Friday, 09 March 2012
What My Gender Identity Means to Me
Written by Angelina Callahan; Equality Maryland
http://www.baltimoreoutloud.com/k2-fetch-latest/equality-political-commentary/equality-maryland/item/1117-what-my-gender-identity-means-to-meUntil recently I kept a part of my life private, even from those closest to me in life. It is my hopes in sharing my story that it will help others, if even in just the smallest of ways. From my earliest memories as a child I knew I did not fit in the gender role I was being raised in. As a child I bounced around from doctor to doctor for medical complications I had from birth and underwent many surgeries throughout my childhood, all related to my gender. I was kept in the dark about what was going on, only being told that this was all normal and nothing to be concerned about.
After one of my last surgeries my doctor came in to talk to my mother about concerns over my gender and wanted to run some tests, she would not allow this and I was never taken back to see him. I was too scared and ashamed to ask questions or talk about my own feeling about my gender so I disconnected from the world and kept to myself. My parents associated my behavior as having a hard time dealing with their divorce, so I was put in therapy.
