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Name: Emma Age: 28 County of Residence: Allegheny County. Formerly, Beaver county, Bradford county, & York county Preferred Pronouns: She/Her How do you describe your identity? I am a white, cis-gendered, gay woman. I wear the ‘lesbian’ hat sometimes, & like the ‘queer’ hat most often, too. Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What […]
Please describe your coming out experience. Where did you find support? What challenges did you face? I came out at 26 years old. It was tough. I was on the verge of suicide and I had a 2-year-old son depending on my existence.
I dropped a bomb on my life. On relationships. It was the only way. I had no friends. Nowhere to really start. I just got myself out into the queer community. My personality aided greatly in forming my initial friendship and support base. Those early days were very lonely though.
How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? Been living openly as a pansexual trans woman for 10 years. I’ve gone through all of the legalities and am quite open in my personal life. I do like to maintain my anonymity in my daily life. I still work where I did through my transition. Work was tough but I fought and survived the experience.
How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? I carry myself allot better that i ever have before, my confidence is much greater and have gained a better sense of living. Being happy that I’m now who i am and not pretending to be someone i never was has lifted a great deal of weight off of my shoulders and has given me hope and something to look forward to.
“[After 9th grade concert] Once we got home, my tears had turned to anger. I ended up slamming every door I touched, kicked off my shoes so hard they hit the wall, and told my mom I hated her. She got in my face, and my dad stepped in. He sent my little brother to his room before I recalled what happened at the school. He sighed, but didn’t say anything. He was a man of few words. After a few minutes of me blubbering, trying to calm down, the three of us went to the kitchen table to talk.
I remember my dad sitting across from me and my mom sitting to my right at our tiny cramped kitchen table. I don’t remember the specifics of conversation, mostly because I blocked it out, but in a nutshell, they told me homosexuality was wrong and I was going to Hell if I continued liking girls. I fidgeted with a leftover napkin as I told them I loved Z. We were best friends. I said I was bisexual, not homosexual, hoping that might somehow make it better. It didn’t. I was still damned just the same.
In the weeks following my admission, my parents forced me to start counseling.”
Here’s our appeal for #GivingTuesday. We need to raise $600. We’ve kicked around the idea of a tee shirt fundraiser in the past, but never came up with a concept beyond using our logo (designed by Kai Devenitch): The ongoing discussion of wearing safety pins combined with this creative anarchist button response got me thinking […]
If you are interested in purchasing a tee shirt (as a fundraiser) either for yourself or to donate to another participant, please complete this survey. We need feedback on the style of shirts we order, the slogan/logo and some other details.
If you need a little “grrrr” to get you going, last night someone trolled me through this survey. It wasn’t pleasant to read, but the nasty comment illustrates why we need to lift up the narrative of everyday lives. This person has been trolling me since I wrote a blog post about Dalia Sabae, a bisexual woman of color who was murdered by her husband a few weeks ago. It takes a measure of commitment to the hate to log into a survey & work some personal slams against me into the responses. If you want to read more about that, go to my Facebook page.
Being trans is hard for me because while I feel very much male I also feel like a woman. I also feel like neither. At times I want to transition and other times I am completely happy being in this body. At this point I have accepted that my gender fluctuates and i have stopped doubting myself but it can be hard to be visible. Sometimes I have guilt for feeling safe in my female body. Sometimes I resent not being able to be seen as the person I am unless people really get to know me. I think I still have some growing to do in terms of my gender identity. I’m not really sure but I think that trans people who have paved the path for me to feel these feelings and know I can be supported is incredible and brave and revolutionary.
Sunday, November 20 is the Trans Day of Remembrance. If you read our blog regularly, you know that we try very hard to honor the lives and acknowledge the deaths of our trans neighbors who have been lost to violence. We encourage you to participate in local TDOR events. You can find our previous posts: […]
We are thrilled to announce a new direction for the #AMPLIFY project – beginning in January 2017, Persad Center will be our new fiscal sponsor. Persad is the longest running LGBTQ organization in Western PA serving all of the region since 1972. They have a myriad of programs and services, many of which can offer […]
How would you describe yourself NOW in terms of “being out”? I’m personally very open about my sexuality and my gender identity. I will say that being trans is so much harder than being bi. I never want to look masculine in public or private in any way, and would probably live in stealth if I was visually able. I have struggled more after coming out as trans and living my life than I have ever before. It’s extremely disheartening to get turned down from every job since, and be stared at every day.
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