Persuasive Essay On Being Transgender

Becoming oneself has never come with an instruction book. No one ever knows who they will be from the time they start pre-school with a brand new lunch box, to senior year when they are deciding what course they want to take throughout the rest of their life. For most people, all they have to worry about in school is to maintain good grades to set their life on the right path. The average person is not too worried about name changes, hormones, legal documents, and finding a place of acceptance and safety amongst their teachers and peers.

Hearing one’s name being called for attendance should not give the average 7th grader a sense of dread and fear. When I began junior highschool, my worst fear was people finding out that I was not born a man. I tightly bound my chest just as hard as my trust from whoever I met. Losing my closest friend at the very beginning and hearing her spread rumors about me tore my heart into two and from then on I became afraid of letting people know me. My most distinct and memorable memory from Junior High was when we received a new student who screamed in terror when I went into the girl’s locker room, rightly mistaken that I should not have been in there.

No matter what came my way, I have always hit it head on and challenged the status quo.  My parents were not accepting in the slightest when I came out, but if it was not for my will to live, I would have never started therapy. I found my own therapist and convinced my parents that we needed a mediator to help me communicate my feelings. Whenever my first therapist and I met for only a few meetings before dropping me without a single word, I continued to work hard until I found my new and current therapist. I did not let anything set me back on becoming who I knew I was supposed to be. 

Everyday of high school was hard and full of bigotry and unacceptance. The hardest part was coming to terms with the fact my grandmother, someone I still hold really close to me, will continue to believe I am going to hell. I grew up and was practically raised by a church my entire family went to and here recently while looking at papers of all the members of the congregation, I realized my name was erased entirely from my family. In accordance with my old church, my parents will forever only have two children. 

Although my own story has been full of sorrow until now, everything changed for me when the pandemic hit. After going through my own struggle with depression, I finally came out to my parents the struggle I had faced everyday without being on testosterone. Not all trans people who suffer from gender dysphoria decide to go on testosterone, but I felt miserable and empty without it. Being moved by my daily struggles and intrusive thoughts, I would finally be allowed to start on July 8th, 2020. It was the most exciting day of my life and I knew my resilience and will to survive was my sole reason I could ever receive that opportunity.

My proudest achievement to this day is that I have not had a single suicidal thought for over a year. I have a wonderful girlfriend, amazing friends, surprising support from my teachers and family, and so many more things in my life that I could never express all my gratitude for. If it was not for my perseverance, I would much more be a name on a tombstone than somebody who has aspirations and talents.