Guess which transboy was in the news?

A lesbian friend and I were in the newspaper on Sunday. It was just an interview in which we talked about our lives as queer teenagers and our student activism, but it seems like it had a huge repercussion: people who didn’t even know us emailed it to others, it was posted on several forums and some radio show hosts even talked about. I heard mostly positive opinions, except for the nasty comments on the newspaper’s website, which I just stopped reading; it felt great to hear from strangers who were inspired by our “courage” (I would just call it “will to live”).

I thought it would be cool to have our voices heard by the mainstream public. Most people never hear what life is like for a young lesbian, and they probably don’t even know that transboys exist (at least not in my social context). I’m all for visibility and awareness-raising… but so much exposure made me pretty nervous. Especially because some friends’ parents read the news, and I’m afraid that my parents might hear about it. I still haven’t talked to my mom and dad about my trans identity (I want to finish school first, in case things get tense), but I appeared in one of the country’s major newspapers: I wonder how sustainable that situation is.

Of course, everyone at school read it or heard about the interview. I figured that everyone knew I was trans, anyway, but apparently they still thought I was a butch girl (or a cisguy). One good thing: I’m as out as can be –if you don’t count my family–, and I haven’t been harassed at all; I haven’t even gotten the “is that a boy or a girl” comments this year. I did hear some classmates talking about me, and from the few words I could make out, they were talking about the article; but they didn’t sound disrespectful, apart from the fact that I was right beside them. There isn’t much bullying in my school, anyway; if anyone is transphobic, they certainly won’t confront me about it.

If I had known how widely that article would be read, I might not have accepted the interview; but since I can’t go back, I guess I should be glad that it reached so many people. I hope it helps some queer or trans kid who might be out there.