Skylar Kergil

Skylar Tucker Kergil
Kergil in 2015
Background information
Born	(1991-05-19) May 19, 1991
Origin	Acton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Genres	Folk, Acoustic, Singer-Songwriter
Occupation(s)	YouTube Vlogger, Singer-songwriter, Public Speaker, LGBT activist
Instruments	Guitar, Vocals
Years active	2009 - present
Labels	Unsigned
Website	skylarkergil.com

Skylar Kergil (born May 19, 1991) is an American transgender activist, singer-songwriter, public speaker, YouTube personality, and artist. Kergil has been documenting his transition from female-to-male on YouTube since 2009, and in doing so helping to educate viewers about gender identity, hormones, surgeries, and life. As of April 2016, he has over 100,000 YouTube subscribers and over 9 million views.^[1] He began taking testosterone and putting videos on YouTube while attending Acton-Boxborough Regional High School and continued making videos while he was a student at Skidmore College.^[1] Kergil currently resides in Cambridge, MA while continuing to make regular YouTube updates and pursuing his music and speaking opportunities.^[2][3]

Biography

Kergil was born Katherine Elizabeth, though by the age of 3 was requesting to be called Mike. Growing up, he presented himself as a tomboy, though in high school, he tried to change and fit in with the girls, a decision that he said felt fake and uncomfortable. Soon though, he started hanging out with his high schools lesbian crowd, cutting his hair and wearing baggy clothes, and playing in a punk rock band. This still was not the right fit for him. It wasn't until meeting a trans man at a concert when he was 15 that Kergil realized who he was. Over the next several years, Kergil met with a gender therapist and started going by the more gender-neutral name Skye. He came out to his parents as a man, and though greeted initially by concern, he was soon met with immense support from them. Kergil started testosterone in early 2009, his senior year of high school. The timing was important for him since he wanted to start at Skidmore College presenting as a man.^[3]

At Skidmore, Kergil majored in Art, at first concentrating primarily in painting (with a short dip into ceramics), but later focusing more on photography. Kergil also took several poetry classes, feeling drawn to the subject from his years of writing lyrics for his music. In his junior year, he wrote a particularly touching poem about a hero hen named Hera freeing her fellow hens from a factory farm. Kergil made a strong group of friends over his freshman and sophomore years who he still remains friends with now, including his freshman year roommate and subsequent excellent friend, Ethan Paul. Over his years at Skidmore, Kergil participated in several clubs, including Skidmore's Japanese Taiko drumming group, SkiDaiko, and the LGBTQ group, Pride Alliance, where he held an executive board position as an upperclassman. Kergil was seen as one of the most genuine human beings on campus, and tended to easily make friends wherever he went. He performed his music at various open mic nights and informal concerts for his friends, always performing with his combination of zeal and grace. His passion for his music was clear, just ahead of his passion for working out and taking selfies.^[2]

Kergil started Skidmore without wanting to be out to everyone as a trans man. He came out to his friends, but not to the wider community. As his YouTube channel started to grow though, and he began to realize that he was in a position to make a difference in people's lives, he started to discover his passion for activism, and realized that in order to really make a difference, he needed to start living out to the community. In his senior year at Skidmore, Kergil was asked to speak and play music at several local college events in upstate New York, which really ignited in him a passion for this kind of activism.

Over the past year and a half, Kergil has moved from school to Vermont, and then to Cambridge, where he's been working at a bank while continuing his work in music and activism.

Social Media

Along with his YouTube, Kergil posts regular updates on his Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages and often shares inspirational quotes and videos, as well as other educational information.^[4] Kergil uses social media as a way to spread awareness of trans issues, share updates on life, and interact with fans/people all over the world.

Music

Kergil's first band, Degenerexix, had more punk influences than his more recent music, as can be heard in their song "Animals are Hardcore." As his music tastes changed, he started writing more folk sounding music, playing solo either under his own name, or Lentils and Dirt.

Publications

• Tell Me a Story, 2015. A kickstarted EP.^[5]
• Thank You, 2014. A kickstarted music album.^[6]
• Rehumanizing the Trans-masculine Community, 2013. A self-published photographic and narrative look at the lives of several members of the trans-masculine community. Senior art thesis.

References

External links

• Official website
• Skylar on First Person