My name is Isaac and I’m transgender.
To be more specific, I’m a non-binary femme, in the early stages of adjusting the ways in which I present to the world.
April 2020 Update: I now go by Isa.
I stand by much of what I said under this article, but it’s been 2 years and my gender and sense of authentic-self has been ever-evolving. Some of it is quite out of date.
More information in my update “Hi, I’m Isa.” below.
Original Post:
Genderqueer is the term for myself I’ve found fits best and I’m very happy to finally be publicly talking about this aspect of my queer identity.
My gender is something I’ve struggled with and ignored for the majority of my life to date. The last three years have involved me starting to come to terms with myself, and figuring out I’m allowed to own and name my queerness.
Where I’m going to end up isn’t clear. For now I’m still happy in my given name and keeping the masculine pronouns of he/him.
[Note from future self: this lasted until mid 2019. Fully rolled out new name in April of 2020.]
I do know I’m more feminine than I’ve yet to present to the world, while it’s also important to hold onto some masculine parts of myself. It’s a fun and scary path depending on the day — but a privileged, rewarding and fulfilling one at every step.
I’ve been extremely lucky as I’ve had much love and support from my friends, peers, and family as I’ve started to come to terms with my gender identity and as I’ve shared myself with the people around me. For those of you finding out now, I wish I could have told you all personally. To those that have known and helped, thank you — I can never say this enough.
There are many reasons I’ve held off outing myself until now — giving those around me time to adjust, being busy in other parts of my life, wanting to say too much all at once, fear of making the leap, being an intensely private person, and wanting to be able to perfectly explain something I’m still unable to always understand within my own head. But I feel the privilege of being loved, safe, and in control of my own personal and professional life. I know many many others don’t have many or even any of those privileges. So I can start with being out and visible as my non-binary self in my various communities, in the manner that would have helped me as a younger person.
Curious? Don’t completely understand terminology I’ve used or have other questions but worried about offending in asking? There are many good resources online — the US-based National Center for Transgender Equality’s website (https://transequality.org/about-transgender) and Trans Student Educational Resources website (http://transstudent.org/) are great places to start. And just ask me. I’ll do my best to answer anything asked, or point you in the right direction. I’m still educating myself and learning about how to be a member of this community.
Happy International Transgender Day of Visibility to all my fellow transgender and non-binary folk — those I know and love, those who paved the way for me, and those who are doing the work for themselves and others. And especially to those who can’t yet be out. You are all amazing, beautiful people.
