Marshall - He/Him

“I am proud to be a man who was born a woman. My experiences as a woman have deeply shaped the man I am today, allowing me to define manhood on my own terms—beyond society’s expectations. As Julian K. Jarboe wrote, ‘God blessed me by making me transsexual for the same reason God made wheat but not bread, and fruit but not wine: so that humanity might share in the act of creation.’ Merely by existing, I am partaking in the act of creation. Transitioning is less about passing as your preferred gender, and more about passing as your true self. Becoming a man has not meant adhering to the outdated norms of what men should be. Instead, it has been about carving out space for a version of masculinity that includes vulnerability, softness, and emotional depth—qualities that are often overlooked but essential to my understanding of manhood.”

Elena - They/She 

“I’m tired of gender. Gender feels like a game of pretend I left behind when I was 8, that I want everyone around me to also stop playing. Gender is costume, is performance, is exhausting. Throughout my life I’ve played the role of Girl superbly. I’ve been timid and smiley and I stutter when nervous. I like things that are beautiful. I am easily excited and try to be empathetic. I was picked last for teams in gym class and a bookworm. Until age 12 I had a long braid down to my butt that I refused to cut not specifically because it was pretty, but because it was cool. Like another arm or a tail. When I was nine, my mom told me to dial back my new loud laugh. She said it sounded too big coming from my fragile little girl frame. She said it was “a little absurd.”

I live in this body that has been the same height since age 12, and I will never not live in it. Sometimes all gender feels like is attempting to fit myself back into Girl, the fragile frame of my 9 year old self, and retract my laughter until there’s enough sound space for everyone else’s.

This is a sad way to think about Girl. Girl is a marvelous, beautiful role to play. Sometimes I play Girl. Sometimes I play nothing, and sometimes I play adamantly Not Girl. But whichever role I “choose”, I make sure to laugh absurdly.”

Xavier - Any Pronouns

“Being transgender means having my outer self reflect who I have always been inside. It means finding my community. It means autonomy over my body and life. I am everything I ever have been and better. 

Being transgender to me means that I can love and be loved authentically. I can find joy in things that I thought I could never have. I can look back at my younger self to say “We did it” and mean it. 

Being transgender to me means that I’m alive, breathing, and being. Endlessly.”

Jamie - She/Her 

“The longer I live my life as a woman, the more I notice different ways gender affects my day to day life. It can be the different ways I get treated or the different kinds of relationships I form. But the most profound has been how I connect with other women as a woman. This extends to any kind of relationship I have with a woman. I feel that my mother understands me more, and my sisters and I have a new kind of bond. This ‘unspoken’ barrier is gone between us. My friendships with women now are so much more profound now than friendships with women then. What sets out the most is loving women as a woman. As a lesbian, my womanhood is intrinsically tied to my love for women. Living life as a trans woman is not as glamorous and beautiful as the way it may sound when I talk about these powerful connections with women in my life. Even my family life is not particularly perfect. But the world that holds me down is not what defines me. I choose to define myself and tell my own story.”

Juno - He/Him

“Gender has been a lens through which I am able to better understand my racial identity. As someone who is racially ambiguous, often it is difficult for people to pin down what I am. As someone who is gender non-conforming, at times it is difficult for people to guess my pronouns. Both of these things, in tandem, would decide how people thought of me. If I was a boy and Indigenous, it was fine for me to have long hair. I was normal. If I was Mexican and a girl it was bad that I had short hair. I was queer. If I was Black and a woman I was too sensitive. I was weak. If I was Black and a man I was too soft. I was gay.

My gender identity has been able to show me the importance of perception. The length you keep your hair, the things you let bother you, the clothes you wear, the people you hang around - they all say things about your gender identity and these all say things about who you are. 

For better or worse these are things that people care about, your gender determines your role within your racial identity, which then determines your role in society.”

Chandler - He/She

Being transsexual has been one of the greatest blessings I could have been given. It has been difficult at times but I have never regretted starting my transition or even being a transsexual. 

Originally, I was born female. However, while I am taking testosterone, I still very much consider myself a woman but I’m also a man too. For me, the answer to the question “are you a man or a woman?” is always answered with “yes” and never a choice of one over the other. 

Living proudly as a transsexual is very important to me because it shows closeted trans people that not only is there a future for them but also that transition is possible. I also think I owe it to all of the brave transgender activists and the trans people who lived before me and who fought for our rights as trans people. 

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