It Happened to Me: I Told My Boyfriend I Was Born a Boy

[Shana A]

Janet Mock
Writer, speaker, and trans advocate; Staff Editor, People.com

It Happened to Me: I Told My Boyfriend I Was Born a Boy
Posted: 12/13/11 04:18 PM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janet-mock/transgender-coming-out_b_1146414.html

I was born a girl but in a boy's body, as media headlines tend to scream when telling stories like mine.

Being trans, I've grown up with the understanding that most women are born girls, yet some are born boys. And most men are born boys, yet some are born girls. And if you're ready for this, some people are born girls or boys and choose to identify outside our society's binary system, making them genderqueer.

Regardless, I was born me, and in order to be me, I had to take many steps to affirm my me to myself, my family, and the world around me, and then, once I dealt with my gender change as a teenager, to the men I dated.

And this is where it gets tricky, and for some trans women, even dangerous.