Ryan Cassata

Ryan Otto Cassata (born December 13, 1993) is an American musician, public speaker, writer, filmmaker, and actor.

Since 2007, Ryan Cassata has presented at high schools, universities, support groups and conferences on topics such as coming out, Gender dysphoria, being transgender, sex reassignment surgery, and bullying.

Cassata also speaks about his experience as the first openly transgender student in Bay Shore High School and the changes he made there.

Cassata talks about the petitions he made in Bay Shore High School to advocate for the rights of transgender students.

He has discussed bullying, what gendered bathroom to use, and gaining the right to have his chosen name in the school yearbook instead of his name at birth.

Cassata tells personal stories using speech, original songs and poetry and his own YouTube videos.

Cassata composed the soundtrack for the 2010 short film "Loop Planes" which screened at various film festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival, South by Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and Hamptons International Film Festival.

"Distraction" and "Sleeping Through" from Cassata's 2011 EP "Distraction" make up the soundtrack.

Cassata is the main subject of the full feature Danish produced documentary Songs for Alexis.

Cassata speaks at high schools and universities on the subject of gender dysphoria, being transgender, bullying and his personal transition from female to male, including top surgery in January 2012, when he was 18 years old.

He has made appearances on Larry King Live and The Tyra Banks Show to talk about being transgender.

He has performed at LGBT music festivals and has gone on tours across the United States of America.

Cassata has performed at popular music venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Whisky a Go Go, The Saint, The Bitter End, SideWalk Cafe, Turf Club (venue) and Bowery Poetry Club.

In 2012, Cassata became the youngest keynote speaker that the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference ever elected.

Ryan Cassata uses his music videos to discuss social justice topics such as bullying.

His 2012 music video, "Hands of Hate" released on YouTube honors and remembers LGBT Youth who were murdered or committed suicide.

He donated a portion of the proceeds to The Trevor Project.

The lyrics of "Hands of Hate" discuss the murder of Matthew Shepard, the Murder of Larry King, and the suicides of Tyler Clementi and Jamey Rodemeyer.

Larry King is honored in the second verse:"And Lawrence King never saw ninth grade, Before that bullet was forced into his brain, By a bully, a madman, A classmate of rage. Just at fifteen, young Larry was sent to his grave."

Cassata won a date on Warped Tour 2013 through the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands online competition and performed on the Acoustic Basement Stage on June 21, 2013, becoming the first openly transgender performer to play at the Vans Warped Tour.

Ryan Cassata is the first openly transgender musician to perform at Warped Tour after winning the Ernie Ball Battle of The Bands contest in 2013 and 2015.

Songs for Alexis, produced by Copenhagen Bombay with help from the Danish Film Institute, had its world premiere at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival to a sold-out crowd on April 30, 2014.

Songs for Alexis had its United States premiere at Frameline Film Festival on June 28, 2014.

Songs for Alexis also screened and sold out at DOC NYC.

Indiewire listed Songs for Alexis on its "10 Films You must Watch at Frameline 2014" article.

Ryan Cassata raised money with the Frank Cassata Family Foundation and Underworks in 2014 to provide over 400 transgender youth with new chest binders.

Ryan Cassata's song "Soda Cans" was listed in the 2014 article by The Advocate as a 'Trans Anthem.' Ryan Cassata was listed on Logo TV's list of "9 Trans Musicians You Need to Get Into."' Cassata and his song "We're The Cool Kids" were listed on the 2017 Billboard list of 11 Transgender and Non-Binary Musicians You Need to Know.

Cassata also won a date on Warped Tour 2015 through the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands and performed on the Ernie Ball Stage on June 20, 2015.

In 2015, Ryan Cassata appeared on the San Francisco Trans March line-up with Laverne Cox.

Ryan Cassata has spent time in Hot Springs, Arkansas and Little Rock, Arkansas educating the town through public speeches about the transgender community and screenings of Songs for Alexis.

He also performed concerts at festivals and venues around the state.

Cassata has delivered speeches and performances at colleges and universities such as Harvard University, Kent State University, Carnegie Mellon University, Boston University, University of Southern California, Capital University, Rider University, Rutgers University, Central Washington University, San Francisco State University, Binghamton University, Dominican University of California, University of New Hampshire, State University of New York at Purchase, State University of New York at New Paltz, Ursinus College, State University of New York at Old Westbury, Farmingdale State College, St. Joseph's University, William Paterson University, Dowling College and Mount St. Joseph University.

Cassata has delivered speeches and performances at high schools such as Bay Shore High School, David H. Hickman High School, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, Amityville Memorial High School, Ossining High School, Kingston High School, Monmouth Regional High School, Strong Vincent Middle School, Rancho Cotate High School, Freedom High School (Oakley, California) and Dougherty Valley High School.

Bustle put Cassata on the "7 Young Trans* Activists You Should Know About This Year" list in 2016 saying "he's also become one of the most prominent young trans* activist speakers in America."

Cassata has appeared on Larry King Live, The Tyra Banks Show and local television to speak about being transgender.

He also appeared on CNN live to advocate for gender neutral bathrooms.

The song "Daughter" was featured again in Billboard Pride's article "50 Stellar Songs by LGBTQ Artists That You Might Have Missed in 2018 (But Shouldn't Have)" Ryan Cassata and his song "Daughter" were also featured in Paper Magnifiine's article titled "50 LGBTQ Musicians You Should Prioritize" in 2018.

Ryan Cassata's music video for his song "Other Friends" was featured in Billboard Magazine in 2019 with an in-depth interview and was featured on the front page of the website.

Ryan Cassata is one of two of the 2019 recipients of The ASCAP Foundation "Sunlight of the Spirit" Award which is presented to an individual who is exemplary in recovery and in music creativity for his original song "Jupiter."

Ryan Cassata performed at The ASCAP Foundation Honors 2019 at Jazz at Lincoln Center and accepted his award.