Ryan Cassata

Ryan Cassata is an award-winning singer-songwriter, actor, performer, writer, LGBTQ activist & motivational speaker based in Los Angeles. With features in Rolling Stone, Billboard Magazine, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The Daily News, Ryan has made the most of his young career, which started when he was just 13.

As a musician with over 550 performances touring across the United States and internationally, including dates on the Van’s Warped Tour, SXSW and at the worlds biggest pride festivals, Ryan has been praised by The Advocate saying he’s a “Transgender singing sensation”, Paper Magazine put him on the "50 LGBTQ Musicians You Should Prioritize" list, LOGO put him on the “9 Trans Musicians You Need To Get Into” list and Billboard put him on the "11 Transgender & Non-Binary Musicians You Need to Know" list and premiered his award winning music video "Daughter." He has also been heard on Sirius XM Radio, BBC Radio 4 and other radio stations around the world.

In films, Ryan was the main focus in the award winning documentary “Songs for Alexis” which screened at such seminal film festivals as Frameline, Raindance, Toronto Hot Docs, and DOC NYC. His co-lead role in indie film "Collective: Unconscious," which received praise from Rolling Stone Magazine & The New York Times, and premiered at SXSW, won him the "Best Breakout Performance" award by the Victoria Independent Film Festival in 2016. Cassata has also been featured in several musical theatre productions including a workshop production at New York Stage & Film's Powerhouse Theatre at Vassar. Ryan was a reoccurring guest-star on the Facebook show "Turnt", and has appeared in several commercials and print ads. Cassata has modeled for brands such as Lids, Bonobos, Lull, and was the official face of TomboyX’s Trans Pride Underwear line in 2019 which he modeled in The New York Times.

Ryan began his activism career at age 13 after joining "The Safe Schools Team" and gave dozens of public speeches near his hometown on Long Island at schools and conferences. He continues to give speeches all over the USA to continue to spread the message. He is the first recipient of the Harvey Milk Memorial Award, became the youngest keynote speaker to ever be selected for the largest transgender conference in existence, and has made appearances on several news networks and shows including The Larry King Live Show, and The Tyra Banks Show.

Ryan Cassata has written pieces that have been published in Huffington Post, The New York Times, Original Plumbing Magazine, Indie Music Bus, IndieWire, Strange Fire Music Blog, Rock The Pigeon Music Blog, and many more!

Currently, Ryan is in the final stages of editing his memoir and writing and recording a new album of original music as a follow up to his most recent full-band production album SHINE which is available on iTunes & Spotify.

Committed to educating through music and speech to wipe out ignorance, Ryan continues to share his inspiring message of hope & acceptance with numerous schools and universities across the country via his social media platforms and at venues across the nation.

If you would like Ryan to speak and or perform at your school or venue, please email [email protected] with a proposed date. We will get back to you ASAP!