CLEVELAND, Ohio — As a child, Mason Caminiti (he/him) knew something that the adults in his life did not. They treated him like a girl, but he felt like a boy.

“As I got a little bit older, I realized that I was being called by a girl’s name, they were putting me in clothes that I didn’t identify with and I was being made to use the girls’ restroom and the girls’ locker room,” said Caminiti, 47, of South Euclid. “I realized that I knew who I was, and that all the adults around me had it wrong.”

Caminiti, 47, of South Euclid, described his life as a transgender man — represented by the T in LGBTQIA+ — for Plain Dealer and cleveland.com’s “LGTBQIA+ Explained.” The series includes written and video interviews to explain the words represented by the acronym— lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, queer and other gender representations. Reporters worked with PFLAG Cleveland, a support organization that advocates for LGBTQIA+ people and their families, seeking to amplify LGTBQIA+ voices.

See video interviews, which took place at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Written interviews have been edited for length and clarity. Read the entire series here.

Here is how Caminiti described his transgender journey:

Q: What does transgender mean to you?

Caminiti: “For me, it’s about living my truth and being present in every area of my life — professionally and personally, with family, with friends, with my church community. It means being open about who I am and telling my own truth.

“I was born biologically female. I was born in the wrong body. So in order for my inside to match my outside, I did decide to take hormones and pursue surgery. Not everyone who’s trans does that, but that’s my personal story. I started my transition about 15 years ago, and I’m done with my transition, meaning that I’ve had all the elective surgeries that I want to.”

Q: At what point in your life did you decide you were transgender?

Caminiti: “The first time I put things together was watching “The Phil Donahue Show,” (when there was a guest) who was trans. And I was like, ‘Wow, I identify with that. That’s exactly who I am and what I’m going through.’ As I got older, I did seek out qualified medical and mental health care professionals to guide me on that path to transition.

Q: What are some misconceptions about transgender people?

Caminiti: “Just that we’re not secure about who we are, we don’t know what we’re doing and we’re uninformed about our decisions surrounding transitioning, name changes or just pursuing things that match our own identity.

“I would like to advise people just to think about when they were (a pre-teen), they were very certain about who they were. There’s no way that, in my opinion, someone would make that declaration at such a young age unless you were totally certain about it, especially with all of the negativity there is surrounding it.

“Representation matters because there are a lot of false narratives about trans people. No one tells our story like we do, because we live it every single day. And I think the more authentic you are about that, the richer your life is.”

Q: What is something you wish the wider community knew about transgender people?

Caminiti: “Just that we’re normal, everyday folks, just like everyone else. We laugh, we cry, we love. We just want to lead a real rich, full life and part of that means just embracing who we are.”

Q: Why is Pride month important?

Caminiti: “Oh my goodness, it’s wonderful. Representation really is important. It shows that we are a broad range of different types of people that come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.”

LGBTQIA+ Resources:

LGBTQ Community Center of Greater Cleveland

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)

GLAAD

MetroHealth LGBTQI+ Pride Network

Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.