The linked article is such an awesome read! Two small clips are here:
When I tore open the envelope it took my breath away, much like seeing my reflection every morning — the growing pronouncement of my jaw, the square sideburns, the scruff on my cheek, the pecs and biceps ballooning steadily with each workout — I tear up sometimes, I’m so floored by the rightness of it all. I held my birth certificate, my heart galloping, and I felt born again at the age of 31.
…
I don’t think I was born in the wrong body. I am not “finally myself.” I’ve never spent a day being anyone else. Mine is another story, a real and complex story, and one, by definition, that’s not as easy to tell.
Over the past year or so, I’ve been trying to learn more and more about trans. Sometimes I’ve got stuff right, and at times I’ve not, and the more I learn, the more I’m both fascinated and determined to keep talking about this issue. We need everyone within and outside the LGBTQ community to really understand.
Often, wen I ask trans persons about their own story, I often get what is more like a Trans 101 synopsis. I’m not finding fault- there has to be somewhere to start, the laying of some groundwork. I’m afraid too, that we almost expect trans persons to become representatives- the “official spokespersons” as opposed to just being themselves and telling their story. So, one of the things I loved most about this article, is the way I felt like Thomas shares his own story, and I learn more about him, and through that understand a bit more about the complexity of trans.