Becoming Diana: One Trans Woman's Journey To Self-Acceptance

http://www.xojane.com/issues/becoming-diana-one-trans-womans-journey-to-self-acceptance
5/31/13
Julie Gerstein of The Frisky

There's a well-known nursery rhyme that asks, "What are little boys made of? / Slugs and snails / And puppy-dogs' tails ... What are little girls made of? / Sugar and spice / And everything nice." It's a tiny piece of a larger puzzle aimed at helping little girls and boys understand their place in the world. For most people, biology is destiny and that's all -- but for some, biology is a confusing, fraught, and frustrating concept, because their external bodies don't match their internal feelings.

"PrincessDi" is one of our members!

I knew the article picture looked familiar!

I hope this leads to increased visibility and success for your campaign, Diana.

I am so impressed by that article and with how you came across in that article right now. Absolutely brilliant. You are obviously an intelligent, thoughtful and articulate woman, Diana. I really hope the article helps with funding your surgery.

Thank you so much! I am so pleased with the article and feeling optimistic about the remainder of my campaign

What a great article and what a great story. Wow. It was so touching I literally cried. I'm still crying. I identify with your story so fully and it is so nice to know another trans woman with such a similar story. From having to go to rehab and my struggles with hard drugs and alcohol to trying so hard to be a man and failing so miserably and even trying to identify as intersex when I was around 10 just to have something to relate to as I felt so so lost when I was younger and I literally tried to hang myself when I was 10 or 11 because of all this. Just wow.

I've actually been feeling quite down lately and terribly alone and sometimes I feel like feminine trans women who also tried to be masculine men and failed aren't exactly the norm in our community. And when I feel that sometimes I just feel fake and like maybe I'm not even trans and I'm something else and that my whole identity is fake, so I have really connected with your story and I thank you so much for telling the world. It was so beautiful. It has really helped me tremendously. You don't even know.

P.S. Sorry for the long sentences and all the dangling modifiers. It was hard to communicate my feelings without them.