☛ Dave Bridgeforth

What inspires and motivates you?

☚ Seven King

I see gaps that people are not covering, and it inspires me to do things that are original. I also see, right now, currently living in New York from moving from the South for three years, I often create from my affiliation in the present. That’s when I started ‘The Rebirth of Paris’, which is also going to be redone on a different scale.

I also did Eden’s Garden because I wanted to show the world my screenplay writing, and I had a lot of good praise on the narration, saying the narration is powerful. Another reason why I’m creating a movie (Ballroom Entry) is to get the message and content in the hands of professional actors who know how to carry content and dialogue and deliver it. When I created Eden’s Garden I went and looked through my mutual friends list to see who will be willing to act, and there’s a difference between an actor and just giving somebody a role as an actor.

I appreciate all of them, genuinely even myself, because I don’t really consider myself a passionate actor. I’m a writer and director.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

When did you know you were transgendered?

☚ Seven King

I knew I was trans when I was four years old. I didn’t know what it meant to be trans at four; I just knew that I identified as male at four and I wasn’t comfortable in the assigned sex I was given, and just fantasized about being the opposite sex. Physically, I went through hormone therapy at nineteen and twenty, but I identified in wanting to be the male gender at four.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

What kind of support did you have when you decided to stand in your truth as a transgendered man?

☚ Seven King

My main support was myself. Being headstrong and being determined to actually follow through with who I always inwardly knew I truly was. I went through different stages in my life with being on my own, and learning what life was like without as much as a family support system. I was dating a girl and I was more into dating and being up under my girlfriend.

So I actually moved in with my girlfriend when I was thirteen. She was older than me, which even when I think about it, was kind of weird. I moved out purposely trying to be grown, and also other internal things that I wasn’t too much liking, so I used that as an excuse to leave. From then on, I was more independent in everything I did because of me choosing the direction of my life.

The support also came with me living in my truth, and my family seeing how successful and more comfortable I became in my own skin. I definitely had crazy, disconnected situations with my family. It was just regular things that families go through, but I wouldn’t think being transgendered was the reason for that. My father is a hip-hop icon.

And my mother and her family coming from the Islands. If anything, they gave me kind of a silent, deluxe motel treatment, along with letting me know that they don’t support me all the way. That was more due to the tradition of coming from Spain and Puerto Rico.

But to this day, I can say all of my family has been aspired by my story, just be true to themselves, even to my mother and father, and both sides.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

In what way was the House/Ballroom community or culture a help to you in your discovery of who you are?

☚ Seven King

I wouldn’t say that I’m an avid ballroom category walker. I can look at any kind of underground scene, any kind of people that are like the underdogs, people that have millions of different stories, and they collaborate on one event to create something out of nothing. I’m somebody that can create something out of nothing, and I saw millions of stories just by being an observer of the Ballroom scene.

When I first came to the Ballroom scene, I thought it was good. I met other trans guys that felt the same as I felt. That they were assigned female at birth and transitioned to male. It was good to see a celebrated platform for all people in our community from gay to lesbian, etc. to actually see the stories that people talk about, but not always get to see. How much they were focused on their bodies to be physically on point, to actually pay attention to their fashion style and how they look.

It actually inspired me in the everyday real world, to carry those kind of attributes, to make sure you’re on point everyday in life which conditioned my presentation all around.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

How do you define masculinity?

☚ Seven King

My definition of masculinity is nothing that society says is masculine. Anything society says is being overly macho, never crying, never being in touch with your emotions, being physically tall or overly built. I think masculinity is an individual experience.

Even when it came to Shakespeare, women went crazy for Shakespeare, and he did a lot of romantic, emotional, what people would say feminine type of content. So when it comes to masculinity, people can feel it when you’re living in your truth. It can be anything that you define and what is true to you.

For me, I’m a writer. I’m avidly into expressing myself through writing. Yes, I like to be physically fit, but I know being trans is way outside of the box of society’s average male. So I think the definition of masculinity is evolving, people are growing. The different layers in masculinity you find in yourself, and also what you’re attracted to.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

What kind of man do you intend to be?

☚ Seven King

I intend to be fearless in my work. I won’t be just sticking to trans related topics and LGBT content in all my work. I want to express myself in my art for my own experience, so it happens naturally. I stick to my truth and I try to shine a light and window to people who may not understand who we are, or choose to misunderstand who we are.

I want people to understand me through my work. I want to understand more of the world from a different lens and to travel and things like that. I’m from New York, but I feel like my heart is in another place; overseas and just into different cultural things. Just to be revolutionary rather than being just this one person. To bring a broader audience to my work, deal with the big time people, be true to my community, still create from the heart, and associate with the people who’ve been with me from the beginning, and who've truly been with me from day one.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

What kind of lies about yourself did you have to overcome?

☚ Seven King

I guess maybe the stigma as far as being closeted and not disclosing that I’m trans. A kind of hesitation. Like even when I did an interview, it was an experience for me for that first question subconsciously, but then it was also living in my truth, and crossing out the fear. Once I make my statement, it’s me owning myself and no one can make me feel any less worthy and I’m proud of that because it gives me my power back.

Also, I guess the disclosing of just being trans, and owning it, and attracting people in dating who are truly for me rather than having people think I lie to them, or didn’t give them a choice.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

What is the greatest lesson you learned about yourself throughout your transition?

☚ Seven King

Understanding nothing in life is going to be picture-perfect, and what I mean about "picture-perfect,” you got to learn how to deal with the challenges in life. Also, to have tough skin, but also know how to move with action and not play the victim. I think a lot of transgenders have this narration and this conversation on being in this victim type of position, rather than taking ownership and going against the grain of every issue, utilizing it within oneself first. You can’t depend on anybody else to help you besides yourself first, then unifying with one another, but I also think there is a wrong mentality that is in the black community in general,  and of course it’s going to carry over to the LGBT community, even for trans people.

Most trans people are very toxic amongst each other, and sometimes breaking each other down off the strength of what they think is “realness” to how they may look. And trying to be in competition with each other; to see if they are passable to society, and passable means just like if I went into this restaurant right now, would anyone know I’m trans, and if I said “No,” that means I’m passable. That would also be a problem for trans people because we sometimes are not passable.

So it's good for people--even like myself--to stand up and unify towards certain things, but you have to have a heart and passion with love to do certain advocacy. It’s not meant for everybody. During the Civil Rights Movement, there was a lot of unifying with men, women, and children. Regardless if they didn’t have a heart for it, but it caused results and changes.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

Why does it bother the trans community when people outside the community ask about reassignment surgery and what is going on “down under” with trans people?

☚ Seven King

I guess when trans people might be in awe physically, but as for mentally, whatever they think inwardly about “How could someone do this?” or “Is it that serious?” they don’t really understand until they’re in your shoes. Nobody could understand being gay like another gay man, and no one could understand being trans like another trans person. At the same time, when people get focused on just what’s in your pants, they take away that human experience, and you become more of a sex object. With trans women, that’s why the biggest market as far as escorting is very prominent, it’s because they get sexually fantasized from men in the sense if you look at the female, but they wonder what’s in the lower part.

That conversation also gets carried on and goes to the media, news, interviewers, etc. to the point where some may have a limit. They don’t want you to just focus on that.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

What do you enjoy most when you’re not working?

☚ Seven King

Honestly, I might be considered boring because I like to read. I like to rest. I work two productions. I almost burnt myself out two days ago. So it’s all about resting now before working again.

☛ Dave Bridgeforth

What books have you currently read that’s inspired you the most?

☚ Seven King

A lot of books by Sistah Souljah inspire me the most because it’s not just urban fiction. She drops a lot of jewels, a lot of hidden gems for people in our culture to understand what’s the problem, but she gives the dual perspective on what’s the right perspective to have. Currently, I’m reading the third book in her Midnight series, and I read a lot of self-help books by Robert Greene and things of that nature. I’m also into history. Anything that tells me about my heroes like Malcolm X, Angela Davis, etc. I’m into black literature. ☝︎