My Black Transition: Ten Years On
How gender transition opened my eyes to injustice
Note: I submitted this story to an essay contest earlier this year. It was not chosen for publication, so I thought I’d share it here.
August 23, 2023 marked the ten year anniversary of my gender transition.
This is not the anniversary of the day I started hormone therapy, though that was important. Nor is it the day I got a court order to change my legal name and sex, though that was necessary.
August 23, 2023 marked ten years since the day that I, at the age of 43, announced publicly that my name is Pax Ahimsa Gethen, and I am nonbinary.
So how has it been going since then? What’s it like living as a Black transmasculine person in a society that views Black and trans bodies with confusion, suspicion, and outright hostility?
I’ve had a smoother ride than many folks, but it still hasn’t been easy. I don’t regret my decision to transition, because it was the only way to live as my authentic self. But gaining this authenticity opened my eyes to a lot more truth than I was prepared for.
Coming out as transmasculine in middle age is somewhat unusual, but it would have been virtually impossible when I was younger. Growing up in Pittsburgh and West Virginia…
