Gender identity has become a token in the cultural battleground, fed by propaganda and the same fear-mongering tactics we see time and again over a history of civil rights abuses in this country.
But teenagers like Daniel here, in his own words: "...are not some hypothetical political debate. We're whole human beings with communities around us and people who love us and value us."
We need more stories in media that reveal this truth in ways that are depoliticized and contextualized within universal human experiences.
That is the power of story as an empathy machine.