administration, including Caitlyn Jenner. At one point, Cayne and Jenner enjoyed a close friendship, with Cayne even regularly appearing on Jenner’s reality show, I Am Cait.

That relationship has given Cayne experience in navigating relationships with people of opposing political views.

“You know, I tried. I really, really tried. And I have all the love for Cait in the world. She’s an amazing person. I just think that she’s in a cult, and she doesn’t realize that,” the actress explained.

With Jenner, she said she tried to address not only trans issues but also other controversial topics covered by Trump’s 2024 campaign, including immigration. She said that those discussions did not end fruitfully.

“I really tried to go and do it, like every liberal person should to their conservative friends, and try to, like, at least start a dialog, you know,” she said. “And it’s always been frustrating that she doesn’t understand that. But I don’t have any hate or anything. I think everybody needs to bring the love in their heart.”

Pessimism and negativity might appear to dominate social media, but Cayne is choosing to use love and humor in her upcoming projects. She’s wrapping up a one-woman show at Studio City’s Velvet Martini Lounge tonight, and now she’s focusing on projects with her production company, Mary it’s Mary’s Productions.

“Just like SNL, it’s fun to do light things, to get people laughing with you, not at you, or be divisive against you. And so that’s always kind of been my way,” Cayne told TooFab. “I get on stage, and I tell jokes about what’s going on in my life and lighten the situation up.”

“I know these are dark and heavy times, and it’s a very serious conversation,” she continued, “but we have members of our community that do that really well.”

And while Cayne might reside in Los Angeles, her goal is to touch those in deep red states like Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Mississippi. She said she wants people to say, “Oh, I like Candis. She’s like a down home girl. I could invite her to the barbecue.”

Fans can look forward to content coming out of Mary it’s Mary’s Productions, including Avenue D, a show that will focus on “stories about  the LGBTQIA+ community in the ’90s in Manhattan,” explained Cayne, adding that “living through that was super fun.”

To hear more of Candis Cayne’s story, check out the videos posted above.