I was kind of a dreamer growing up.
I would write about, you know, when I would have long hair and write about laying in the grass and talking to a boy and doing things that, I think my peers took for granted. And so I always say that would be a writer in NYC telling stories, as a woman.
I was named after my father, his name was Charles. I was his first son, so therefore I was his namesake, and I think that always frustrated him a bit, 'cause he wanted his son to be very tough.”
I can't remember a time when I didn't know that I was a girl, wanting to always be in the kitchen with my aunts and my grandmother and hearing them talk about the world, and talk about, you know, women's problems and gossiping about other women.
I didn't hear the term transgender, transsexual, I didn't know what trans was.
Just like any other person, I confused gender and sexuality. But I quickly realised that no, I was always meant to be a girl and I just happened to have the wrong equipment.
I was so lucky, and so blessed, in the fact that I had support at home and I started the process just through my endocrinologist. At 18, I had already fully transition.
Trans people, the "T" in "LGBT". I think there's a sense, inherently within us, we want to blend in. After transitioning, I just wanted to live a normal life as just another girl in the crowd.
I think after a while, I kind of, I felt as if I was hiding something. And I was so blessed in my life. I had parents who love me and a family who loved me, and I had great teachers who believed in me,
And I don't think that I had all of those things dropped onto my life to live silently. I overcame all those things for a reset, to tell kids that, "you ARE beautiful, and that nothing is unusual, or strange, about you because you're gay or lesbian, or transgender, or genderqueer. However you want to express yourself, then nothing is wrong with you.
We've had many, many victories and celebrations for our gay brothers and lesbian sisters, but we can't Ignore the fact that transgender people are casualties in this fight.
The federal government does not
protect us from discrimination when we're trying to apply for a job, or keep our jobs.
I see kids who are transitioning. They're gonna grow up and be able to say, "I'm trans", just the same way that their gay and lesbian counterparts can say I'm gay and lesbian.
I met a 14 year old girl who told me that she wanted to be a writer like me someday. She didn't say she wanted to be as pretty as me.
I knew she was transgender, but that's not what she connected with. She just connected with the writing. She had such a strong sense of self. "I want to be a writer like you, someday.
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