Dear J,
They are profound thoughts.
In my years of working with our community, first as a woman who desperately needed help and then, slowly, as a woman who did not need help but wanted to give back to those who helped her.
I have often felt that the humanity, the care, the love and the support that we as individuals give to each other, typifies a group, a community that does love, does care.
A community who truely know pain, and yet will reach out to another to hold their hand when life gets too much.
In many ways I appreciate being transgender because it has given me the opportunity to meet and relate with people who I not only admire and respect. But also a community who have taught me that sharing and loving is far more important than the self hatred and pity we so often feel.