Ryan Cassata

Ryan Cassata is an award winning transgender singer-songwriter, actor, YouTuber, and LGBTQ activist based in New York. With features in Rolling Stone, Billboard Magazine, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The Daily News, Ryan has made the most of his young career, which started when he was just 13. As a musician with over 500 performances touring across the United States and internationally, including dates on the Vans Warped Tour, SXSW and at the worlds biggest pride festivals, Ryan has been praised by The Advocate saying hes a Transgender singing sensation, and LOGO put him on the 9 Trans Musicians You Need To Get Into list.As an actor, Ryan was the main focus in documentary Songs for Alexis which screened at such seminal film festivals as Frameline, Raindance, Toronto Hot Docs, and DOC NYC. His roll in indie film "Collective: Unconscious," which received praise from Rolling Stone Magazine, won him the "Best Breakout Performance" award by the Victoria Independent Film Festival. As an activist, he is the first recipient of the Harvey Milk Memorial award, became the youngest keynote speaker to ever be selected for the largest transgender conference in existence, and has made appearances on shows such as The Larry King Live, and The Tyra Banks show. Currently, Ryan is in the early stages of writing a memoir and a new album of original music as a follow up to his most recent album SHINE now available on iTunes.Committed to educating through music and speech to wipe out ignorance, Ryan continues to share his inspiring message of hope & acceptance with numerous schools and universities across the country via his popular YouTube channel and at venues across the nation.