User:Mtjames20/sandbox

=  Lucas Silveira  = Lucas Silveira, a transgender man, is a Canadian vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter from Toronto. Silveira uses he/him/his pronouns. He has composed and performed folk music and rock music, and formed and played in the band The Cliks. Silveira has also written articles focused on LGBTQ identities and media for various websites.

Biography
Silveira was born in Canada to Portuguese parents. He considers himself Portuguese-Canadian and he lived in Portugal for 6 years in his youth. Silveira speaks fluent Portuguese.

When he was a child, he knew he was a boy and asked his mother to buy him a penis like his brothers. Growing up, he identified as a lesbian. In 2004, he came out to himself, family, and friends as a transgender man. In an interview published in The Advocate, Silveira states that he feels "transgender by definition, but not by identity", because being transgender has become a political identity rather than a personal one.

Music
Before coming out as transgender, Silveira composed and performed folk music. After coming out, however, he shifted to the heavier sound of rock music. Describing his shift from folk to rock music, Silveira says, "When I finally came out as being trans, I found myself freer to explore that darker, more hard-core side, and my songwriting started getting heavier and heavier." He founded The Cliks in 2004. Silveira was the first openly transgender man signed to a major label in 2006, at the age of 33.

Writing
Silveira has written and published articles around LGBT identity, specifically transgender identity. In May 2013, Silveira published an article with HuffPost Music Canada titled "I'm Trans, I Get Bullied, and I'm Fighting Back", where he wrote about the bullying that he endures as a transgender man and how he has fought back. In July 2015, Silveira published another article in HuffPost Living Canada titled "Why We Need to Talk About Caitlyn Jenner." He expresses support for Jenner and transgender individuals around the world, while arguing that Jenner's story is one of privilege that many don't have. He ends the article by congratulating Jenner as well as transgender man Aydian Dowling, but emphasizes trying "not to fall into the same pattern that others have before us and be mindful that there are so many amazing diverse people in our community who all need a voice to tell their stories."

In 2016, Silveira wrote two pieces for SamaritanMag. His October 2016 article titled "Filmmaker Captures Reactions of His Family and Friends in Coming Out Doc", Silveira interviews Alden Peter on his documentary Coming Out. In the article, Silveria asks Peter about his desire to come out, vulnerability, and hopes for future projects. In November 2016, Silveira published another article titled "Q&A: Film Director Adam Garnet Jones Explores Unique First Nations Theme." He interviews Adam Garnet Jones on his LGBT drama Fire Song, two-spirit identity, and homophobia within First Nations communities.

In April 2017, Silveira published a piece on SamaritanMag titled "Q&A: the Cliks’ Lucas Silveira interviews Fellow Transgender Rock Singer Laura Jane Grace". In the article, he interviews Grace on her experience publicly coming out, transitioning, and Grace's book, Tranny: Confessions Of Punk Rock’s Most Infamous Anarchist Sell Out, and band, Against Me!.