Meet Madin Lopez, A Genderqueer Hairstylist Who Provides Identity-Affirming Makeovers

Photography by Julie Hotz Courtesy of MTV.

In honor of Transgender Awareness Week, MTV is premiering Transformation, a one-hour documentary that explores the lives of six trans and gender non-conforming youth in Los Angeles.

The doc centers around Madin Lopez, founder of the non-profit Project Q, which helps LGBTQIA homeless youth. Lopez is a hairstylist who believes a full makeover is one of the best ways for a trans or gender non-conforming person to feel comfortable in their body. Throughout Transformation, Lopez offers free hairstyling and mentoring to the six subjects.

In an exclusive clip below, Lopez, now a married pet-owner, documents their tumultuous upbringing in the foster care system and why they're passionate about this work.

"Volunteer work is the most important thing in my life right now," Lopez says. "There's a lot of pain inside and this is the only cure that I've found--working with a demographic that is the beginning of where my pain began."

Watch Transformation tonight on MTV at 10pm EST or without a cable subscription via MTV's Facebook page at 10:15pm EST.