From Mars to Venus.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline:  1-800-273-8255

Trans Lifeline USA:  1-877-565-8860

The day she was born

The doctor said

“it’s a boy.”

and proceeded to wrap her in blue.

When she was one,

she was called big, fierce, and strong;

She just went along.

And she always wore blue.

When she was two,

She was given toy construction vehicles,

plastic dinosaurs,

and a gun - that shot bubbles.

When she was three,

she told her mom that she wasn’t happy,

she wasn’t who she wanted to be,

She was a boy.

Her mom assumed it was a phase

and figured things would change.

She told her

to give it some time.

When she was four,

she wanted a doll.

Her dad bought her a ball,

and called it a close call.

When she was five,

she tried to paint her nails

like the other females.

But her mom found her and took it away.

She cried and cried,

but her dad told her to grow up,

Boys don’t cry.

She should just be a tough guy.

When she was six,

She tried growing out her hair

but then her parents gave her a glare

and made her cut it all.

When she was seven,

she went to school.

Most of her friends were girls

and

they were able to be who they wanted to be.

When she was eight,

her dad signed her up

for little league baseball

He didn’t care for her opinion at all.

When she was nine,

she gave up.

She’d had enough.

This was her life,

and it wasn’t going to change.

When she was ten,

she was made fun of

for taking her shirt off the “feminine way”

at a pool party

When she was eleven

she read that

people who felt the way she did

wouldn’t be allowed into heaven.

When she was twelve,

she got first place in a science fair

and for the first time in her life,

her father was proud.

When she was thirteen,

she realized she was attracted

to other girls.

When she was fourteen,

she was called gay,

and several other names.

When she was fifteen,

she got sick of her life being a lie.

She couldn’t stop thinking how

all she wanted to do was die.

When she was sixteen,

she met a girl,

who was nice and all,

but very confusing too.

They began to date,

to her this felt like fate.

But deep down she knew,

she mustn’t stay around.

When she was seventeen,

she finally told her girlfriend

the truth.

Her girlfriend told her

she knew.

When she was eighteen,

she told her parents something unforeseen

she was a girl,

she always had been,

and always will.

You know who that includes?

Trans POC

Trans people with disabilities

Trans people who aren’t conventionally attractive

Trans women

Trans men

Trans nonbinaries

Overweight trans people

Trans people with mental disorders

Trans people who pass

Trans people who can’t but want to pass

Trans people who don’t feel obligated to be hyperfeminine or hypermasculine

Trans people in poverty

Trans kids in homophobic households

Trans adults who are just figuring out who they are

Trans people who use neopronouns

[warning for cissexism]

The Fundiegelical: “You may think you’re ‘happy’ by wearing the clothing of the opposite sex, but you’re living in sin and you’re going straight to hell! Jesus loves you.”

The “Enlightened” Liberal: “But gender doesn’t even matter, because deep down, we’re all the same. So why is it such a big deal what I call you?”

The TERF: “By embracing a gender role opposite your assigned sex, you are reifying gender/privilege and thus making it that much harder for us to smash gender. I know that sounds contradictory but, if you’d been a feminist for as long as I have, you’d understand.”

The Proto-TERF: “Of course I don’t have anything against trans people, but abortion/sex work/breast cancer/ovarian cancer/whatever is and has always been a women’s issue! Why do you want to take it away from women?”

The Ungendering Fetishist: “Hey, I don’t have anything against sh*m*les! I think you’re hot! I watch sh*m*le porn all the time.”

The Clueless Oppression-Olympian: “Transness is just a white/abled/Western issue, so why should I care about it?”

The Incrementalist: “Look, people just aren’t ready to accept trans folks yet. So instead of arguing about what pronouns to use for you, we should focus on something we can actually accomplish, like [insert other tenuously-related SJ cause here].”

The Genital-Focused: “I totally respect and support trans people, but I would never date one. Because ewww.”

The Broad-Stroke Painter: “I once met a trans person who was selfish/mean/creepy/bad in general, so you’re all like that and I won’t respect any of you.”

The Inveterate Essentialist: “But… you can’t be a woman, because you have a PENIS! And chromosomes! And… a PENIS!”

The What-About-Teh-Cis Whiner: “I know my refusal to call you ‘she’ hurts you, but you have to understand that your demand to call you ‘she’ hurts me, too. What about my feelings?”

The Pig-Headed “Skeptic”: “Do you have actual evidence that you’re really a woman? No, of course you don’t, because it’s impossible by definition. No, shut up; I’m right and you’re wrong, PERIOD.”

The “Free Speech” Whiner: “Don’t you think that, in the spirit of free and open discussion, you should listen to my side of things instead of just dismissing it out of hand as ‘bigotry’?”

The Devil’s Advocate: “I’m not saying prejudice is right, but, to be fair, it is a little weird for someone to present as a woman and yet have a penis.”

The Self-Proclaimed “Ally”: “How dare you say I’ve been cissexist? Don’t you know how very supportive I’ve been of you and your causes? Why aren’t you grateful?”

The “Edgy” Comedian: “Look, it was a joke. I’m sorry you’re too unsophisticated to understand why it’s funny; I guess I’m just too edgy for you. Maybe one day, when you grow up a little, you’ll stop trying to censor humor.”

Show me the lie.