ANAHEIM, Calif. — Josie Totah, 17, is a young Davis native who has appeared in several films and television shows since leaving Yolo County in 2012 for Los Angeles.
Some of those films and shows include: "Other People", "Spider-man: Homecoming", "Jessie", "Champions" and more.
Totah recently made waves in the LGBTQ community and is to be honored at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Time to Thrive conference with the Upstander Award.
In 2018 she was honored with the Visibility Award by the HRC at the Salt Lake Conference. It was there that she gave an inspiring speech about being herself and how constricting traditional gender roles can sometimes be.
Totah then wrote an opinion piece in August about her excitement for three new chapters in her life: starting her first semester at college, continuing her acting career and coming out as a transgender female.
"My pronouns are she, her and hers," she wrote in a TIME.com article. "I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah."
Now, Totah is to receive an award at a conference dedicated to teaching educators and other community leaders that shape young lives about how to better serve transgender youth by making them feel safe and included.
While Totah was busy in class for her second semester in college, Christine Totah, her mother, talked to ABC10 about what it is like having a child who does not conform to traditional gender norms.
"The teachers who talked to the kids as students and not just as boys and girls were the best," Christine Totah said. "The days they had to get in lines for boys and girls used to be the worst days of her life and at the time she didn't really know why."
The HRC says that only 26 percent of transgender students feel comfortable at all times in the classroom and that only 27 percent feel comfortable talking to school counselors about their LGBTQ identity.
Christine Totah said that having people to talk to was key while Josie was growing up.
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WATCH MORE Josie Totah Receives HRC Visibility Award
RAW: Josie Totah gives an acceptance speech for the Visibility Award from the Human Rights Campaign.