You should be proud to be trans

At the moment there is a lot of negativity being thrown around about trans people, both in the print media and online platforms like twitter. With all this going on it can feel like the world is currently against trans people, but you should remember that in fact it’s only a very vocal minority of people propagating the transphobia. The best thing to do is to really ignore this and try not to let it get to you to much.

If you are being targeted on twitter for being trans and having people tweet negative things to you, then again you should ignore them and block the accounts so that they can’t carry on with it. You shouldn’t reply to them, because like any other fundamentalists nothing will change their mind on the subject, they have their view and think it’s right regardless what the evidence says.

When I first came out as trans I used to talk to a lot of other trans people and they were inspiring people and had interesting stories about their lives. But after a few years I started to distance myself from other trans people and didn’t interact with them.

But over the past few years I have gone back to talking to trans people and trying to pass on my own wisdom of what I have learnt in the 13 years since I transitioned. Again the trans people that I talk to and follow on twitter I find to be interesting, inspiring and brave people.

Every trans person has a different story about how they came to the point that they are at, and most of these stories are fascinating. It’s interesting to see how each individual have got to the point in their life where they currently are. Yet considering that most people all have a similar aim being trans, the path that they have travelled on always seems to be different, it looks like there is no one way to transition. Everyone has done things their own way but are achieving similar outcomes from doing things in different ways.

I always feel happy when I talk to someone who is now living their life the way that they want to do, as I know how liberating it is to do such a thing. It also takes a lot of inner strength to do it, as it can be quite hard at times but getting through those tough bits makes you a stronger person.

There is also one thing to remember that transition is a personal thing, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. Nor is there a destination that means you have completed it, you just have to do what makes you happy. It doesn’t matter if you have gender reassignment surgery; it doesn’t make you less of a trans person if you decide not to do that. Equally having surgery doesn’t make you a more legitimate trans person than someone who decides not to have it.

The only right way of dealing with being trans is to do things your own way and do as little or as much as you feel comfortable doing. That is the only right way to deal with it in my opinion. You shouldn’t worry if you think you don’t pass as a woman or a man, you shouldn’t let this get to you as regardless of this you are being true to yourself.

It might feel hard at times, but every trans person should feel proud about being who they are regardless of what anyone else says. You should be proud because you are living your life the way you want to, which a lot of other people don’t do. You should be proud because you have dealt with a lot of issues and come through them a stronger person. You should be proud because you are all interesting and beautiful people both on the inside and outside.

So regardless of all the negativity that is being directed at trans people at the moment you should just take a moment and ignore it all and think how proud you should be being trans. While we are a minority of society we should hold are heads up high and be proud of who we are and that the fact that we are living our lives the way that we want to. Being trans in my opinion is something you should be proud of.