I don’t often talk about the time right after I transitioned. I knew I was a girl but was only out a
I don’t often talk about the time right after I transitioned. I knew I was a girl but was only out as trans part of the time. That is, aesthetically, I knew I would be more accepted as a cisgender man who wore women’s clothes than a trans woman. I rarely corrected people in high school when they called me a “boy” or “gay.” If I corrected them, I would be met with comments that “it’s impossible” for me to be a girl. Some of my less sympathetic peers would threaten me for attempting to “trick” boys. If I were a gay boy, at least some of the girls could accessorize with me, protecting what little social life I had left. They saw gay men as less threatening than queer trans women. This is the difference between homophobia and transmisogyny: both were harmful to me at the time, but only one would get me killed. I’m happy to now be in a space where I can be proud of who I am. Building a culture that encourages gender exploration is more crucial now than ever. -- source link