At 14, I first awakened my own truth that I was trans. I realized I was growing the wrong secondary sex characteristics; I realized I wanted the ones that were for females, and not for males.
Shortly after realizing that, I talked myself into believing I was a crossdresser. I wasn’t attracted to boys, and being a boy, well back in the 1970s, the gender identity clinics and the Pentecostal Church my parents and I attended in the San Fernando Valley had a very heteronormative view of sexuality. I couldn’t be trans and attracted to girls, so I tried the bulk of my life trying to be the man I wasn’t. I lived 30 years in the closet before finally coming out as Autumn in February 2003.
Truth.
Truth is a new campaign rolled out Tuesday, Aug. 4 by the Transgender Law Center and GSA Network that they describe as “a national storytelling campaign that aims to build empathy, understanding and a movement for transgender and gender non-conforming youth and their families to share their stories in their own words and in their own way.”
“Hi’ I’m Danny, and I um … Wow. I just turned 15 like a month ago,” said gender nonconforming teen Danny Reinan, in a video for the project. “I go to Avalon school – It’s a Charter School in St. Paul.
“The school was very big and intimidating,” Danny continued. “And I knew I wasn’t a girl before then, but that was when I really began realizing like ‘I really feel uncomfortable with this. Like, this isn’t right. This really, really isn’t right.’”
Truth.
“Everyone has a story, and every story is valid and speaks its own truth,” said Tone Lee-Bias, (pronouns: they/them/theirs), 18, from Sacramento, as to why trans youth telling their stories are so important. “Allowing an intimate, personal narrative to be fully exposed to the world can be scary and nervewracking, but also is an enlightening and self-empowering action. In my experience, sharing my story not only educates others, but in the process also assists in my own self-healing. Every time I tell my story, I gain more and more confidence, strength and power over my experiences as an 18-year-old, queer, demiboy of color. I realize how sharing these stories make such a huge difference for those trying to understand, and maybe an even bigger one for those who can relate. Speaking out is the act of purposefully putting oneself in a vulnerable position in order to bring awareness to the issues our various communities face. This vulnerability and transparency of sharing our stories is what allows for new, authentic connections and growth.”
The Truth project encompasses mediums such as videos and selfies, and platforms such as Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The project goals seek to have the participants stretch across the myriad of trans self-identities.
When I tell a story about my life, I hope that for but a brief moment you see the world through my eyes. When trans youth tell their stories, what the Truth project organizers are hoping for are stories that follow this guidance: “What everyone can understand and connect with is emotion and experience. Instead of using shorthand or ‘insider’ phrases, try to describe your identity in terms of your experience. For example, instead of just saying ‘I’m a transgender boy,’ you could say ‘I’m a transgender boy, which means everyone thought I was a girl when I was born, but I’ve always known on the inside that I’m a boy.’ Or instead of saying ‘I’m genderqueer,’ you could say ‘I was assigned male at birth, but being a boy never felt right to me, and neither did being a girl. I’ve always felt that I’m somewhere in between.’”
Truth.
We really can change the world when we share our truths.
