You are transgender; if I were anyone other than your future self, I would say “may be” or “could be”, or “are possibly”, or that “you should explore your gender identity and expression”, or something more along the lines so it’s less jarring… but, I happen to be your future self and I know better. You show all of the signs and symptoms of gender dysphoria. There is a reason that you prefer playing girl characters when you play pretend with your friends. There is a reason that you feel parts of your body are alien, foreign, and unwanted. I am telling you this because unfortunately, you currently live in Brunswick, Georgia.

You will see many professionals over the years from elementary school up through high school. You will explain your hatred of your body to them, how you wish you can change it, or in your own words, ‘rewire and reprogram it’. You will explain your feelings to at least one of these professionals, but you won’t receive any guidance or help because of where you live. You will be told, simply, that the parts of your body that you hate are “wonderful” and that one day, you will understand that. You will be told that you have an active imagination and would be a good writer. You will be told everything but the truth, that you are showing early signs of gender dysphoria and that you are transgender.

You will be told that some of the actions you took as a younger kid to ‘correct’ the mistakes on your body were a result of trauma, depression, or sexual abuse. You will only hear the term “transgender”, or more accurately, the term “transexual” used in a derogatory and negative connotation to describe social pariahs. As such, you will not explore the possibility that you might be transgender until well after you graduate high school. You will begin to distance yourself from everything male, and you will tell your close friends and family that you prefer to be seen as ‘gender neutral’ or ‘without gender’ because it’s safer than stating how you really feel, but more comfortable than going through life pretending to be a man. You will ultimately begin your transition in adulthood, and start to feel relief from feelings that have haunted you for so long.

  • I’m sorry that you were denied even basic information about what you were actually going through as a child when your own feelings and discomfort overwhelmed you.
  • I’m sorry that you were denied the proper medical and psychological care due to the time period and where you happened to be born.
  • I’m sorry that when you began going through male puberty, and you were horrified by your body and what it was doing to you, that you didn’t know you might be transgender or gender-non-conforming and that puberty blockers were an option, and could halt the torture you went through.
  • I’m sorry that I am just now telling you this all, and couldn’t do so earlier.

The state of Texas is currently trying to categorize providing gender affirming care to children as child abuse, including hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers. I would argue the very opposite – to not provide treatment to a child diagnosed with GENDER DYSPHORIA, a TREATABLE MEDICAL CONDITION, that is treated with GENDER AFFIRMING CARE, is child abuse and against the child’s best interest. Gender affirming care saves lives. Please, stop this cruel assault on transgender children, adolescents, and young adults. The adversity and hatred we experience in every day life is enough, we don’t need the system trying to aggressively attempt to strip our rights and healthcare away on top of it.

To myself as a child…
Tagged on:             
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

2 Barks
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all barks