Cassandra Cass

Cassandra Cass (born Casey, 1978 in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American actress and performer and reality-television star.[1][2] She is known for being a trans woman, and finds that performing in the entertainment world gives validation to her transgender life.[3]

Early life

She was born to a housewife and a football coach. Her father initially had difficulty in accepting her transgenderism, but eventually became accepting; her mother was always supporting of her daughter's transgenderism.[4] Her father is still alive, but her mother has passed away from cancer. At some point in her early life she came to accept she would be more comfortable as a woman. At first, she only dressed as a woman. Later, she underwent hormone therapy and plastic surgery. After moving to San Francisco, she has undergone sexual reassignment surgery.[5] Cassandra, is a name she chose from several sources.[6] Her mother's name was Sandra.[7] And her drag mother's name, when she was in drag performance, was Dena Cass. So she just combined all three to get Cassandra Cass.[8]

Career

As an actress, Cass is known for Trantasia (2006), Wild Things (2010), and What's the T? (2012). Trantasia is a documentary that chronicles contestants as they take part in the first ever "World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Pageant."[9] The documentary was featured on Tyra Banks's show, dedicating a whole show to talking about it.[10] Wild Things was an eight-episode reality television series which featured three transgender women on a road-trip to earn money for a relative of one of the three women who was seriously ill.[11] The reality show starred Cassandra Cass, Maria Roman, and Tiara Russell, three original characters from Trantasia.[12] The documentary What's the T? followed the lives of five trans women.[13] Cass has also been on television shows and in other movies.[14]

She is also an established performer in San Francisco who does drag and lip-sync shows.[15] And she has had a calendar put out over the last several years.[16]

References

  1. ↑ , SF Gate, Transgender Star Cassandra Cass Shines Brightly.
  2. ↑ , Pop Matters, Trantasia.
  3. ↑ , The Rainbow Times, What's the T? Explores the Lives of Trans Women.
  4. ↑ , Out There, Meet the Women of "What's the T?".
  5. ↑ , Oh No They Didn't, Transgender Star Cassandra Cass Shines Brightly on Showtime Series.
  6. ↑ , Sf Gate, Transgender Star Cassandra Cass Shines Brightly.
  7. ↑ , Raannt, Cassandra Cass...Princess of Trantasia and Wild Things.
  8. ↑ , Raannt, Cassandra Cass...Princess of Trantasia and Wild Things.
  9. ↑ , Raannt, Storytelling with Acclaimed Film Director Jeremy Stanford of Trantasia and Wild Things.
  10. ↑ , WeHoNews, Trantasia is Transtastic! A Film Review.
  11. ↑ , gay.net, Wild Things Creator Gives us the Skinny.
  12. ↑ , Imperial Valley Press, 'Trantasia' comes to El Centro.
  13. ↑ , The Rainbow Times, What's the T? Explores the Lives of Trans Women.
  14. ↑ , Out There, Meet the Women of "What's the T?".
  15. ↑ , SF Gate, Transgender Star Cassandra Cass Shines Brightly.
  16. ↑ , San Francisco Bay Guardian, Fantasy Girl.