Kiley May (born 1986/1987) is a

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people (Kanien’kehá:ka), an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language (Kanien’kéha), the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a ...

and

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada *Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinois ...

storyteller, actor, screenwriter, filmmaker, and

two-spirit ''Two-spirit'' (also known as ''two spirit'' or occasionally ''twospirited'', or abbreviated as ''2S'' or ''2E'', especially in Canada) is a umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a trad ...

activist in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Life

As a child, May lived at

Six Nations of the Grand River Six Nations (or Six Nations of the Grand River) is demographically the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. As of the end of 2017, it has a total of 27,276 members, 12,848 of whom live on the reserve. The six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy ...

, an

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

in Ontario. Her mother is Mohawk and her father is Cayuga, and she belongs to the Turtle Clan. She was

assigned male at birth Sex assignment (also known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the v ...

, but was

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...

as a child. She experienced discrimination as a result of

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

. In 2007, May left the reserve and moved to Toronto, where she attended journalism school at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...

. While in school, she discovered a love for creative writing, but after graduating she did not write for several years. May initially identified as

genderqueer Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...

and

gender non-conforming Gender nonconformity or gender variance is gender expression by an individual whose behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A person can be gender-nonconforming regardless of their gender identi ...

, and eventually started to use ''

she She or S.H.E. may refer to: Language * She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English Places * She County, Anhui ** She Prefecture, 589-1121 * She County, Hebei * She River, or Sheshui, Hubei * ...

'' pronouns; , at age 30, she was using both ''she/her'' and ''

they/them Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'', and ''themselves'' (also ''themself'' and ''theirself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun derived from plural they. It typically occu ...

'' pronouns. In 2017, May was the Youth Ambassador for

Pride Toronto Pride Toronto is an annual event held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in June each year to celebrate the LGBTQ community in the Greater Toronto Area. The centre of the festival is the city's Church and Wellesley village, while the parade and m ...

. She was additionally

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

to pay for travel to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

for genital surgery. In 2020, May was a winner of the Magee TV Diverse Screenwriters Award from the Toronto Screenwriting Conference.

Roles

* ''Coroner'', as River Baitz, ongoing * ''

It Chapter Two ''It Chapter Two'' is a 2019 American supernatural horror film directed by Andy Muschietti from a screenplay by Gary Dauberman. It is the sequel to '' It'' (2017) and the second of a two-part adaptation of the 1986 novel '' It'' by Stephen Ki ...

'' as Native American woman (from the fictitious “Shokopiwah” tribe) * ''

The D Cut ''The D Cut'' is a 2020 Canadian television series on Crave co-written by Audrey Dwyer and Wendy Litner and directed by D. W. Waterson. The show stars Marie Marolle as D, a young hairstylist running a queer hair salon. Plot ''The D Cut'' f ...

Notes

References

External links

* 1980s births 21st-century Canadian actors 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian LGBTQ screenwriters Canadian Mohawk actors Canadian non-binary actors Canadian non-binary writers Canadian transgender actors Canadian transgender writers Cayuga people Date of birth missing (living people) LGBTQ First Nations people Living people Non-binary activists Non-binary screenwriters Six Nations of the Grand River people Transgender non-binary people Transgender screenwriters Turtle Clan of the Iroquois Two-spirit people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Canada-screen-actor-1980s-stub