It’s a common refrain: being trans isn’t the only thing we are, or even the biggest or most important thing we are – it’s just one thing among many. Yes, we’re trans, but we’re so much more than that; we’re people, with families and careers and hobbies and interests, with personalities and likes and dislikes, with all the complex fullness of any individual.
But at the same time, I can’t pretend that being trans hasn’t been a massively influential theme in my life ever since I came to embrace it. My transness, my womanhood, has been a defining factor in so many ways over the past ten years, touching on nearly all of my most significant personal and professional experiences. It’s changed my life to the extent that I can’t even imagine what the last decade would have been like for me without it. Sometimes, in some ways, it is a big deal. And I think it’s worth acknowledging all the ways that accepting and celebrating this has made my life so much better. Continue reading