The Trans You Don’t Know
By guest contributor Sophia Swift
I am everywhere, but you don’t know it. I’m your coworker, friend, neighbor and relative — including family members. You joke about men in dresses and then laugh about it, but the jokes are like daggers in the fabric of my being. You don’t know what you’re saying and who you are saying it to.
I often feel guilt and shame and choose to stay in the shadows. I have a fear of discovery and of being shunned by the people who say they care about me. These urges aren’t new, I’ve had them since early childhood. But you wouldn’t understand or want to even try. I don’t always understand it myself. I wrestle and struggle with the turmoil within. I buy clothes and wear them for a while, until self-loathing kicks in and I purge them away. At times it’s like prison and I’ve locked myself in. I salute the ones who dare to come out. It’s a brave undertaking in an unwelcoming world.
When I look at society I can’t help but think, it’s them, and not me. That’s where the problems reside. I’m characterized with scary labels straight from the Middle Ages, by people who don’t know, or want to even try to understand. Such an open display of ignorance makes me shake my head. I really question how far society has advanced. I wouldn’t be surprised if these moral high grounders are wearing lace panties under their masculine façade on their bully pulpit.
Before you comment to your buddies and make fun of a trans person for living the way they want, stop and think twice. You might be talking to one.
Care to make a comment on this post? Login here and use the comment area below.
Category: Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender Opinion
About the Author (Author Profile)
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
