By Nora Simone
The following article is posted here with permission of the author and Transliving International, the world’s leading magazine celebrating gender diversity.
Click the logo below to read a wonderful article, by my dear friend!
You continue to inspire me, Nora. However, I am greatly saddened that we will mostly liked never see each other again. The ethereal nature of who and what I am.
3 Responses
Nora,
I appreciate the article was written for a transgender audience , from my own experiences much of the article is true . The first point to realise is we never stop learning whether we started early or a late bloomer . Stepping into another person’s shoes is hard but stepping into another person’s gender sounds impossible at first . It’s also obvious from the article that not only are we treading unkown ground but that ground is often a minefield . Yes we are vulnerable , we’re never 100% sure who we can trust , sadly I’ve found the transgender community can be one of the cruelest and untrustworthy .
As you maybe aware I’ve now been fulltime as Teresa for seven years , over that time I’ve found the transgender label has gradually faded , I comfortably go about everyday life without problems or having to explain myself .
Perhaps a follow on article could ask the question , ” When do I stop using the transgender umbrella ?” My acceptance is very good , if I say 99% people might doubt me but one person in the last 7 years has given me a problem . If you continue to mention you’re transgender many people in society don’t want to know or care , often you take a step back because they are happy to accept you as female . That is often the problem with the trangender community , you aren’t permitted to move on from the transgender box , which means you will never totally escape from the male situation. That is important to me and anyone who has gender dysphoria , I’m Teresa now not the male equivalent , I can’t live in both camps . That is one point missed in the article many transgender people who are driven by GD can’t live in both Worlds , for me and others like me we step beyond the need for the support and protection of social groups . They serve the purpose very well , I wouldn’t be where I am now without them . I admire the people who dedicate their lives to run them , we must also be thankful that many of them have brought about change for the whole communtiy .
Kandi is wonderful in bringing this site , she leads from the front , sometimes I wish she had a greater reader base , she’s made what many consider abnormal become normal , more people need to discover that .
“she’s made what many consider abnormal become normal”, I could never receive higher praise! Thank you, Teresa!
Kandi,
You deserve that praise for the work you do . Normal is an underused word in our community but that feeling of normality is so important when we seek acceptance .