I know when it comes down to it, my life is fairly easy. Yet, there are things that have caused family members to address me as slurs, students to repeat rude insults, or even to simply be made to feel constantly uncomfortable or put down intentionally. With a constant correction on what others think they know best, being a transgender student really can be difficult. Whether you support trans people or not, showing respect to people should be a basic kindness. Right?

Not all students, or people in general, neccasarily think that’s true. People get misgendered and dead-named on a regular basis, even with near constant reminders, and with some it’s done with the intention of causing another discomfort.

 Even in my own experience, I have regularly had people say things such as,”I don’t know anyone named North, just Abagail, ” or even flat out saying, “You’ll never be a guy,” and “you’re not actually a boy.” Even this is mild to what happens to others, some who get hurt physically and bullied all due to the simple request of calling a person a different name and set of pronouns. For me, coming out at home was definitely the scariest part. I wasn’t sure what my family’s reaction would be, or if it’d be a positive one. I know for me, the responses were varied.

Before I even considered coming out, one of my cousins outright told me, “ If you ever come out as some stupid tranny, I will never accept you as my family.” I did eventually come out to him- he mainly just ignores it, though tends to call me rude nicknames whenever he gets the chance. My younger cousin refuses to acknowledge it, and though my aunt supports me I’m still being told by her that I’m too young to know. My mom’s reaction initially wasn’t exactly welcome, and to keep it short, the gist of what she said was that I’m not her son. She’s accepted it more in recent months, and she’s definitely supporting me more in that subject than she did when I first came out. 

That’s not to say coming out at school wasn’t, and still isn’t, terrifying. Most of you probably realized that most of my teachers and friends call me a different name than most of you were used to. I do know that some of your opinions probably tend to agree with my cousin’s view on it. Yet, basic respect should be given regardless, even if not to me, to everyone in a situation like mine or worse. Overall coming out and even putting this all to paper is nerve wracking, especially due to the aforementioned rude names and reactions. I’m glad I’m getting this chance to tell what it’s like, regardless of the fear it causes. I can live with you all not respecting me, but I can’t live with myself if I don’t try to express the way it goes for us, or to try to give you respect for others.