Coming Out

Photos by Rayne's Avante-Garde
Article By E.S. Wynn


Happy Litha! It seemed appropriate to post this today, in the full sun of the longest day of the year. It’s also PRIDE month, which I think makes it even more appropriate.

It's taken me a lot of time to reach a place where I can openly admit that I am a transgender individual. As someone who has experienced gender dysphoria for my entire life, I fall within the spectrum. It's important for me to acknowledge this myself, and also for me to be open about it because of the limited (and sometimes mistaken) information about transgender people currently available for mainstream consumption. I really respect the bravery of people (including friends and family) who are transgender and who have chosen to transition socially and medically to the gender they identify with inside, but that is not the path for me, nor is it a universal reality for all people who live with gender dysphoria or who identify as trans.

Most of the time, when you see me in person, I won't be adhering to any kind of feminine beauty standards (meaning, I'll look like a guy. It's more practical for me anyway.) My relationship with Alex is healthy and happy, and she's known about my gender dysphoria since before we were even dating. We've talked about it extensively. Heck, she even took the photos and helped me with the makeup. I have no interest in transitioning medically, socially or legally. Pronouns matter very little to me. You can call me Ellie, Earl, brother, sister, dude, whatever. My soul is firmly female, but I've been living in a male body for thirty-three years now and I've gotten used to it. It has its advantages.

For the most part, nothing will change, except that I'm finally being open now about something I've kept hidden from almost everyone for my entire life. Being open about it is a necessary step for me in feeling more comfortable with and accepting myself just as I already am instead of living under an armor of cultivated masculine traits that keep me on edge whenever I'm in public. I plan to write a series of articles on my experiences as a trans person (I actually have several here already) and hope to do interviews of other trans people who are open to sharing their experiences as well. I want to talk about gender dysphoria and help increase awareness, visibility and understanding so that those who are weirded out by trans people (or the transgender label,) because of bad information (or a lack of information) can see that we're not weird or scary at all. We're just people as ordinary and unique as anyone else.


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