My sister and I would play together all the time. We were each given toys that went with our assigned genders. She and I both enjoyed playing with all the toys.
“No, [sister’s name], you can’t play with Bionicles. Those are for boys.” - parents
“That’s weird.” - 6 year old me
“No, Kayday, you can’t play with dolls. Those are for girls.” - parents
“That’s weird.” - also me
“No, Kayday, you can’t dress up in girl’s clothes. That is wrong. It makes God S A D.” - parents
“Oh geez, don’t want to do that.” - me again
“Don’t walk like that. Don’t talk like that. Don’t stand like that. Don’t sit like that. Don’t cry like that. Don’t feel like that.” - everyone I knew
“Geez, this sucks. Oh well, better try harder and be a g̸̰̯̰͒̑ó̵͇̺͉̈́͋ó̷̜̓͝d̴̢̡͕̓͗ ̷̨̟̮̌b̸̖͙̅͆ó̴͍̾y̸̧̎̃.” - me
“Why are you standing with the girls? Go play with the boys.
Why are you pretending to be a mom when you play house? You’re supposed to be the dad.
Why are you growing your hair out? You won’t look masculine enough.” - everyone
“Gosh, it is exhausting being this man-person. I wonder when I’ll figure it out. All the other boys seem to be fine with these boy-rules.”
much later, adult me:
“Huh, so that’s what being transgender means. Interesting, wish I could do that. Oh well, guess I’ll go back to telling queer people they can be saved from hell if they just choose to deny their sinful urges and follow Jesus.”
My sister and I would play together all the time. We were each given toys that went with our assigned genders. She and I both enjoyed playing with all the toys.
“No, [sister’s name], you can’t play with Bionicles. Those are for boys.” - parents
“That’s weird.” - 6 year old me
“No, Kayday, you can’t play with dolls. Those are for girls.” - parents
“That’s weird.” - also me
“No, Kayday, you can’t dress up in girl’s clothes. That is wrong. It makes God S A D.” - parents
“Oh geez, don’t want to do that.” - me again
“Don’t walk like that. Don’t talk like that. Don’t stand like that. Don’t sit like that. Don’t cry like that. Don’t feel like that.” - everyone I knew
“Geez, this sucks. Oh well, better try harder and be a g̸̰̯̰͒̑ó̵͇̺͉̈́͋ó̷̜̓͝d̴̢̡͕̓͗ ̷̨̟̮̌b̸̖͙̅͆ó̴͍̾y̸̧̎̃.” - me
“Why are you standing with the girls? Go play with the boys.
Why are you pretending to be a mom when you play house? You’re supposed to be the dad.
Why are you growing your hair out? You won’t look masculine enough.” - everyone
“Gosh, it is exhausting being this man-person. I wonder when I’ll figure it out. All the other boys seem to be fine with these boy-rules.”
much later, adult me:
“Huh, so that’s what being transgender means. Interesting, wish I could do that. Oh well, guess I’ll go back to telling queer people they can be saved from hell if they just choose to deny their sinful urges and follow Jesus.”
much later, married adult me:
“Oh. OH. Fuck.”
“Hey, wife? I’m uh… trans.”
Her: “I love you.”
Story is still in progress.