He, Him, His

By: Cheyenne Thorpe

Many know Cass Averill as a 35-year-old computer security specialist with the title of Training Czar for the Springfield’s cyber software company, Symantec. As his partner, Oblio Stroyman, alludes, “while Cass does have a full beard and fiery mustache, he is more than just the man that he appears to be.”

Growing up on the Oregon coast, Cass Averill was labeled a girl plagued by a life of uncertainty in a largely “unprogressive” society.

“I felt like I should be a little boy,” Averill remembers.

As his musing progressed, Averill recalled his youth as a time of confusion. “Why in the world would you want breasts?” he thought as his body developed against his will. While puberty delivered the unwelcomed gift of a triple D cup size, Averill groped for an identity that would finally make sense. Unacquainted with the transgender community, he attached himself to the lesbian label and considered his gender as butch. His whole life itched with ambiguity, built up each day that he was seen as “she.”

“I had one of those aha moments and the whole world went silent because of its clarity,” Averill explained. At 24, Averill had been asked to be the “man of honor” at his best friend’s wedding and was intrigued by the label more than anticipated. Using the tux as an excuse, Averill bought a breast binder. He struggled into this tight contraption, but persistence allowed it to finally fit.

“I went to the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror and that’s when it happened—the moment.  I really saw myself for the first time and I knew that whatever was going on with me had to do with my gender.”  

Averill’s gender dysphoria ached when he saw how his chest was meant to look. However, removing the binder after the wedding triggered the most intense and instantaneous depression of his life. He had been misgendered and it could no longer be ignored. Cass Averill came out as a transgendered man at 25, forever changing “she, her, hers” to the rightful “he, him, his.”

Leaving the coast behind, Averill found his way to Eugene and committed his future to the creation of a safe haven for the entire transgender community and its allies. He is the founder and president of the board for Trans*Ponder, a non-profit support and education resource for the transgender population.

“I never wanted to be a leader,” Averill says as he dedicates each day forward to the mission of Trans*Ponder. “I never thought I would be the man with the megaphone or the face of an organization, but I think I was the right person and the type of person that the community needed.”