SunTimes.com – Rebecca Louie
Silveira stresses his artistry, not identity
New York – Lucas Silveira wears his heart on his tattoo sleeve.
The frontman of Toronto rock band the Cliks bares a turbulent tapestry on his arm: a dragon leaping through flames and waves, two guns bearing wings, and the word ”Survivor.”
”This is all to commemorate what I went through,” says Silveira, who is transgender. He notes that transgender people are more likely to commit suicide — and he knows the pain involved: ”I went to that place, and I know where that comes from. I felt so lucky that I got through it that this was to commemorate the entire ordeal.”
Silveira is the first out transgender artist to be signed to a high-profile label, Tommy Boy’s gay-friendly imprint Silver Label. These days he is trying to build a career as he rebuilds his life as a biological female who identifies as male.