homecoming queen ♪ ♪ why do you lie ♪ when somebody's mean where do you hide ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> announcer: this is "nightline." tonight, manmade. pumping iron and breaking barriers. transgender bodybuilders. >> as far back as i could remember i thought i was a boy. >> redefining the sport by repping their truth. at a time when rights in their community are targeted. how they're challenging the narrative of masculinity. plus finding the next american idol. ♪ i rise like the day the inspiring stories of aspiring singers, hoping to rise up. >> it's going to change my life. >> how three all-star judges transformed wide-eyed hopefuls. >> i think a lot of artists are working from a place of pain and from great pain comes great art.

>> to pitch perfect stars riding the flames of glory. ♪ put your light up >> but first the "nightline" 5.

putting term limits on congress, about washington insiders went crazy. they said term limits are bad, that they'll break government. what a joke! congress is working fine for politicians and corporations, but it's not doing anything for real people on climate, health care or gun safety. the only way we get new ideas is electing new people, including a president willing to shake-up washington. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

i'm kimberly brooks. facing the judges and baring it all. transgender male bodybuilders in the competition of their lives, hoping to lift not only weights but also their community. oftentimes left in the dark. tonight their stories of struggle and triumph on full display. here's "nightline" co-anchor juju chang. ♪ >> peak competition mode builds up to two hours of cardio a day and then 45 minutes of weight training. i have to weigh my food. no butter, no oil. grilling. >> reporter: at 5'4" mason caminiti is almost a foot shorter than his hero, arnold schwarzenegger. but his endurance and stamina are right on par. >> bodybuilding was something that helped me make my body more masculine. it's the physique that i always wanted. >> it's the ideal man. >> yeah, for me it is. >> reporter: mason's hard work often pays off. his talent and muscles so defined that people rarely

detect that mason is a transgender competitor. named heather caminiti at birth, a sports-obsessed tomboy, helpless in the face of social pressures. >> as far back as i could remember, maybe three, four years old, i thought i was a boy. and then as i got a little bit older i realized that i had a girl's name and they were trying to put me in girl's clothes and make me use the girl's bathroom, and i was really confused. >> how does society treat someone like you growing up? >> well, for a long time it's almost like i didn't exist. there is no words to even express that. i just felt so isolated and so alone. and i blamed myself for that. i blamed myself for being different. >> reporter: now 44, mason says he had no transgender role models during his childhood, but one moment made all the difference. >> i remember being in grade school, and i saw a trans man on the "donahue" show.

i just remember feeling so relieved. like i wasn't alone for the first time in my life. >> you recognized yourself? >> yeah. absolutely. and it was a positive portrayal of someone that was like me for once in my life. >> reporter: these days positive portrayals command attention on screens and red carpets. >> mother, you should all be very, very proud. >> reporter: but while shows like "pose," "euphoria," and "orange is the new black" have broadened the spotlight on trans stories, the focus on trans men's stories like mason's remains dim. >> i guess it's a different experience and there's a different perspective of life. >> we think of a trans story as a journey from maleness to femininity, so to speak. i would say trans men are pretty invisible. >> filmmaker t. cooper wants to change that. he spent two years following mason and his wife, anne, for the documentary "man made." >> i can't imagine being a kid

and feeling one way and then having your family say that's not appropriate. >> reporter: t.'s film features a trans male bodybuilding competition and athletes in varying stages of their transitions. >> it was just so amazing to me how the bodies differed, the expressions of masculinity and the versions of masculinity. that were represented on stage. just ran the gamut. >> capturing pivotal moments both surgical and emotional. >> oh, my god. it's my chin. it's me. >> reporter: exploring complex relationships. >> in a sense everyone is losing a part of their identity. >> reporter: and fights for acceptance. >> i was sent to the pastor and called out in the church. >> reporter: t. also happens to be trans, which is reflected in his filmmaking. >> i totally like didn't expect to get so emotional, seeing him see himself. >> reporter: he worked closely with his filmmaking partner and

wife, allison, mom of two and a sis-gender woman, meaning designated female at birth. >> my relationship with t. forced me to get rid of old habits that weren't necessarily helping, and i just mean ideas about what a woman does, what a wife does, what a mom does. >> how to please a man. >> exactly. >> reporter: parts of their non-traditional marriage mirror mason and anne's relationship. their biggest transition lately, becoming parents. >> hi, baby. did you have nice food? >> reporter: mason and anne hope their daughter gianna can grow up in a more inclusive world. >> what do you think people misunderstand? >> i think people are scared of the unknown. they might just think that everyone's a freak. i love mason and mason loves me and to me it's quite simple. i often forget that our marriage isn't a conventional marriage. >> reporter: anne identifies as a pan-sexual sisgender woman. the two married in 2015. >> he was in a comedy group my friend was nip told my friend who was this cute guy on stage?

and they knew my history, my dating history. of being similar to goldilocks in the sense that i dated men that wasn't just quite right and i dated women it wasn't quite right. so then when i mentioned i thought mason was attractive, they were like oh, my gosh, a light bulb went off in their heads, this is a perfect mix. >> reporter: but not everyone is as accepting. >> tonight the pentagon has announced a new policy for transgender troops after president trump ordered a complete ban. >> the legislation would make it illegal for florida doctors to offer sex change procedures to minors. >> can you be fired for being gay or transgender? >> have you ever been discriminated against for bei i trans? >> i just haven't put myself in that position. i've always tried to be in certain situations where i'm around people or with employers that are trans-friendly. >> reporter: mason is wrapping up his paternity leave from starbucks, which he says has been a great company to work for. but that isn't always the case. >> at the start of my transition i had a really well-paying

construction job, but i didn't feel like that was going to be a trans-friendly job for me to transition on. so i had to find other work. >> why in this backdrop is a film like "man made" important? >> this is a very challenging time. we're being held back, way behind the starting line. so we don't get to be in positions of power and empowerment and getting to make the decisions about greenlighting films like this. >> it's really important that the life of someone who's trans be shown in an authentic way. >> and do you think it helps that t is himself a trans male? >> i do. he knows how tough it can be and what you face on a day-to-day daily basis. >> i'm so glad you're here. >> reporter: that connection made it easier for mason to reveal his most vulnerable moments. >> at one point the pain was bad enough that you attempted to take your life. >> yeah. i didn't think that i'd ever actually grow up to be normal,

to live out that life that i always wanted. so i ended up drinking some alcohol and taking an entire bottle of tylenol p.m. >> and what happened? >> my mother found me and she tried to shake me and she was calling my name. she said -- she said, "if you want to kill yourself, i'll kill you." and she just -- she started to beat me. and then i fell on the ground. she started to kick me. and then my father walked in and restrained her. i'll just never forget that, of course. it must have been horrible for her too to find me like that as well. >> reporter: mason's parents say they were upset by the suicide attempt and not his gender identity. after years of struggling, mason says they've come full circle. >> my father saw the documentary. he said, "you know, i know it took us a long time to come around, but we really are very

proud of you." to think that he would ever get to that point is something i never thought would happen. >> what do you want the broader audience to take away from all of this? >> with trans and queer audiences, right in the response has been oh, my god, i've never seen my life portrayed on film and i just saw it. but a really surprising demo that has been responding to the film have been like white, you know, straight cis men who are like coming up crying and saying i've never thought about my masculinity in this way ever. and now it's like a dam burst or something. and that feels like a triumph to me. >> reporter: after 60 film festivals t. hopes to continue that momentum. his latest project, a music video. >> see where charlie is? >> okay. >> and you're going to walk toward her. >> reporter: where every single person on camera is trans. >> and this is showing people like hey, trans people are here, we're not going anywhere, and

we're going to keep on. >> i felt empowered. i felt like i can be seen, i could be heard. >> action. let's go. >> as a trans create, writer, director, producer i want to do stories about everybody. when i'm called into the room to direct an episode of blank -- >> that's the moment you break through. >> reporter: when people like t. and mason are no longer seen as trans men but simply men. >> you used to think that being transgender was a curse. >> yeah. >> and yet you evolved on that as well. >> now that i'm on the other side of my transition, i look at what i've been able to experience and learn from my transition. how many people can say they've looked at life through a female lends and a male lens? and it's really been wonderful. >> our thanks to juju. and up next, who has what it takes to rise up to be this season's "american idol"? break out the butter lobsterfest is on at red lobster

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[ fast-paced drumming ]

othroughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

ready to hit hopefully all the right notes, the newest class of "american idol" contestants inspiring not only the country but three celebrity judges. how do they pick out that diamond in the rough from all of the rest? abc's adrienne bankert went looking for answers. >> i stand up. you're going to hollywood. >> thank you so much. >> every year i tell myself i won't cry watching these "american idol" auditions. and i won't. >> shut up. >> reporter: nope. not happening.

>> and i want you to understand. we got you. >> it baffles me that some of these kids will come in so raw, beautifully talented, and no one's ever told them. >> reporter: how can you not love the teen from nepal who sounds just like bob dylan? ♪ >> take a deep breath and give it to us. ♪ i set out on a narrow way >> reporter: the alabama garbage man setting out on a broken road. ♪ the broken road >> you're going to hollywood. >> reporter: and the subway performer. ♪ i rise up teaching us all to rise up. ♪ i rise up [ cheering ] yes, even after all these years "idol" delivers. its secret sauce, finding

talent. >> these people come from the nooks and crannies of america. >> reporter: wrapped in compelling stories. >> i couldn't listen to music growing up because where i come from music is prohibited. >> a lot of artists are working from a place of pain. and from sometimes great pain comes great art. >> reporter: those diamonds in the rough discovered across the nation thanks in part to great judges like katy perry, lionel richie, and luke bryan. >> we're just trying to set you up for global overtaking. what a unique artist you are. >> they don't need any more criticism. they need a hug. they need you to go, okay, now we have you. >> and i think once we start breaking that ice with them then they can go become what they came here to be. ♪ >> reporter: the magic is in the stories and in the singing, which toes the line between the truly awe-inspiring. ♪ and the duly cringe-worthy. ♪

the show's been hitting all the notes for nearly 20 years. for those of you who might not have even been born when it premiered, here's a quick recap. >> hello, kelly. >> hello. >> how old are you? >> i'm a big fan of you, by the way. >> jennifer hudson from chicago, illinois. >> yes, sir. >> hi, carrie. >> hello. >> are you nervous? >> a little bit. >> hi, guys. how are you? >> adam. >> hey. >> adam, adam. >> what's your name? >> scott mccreary. scottie. >> reporter: it's not always just about the contestants. it's also about these guys. ♪ >> dreadful. >> pathetic. >> hated it. >> everything about it was grotesque. >> reporter: the celebrity judges. >> and that's just about celebrating the effort of -- >> reporter: and their infamous feuds. from paula versus simon to nikki versus mariah. >> we're trying to help her as opposed to just talk about her outfit. >> of course. >> reporter: though for the last three seasons on abc they seemed to have reached a harmonious mix

of sugar, spice, and soul in katy, luke, and lionel. >> we are so invested in this show and the outcome and these people's dreams. like this is no joke. this is not just a job, y'all. this is like a passion. >> we check our egos at the door. we're there to try to find huge stars. >> it feels very generous. >> and hopefully very genuine. i mean, this is where we get to take all of what we've learned and like give these kids some kind of shortcuts. ♪ there's a calm before the storm ♪ >> reporter: shortcuts perhaps but for so many hopefuls facing the hard truth it's half the battle. >> i don't like it. i don't like your attitude. >> we want to check them early. it's very important. because you can be the greatest singer in the world. your ego killed you. >> i don't really think you're going to make it in hollywood. >> reporter: now, they won't all make it to hollywood. and even if they do, winning

isn't everything. >> to watch dreams unfold in front of your very eyes is very inspiring. i mean, i went home after auditions and practiced on guitar and piano more than i have in years just because music is just so inspiring. >> reporter: another season of singers -- ♪ well, mostly singers. wishing upon hope to become one of the very few to join the ranks of music's most recognizable voices. >> what have you learned about yourself? >> it was always the music. so never forget why you're doing what you're doing. >> it's my job to teach them. but they have to understand that it does not come with a diploma. it comes with hard work. >> mm. >> the diploma at the end is when the crowd says we love you. and we can't guarantee that. >> but you do help people find their voice. >> absolutely. ♪ it's all for you >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm adrienne bankert in los angeles.

♪ yes >> "american idol" airs every sunday night at 8:00/7:00 central right here on abc. we'll be right back. (whistling) cause you didn't have another dvt. not today. one blood clot puts you at risk of having another, so we chose xarelto®, to help keep you protected. xarelto® is proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt or pe blood clots from happening again. almost 98% of people did not have another dvt or pe. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of blood clots.

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othroughout the country for the past twelve years, mr. michael bloomberg is here. vo: leadership in action. mayor bloomberg and president obama worked together in the fight for gun safety laws, to improve education, and to develop innovative ways to help teens gain the skills needed to find good jobs. obama: at a time when washington is divided in old ideological battles he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. bloomberg: i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

and finally tonight, a preview of the upcoming special edition of "nightline," "guardians of the amazon," with dan harris reporting. >> [ speaking foreign language ]. >> it is the front line of the world's most dangerous battle. >> this involves the entire earth. there are dire consequences to this. >> as the world reacts to the amazon's destruction, indigenous brazilians ront front lines of the fight to save their land. >> it's become very obvious there's been a lot of burning and cutting in here. >> [ speaking foreign language ].

>> be sure to tune in right here tomorrow. and that's "nightline," my friends. thank you and have a good night. wean air force veteran made of doing what's right,.

not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa tis better than the criminal in democrathe white house.esident we all have progressive plans to address the big challenges facing our country. what makes me different, is i've been working for ten years outside of washington, to end the corporate takeover of our democracy, and to return power to the american people. i started need to impeach to hold this lawless president accountable. i'm proposing big reforms like term limits... ...a national referendum... ...and ending corporate money in politics. as president, i'll declare climate change