Matt Kailey

There are thousands of trans people doing fantastic things every day. Here are just five you will want to know about:

Eden Lane: Lane (pictured) is a busy broadcaster, covering politics, arts, culture, and entertainment for KBDI Channel 12 in Denver. As the first out trans person to be credentialed to cover the Democratic National Convention for a mainstream station and the first out trans person to produce and host a mainstream arts and culture program — In Focus with Eden Lane — on prime time, she is now taking a shot at national exposure by competing for a spot on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in the Your OWN Show contest. See Lane’s audition tape and vote here. Lane also produces and hosts a quarterly LGBT show on KBDI called OUTSpoken.

Tyler McCormick: Most of you know by now that McCormick made history as the first trans man to win the International Mr. Leather competition, an annual contest since 1979. McCormick, who hails from New Mexico, is also the first winner who uses a wheelchair. Contestants are judged on a private interview and the public contest, which consists of physique, stage presence, and public speaking ability. Congratulations to International Mr. Leather 2010 Tyler McCormick.

Molly Cameron: Cyclist Cameron was recently featured in the Portland Mercury‘s bike issue. Cameron, who races around the world, also owns Veloshop, a bicycle repair shop, and Portland Bicycle Studio, a bike-fitting shop. Not bad for a woman who struggled to find a job after transition. Although she currently must compete in the men’s division due to Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) rules, she maintains her cycling schedule, her competition schedule, and her businesses.

Kyle Inselman: Trans man Inselman, a student at the University of Colorado Boulder working toward a BFA in Film Studies, has been named as a 2010 Point Foundation scholar. Throughout his three years in college, he has held leadership positions in five LGBTQ student groups and organizations, as well as volunteered to organize events with the university’s GLBT Resource Center, for which he now works as a student staff person. Point Foundation provides scholarships, mentorship, leadership training and hope for students of merit who have been marginalized due to sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Rabbi Reuben Zellman: Zellman, 31, is only the second transgender rabbi ever ordained at the Reform movement’s Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), reports the San Francisco Sentinel. At Beth El, he joins Rabbi Yoel Kahn, who is gay. Zellman transitioned in 1999, and in 2003, became the first openly trans person accepted into the rabbinical program at HUC-JIR.

Keep an eye on these folks. They’re going places.