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Kiley May

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Kiley May
Born1986 or 1987 (age 39–40)
Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario, Canada
Alma materRyerson University
OccupationsStoryteller, actor, filmmaker, two-spirit activist

Kiley May (born 1986/1987) is a Mohawk and Cayuga storyteller,[1] actor, screenwriter, filmmaker,[2] and two-spirit activist in Toronto.[1]

Early life and career

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As a child, May lived at Six Nations of the Grand River, an Indian reserve in Ontario.[2] Her[a] mother is Mohawk and her father is Cayuga,[3] and she belongs to the Turtle Clan.[4]

She was assigned male at birth, but was feminine as a child.[5] She experienced discrimination as a result of transphobia and homophobia, but had been protected by her family from their community's bigotry.[2][6]

In 2007, May left the reserve and moved to Toronto, where she attended photojournalism at Ryerson University.[5] While in school, she discovered the love for creative writing and storytelling, but after graduating she did not write for several years.[2][6] She recently started writing for outlets like Vice and HuffPost.[6]

In 2017, May was the Youth Ambassador for Pride Toronto. She also works to create spaces for two-spirited people in Indigenous longhouses. She was additionally crowdfunding to pay for travel to Montreal for gender-affirming surgery.[5]

In 2020, May was a winner of the Magee TV Diverse Screenwriters Award from the Toronto Screenwriting Conference.[7] She also had her short film, Disclosure, premiered at the ImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival on October that same year and released in 2021.[6][7]

Personal life

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May initially identified as genderqueer and gender non-conforming, and eventually started to use she/her pronouns. At the age 30, she was using both she/her and they/them pronouns, and has since identifies as two-spirit, as well as being queer and transgender.[5][6]

She described herself as having a "kaleidoscope identity" after her experience in transitioning and finding herself, claiming that someone's gender identity and sexuality always changes like the colors inside of a kaleidoscope.[5][7]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2017 Pink: Diss Pynk Short film by John Greyson [8]
2019 Coroner River Baitz [2][9]
2019 It Chapter Two Shokopiwah woman [2][10]
2020 The D Cut Amanda [7]
2021 Disclosure Libbie Short film, also worked as producer and writer [6]
2021 Discretion Libbie Short film, also worked as producer and writer [6]
2022 Soft Patricia [11]
2025 Sheriff Country Amber [11]
2026 Allegiance Delilah St. James [11]

Notes

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  1. ↑ May uses she/her and they/them pronouns. This article uses feminine pronouns for consistency.

References

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  1. 1 2 Hensley, Laura (June 7, 2018). "What Does It Mean to Identify as Two-Spirit?". FLARE. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bruno, Natasha (August 25, 2020). "Emerging Filmmaker Kiley May Talks Trans Representation in Media". FASHION Magazine. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  3. ↑ "They: Interview with Kiley May". Emergence Media. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Proud to Shine: 40 Years of Pride in the city". CBC.ca. June 11, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kiley May, Toronto Pride's youth ambassador, on the journey to define her 'kaleidoscope identity'". Canadian Broadcasting Centre. June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Boateng, Natasha (August 25, 2020). "Emerging Filmmaker Kiley May Talks Trans Representation in Media". FASHION Magazine. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 McCormick, Nicole (June 23, 2020). "'No limitations': Indigenous transgender storyteller Kiley May shapes her life as a kaleidoscope". CityNews Toronto. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Can you decolonize a colour? What about punctuation?". CBC Arts. November 30, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Coroner". TVGuide.com. Retrieved July 24, 2026.
  10. ↑ Viola, Joey (September 20, 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: Toronto-based, Indigenous Trans actress Kiley May on her first major movie role in 'IT: Chapter Two'". TheBUZZ Magazine. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 "Kiley May". TVGuide.com. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
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